Cauliflower Risotto with Spinach
This creamy vegan cauliflower risotto with spinach will amaze you! Made with riced cauliflower and cooked to perfection, it’s dairy-free, gluten-free, and low in carbs and calories. It makes a creamy, delicious meal in less than 15 minutes! If you want a delicious low-carb vegan meal or side dish, this is it!
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It may seem like a plate of sauteed veggies may not be that exciting, but my 10-year-old, requests this dish all the time and we fight over seconds, so I’ve had to start making a double batch – that’s how good this is!
âť” What is riced cauliflower?
Riced cauliflower is simply cauliflower that has been chopped into tiny pieces until it’s the size of a grain of rice. You can chop your own by putting ahead of broken-up cauliflower florets in your food processor pulsing it over and over until it is broken up into tiny pieces. Most major grocery stores also sell bags of riced cauliflower pre-chopped and ready to cook. These prechopped bags make it much quicker and easier.
Using riced cauliflower is the easiest way to make a risotto-style dish. Traditional risotto is delicious, but a lot more time-consuming. This is a quick and easy dish that anyone can make with very little effort!
🥗 Healthy risotto
There is no rice in this risotto. Cauliflower is used in place of rice for a low-carb and lower-calorie alternative to rice. Plus this dish is packed with healthy spinach!
Even though cauliflower may be healthier than rice, surprisingly, I like it better than rice in this dish!
🧾 Ingredients and substitutions
- Riced Cauliflower – 1 bag of riced cauliflower or 1 head of cauliflower chopped into rice-sized pieces.
- Vegan Butter – or olive oil. You can also use my homemade vegan butter.
- Garlic – fresh minced or pressed garlic will give you the most flavor.
- Baby Spinach – you could also use kale or any other fresh greens of choice.
- Salt and Pepper – for flavor.
- Fresh Parsley – or cilantro. Fresh herbs really make this dish great, so don’t skip it.
Optional Ingredients
- Vegan Parmesan – you can use store-bought cheese or make homemade vegan parmesan or simply sprinkle it with some nutritional yeast.
- Toasted Pine Nuts – give this dish extra flavor and a little texture.
- Lemon – a squeeze of fresh lemon or lime juice is also a nice addition to this recipe.
🥄 Instructions
- Start by warming some vegan butter or olive oil in a skillet on your lowest setting.
- Add some minced garlic and let the garlic warm in the oil for a few minutes.
- Once the butter and garlic are warm, add a bag of riced cauliflower to the skillet and sprinkle with salt.
- Stir to coat the cauliflower rice with the garlic butter and turn up the heat slightly.
- Allow the cauliflower to cook slowly stirring every minute or two until the “rice” becomes soft and slightly translucent. This will take about 8-10 minutes.
- Add spinach and mix well again allowing it to cook for about 2 more minutes until the spinach has wilted and become shiny.
- Garnish with freshly chopped parsley and pine nuts if desired and serve warm.
🥣 How to make it creamy
The trick to making this dish into a creamy risotto is cooking it slowly. Take the little extra time to allow the cauliflower to cook slowly and soak up the flavors of the vegan butter and garlic. It’s worth the wait!
👩🏻‍🍳 Pro tips
- Warm the garlic in the oil, do not allow it to brown.
- Cook the cauliflower slowly until it becomes soft and buttery.
- You can also add mushrooms to this dish for a great added flavor and texture. If using mushrooms, add them along with the garlic in the beginning.
🌟 More risotto recipes
Traditional risotto is made from Arborio rice. This is a long slow cooking process that results in a deliciously cream rice dish. Check out my vegan risotto recipe or my vegan butternut squash recipe for this traditional style. You can also make quick and easy risotto from orzo pasta.
If you like riced cauliflower, you will love my riced cauliflower stuffing recipe.
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Vegan Cauliflower Risotto
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or vegan butter
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 16 oz package riced cauliflower, or 2 cups riced cauliflower
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups baby spinach
- 1/4 cup parsley, freshly chopped
Instructions
- Warm the vegan butter, or olive oil in a skillet on the lowest setting. Add some minced garlic and let the garlic warm in the oil for about 2 minutes.
- Once the butter and garlic are warm, add a bag of riced cauliflower to the skillet and sprinkle with salt.
- Stir to coat the cauliflower rice with the garlic butter and turn up the heat slightly.
- Allow the cauliflower to cook slowly stirring every minute or two until the “rice” becomes soft and slightly translucent.
- Add spinach and mix well again allowing it to cook for about 2 more minutes until the spinach has wilted and become shiny.
- Garnish with fresh chopped parsley and serve warm. (Add toasted pine nuts, vegan parmesan, and a squeeze of fresh lemon if desired.)
Notes
- Warm the garlic in the oil, do not allow it to brown.
- Cook the cauliflower slowly until it becomes soft and buttery.
- You can also add mushrooms to this dish for a great added flavor and texture. If using mushrooms, add them along with the garlic in the beginning.
Did you make this recipe?Please leave a star rating and review below!*Updated October 14, 2021, from the original post from June 5, 2018, to include new images and more detailed instruction.
So simple and delicious. Going into the rotation! Thank you!
I seriously love this dish! I’ve been making it all the time lately and even my kids like it! Love that it’s low carb and gluten free too! Thanks for the recipe!
I’m so happy to hear that you and your kids liked it Marie! 🙂