This post may contain affiliate links. Read disclosure policy
Our Creamy Cauliflower Risotto is a satisfying side dish that cuts out the carbs of traditional risotto! Made with vegetables, plenty of creamy Parmesan, and bits of crispy bacon. This cauliflower risotto recipe is a must make!
I know that in the height of the low carb craze cauliflower got a little…over used, perhaps.
But, I’m still here, watching carbs off and on but always trying to get more veggies into my diet and I STILL love cauliflower and use it as a swap for potatoes and rice quite often!
We make a pretty amazing cauliflower potato salad and this cauliflower mac and cheese is still one of my favorite side dishes to make for my cheese loving family.
This cauliflower risotto, though…it’s creamy dreamy perfection. All the richness and creaminess you’d expect in risotto, but it’s made with cauliflower instead of rice!
Cauliflower Risotto Tips & Tricks:
Fresh Vs. Frozen: Using fresh cauliflower that you either purchase already riced in the produce section or that you rice yourself will give you the best results. The frozen stuff will be a bit more watery and have a less nice texture.
Reheating: This cauliflower risotto reheats beautifully! Store in a covered dish in the fridge for up to 4 days and reheat in the microwave.
Ricing Cauliflower: You can easily make riced cauliflower at home with a sharp knife. Just chop chop chop until you have small, rice like pieces of cauliflower. Alternately, pop the cauliflower florets into a food process and blitz until finely chopped.
Additions: This cauliflower risotto is a favorite as is, but you can easily switch things up. Swap the bacon for pancetta, replace a bit of the broth with white wine, add finely chopped mushrooms to the mix, or stir in some extra herbs.
What Readers are Saying!
“I can’t even tell you how in love I am with this recipe! I am so not low carb, but who cares?!! This just sounds PERFECT.” -Kristen
Cauliflower Risotto Ingredient Notes:
This post contains affiliate links. As a member of Amazon and other affiliate programs I earn from qualifying purchases.
Bacon – I started with some diced bacon, because I feel like all good low carb recipes start with bacon. It’ll add plenty of savory flavor to the risotto!
Cauliflower – You’ll need a large head of cauliflower to start with. Or you can cheat if you hate ricing cauliflower and just buy a bag of it already riced! It’s not hard to rice it yourself but it does take more time.
Chicken Broth – Cooking the cauliflower rice in chicken broth is a simple way to infuse it with even more flavor!
Heavy Cream & Parmesan – You’ll mix in heavy cream and shaved parmesan that’ll get all melty and creamy and will coat the cauliflower rice nicely!
Other – You’ll also need some minced garlic and minced parsley, as well as salt and black pepper to taste. It’s totally optional but you could also add sliced mushrooms to turn this into a cauliflower mushroom risotto!
What We Love About This CAULIFLOWER RISOTTO Recipe:
- Texture: The heavy cream and shaved parmesan make for silky smooth, rich, and creamy combo that’ll perfectly coat the cauliflower rice. And while the cauliflower rice isn’t real rice, the textures are close enough!
- Savory: We cook the cauliflower rice in chicken broth and load it up with diced bacon and a rich creamy sauce so you know this risotto is loaded up with lots of savory flavors!
How To Make Cauliflower Risotto:
Cauliflower Rice: Chop cauliflower into large florets and add to a food processor. Process until the cauliflower becomes similar to rice sized pieces. Alternately, use a sharp knife and chop chop chop until you have small pieces.
Food Processor
We use our Breville food processor in all kinds of recipes! It makes short work of chopping veggies and many other other tasks. This is our favorite food processor because it is so heavy duty and it will last!
Bacon: Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the bacon to the skillet and fry until crisp, stirring often. Drain the grease. Add garlic to the skillet and cook for a minute. Garlic burns easy, so keep a close eye on this!
Cauliflower: Add the cauliflower and chicken broth to the skillet. Stir to combine and bring the liquid to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cover for 5 minutes. Remove the lid and continue cooking until the chicken broth has evaporated. This should take about 5 more minutes.
Serve: Stir in the heavy cream, parmesan, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately!
What To Serve With Cauliflower Risotto:
We like to serve this creamy cauliflower rice with pretty much any type of protein! This is a versatile side dish that’ll pair well with lots of good recipes but we especially it enjoy it with my keto meatloaf!
It’s also great with garlic pork tenderloin or pretzel crusted chicken (not low carb) and cauliflower risotto also goes well with seafood! This Old Bay Shrimp is a great choice and so is air fryer tilapia!
FAQ’s:
Any leftovers can be kept stored in an airtight container in the fridge for about 4 days. You could also freeze this cauliflower risotto recipe for up to a couple of months.
Yes, you could use frozen riced cauliflower instead of making it fresh or buying it fresh. We prefer the taste and texture of fresh, but frozen riced cauliflower works just fine.
MORE CAULIFLOWER RECIPES!
- Loaded Cauliflower Casserole: You know that loaded potato casserole? This is that, but healthier.
- Cauliflower Mac and Cheese: Cheesy perfection.
- Air Fryer Cauliflower: Breaded in Panko and air fried crispy!
- Cauliflower Au Gratin: Cauliflower and broccoli made amazing.
- Cauliflower Breakfast Pizza: The best way to start your day!
- Cauliflower Pizza Crust: Make your own low carb pizzas!
- Broccoli Cauliflower Salad: This cold summer salad is loaded with veggies!
Cauliflower Risotto
Ingredients
- 1 large head cauliflower
- 4 slices bacon diced
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup shaved parmesan
- 2 tablespoons minced parsley
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Chop the cauliflower into large florets and add to the bowl of a food processor. Process until you have rice sized chunks of cauliflower. Alternately, purchase a one pound package of riced cauliflower or chop the cauliflower by hand.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the bacon to the skillet and fry until crisp, stirring often. Drain the grease.
- Add the garlic to the skillet and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the cauliflower rice and chicken broth and stir to combine.
- Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cover. Cook 5 minutes or until cauliflower is tender.
- Remove the lid and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the chicken broth has evaporated, about 5 more minutes.
- Stir in the heavy cream, Parmesan, parsley, and salt and pepper to coat. Let the Parmesan melt a bit and serve hot.
Tips & Notes:
Nutrition Information:
This recipe was originally published in 2017. It was updated in February 2024. Original image below.
Mary Flatt says
I’ve tried this recipe 3 times now and absolutely love it! I added sliced mushrooms the second time and went a little further this last time by adding a mega dollop of spreadable cream cheese with chives, right at the end. I just don’t think you can mess it up! It has been amazing all three times. I am looking forward to changing it up some and trying other ingredients in the future as well! I’ll let you know how those turn out.
Karly says
The cream cheese sounds like a great addition! 🙂
Kathy R says
I was wondering what to have with our salmon tonight for dinner then I got the email with all the low carb sides. This was perfect to use up that bag of riced cauliflower I bought! We both loved it, really good & wonderful with the grilled salmon. I didn’t change a think but if I had mushrooms I would have added them because I think mushrooms make every thing better! Thanks for another great recipe Karly.
Karly says
Glad you gave it a try and enjoyed it!
Cheri says
Karly, THANK YOU for the incredible inspiration! You are amazing!! This recipe totally caught my eye as I looooove risotto! Ha ha and with OMG so many family members on dietary restrictions, I thought this will be a hit! Made it tonight, for myself (LOL) just to tryyyyyyy it! Wow! Yummy! Okay so I AM a “recipe adapter” as I tend to use a base recipe (or inspiration) and adapt to my taste, which many cooks do if they are comfortable in the kitchen. I am sure most bloggers do this on a regular basis!! I added chili flakes, cause I llike a hint of spice and I grated in a bit of fresh nutmeg – which can take the right creamy dish to a new level! Also used back bacon, as I did not have full fat bacon, but I just sautéed it in olive oil before adding rest of ingredients. The less fat allowed me to forgive the extra cream in the dish! Spectacular dish! Thank you so much!
FYI I have gluten, dairy, soy, vegan family members so I would omit bacon, add smokey Paprika for the smokey flavour, use a creamy hemp milk in place of cream and add nutritional yeast as the Parmesan cheese component! Hope that helps others! ?
Karly says
So glad you enjoyed this, Cheri! Your adaptions sound amazing! I’ll have to try this with some red pepper flakes next time.
Leah says
I love your low-carb Cauliflower recipes. The fried rice has become a family staple. Can’t WAIT to try the Risotto. The bags of Cauliflower Pearls at the grocery store have been a God send!
Karly says
Hope you love the risotto!! I love the cauliflower pearls, too – such a time saver!
Tiana Matson @yumofchina says
I love low carb recipes. I become a little fatter. For the risotto, I didn’t try it before, I always make fried rice. I would buy some cauliflowers to try this recipe.
Kristen M Chidsey says
I can’t even tell you how in love I am with this recipe! I am so not low carb, but who cares?!! This just sounds PERFECT.
Karly says
My carb lovers like this one too! It’s a good one for any diet. 🙂
luci says
this looks delicious! I’m thinking to sub almond milk for the heavy cream to make it dairy free, but do you have any recommendations for replacing the parmesan cheese? thank you for sharing!
Karly says
I’m sorry, I don’t have any experience converting recipes to be dairy free. I’d probably try using a vegan cheese, but I can’t say if they melt the same.
Lauren says
I love cauliflower! This looks absolutely delicious, will need to try this sometime soon!
Sabrina says
Nice recipe, thank you, it’s great to be able to get rid of the heavy carbs in the traditional pasta for this lighter kind, and nice that you’ve added some compensating creaminess to make up for the loss of pasta, I also like all of these other flavors!
Oriana @Mommy's Home Cooking says
Yum, looks amazing and would be wonderful with just about any entree. Bookmarking to try soon!
Karly says
Hope you love it!
Amy @Belly Full says
This is such a clever use of cauliflower! Might need to rethink some of my Thanksgiving side dishes!
Tatiana says
Good idea of making a risotto out of cauliflower, plus adding bacon is always great!
Adina says
Cauliflower as risotto is something I have never had. I mashed it instead of potatoes, made pizza crust with it and riced as plain rice substitute, but never thought of turning it into risotto. It definitely looks delicious, I would love to try it.
Melanie @ Gather for Bread says
What a great idea. My daughter loves cauliflower so it’s great to find new ways to use it and flavor it up.
Perfect for any holiday menu too!
Joanne says
I like cauliflower, but my husband does not. So, I buy the cauliflower rice in the bag, and use it in stuffed peppers. He cannot tell the difference. I will be trying your risotto soon.