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!
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.
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!
Cauliflower Turmeric Rice
- 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
- ½ cup Greek yogurt*
- 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
- ½ teaspoon cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- Make the cardamom yogurt: In a small bowl, stir together the yogurt, lime juice, cardamom, salt, and black pepper, to taste. Set aside.
- 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.
- 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.
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Please post lots of pics on your IG while in Japan! I’m going in March.
Forager cashew dairy-free yogurt is a good vegan option. Not sweet.
Thanks for the recommendation, I’ll give it a try!
How and where do you purchase this dairy free yogurt. I really want to try!
Just made this tonight and it was DELISH! I was skeptical because the cardamom yogurt was quite strong but it mellowed out in the fridge nicely. My spouse and I have moved to about 90% vegetarian meals and always love finding recipes that are fast, nutritious, and have tons of flavour. I also just recommended this to my Sugar Free Sisters group! Can’t wait to have the leftovers this weekend. Thanks!
Hi Lana, I’m so glad you loved the recipe and the cardamom yogurt!
great post.
Yesss! This cauliflower rice looks amazing!
made this last night and it was delicious! Yum!!
I made this recipe last night! While I was cooking, I was tasting and I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it or not being I rarely cook with these types of spices. Once everything came together and ate it as a meal I loved it! I thinned out the yogurt sauce with a tablespoon or so of water.
The cashews, lime, red pepper flakes, and cilantro really tie everything together. Great recipe! Excited to make it again 😀
This sounds yummy! I’m really not into cauliflower rice, because there is nothing wrong with real rice, but I’m definitely interested in trying this.
cauliflower has become one of my new staple ingredients (broccoli too so also appreciate that here) but it gets a little old when eating it raw, so appreciate this rice-ified version with a lot more flavor, nice!
Wow, this cauliflower rice, looks so flavorful and easy, perfect for my late night dinner!Thanks for sharing delicious and tasty recipe.
I love cauliflower rice, but I won’t be giving up rice either. This looks delicious with the tumeric, curry and lime. I can’t wait to try it. I love those flavors. I wish I was a morning person. I’ve tried before getting up at 5am but I never stick with it long enough to get over the first few days of tiredness.
Super flavorful and delicious. I used broccoli because my grocery store didn’t have broccolini. Thanks for the recipe!
This recipe is full of flavor and good ingredients. Everybody in the family loved it, including the kids. Yogurt sauce adds the perfect fat and flavor as do the cashews.
Pinned it! It looks so light even with the rice. I love the way you combine many healthy ingredients, making the dish more delicious! 😋
The curried cauliflower rice is my favorite recipe in your cookbook. So I know I’ll love this version as well. Can’t wait to make it again, it’s been a while!
This is a keeper. Have your book but this beats the “rice” version hands down.
Thank you !
I sent this to my mom as soon as it popped into my inbox! All my favorite ingredients combined in one – how could this not be delicious? 🙂
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Love the turmeric and cardamom flavors!!
I just bought a head of cauliflower, so perfect timing! We are going to Kyoto in mid-May so I’m really looking forward to any posts you make from Japan. Have a great trip!
Such a quick recipe ! Great Post 🙂 Keep Glittering, Love TGA by Misha <3