Is it cheaper to make your own Cauliflower Rice?
Cauliflower Rice may be your new best friend if you are on a low carb or Keto-style diet. Cauliflower rice is truly a great carb alternative and healthy low calories food to add to your meal planning.
There are so many recipes available right now on how to cook cauliflower rice and making your own. So, you may have wondered if it is actually cheaper to buy it already made or to make your own.
The answer to this is going to be based on two things: organic/regular and the amount of time needed to make the rice. If you are in a hurry, then buying premade frozen cauliflower rice is always going to be cheaper due to the time needed to make it yourself.
How much does cauliflower rice cost?
Let’s start with Organic Cauliflower Rice, we are going to break down the costs for homemade, store brand, and name brand to find out which is cheaper per ounce.
| Organic Cauliflower | Total Cost | Cost per Ounce | Winner? |
| Homemade (fresh organic head cauliflower) | 3.86 per lb | .24 per oz | |
| Homemade (frozen organic cauliflower) “Simple Truth Brand” | 2.29 (10 oz bag) | .29 per oz | |
| Walmart Great Value Brand Organic Riced Cauliflower | 1.87 (10oz bag) | .18 per oz | WINNER! |
| Sprouts Organic Riced Cauliflower | 3.49 (12oz bag) | .29 per oz |
The clear winner when it comes to Organic Cauliflower rice is to buy the Walmart brand rather than to make it yourself!
Let’s check out the non-organic cauliflower rice option, and see if it comes out any cheaper.
| Regular Cauliflower | Total Cost | Cost per Ounce | Winner? |
| Homemade (fresh regular head cauliflower) | $2.47 per lb | $0.15 per oz | |
| Homemade (frozen regular cauliflower) “Great Value Brand” | $1.00 (12oz bag) | $0.08 per oz | WINNER! |
| Walmart Great Value Brand Riced Cauliflower | $1.98 (12oz bag) | $0.16 per oz | |
| Green Giant Riced Cauliflower | $2.78 (10oz bag) | $0.28 per oz |
With a shocking twist, it was interesting to see that if you are buying non-organic then it was cheaper to buy frozen cauliflower florets and make it yourself.
I had assumed that it would always be cheaper to make your own, so I am surprised that both organic and non-organic had different results!
Is it cheaper to make your own riced cauliflower?
If you are making your own cauliflower rice and you don’t care if it is organic or not, then it is definitely cheaper to make your own. On average the cost to make your own rice cauliflower is about $0.08 per oz, whereas the cheapest frozen premade cauliflower rice is $0.16 per oz which is double!
The great thing about Cauliflower Rice is that it is very simple to make at home. You can use frozen or fresh cauliflower to make it and really don’t need a lot of skills or equipment.
Most people use a food processor or small chopper to make their own homemade cauliflower rice. You can also you a cheese box grater, a blender, or just a chef’s knife. Don’t let your lack of equipment keep you from making your own.
If you start with fresh cauliflower, you will want to remove the base and any green leaves. Give your cauliflower head a good rinse and try to dry the cauliflower as best you can. Then using a knife and cutting board, chop the cauliflower into florets or smaller chunks. Add the smaller pieces to your food processor and pulse chop.
Keep an eye on your cauliflower because if you chop it too much you will end up with cauliflower mash. You are aiming for small, chopped cauliflower that looks like the size of rice. (Don’t worry if you chop too much, because mashed cauliflower is tasty as well but not great for a mock rice dish.)
Once the rice is chopped to look like rice, you can add it to a sauté pan over medium heat with some olive oil. The best part about cauliflower is that it is very easy to flavor it! You can add any seasoning you want, like soy sauce, lemon pepper, taco seasoning, or even bouillon cubes for extra flavor.
Make sure to keep an eye on your pan, because you don’t want the rice to burn. I like to give it a quick sauté for a little bit of color and then add a small amount of water and put the lid on the pan. This lets the cauliflower steam, so it is nice and tender!
Making Cauliflower Rice with Frozen Cauliflower
If you start with frozen cauliflower florets, you will want to go ahead and steam it first. I like to steam it in the microwave for half of the amount of time that it recommends. We are really wanting to defrost the cauliflower and not truly cook it at this point.
Once the cauliflower is out of the microwave, you can drain as much water as possible, so your rice is not soggy. Then add the florets to the food processor and chop it into rice.
If the florets are still pretty wet, this can turn to mush very quickly so you may want to use a wooden spoon to keep the cauliflower moving and chopping.
If you notice that your rice is still really wet at this point, you can dry it with a clean towel or wring it out with cheesecloth. After you have your rice ready, you can cook cauliflower rice just like we did with the fresh kind in a sauté pan over medium heat.
Don’t forget, you can also add other vegetables to your cauliflower rice. Good additions are steamed broccoli, tomatoes, saluted onions, and fresh herbs too!
Is frozen or fresh cauliflower rice better?
Whether you go with frozen or fresh cauliflower rice, they both have a pretty neutral taste. Just like white rice has a very mild and non-flavor, cauliflower rice works better with seasonings.
Even if you go with a basic rice, you can add butter, salt, and pepper to make it more appealing. Other’s like to top their rice with sauces or even salsa to add some seasoning.
Cauliflower by itself has an extremely mild taste so it’s perfect to be a base for any cuisine. If you are making a Mexican dish, add some taco seasoning.
If you are making an Italian dish, add some oregano, basil, and garlic to make it taste more authentic.
If you are going for an Oriental flavor, you can add sesame oil, soy sauce, or even Japanese Yum Yum Sauce. Cauliflower fried rice is amazing, just add a little egg to the pan!
I personally love to use cauliflower rice as the base for “Rice” Bowls, so depending on what meat and vegetables I am using, I usually make a sauce that adds flavor to the cauliflower.
Cooked Cauliflower rice can last another 4 days in the refrigerator, so don’t forget to make extra to pack for lunches too!
Cheaper Cauliflower Rice
This Cauliflower Rice test definitely surprised me in some ways. I was not expecting that if you want Organic Cauliflower Rice, that it is actually cheaper to just buy it premade.
On the other hand, if organic doesn’t matter, then making your own cauliflower rice with store brand frozen cauliflower was the cheapest option!
Another thing to keep in mind is the amount of Cauliflower rice that you typically use. A typical serving size of cauliflower rice is 1/2 cup per person. (For regular rice, you typically also serve 1/2 a cup per person.)
So, a family of 4 will need 2 cups of cauliflower rice for one meal with no leftovers. For 16 oz of cauliflower rice, that will typically need to buy more than one bag of premade rice.
If you were to buy a 1-pound head of cauliflower, you will more than likely make enough for everyone. If you happen to catch fresh cauliflower on sale for super cheap, you could even make a HUGE batch of cauliflower rice and freeze it!
You can freeze uncooked cauliflower rice in a plastic Ziploc style bag, and it will last for month in the freezer. If you like to use rice cauliflower often, this can be a great way to prep it and have it ready to go for busy nights later on!
Now if you are a the gardening type, I would actually grow my own cauliflower too cut the cost down even further. This would be a great idea to use up a lot of fresh cauliflower before it went bad. Just go ahead and make a gigantic batch of rice and freeze it!
If you are in a DIY mood, check out “Is it cheaper to make your own Coffee?” and the potential savings is huge!
