Why I love Cauliflower Fried Rice Lettuce Cups​

Cauliflower fried rice lettuce cups are one of our favorite one-pan meals. It’s loaded with healthy, cancer-fighting cruciferous vegetables, protein, and Asian flavors. I love that it’s easy to pull together, flexible depending on what you have on hand, and the leftovers are just as good a few days later. 

Unlike other recipes that call for making an egg omelet separately, I opt to make them in the same pan as everything else–and I love saving a step (and a pan) in the process!

This healthy version of fried rice is delicious on it’s own, but using crisp greens to make lettuce cups is an easy addition that add freshness and some nice crunch to this dish. Plus, no need for a side salad! 

Choose your own quality ingredients

As a lover of Asian food, I’ve spent years trying to recreate some of my favorite dishes and give them a healthy spin. Cooking at home, I really like that I have control over the ingredients — i.e. I can make sure it’s organic, free of hydrogenated oils and sauces with lots sugar and cornstarch. I also like that I can make nourishing, veggie-heavy meals with some meat, not the other way around.

One of my favorite discoveries has been frozen cauliflower rice. I get the store brand Organic Riced Cauliflower from Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s. It’s easy enough to make, but this is one of those things that I always buy instead because:

1. It’s very reasonably priced, typically less than a fresh head of organic cauliflower
2. Saves a ton of time–because lets be honest…food processors are wonderful, but cleaning them is a production
3. It’s one of the few frozen vegetables that I really enjoy 

Cauliflower Fried Rice Lettuce Cups

★★★★★ 5 from 1 reviews

• Author: Kaleifornian
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins
• Total Time: 30 mins
• Yield: 5 servings 1x
• Method: Stovetop
• Cuisine: Asian

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Description

Cauliflower fried rice lettuce cups are one of our favorite one-pan meals. It’s loaded with healthy cruciferius vegetables, protein, and Asian flavors. I love that it’s easy to pull together, flexible depending on what you have on hand, and the leftovers are just as good a few days later. 

Unlike other recipes that call for making the eggs separately, I’ve never had a problem making them in the same pan as everything else–and I love saving a step (and a pan) in the process!

This cauliflower fried rice is delicious on it’s own, but using crisp greens to make lettuce cups is an easy addition that add freshness and some nice crunch to this dish. Plus, no need for a side salad! 

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 tablespoon of butter, ghee, avocado oil or coconut oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 lb ground turkey (ground chicken or ground pork would work as well)
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 3 eggs
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 1 head of broccoli, cut into small florets
• 2 (12-oz) bags of frozen cauliflower rice
• cracked pepper
• 2 tablespoons of tamari or soy sauce (if you’re not GF)
• 1 tablespoon coconut aminos (use extra coconut aminos in place of tamari or soy sauce to make this Whole30 compliant) 
• 1 tablespoon of rice vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon fish sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 head of lettuce: bibb, green leaf, romaine or little gem (get 2 heads if they’re small)
• Optional: 1 bunch of cilantro
• Optional: 1 cup of frozen peas – this is an easy sub for broccoli if you don’t have that on hand
• Optional: chopped kimchi as a topping, which adds some spice and healthy probiotics

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Instructions

To make Cauliflower Fried Rice Lettuce Cups, I recommend using a deep, covered pan like this 12-in Covered Stainless Skillet. 

 

1. Melt butter or oil over medium heat and saute onions until translucent.
2. Add ground meat and use a spatula to break it into smaller pieces and toss while it browns.
3. Once the meat is mostly cooked through, add garlic to the onion and meat mixture and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Keep the heat on Medium or Medium-Low and toss frequently to prevent it from burning.
4. Move the onion, meat and garlic mixture to one side of the pan to make room for the eggs. Crack your eggs right into the clearing, add some cracked pepper, and use a spatula to break up and scramble the eggs. Once the eggs are cooked and broken into small pieces, incorporate them into the rest of the mixture in the pan.
5. Add the broccoli florets, chopped carrots, both bags of riced cauliflower.
6. Cover to steam the vegetables on Medium-High heat. After about 5 minutes, remove lid, toss, and check the veggies. You want your carrots and broccoli to be steamed, but still vibrant in color, and you want your cauliflower to be defrosted.
7. Add the tamari, rice vinegar, coconut aminos, toasted sesame oil, and fish sauce. Mix everything together and cook off any liquid that’s in the bottom of the pan. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
8. Serve with crisp lettuce, 
9. chopped kimchi and cilantro – enjoy!

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Notes

For step 6: I’ve included measurements for the sauces, but feel free to start off with a generous drizzle of tamari, coconut aminos and rice vinegar and a couple of dashes of toasted sesame oil and fish sauce. I want you to have a reference point for the amounts, but I skip measuring spoons (extra stuff to clean!) whenever I can.  I encourage you to do the same and adjust seasoning as needed!

Meat Eaters: I recommend using organic and free-range meat and eggs when possible. You can also use ground chicken or pork instead of turkey.

This can be easily modified to be Vegetarian or Plant-Based: omit the fish sauce, meat and eggs; use avocado oil or coconut oil instead of butter / ghee. If you eat eggs, add an extra egg or two. If you’re strictly Plant-Based, frozen peas or shelled edamame would be a good way to get extra protein in this dish.

This meal is Gluten Free, Keto, and can be Whole 30 and Paleo compliant if you use extra coconut aminos in place of the tamari.

Keywords: Cauliflower Fried Rice