If you’ve never made cauliflower rice before, you’re in for a pleasant surprise with this recipe. Made with aromatic lemongrass, chilli and garlic, this cauliflower shrimp fried ‘rice’ is super quick and easy, and will make you fall in love with the concept of finely diced cauliflower as a healthier, low-carb substitute to white rice.
I am also using sautéed onions, celery and carrots in this dish – which provide lots of gut-beneficial fibre – and mineral and protein rich prawns. It’s a tasty complete paleo meal that is my free paleo program, keto and Whole30 friendly.
Cook’s notes
To make the cauliflower rice, you can either use a food processor or your mad knife skills. For this recipe, I used a medium head of cauliflower which I chopped finely using a chef’s knife. If you’re using a food processor to grind up the cauliflower into small rice-like pieces, make sure to process the florets in batches, using an S-blade.
I used frozen king prawns/shrimp which I defrosted in hot water for 15 minutes before cooking. I find frozen shrimp works really well in stir-fries and fried ‘rice’ and it’s much more affordable than buying fresh, raw prawns. Plus, they come pre-peeled, saving you a lot of prep time.
You can find fresh lemongrass in most bit supermarkets and Asian grocers, but if it’s not available in your area, you can use a tablespoon of grated ginger instead. The recipe is more of a template and you are welcome to substitute some ingredients. For example, you could add some curry powder and turmeric to the mix; diced cooked chicken or ham could be used in place of shrimp; fried pork mince or beef mince can be added into the ‘rice’ mix as well.

Lemongrass Cauliflower Shrimp Fried ‘Rice’
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 20 mins
- Yield: 3 1x
- Category: Main
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 250 g / 8 oz raw peeled prawns (I used defrosted kind prawns king prawns/shrimp)
- Pinch of salt
- 1 stem lemongrass, pale section only, finely chopped
- 1/2 long red chilli, finely chopped
- 1/2 red or white onion, finely diced
- 1 large carrot, diced into small cubes
- 1 celery stick, diced into small cubes
- 1 medium head of cauliflower, ground up or finely chopped into small kernels
- 2 large cloves of garlic, finely diced
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons coconut aminos
- Generous pinch of sea salt
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- Handful of fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves, chopped
Instructions
- Heat a tablespoon of coconut oil in a large frying pan oven high heat and add the prawns. Sprinkle with a little sea salt and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes, until the prawns curl and change colour. Transfer to a bowl.
- Reduce the heat to medium-high and add an extra tablespoon of coconut oil. Add the lemongrass, chilli, onions, carrots and celery and stir-fry for 3 minutes, until softened and fragrant.
- Now add the finely diced cauliflower and the rest of the ingredients (except for the coriander) and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes. Add a few tablespoons of water if the frying pan gets dry.
- Stir in the prawns right at the end to reheat and top with fresh coriander. Serve right away, while hot.
This fried “rice” is so beautiful! I love how much nutrition you were able to pack into the dish plus the lemongrass flavor, so yummy! My family would love this meal, especially my husband who is a huge shrimp fan.
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Love this easy weeknight dinner! I am going to grab up some lemongrass this weekend! Thanks!
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You shouldn’t defrost good, especially meat/fish in hot water. It should be done in cold water to prevent bacteria from growing and partially cooking the food.
It’s defrosted in 15-20 minutes in hot water (not boiling water) and the water never stays hot as it cools down within a minute from the frozen fish. I doubt that’s long enough time for bacteria to grow 😉
*food…. That said, the dish looks delicious.
I love how colorful this dish is! Such a great weeknight meal.
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Girl! You are making me so hungry! This looks so good!
Haha, my shrimp loving kids saw this over my shoulder and are begging me to make it. Looks like a perfect summer dish to eat out on our patio!
Oh, bless! Hope you do and they eat it up 🙂
This is such a powerhouse meal, and you’ve won my heart with the lemongrass – I’ve never put it in stir fried ‘rice’ but that needs to change right away!
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It’s so simple and delicious ! Love love love cauliflower fried rice !
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Shrimp fried rice is my husband’s favorite. I’m going to hav to make this for him. It looks absolutely divine!
I love the flavors of this fried rice! What a delicious meal 🙂
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This sounds so tasty! I love the flavor of lemongrass 🙂
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That lemongrass must give a ton of flavor and amazing aroma. Love the shrimp in the fried “rice.” Looks like a dish I would come back for seconds.
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These look delish, and SO fast! A great week night dinner
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I love caulirice! I also love shrimps – thanks for a quick and easy inspirational recipe!
This decked out fried rice looks so fantastic! Can’t wait to try it!
I’m late to the party, but made this for dinner tonight. It was delicious! I used fish and calamari in place of the prawns, but kept everything else the same, and it was a lovely meal. It was also really fast to cook, which TBH I did like too! Thank you, Irena 🙂
Thanks Luc 🙂 Glad you enjoyed it. Fish and calamari subs sound delish 🙂