Vegan Pineapple Cashew Cauliflower Rice
on Apr 13, 2021, Updated Aug 26, 2024
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Healthy cauliflower transforms into rice and pairs with crunchy cashews and sweet pineapple in this delicious, vegan pineapple cashew cauliflower rice.
Ready in 25 minutes minutes with simple ingredients, this recipe is perfect for weeknight meals, a healthy side dish or part of your weekly food prep.
About the Recipe
You’ll love making this dish as a side or even paired with your favorite protein to make it a hearty meal. Make a double batch for healthy meal prep! This dish is sweet, spicy, nutritious and delicious. Everything you’d want in a meal, all rolled into one. This recipe is:
- Vegan, gluten-free, can be oil-free, can be nut-free.
- High-fibre, low-carb, low-fat, low in calories yet filling and satisfying.
- Easily customizable by adding your choice of protein or additional veggies.
- Quick and easy to make in less than 30 minutes from start to finish!
- Great for meal prep!
You can also try cauliflower rice in this Coconut Cauliflower Rice Bowl, Red Curry Cauliflower Rice and Vegan Cauliflower Fried Rice.
Ingredient Notes
This list is not complete. Please see the recipe card at the end of the post for the complete ingredient list with measurements and detailed instructions.
- Garlic & Onion – These add a lot of flavour so I wouldn’t recommend skipping unless you must. If you don’t have fresh garlic on hand, you can season with garlic powder. Fresh ginger also makes a nice addition here.
- Cooking Oil – You’ll need a bit of oil to saute up the garlic and onion in a skillet. Sesame oil works here for a “fried” rice flavour and coconut oil, avocado oil and olive oil all work too. If you need the recipe to be oil-free, go ahead and swap the oil for water or broth.
- Riced Cauliflower – We’ll go over how to prepare the rice cauliflower below. If you have frozen prepared cauliflower rice, you can use that too!
- Pineapple – Canned or fresh work!
- Green Peas – Canned, fresh or frozen work!
- Cashews – You can use plain raw cashews, toast cashews or dry-roasted unsalted cashews.
Variations
- Top with some fresh basil or mint for an even more fresh flavor.
- Add some sweetness and acidity by tossing in a few canned drained mandarin oranges to the mix.
- It goes great with a handful of raisins or dried cranberries.
- Change up the nuts by using chopped walnuts, sliced almonds, or crushed peanuts.
- Save time in the kitchen by using a bag of frozen riced cauliflower that’s been thawed and drained.
- For more protein, serve with this Crispy Baked Tofu.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1. We’re going to start by adding the chopped onions and garlic to a skillet and cooking for a few minutes until they start to soften and become fragrant.
Step 2. Add curry powder, cumin, coriander, and red pepper flakes to the skillet. These spices add layers of flavor and a little kick. Feel free to adjust the spices to your liking. The red pepper flakes make it a little spicy so feel free to leave them out if you’re sensitive to spice.
Step 3. Add the riced cauliflower and grated carrots and stir fry for about 5 minutes.
Carrot Prep: You can grate the carrots with a box or hand-held grater, use a julienne peeler, julienne them by hand or use pre-cut shredded carrots from your local grocery store. I just grate them using a grater.
Step 4. Add the raw cashews, green peas, and sweet, tangy pineapple. Cook for a couple more minutes to heat through and you’re done!
Quick Tip: Make sure pineapple is fully drained from the can before adding to the stir fry as the juices could make it too sweet and soggy. You can also use fresh pineapple in this recipe.
How to Make the Cauliflower Rice
The easiest way to make cauliflower rice homemade with a head of cauliflower is by using a blender or food processor. Follow the steps below:
- Remove the stem from a head of cauliflower and chop it into even-sized pieces.
- Add it to a food processor and pulse a few times until it resembles rice.
- It’s ready to use in the recipe. You can dump it from the food processor straight into the skillet.
NOTE: You can also use a grater but it’s a little more work and I much prefer the consistency you get from using a food processor. Plus it’s just quicker and easier. Find full details and instructions for how to make cauliflower rice here.
FAQs
The longer riced cauliflower sits in the pan, the more moisture releases. It’s best to cook cauliflower rice quickly to avoid it becoming soggy.
Yes! Cauliflower that is frozen has the same nutrition overall as fresh cauliflower though fresh will have a better taste and flavor and is recommended over frozen when possible.
Riced cauliflower contains roughly 3 net carbs per cup making it a great low carb option for anyone looking to reduce carbs needing a grain substitute. To further reduce the carbs in this recipe, omit the pineapple
Storing Instructions
- Storing: Let cool completely, then store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Freezing: Store cooked and cooled cauliflower stir fry in a freezer-safe bag or container or for up to 3 months before thawing and reheating.
- Reheating: Reheat this dish on the stovetop in a pan or in the microwave until warm to your preference.
More Cauliflower Recipes
Did you try this recipe? I’d love to hear about it! Scroll down to comment section below to leave your star rating and review.
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Pineapple Cashew Cauliflower Rice
Ingredients
- 1 tsp coconut oil or other cooking oil of choice
- 1 onion, 325 g, approx. 2 cups diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 head of cauliflower, riced (800 g)
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 1 tsp coriander
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, optional
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 4 carrots, peeled and grated (300 g, approx. 2 cups grated)
- 14 oz can pineapple chunks, drained (or 1/2 a fresh pineapple, diced)
- 1 cup frozen green peas, 170 g
- 2/3 cup raw cashews, 100 g
- pinch of salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a large non-stick pan or wok, heat the coconut oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until it starts to soften, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add the spices, stir and cook for another minute or two.
- Stir in the cauliflower and carrot and cook for another 5-6 minutes.
- Add the rest of the ingredients, mix well and let cook for another 4-5 minutes.
- Season with salt and pepper, if needed. Serve right away with fresh cilantro, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Originally published April 10, 2017.
Hi, I made way too much. Can I freeze it? I must say it’s delicious!
Yes, I think this would be okay to freeze and re-heat in a pan.
Best stir fry ever. Everytime I crave stir fry it never turns out the way I imagine…..until I found this recipe. I forgot to buy curry, so instead of using all the spices listed I just made a pineapple sauce and it was so delicious. For being meat and grain free it is very filling. Ps I love your blog. Thank you!
This dish was amazing, I’m no Vegan but that was fulfilling as a meal. So much flavour!
I need some recipes for type 2 diabetic and gulten free. Can you please offer some suggestions?
Thank you
DeLanna Forbes
ohh its a lot of work and too salty! I’ll cut spices down a bit too even though I love the flavors.
Tried this today and this is definitely a do again dish. Besides the grating of the cauliflower this was wiped up in no time at all. Healthy and Delicious.
Thank you Deryn
I’m so glad you liked it! It’s on my make-again-soon list too. The cauliflower is a bit of a mess, isn’t it…luckily I have two dogs to eat the crumbs that fall on the floor. I am sooooo messy in the kitchen when I’m making a meal…it drives the hubby crazy! lol. anyways, glad you enjoyed it 🙂
I love this idea for rice! I bet it’s tricky cooking for both but you are clearly a rockstar at making it work! I will definitely be bookmarking this, probably for the spring when my desire to consume grains goes down.
Yes, hopefully it gets easier to be eating less grains as the summer months slowly arrive! Something about winter just makes you want to eat all the carbs!
I have only tried cauliflower “rice” once and it was not a huge success, to say the least. I feel like I need to give it another chance. You make it look good!
Aww, thanks Maryea! I use grated cauliflower all the time to add texture and substance in place of meat, it almost works like a ground beef and is perfect for chili, soups and tacos! I love it! Let me know if you try again 🙂
This was a super interesting read. I know you mentioned how your house is eating now but I really liked “hearing” it from you on the blog. Glad you are making it work and creating delicious meals! I need to add some spices to my cauliflower rice and I love this combo. Thanks Deryn 🙂
ps. My grocery bill has gone way up too!
It’s pricey, but it’s worth it, right?! I don’t mind us spending a bit more to get something that’s healthier for us, however I honestly don’t think we could afford it if I ate meat too!
Oh, yaaa you gotta get those spices in there! All the c’s are my fave, coriander, curry and cumin. Such a good combo. Thanks for the comment!
I used to be vegetarian but was a really unhealthy one having lots of processed foods and filling up on white carbs and it was when I was 13 and my mum used to cook sometimes 2 meals. Looking back on some nights I don’t know how she did it so I can imagine it may be hard work for you sometimes.
Love the sound of this recipe. I need to start using cauliflower rice more often 🙂
It’s really not too bad for me, but I can only imagine moms that have to deal with picky kids!