This vegan cauliflower fried rice is a low-calorie spin on one of your favorite take out dishes all ready in under 30 minutes!
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Fried rice is an amazing takeout dish that has turned into an even better meal to make at home since it’s quick to make and uses up whatever you have in the fridge! What’s amazing about this vegan cauliflower fried rice is that it’s just as great without the calories.
We often get asked how to use cauliflower or for low calorie recipes and this recipe does great at hitting both of those things!
This dish is ready in less than 30 minutes from start to finish and full of delicious ingredients to actually make you enjoy eating your veggies!
Try pairing this recipe with our vegan egg rolls.
Jump to:
Why You’ll Love This Dish
- Better than Takeout – You won’t believe the flavors that you get out of this dish making it taste better than what you remember restaurant quality being.
- Simple Ingredients – most of these ingredients are things people keep in the pantry or on hand if they make dinners often, so you can make it without having to run to the store
- Versatile – one of the best things about fried rice is that it can be made with whatever you have on hand!
🥘Recipe Ingredients
Gather your ingredients!
- Tofu – firm, extra or super firm tofu are going to be your best options for this recipe.
- Cauliflower – A medium heat of cauliflower is what we are using for this recipe in order to have four servings
- Soy sauce – We prefer to use a low-sodium soy sauce so we can control more of that salty flavor. You can always add more at the end
See my recipe card below for a complete list of the ingredients with measurements.
Substitutions and Variations:
- Tofu – the tofu scramble is optional, but gives that eggy-ness you are used to having in takeout fried rice. You could swap this for chickpeas, mushrooms, or beans if you wish.
- Cauliflower – you can used pre-riced cauliflower that you find in the frozen section of the grocery store as well. You will want to use 4-6 cups of riced cauliflower
- Soy sauce – you can use coconut aminos, tamari, or a no soy soy sauce if needed
- Hoisin sauce – most steak sauces are vegan friendly and make a quick substitute for hoisin sauce
- Agave – can sub with maple syrup, date syrup, or brown sugar
Step by Step Instructions for vegan cauliflower fried rice:
Step 1. Add cauliflower pieces into a food processor and rice the cauliflower by pulsing 8-10 times.
Pour into a bowl. If any large pieces remain, then remove them and place back into food processor until rice. Set aside.
Tip: Do not overprocess, you will end up with a hummus like texture if so.
Step 2. Add a little non-dairy butter to a skillet over medium-low heat. Let melt, then add crumbled tofu and stir together consistently for 1 minute.
Step 3. Add tofu seasonings and scramble until well combined. Remove to a plate and set aside.
Step 4. In the same skillet, add 2 tbsps non-dairy butter and let melt over medium high heat.
When skillet starts to slightly smoke, carefully add carrots, onions, and peas. Cook for a few minutes allowing the veggies to soften.
Add garlic and cook for about 30 seconds.
Step 5. Add additional 1 tablespoon butter and the riced cauliflower.
Step 6. Toss until the veggies are mixed in.
Step 7. Make a well in the center of the skillet and add scrambled tofu. Stir together. Then pour sauce over and cook until riced cauliflower begins crisping, about 3 – 5 minutes.
Add in green onions, stir, then remove from the heat.Serve warm, with more red pepper flakes, green onions, and/or sesame seeds if desired.
Recipe FAQs:
Yes. Sub the tofu for something like chickpeas mushrooms. Use a no soy soy sauce for the soy sauce replacement and then the hoisin sauce, use a safe steak sauce as an alternative. Also make sure that you are using a soy free non-dairy butter or swap with oil.
Yes. Once cooled completely, you can store in an air tight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Yes, this dish can be doubled, just make sure you are using a large enough skillet to have space for everything.
We do not recommend freezing this dish.
Other Vegan Dinner Recipes to Consider:
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🥳 Get the Full Recipe
Vegan Cauliflower Fried Rice
Ingredients
For Tofu Scramble (optional)
- ½ block firm or super firm tofu, pressed and crumbled
- ¾ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon umami seasoning
For Cauliflower Fried Rice
- 1 medium head of cauliflower, washed and patted dry, cut into pieces
- 3 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 2 teaspoon agave (sub maple syrup)
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, more or less to taste
- 4 tablespoon nondairy butter, divided (can sub with oil)
- 1 large carrot, diced
- 1 small onion, diced
- ½ cup peas, fresh or frozen
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 scallions, chopped
Instructions
- Add cauliflower pieces into a food processor and rice the cauliflower by pulsing 8-10 times. Pour into a bowl, then remove any large pieces that remain and pulse until riced. Do not overprocess. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, hoisin sauce, rice wine vinegar, toasted sesame oil, agave, and red pepper flakes. Set aside
- Add 1 tablespoon of non-dairy butter to a skillet over medium-low heat. Let melt, then add crumbled tofu and stir together consistently for 1 minute. Add tofu seasonings and scramble until well combined. Remove to a plate and set aside.
- In the same skillet, add 2 tbsps non-dairy butter and let melt over medium high heat. When skillet starts to slightly smoke, carefully add carrots, onions, and peas. Cook for a few minutes allowing the veggies to soften. Add garlic and cook for about 30 seconds. Add additional 1 tablespoon butter and the riced cauliflower and toss until the veggies are mixed in.
- If made, make a well in the center of the skillet and add scrambled tofu. Stir together. Then pour sauce over and cook until riced cauliflower begins crisping, about 3 – 5 minutes. Add in green onions, stir, then remove from the heat. Serve warm, with more red pepper flakes, green onions, and/or sesame seeds if desired.
This was excellent. I think the tofu scramble is a must in it. I will make this all the time. It was so satisfying. Even my meat eating boyfriend couldn’t get enough. Thank you!!!
This is awesome! Thank you so much for giving the recipe a try. We’re glad you and your boyfriend enjoyed it!
Loved it!! The best fried rice I’ve ever made! I am trying to reduce my carbs and this came up. I’m so glad I tried it! I couldn’t even tell it was cauliflower rice.
So glad you loved it!
I truly enjoy your recipes. This was good but I felt like it needed a little something more. It also took some time but I should learn from watching your videos that I need to prep everything before I start cooking. I will make it again & maybe add more red pepper.
Love you guys🥰
Thanks for your feedback, if you keep playing around with it, let us know what you changed to make it better 😉
This was my first time trying tofu. I really loved this recipe!
Yay! You have to try more!