This Lime & Cilantro Cauliflower Rice is such an easy and tasty side dish.
This post is all about making a low carb and keto Lime & Cilantro Cauliflower Rice.
With minimal ingredients, quick cook time and easy steps, you’ll have this side dish on your table within 20 minutes!
This Lime & Cilantro Cauliflower Rice is a favorite in our family. It is a must have side dish with our Mexican inspired dinners.
Not only is our cauliflower rice super tasty, but it’s low carb and keto too!
Lime & Cilantro Cauliflower Rice- Low Carb | Keto
When you made the decision to dive head first into the low carb and keto way of eating you were probably saddened to hear of all the foods you “couldn’t have”. I too went through the “mourning period”. If this never happened to you, then that’s AWESOME (and I’m jealous 🙂 ) !
Either way, you should try to think of all the things you CAN eat, instead of can’t. Just think how one of the MAJOR bonuses of no longer eating all those carb filled foods is that you’ll feel amazing! It’s all about the positives, right?
The whole cauliflower rice phenomena hit the low carb and keto groups pretty hard and it doesn’t look like it’s leaving anytime soon. Am I complaining? Absolutely not. Although riced cauliflower on its own can be pretty bland and sometimes unappetizing (at least to my 18 month old), when it’s seasoned well and has the addition of different textures, it’s really amazing.
Now, I’m not going to lie to you and say that riced cauliflower tastes just like the starchy variety. There’s a lot of us out there that either hate or love it. Although, I never thought it tasted like rice, I do however think it’s really tasty.
Which are you? I’m thinking if you’re reading this post you either love it, or maybe you’re open to trying new things. Either way, I’m excited for you to try our low carb and keto Lime & Cilantro Cauliflower Rice.
Getting Our Ingredients Together- Lime & Cilantro Cauliflower Rice
Because this recipe has minimal ingredients, prep time will be a snap. The first steps are to wash our cilantro and cauliflower (if using raw and unfrozen). I will be using a frozen bag of cauliflower rice. There are two reasons for this: 1. Ricing the cauliflower is done and 2. I’m lazy (sometimes).
If you’re ricing your own cauliflower you can use a regular box grater or your food processor. A lot of time I’ll simply use the box grater because clean-up is easier and it seriously doesn’t take a lot of work.
Once you’ve figured out your cauli rice method go ahead and remove the papery skins from 3 garlic cloves and finely dice.
Next chop your cilantro. Please use the ENTIRE cilantro (sprig? stem?). Cilantro is one of the very few herbs that is entirely edible and the stem holds the same amount of flavor as its leaves. So DON’T waste it.
Then finally zest one whole lime and dice your onion.
Try to make all your cuts about the same size. This is important in cooking because it means all the ingredients will finish cooking at the same time.
Now you’re done. Easy right? Kidding… you still need to cook everything.
Sautéing Our Low Carb and Keto Lime & Cilantro Cauliflower Rice
Now we have all of our beautiful and fresh vegetables prepped, we’ll move onto the final step of cooking.
Pre-heat your stove top burner on med-low. Once our pan is up to temperature add two tablespoons of avocado oil to your sauté pan.
Then add the diced onion and a pinch of salt and pepper. Once the onion is a bit translucent you’ll add the garlic. Please make sure you do no burn your garlic. I say this in almost every post. As soon as you burn your garlic, you’ll have to start over. Burnt garlic is incredibly acrid and will ruin the entire dish. So watch it.
Next add your cauliflower and stir really well. Add smoked paprika, cumin, salt, pepper and stir. Continue to sauté for 5 minutes and stir periodically.
Once your cauliflower has softened a bit you’ll add the lime zest and cilantro. I find that you do not want to add it too early, because there is a chance that it can make the dish bitter. Because we do not want that bitter lime flavor, it’s important that you stir VERY frequently.
At around the 5 minute mark you’ll want to add your chicken bone broth and another pinch of salt, then cover your pan with a lid for about 8 minutes.
This will allow your cauli rice to steam and get tender. Once the 8 minute mark is up, taste your rice. Make sure the seasonings are to your liking as well as the texture and consistency of your rice.
That’s it! We’re done 🙂 .
You can have this delicious low carb and keto Lime & Cauliflower Rice as a side dish, in a burrito bowl, with chicken… the combinations are endless! Don’t forget to squeeze some lime juice on top!
Let us know what you thought about this super tasty cauli rice and what you paired it with!
Lime & Cilantro Cauliflower Rice-Low Carb | Keto
Delicious and refreshing Lime & Cilantro Cauliflower Rice is the perfect low carb and keto side dish.
Ingredients
- 4 cups riced cauliflower
- 3 garlic cloves
- ⅓ cup cilantro
- 2 tbsp avocado oil
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 1 tsp cumin
- ½ tsp black pepper + more to taste
- ¼ tsp salt + more to taste
- zest of one lime
Instructions
Finely dice garlic, cilantro, onion and zest lime.
On your stove top, turn heat to medium low and add avocado oil. Next add diced onion with a pinch of salt and black pepper, cook until translucent then add diced garlic. You will cook the garlic until fragrant and then add the cauliflower rice and the remaining seasonings.
Continue to cook the cauliflower rice for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally and then add the lime zest and cilantro and cook another 5 minutes. You will want to continuously stir for 5 minutes and then add chicken bone broth and another small pinch of salt. Cover pan with lid and check at the 8 minute mark.
At this time the cauliflower rice should be soft. Taste your rice make any last seasoning adjustments and check for doneness.
Serve as is, or incorporate into your favorite dish.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1/4 cupAmount Per Serving: Calories: 62Total Fat: 4.7gSaturated Fat: .7gCholesterol: .4mgSodium: 24.8mgCarbohydrates: 3.2gNet Carbohydrates: 1.8gFiber: 1.4gSugar: 1.3gProtein: 2.2g