Cauliflower fried rice for breakfast! This Whole30 breakfast option is a fun way to eat eggs and bacon in a familiar way!
As it turns out, one can only live on so many slices of sweet potato toast during Whole30. I'm craving something warm and salty as freezing rain hits the windows this morning, and this take-out inspired meal is just the thing.
I've walked past the bag of riced cauliflower so many times at Trader Joe's. It's super easy to make cauliflower rice yourself, either with a knife or a food processor. But, when you're going to make cauliflower fried rice for breakfast, pre-made riced cauliflower in a bag is absolutely the way to go. I grabbed two bags last week, and I'm so glad that I did.
For what it's worth, I bought the fresh riced cauliflower, not the frozen version. From what I can tell, the frozen version is the only organic option--I'll probably grab that next time.
For me personally, the success of Whole30 relies on getting through my first meal of the day. It has to be easy, mindless and use minimal dishes. Please don't make me use a knife in the morning--kitchen scissors are okay, though. (Side note: I use kitchen shears to cut bacon and herbs when I don't want to use a knife). I know that other people struggle with the 3pm dessert craving, or the last meal of the day. It's important to know yourself and identify your weak points. If we attack our weaknesses head-on, we have a better chance of success.
Every day, after I finish a Whole30 breakfast, I feel calm and ready to tackle the rest of the day. I'm also armed with Tracy's list of Whole30 snack ideas. I love that Tracy's snacks are actual real food and not random food combined that's meant to taste like a food you used to be able to eat before you decided to do Whole30. Heh.
To be perfectly honest here, when you already eat mostly healthy and homemade food, Whole30 isn't too big of a challenge. What I realized is that I use grains as a crutch. I also use potato chips as a crutch at snack time instead of something that would actually nourish me and make me feel better than gobs of salt, but that's another story.
Fried rice was such an easy lunch or dinner for me, but it's also seriously lacking in the vegetable department. That is, unless you count the 1 carrot and handful of peas I sometimes add that then gets divided between 3 bowls. So, using cauliflower instead of rice actually makes me feel better because I know I'm eating a vegetable. The taste is remarkably similar, too.
How to make cauliflower fried rice:
- Use scissors to snip bacon into lardons directly into a nonstick pan. Fry the bacon until almost crisp.
- Remove the bacon pieces from the pan, and add the riced cauliflower. Cook the cauliflower in the bacon grease. YUM.
- Add coconut aminos (it tastes basically the same as soy sauce but is Whole30 compliant because it doesn't actually contain soy).
- Cook the cauliflower until it's tender. It takes much longer than rice, about 20 minutes or so while occasionally stirring.
- Make a well in the center of the pan, and crack in 3 eggs. Scramble.
- Add the bacon back to the pan, and use kitchen shears to snip in plenty of scallions.
I hope this Whole30 breakfast recipe carries you through another week of the challenge. I've got plenty of lunches and dinner recipes coming soon, too! Stay tuned!
Cauliflower Fried Rice
Cauliflower fried rice for breakfast, made with bacon and eggs!
Ingredients
- 4 slices sugar-free bacon
- 16 ounces riced cauliflower*
- 2 tablespoons coconut aminos**
- 3 large eggs, beaten
- 2 scallions
- freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Using scissors, snip the bacon into 1" chunks directly into an 8" nonstick frying pan. Turn the heat to medium-high and cook the bacon until almost crisp, about 5 minutes.
- Remove the bacon from the pan, and let it rest on paper towels.
- Add the riced cauliflower to the skillet with the bacon grease, and cook while stirring occasionally until tender, about 10 minutes. Add the coconut aminos, and taste the cauliflower, it should be soft like real rice!
- Make a well in the center of the cauliflower, and add the eggs. Cook while continuously stirring for about 4 minutes, until the eggs are scrambled.
- Snip the scallions into the pan, add the bacon pack to the pan, and give everything a big stir. Taste, and add extra coconut aminos as needed.
Notes
*If you can't find cauliflower already 'riced,' check the frozen vegetable section. If you still can't find it, grab a 1-pound head of cauliflower, cut it into chunks, and then pulse it in the food processor until it resembles rice.
**Coconut aminos are the Whole30 version of soy sauce. Use soy sauce if you're not doing Whole30.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
2Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 296Total Fat: 14gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 296mgSodium: 736mgCarbohydrates: 25gFiber: 5gSugar: 16gProtein: 20g
Deanna says
I love fried rice for breakfast, and somehow it’s never occurred to me to make a cauliflower version for the whole30. It’ll have to be with homemade sausage though since I can’t find sugar free bacon anywhere.
Christina Lane says
Homemade sausage sounds AMAZING for this recipe. Do you have a Whole Foods? I've found Pedersen's bacon and Wellshire bacon to have sugar-free options :)
Katie says
You are one of my favorite food bloggers and I LOVE that you’re doing the Whole30 this month - so are my husband and I! I’m so excited to see what you come up with ????
sally says
It's really easy (and tastes better) to make homemade riced cauliflower - just whiz it with a food processor.
I ate SO much riced cauliflower last year doing the W30 that I can't eat it ever again!
When I did the W30, I missed things like lentils, chickpeas, quinoa, and rice the most - not even sugar! I just found it way too restrictive in that way - like even though I was full for the month, I felt too deprived from not eating those healthy foods, and that wasn't a good feeling. I also don't eat red meat or pork, and that's hard with W30.
Curious to see what else you make this month!
Christina Lane says
That’s great to know that tastes better made fresh; I’ll try that! Thanks for the rec :)
That is what I’m the most afraid of, too—I adore carbs and grains. I don’t feel full unless I’ve had them. It’s a big reason I’ve never done Whole30 before. I completely understand how you feel! We’ll see if I make it through. I miss quinoa already :)
sally says
yes! There's totally a balance.
It WAS helpful to know that I didn't feel any differently when not eating those foods, so I know that they're not triggers for me. It also helped in the sense that I ate 3 meals a day, was full all the time, and completely stopped snacking - THAT felt great. I'm trying to cut out snacking again - it's hard!
Alene says
Easy peasy! I love it, and especially if I don't have to rice the cauliflower myself! I am going to make this, but maybe for dinner when my husband plays cards. He would not be a fan, I don't think. Thanks for the good idea!
Jenna White says
I'm not doing Whole 30 but I'm always looking for ways to pack more vegetables into my diet - going to try this! (But probably with regular bacon and soy sauce.)
Sandra says
I have never heard of Coconut aminos before, I will try and get some, because I can't have soy products due to a thyroid problem. My question, is why does the recipe have so many sugars? I never paid attention to how many carbs were in Cauliflower, I just know I can't eat a lot of it due to the high fiber. Would peas and carrots or celery work well in this dish? I can't digest allium (onions and garlic, etc) and was really happy you for the most part left the garlic out. I will leave the scallions out though.
Christina Lane says
I think peas and carrots would be great!
Honestly, I think the sugar content is coming from the bacon. HOWEVER, it's incorrect. The Whole30 diet requires the use of sugar-free bacon, and I'm sure my nutrition calculator is just using a standard piece of bacon. There is absolutely no added sugars in the recipe. I would glance at the label of your bacon, make sure it has zero sugar, and proceed. My nutrition calculator is using the average nutrition levels from standard produce and meat. It's not taking into account the type of bacon used :/ So, the good news is, this recipe doesn't have high sugar. The bad news is, the nutrition calculator isn't correct. Sorry about this!
Susan Myers says
I also avoid soy products and use coconut aminos all the time. I use low sodium coconut aminos. It will also come in different flavors such as teriyaki so be sure to check the label to make sure you pick up the right one.
S says
I'm going to try that for Bfast tomorrow! I'm so glad you doing W30 this month! Extra motivation for me!
S says
I did this without bacon and used shrimp I've been meaning to cook and it came out delicious! I think this would go well with any type of protein. Everyone in my family loved it and even had seconds. My first time using coconut aminos and frozen cauliflower rice. It was so good, I can't wait to make it again next week.