Roasted Cauliflower Rice Medley with Pine Nuts
Roasted Cauliflower Rice Medley with Pine Nuts is perfect when you want a low-carb side dish with festive colors and amazing flavors.
PIN the Roasted Cauliflower Rice Medley to make it later!
Today I am sharing this amazing Roasted Cauliflower Rice Medley with Pine Nuts for Friday Favorites. I love this delicious cauliflower rice side dish that I think is perfect for any time of year when you don’t mind using the oven.
And you know I’m a cauliflower rice fan, but this recipe was my first time trying roasted cauliflower rice, and it was definitely a wow for me! The roasting gives the cauliflower a nutty flavor, and the addition of crunchy green onions, chopped red bell peppers (roasted with the cauliflower rice), coarsely-grated Parmesan, and pine nuts puts this recipe over the top.
I made this twice to perfect the recipe and both times I ate leftovers for breakfast the next day. Not many people eat cauliflower for breakfast, so you know it has to be really good!
What ingredients do you need for this recipe?
(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- cauliflower
- red bell peppers, chopped
- Olive Oil (affiliate link)
- Spike Seasoning (affiliate link), or use your favorite all-purpose seasoning blend)
- fresh-ground black pepper to taste
- green onion (see notes)
- toasted pine nuts
- coarsely grated Parmesan cheese
Can you use frozen cauliflower rice for this recipe?
For roasted cauliflower rice, personally I’d prefer to use freshly-chopped raw cauliflower, although if you look in the comments there are some people who have reported good results with frozen cauliflower rice.
What can you use if you don’t have pine nuts?
If you’d like to make the Roasted Cauliflower Rice Medley but you don’t have pine nuts or they aren’t in the budget, I’d use slivered almonds instead, which will also be delicious!
Who else LOVES roasted cauliflower?
Check out 25 Roasted Cauliflower Recipes for lore more tasty ideas for roasted cauliflower. Or use Low-Carb Dinners with Frozen Cauliflower Rice to see more ideas for cauliflower rice.
How to make Roasted Cauliflower Rice Medley with Pine Nuts:
(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- Chop up cauliflower into smallish same-size pieces; then buzz in the food processor (in two batches) to make the “rice.
- Cut up a red bell pepper into small pieces.
- Stir together cauliflower rice, peppers, olive oil, Spike Seasoning, and fresh-ground black pepper.
- Spray a large baking sheet with non-stick spray or olive oil and spread out the cauliflower rice/pepper mixture.
- Roast in a pre-heated oven at 425F/220C for 20 minutes.
- Then use a large turner to turn the rice over, spread out again, and roast 20-25 minutes more, or until it’s starting to look toasted and is as browned as you’d like it.
- While the rice cooks, slice up 1-2 cups green onions. (We did use two full cups of green onions and I loved the color and crunch they provided, but if you’re not a huge green onion fan one cup will be enough.)
- Toast the pine nuts in a dry pan over high heat for about a minute (just until they barely start to look brown.)
- When rice is done to your liking, put it back into the bowl and toss with sliced green onion, coarsely grated Parmesan, and pine nuts.
- Season with salt and more fresh-ground pepper as desired, then serve hot or warm and enjoy!
- This is good enough to eat for breakfast when it’s been in the fridge overnight, but it’s even better when it’s freshly made.
More Roasted Cauliflower to Enjoy!
- Roasted Cauliflower with Parmesan
- Roasted Spicy Cauliflower
- Roasted Cauliflower with Red Pepper, Green Olives, and Pine Nuts
- Roasted Cauliflower with Garlic
- Roasted Cauliflower Steaks with Red Pepper, Capers, and Olives
Roasted Cauliflower Rice Medley with Pine Nuts
Roasted Cauliflower Rice Medley with Pine Nuts is delicious as a side dish when you want something colorful and special.
Ingredients
- 1 medium-sized head cauliflower (about 2 lbs. before cutting)
- 2 red bell peppers, chopped
- 2 T olive oil
- 1 tsp. Spike Seasoning (or use your favorite all-purpose seasoning blend)
- fresh-ground black pepper to taste
- 2 cups sliced green onion (see notes)
- 1/3 cup toasted pine nuts
- 1/3 cup coarsely grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425F/220C.
- Spray a large baking sheet with non-stick spray or olive oil.
- Cut the core out of a 2 lb. head of cauliflower and discard.
- Cut the cauliflower into smallish same-size pieces.
- Then using a food processor (affiliate link) with the steel blade, buzz half the cauliflower at a time until it’s chopped into small pieces (slightly larger than rice.) Don’t overprocess or the cauliflower will start to puree. (You can also grate the cauliflower on the large side of a box grater (affiliate link) if you don’t have a food processor.)
- Chop the red bell peppers into pieces about 1/2 inch square.
- Put the chopped cauliflower into a bowl and toss with the red peppers, olive oil, Spike Seasoning (affiliate link), and black pepper.
- Spread the cauliflower mixture out on the baking sheet and roast in the pre-heated oven 20 minutes.
- Then use a large turner to turn the cauliflower over, spread it out again, and put back into the oven to roast for 20-25 minutes longer, or until it’s starting to look toasted and is browned to your liking.
- While the cauliflower cooks, slice green onions and grate Parmesan cheese. (Coarsely-grated Parmesan in a jar is fine for this, but I wouldn’t use finely grated Parmesan.)
- Put a frying pan over a burner on high heat, add the pine nuts, and toast for about a minute, or until they are barely starting to get some color. (They can get too browned rather quickly; remove from the pan as soon as they are barely toasted.)
- When the cauliflower is roasted to your liking, put it back into the bowl and toss gently with the sliced green onions, coarsely-grated Parmesan, and toasted pine nuts.
- Season to taste with salt and additional fresh-ground black pepper.
- Serve hot or warm.
Notes
Use more or less green onion depending on how much you like green onion, but use at least 1 cup.
This was still good when it was reheated after being in the fridge overnight, but it’s definitely best freshly made.
Recipe inspired by Roasted Cauliflower Rice at Perry's Plate.
Nutrition Information
Yield
8Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 118Total Fat 9gSaturated Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 6gCholesterol 4mgSodium 280mgCarbohydrates 8gFiber 3gSugar 4gProtein 4g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Roasted Cauliflower Rice Medley with Pine Nuts is a perfect recipe for low-carb diet plans, even Keto. The recipe is also low-glycemic and would be great for any phase of the original South Beach Diet.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Side Dishes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet-Type Index to find recipes for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This medley of roasted cauliflower rice with peppers, green onions, and Parmesan was posted in 2016. It was last updated with more information in 2023.
15 Comments on “Roasted Cauliflower Rice Medley with Pine Nuts”
I use frozen cauliflower rice all the time. it’s already partly cooked, so just cook it less time and stir it so it browns evernly.
Good to know that works for you! Thanks for telling us. I’ll mention in the post that this comment is here.
Very good! I used a bag of Cali flower pearls. Not sure if that equals one head but to me it’s doesn’t make a lot. After roasted I could eat the whole pan by itself 🙂
This recipe says two pounds of cauliflower, so I am guessing a bag is not nearly that much. But glad you enjoyed it!
Yummy, Very very tasty. I tried it at home and everyone loved it.
Thanks
I am baffled, especially since there are several other comments below saying how much they liked it. I did go back and check my original notes just to make sure I didn’t make a mistake. You might want to look into getting your oven temperature calibrated. I’m glad you were watching it carefully.
We love raw & cooked cauliflower but I’ve always served it plain with butter or w/cheese. I made this recipe last night and it was so good that the 2 of us ate the entire recipe & it was one BIG head of cauli! I served it with roasted pork tenderloin and baked yams. Thanks!!!!
So glad to hear you enjoyed it!
Can you use frozen cauliflower rice?
I’ve never tried this with frozen cauliflower rice and I’m honestly not sure how it would stand up to the long roasting time or how you’d need to adjust the time. You could try it but I’m not sure it will work as well as raw cauliflower. Let me know if you do try it; I’d love to know.
This is absolutely DELICIOUS!! I probably shouldn't admit that I ate almost all six servings by myself…in one sitting! 😉 I had to use walnuts because I didn't realize I was out of pine nuts. Look forward to using pine nuts next time…and there will definitely be a next time (very soon!! Thanks for another great recipe!
Thanks Kara, so glad you liked it!
Thanks Pattie; so glad you are enjoying the recipes! This recipe uses cauliflower "rice" which is cauliflower chopped very small so it resembles rice (for a low-carb version of rice.) If you wanted to make a dish that uses regular rice that's very similar to this recipe you could make Red and Green Christmas Rice. Thanks for the reminder; I should add that to this post!
Thanks Lydia; we really loved it when we tested the recipe!
Oh dear, I am sorry to say I'm not sure. I think it might have been Home Goods; that's where I buy a lot of my props.