Cauliflower Rice Caprese Recipe

You’ll love this Cauliflower Rice Caprese with tomatoes, mozzarella, basil and balsamic glaze! A quick and easy side dish that’s low carb and gluten free.

Have you jumped on the cauliflower rice bandwagon yet? I’ve been seeing recipes everywhere for a while now. But I wasn’t an early adopter, as they say in the tech world.

Because, I’m lazy in the kitchen.

I have no desire to shred a head of cauliflower, and the frozen cauliflower rice never appealed to me. (But I like using frozen cauliflower florets in my Slow Cooker Cauliflower-Cheese Soup.)

Unless I’m making a special dinner, I’m all about the shortcuts. 

Then, out of nowhere, my grocery store started carrying fresh, bagged cauliflower rice (called “pearls”) in the produce section. I did a double take the first time I saw it. What?!!!

I immediately threw two packages in my cart and had a spring in my step for the next hour of shopping. I know. It doesn’t take much. But this was brilliant.

The first time I made the cauliflower rice, I simply sautéed it with just a little olive oil and seasoning. It wasn’t bad, but my hubby, who’s a member of my Tough-Crowd Taste Tester Group, (otherwise known as my household) said it was too bland. It needed something.

And, I had to agree. All I could taste was cauliflower, and not much else. I found myself with a huge bowl of leftovers.

My wheels started turning. I needed to conquer the cauliflower with more dominant flavors. This is one veggie that works best as the backup singer, not the lead.

And I swear, developing a recipe to blog about was the furthest thing from my mind. I just wanted a delicious lunch, you know?

I looked over and saw some sad-looking tomatoes in my tiered, wire basket on my kitchen island. (Is it just me, or do tomatoes get super ripe in a New York minute?) My basil plant was sitting pretty on my corner window sill. And, the deli drawer in my fridge had all the Italian cheese.

I stock mozzarella, provolone, Parmesan and Romano like toilet paper. We must never run out!!!

And, although anything Caprese usually involves fresh, buffalo mozzarella, I only had the regular kind. But, I knew it would work just fine.

So, I adorned my cauliflower rice with some cut-up tomatoes, cubes of mozzarella and ribbons of basil. Then I stirred in olive oil and seasonings. And, of course…I drizzled balsamic glaze (affiliate link) all over the top.

And, I was a goner.

Cauliflower Rice Caprese was officially a thing. A beautiful thing.

I’ve made it three times so far, and now just microwave the cauliflower pearls for a few minutes in lieu of sautéing them. So easy. So fast. So delicious.

I must share this with the world. And, now that I'm on the cauliflower rice bandwagon, I can't wait to try other recipes like Cauliflower Rice Stuffing.

More recipes like this

• Salmon Caprese with Balsamic Glaze
• Cauliflower Caprese Skillet
• One-Pot Farro with Cauliflower and Onions
• Caponatina (Eggplant Caponata)

Enjoy!

(Recipe Source: Cooking with Mamma C. Cauliflower Rice Caprese Recipe originally published on Food Fanatic.)