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For a low carb alternative to rice that doesn’t involve cauliflower give cabbage rice a try. It’s perfect as a side dish or a healthy meatless meal.
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Cabbage Rice
I used to eat a lot of rice back in my high carb days. Although cauliflower rice is a fantastic alternative, I was looking for a change. And, I wanted something that added in a different twist from the same old Chinese style cauliflower fried rice recipe.
So I turned to some Indian spices, namely turmeric and curry powder, to change up the flavor. I also fried the riced cabbage in ghee instead of oil for an added buttery flavor. The result was a tasty combination that I’m sure to make again.
Why fried riced cabbage?
The color of cabbage is a pale green so you wouldn’t think to use it in a mock rice recipe. That’s why I chose to use yellow colored spices to mask the greenish color of the cabbage rice. However, it lends itself well as a low carb rice dish.
Cabbage tends to be a little bitter if eaten raw. That’s why most coleslaw dressings have added sweetener. But when cooked, it loses the bitterness and gets a little sweeter.
With its mild flavor, cabbage is a fantastic vegetable to add to just about any dish. This also makes it perfect for stir fry. In fact, one of the most popular low carb recipes is crack slaw which is a stir fry of shredded cabbage and ground meat with Asian spices. Another one of my favorites is sautéed red cabbage.
How to make cabbage rice keto and low carb friendly
This is by far one of the easiest recipes you can make. It’s something that can easily be prepped and cooked within twenty minutes. And if you use pre-riced cabbage, the total time is even shorter.
Only a handful of ingredients are used. I use riced cabbage, ghee, turmeric, curry powder, and garlic for the recipe. Plus some added salt and pepper to taste. That’s it!
To make the dish, you simply combine the melted fat with the spices and then stir in the riced cabbage until it’s well coated. Then it’s covered and simmered until the cabbage is tender. That takes about ten minutes. So easy!
Recipe Variations
If you’re looking for more of a cabbage fried rice recipe, the ghee can be replaced with avocado or olive oil. Scrambled eggs can be added along with some tamari or coconut aminos.
Meat and other vegetables can be added to make the dish more of a complete meal. Thin slices of cooked chicken, pork, or beef can be added. Even a ground meat would be a nice addition. Bell peppers can be used for added color
What to serve with the fried cabbage
If you don’t add in any meat, grilled chicken like pinchos Puerto Rico or Moroccan chicken work well with fried riced cabbage as a side dish. It also goes with pressure cooker pork loin roast or a crispy oven baked chicken.
To save time, I like to put my meat in a slow cooker before work so that I just have to cook the vegetable rice side dish for a complete dinner. And because it’s so quick and easy to prepare, it’s ready in no time. To make things easier, I’ll rice the cabbage the night before.
And this dish goes really well with my keto pork curry made in the Crock Pot!
Other Low Carb Cabbage Dishes
Cabbage is one of the best keto friendly vegetables. It can be used to make easy casseroles like an unstuffed cabbage roll, grilled cabbage steaks, or a cabbage beef bake.
We hope you enjoy this quick and easy side dish recipe. And be sure to drop us a note in the comments below to let us know what you think if you do give it a try.
Want another quick and easy side dish? Check out my sautéed red cabbage recipe.
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Cabbage Rice
Recipe Video (Click on Image to Play)
Ingredients
- 1 head cabbage riced
- 2 tablespoons ghee or butter
- 1 tablespoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon curry powder
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- salt & ground black pepper to taste (omit pepper for AIP)
Instructions
- Heat ghee in skillet until melted and hot. Stir in turmeric, curry, garlic, salt, and ground black pepper.
- Add riced cabbage and stir until it’s well coated with the ghee mixture. Place lid on top and allow to simmer on medium for ten minutes.
- Cabbage should be nice and tender. If not continue cooking a little longer.
Notes
Low Carb Sweeteners | Keto Sweetener Conversion Chart
Nutrition
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Note on Nutritional Information
Nutritional information for the recipe is provided as a courtesy and is approximate only. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site. Erythritol carbs are not included in carb counts as it has been shown not to impact blood sugar. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fiber.
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Jrose
I cut this down and it was fabulous tasting. I did without curry but I will try next time. How does this spice change the taste?
Lisa MarcAurele
It depends on the curry you use, but it’s only a small amount so it shouldn’t change the taste much. It’s a fairly mild spice with a taste similar to tumeric and cumin.
Carina Smith
Looks good, must try this, makes cabbage looks appetising!
Barbara
Delicious, quick and easy to make.
Carrie Roberts
This was so amazing. My husband and I both absolutely loved it. We had some grilled chicken strips that really went well together. Thank you so much for sharing.
Joan Roma
Great recipe, Lisa! Perfect for my diet. Good use of Indian spices too. Good job!
Lisa MarcAurele
Enjoy the cabbage rice Joan!
Stef
It’s so hard to come up with new side ideas on Keto. Love this idea! It’s going into regular rotation.
Allison
I love this tasty twist on rice! Just the thing for using up some leftover cabbage in the fridge. Thanks for sharing!
Rosemary
How do you rice cabbage?
Lisa MarcAurele
A hand grater or a food processor grater.
AnneM
Looks lovely, I must try this.
To make it more authentically Indian, I’d skip the curry powder (Indians never use it, I have family members who are Indian) and use ground cumin, corainder, some additional tumeric, garam masala and garlic/ginger paste.
Lisa MarcAurele
The spice blend is definitely more traditional in Indian cooking. I have several friends who are Indian.
Ginger
Hi Lisa. Where are you finding the cabbage pre-riced?
Lisa MarcAurele
You can use the bagged shredded cabbage that’s found near the coleslaw mix (I find this at Walmart in the produce section).
Judy
Looking forward to trying riced cabbage. Thank you. By the way what is AIP? I’m wondering if I unknowingly have it….
Lisa MarcAurele
It’s the Autoimmune Protocol for those wanting to follow a low inflammatory diet to ease autoimmune disease symptoms.