Turmeric Cauliflower Fried Rice

I'm a huge fan of cauliflower rice, and this delicious turmeric cauliflower fried rice may be my favorite version yet. A great weeknight dinner!

Turmeric Cauliflower Fried Rice

Hello from Kyoto, Japan, where we’re currently on vacation and awake way too early and embracing the jet lag that has now made us morning people. I have to say, it’s kind of nice to start the day super early. Who knew one could accomplish so much in a day when you wake up at 5am?!

While I’m not giving up actual rice anytime soon, and certainly not while we’re in Japan, I love my cauliflower rice, and I especially love this turmeric-spiced cauliflower fried rice with creamy cardamom yogurt sauce. It checks all of those necessary weeknight-friendly recipe boxes: it’s easy to make, requires minimal ingredients, and its delicious flavor is more than the sum of its parts. I based this on a similar recipe from our cookbook (the Curried Cauliflower Rice), but this cauliflower fried rice uses all cauliflower rice instead of basmati rice, and its steps are a bit simplified.

Turmeric Cauliflower Fried Rice

To make this cauliflower fried rice, simply cook everything that’s in the photo above :). Season it well with curry powder, turmeric, and a squeeze of lime. Don’t skip the yogurt sauce, it’s my favorite part, especially when you serve this dish with naan bread for scooping and dipping.

I should add that while there are chopsticks in this photo, the fine cauliflower rice granules really work best with a fork!

Turmeric Cauliflower Fried Rice

4.9 from 20 reviews

Cauliflower Turmeric Rice

 
This Cauliflower Turmeric Fried Rice is a light & quick weeknight dinner. Though the rice is packed with flavor on its own, the cardamom yogurt sauce really kicks things up a notch here.
Author:
Recipe type: Main Dish
Serves: 3-4
Ingredients
  • 2 teaspoons coconut oil
  • ½ cup yellow onion
  • 1 carrot, finely diced
  • 1 small bunch broccolini, chopped, stems finely diced
  • ½ cup cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • ½ teaspoon curry powder, more if desired
  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric
  • 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice, plus lime slices for serving
  • 2 cups cauliflower rice
  • ¼ cup chopped scallions
  • ¼ cup toasted cashews
  • red pepper flakes or hot sauce, as desired
  • ½ cup chopped cilantro
  • naan bread, for serving
  • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
cardamom yogurt sauce:
  • ½ cup Greek yogurt*
  • 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
  • ½ teaspoon cardamom
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
  1. Make the cardamom yogurt: In a small bowl, stir together the yogurt, lime juice, cardamom, salt, and black pepper, to taste. Set aside.
  2. Heat the oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, diced broccolini stems, ¼ teaspoon of salt and a few grinds of freshly ground black pepper. Cook 5 minutes or until soft, stirring occasionally. Add the broccolini florets and the chickpeas and cook 4 minutes or until the broccolini is tender but still bright green.
  3. Reduce the heat to low and stir in the curry powder and turmeric, and then the lime juice. Add the cauliflower rice and the scallions. Cook 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cauliflower is warmed through and the scallions are softened. Season to taste and top with the cashews, red pepper flakes, and cilantro. Serve with scoops of the cardamom yogurt on top and the lime slices, naan bread, and hot sauce on the side.
Notes
*for a vegan option, coconut yogurt may work here if it's one that's not to sweet. The yogurt sauce really makes this dish, so I don't recommend skipping it!

 

43 comments

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Rate this recipe (after making it):  

  1. Debbie
    08.30.2023

    Why no nutritional information with recipe?

  2. Mariann
    04.27.2023

    Absolutely delicious! I didn’t have broccolini, so I added some thinly sliced celery for a bit of crunch. I think the broccolini would’ve been better, however, the flavors are outstanding, including the cardamom yogurt sauce. Thank you so much for this recipe, as I never would’ve thought to combine these flavors myself.

    • Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)
      04.28.2023

      Hi Mariann, I’m so glad you loved it!

  3. Bails
    02.08.2023

    This looks wonderful and I’m making it for dinner tonight. I don’t have lime juice and wonder if lemon juice would work instead. Thanks

    • Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)
      02.09.2023

      Hi, yes! Lemon would be great here. Hope you enjoy!

  4. Yvette
    03.21.2022

    This was delicious. I’ve made a few of your vegan/vegetarian recipes and I’ve never been disappointed. You’ve become my new goto for cooking.

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      03.24.2022

      I’m so happy to hear that!

  5. Nicole
    01.16.2022

    So good and so easy to make! I add peas!

  6. Rohan
    11.25.2021

    Absolutely stunning site and the most wonderful recipes. Simple. Clean. Neat. And so healthy! Thank you so much! We are big fans of yours.

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      11.26.2021

      I’m so glad you loved it!

  7. Coastal
    02.15.2021

    The yogurt sauce is now a recipe in its own right… My dad made this recipe (with a lot of help from me XD ) to go with pan-seared salmon and the sauce was so good on both that I never want to have salmon without this sauce again.
    Pro tip 1 – Never try making cauliflower rice without a food processor. Next time I want to try making cauliflower like this but just chopped rather than grated XD
    Pro tip 2 – It works to roast cashews in the microwave!

  8. Nora
    01.31.2021

    Absolutely delicious. Made with just a few minor substitutions to use ingredients we already had (regular broccoli chopped into small pieces, peanuts instead of cashews, nutmeg/cinnamon instead of cardamon in the sauce). It was so easy – a great one-pan dish – and the sauce added the perfect balance to the spices. Will be making again next week!

  9. Elizabeth
    12.18.2020

    This was one of the best recipes I have ever made. I was skeptical as I don’t always love recipes that have curry powder but this was wonderful. I added half a bell pepper and left out the scallions. I didn’t have cardamom so I made the yogurt dip with 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon of cloves as a substitute.

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      12.19.2020

      I’m so glad you loved it!

  10. Megan
    07.13.2020

    Coconut yogurt (CoYO brand) was a great alternative! Dairy free due to breastfeeding as it upsets the babe. I have made it with the Greek Yogurt before and dare I say, I might like the coconut yogurt just as good, if not better?!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      07.18.2020

      I’m so happy to hear that you loved it with coconut yogurt, yay!

  11. Kay
    06.26.2020

    Hi, i have just started exante diet and have just bought some cauliflower rice for the first time. I am really looking forward to it as I’ve been told it’s delicious. Fingers crossed so i can have this instead of normal rice

  12. Lily
    04.13.2020

    Made this for my best friend’s birthday. She is allergic to gluten and dairy so I used almond yogurt instead, it turned out amazing and she loved it!!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      04.14.2020

      I’m so glad you both loved it!

  13. Elle Dowdey
    05.04.2019

    So delightful, thank you for sharing healthy CHOICES my husbands food lifestyle has definitely improved and he has much more energy! Please continue to offer your tasteful menu meals. We love this food and the sauces are delicious ideas we would not have known to try, thank you so much

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Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.

We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.