Cauliflower Rice Stir-Fry with Ground Beef
247 calories and 22 grams of protein for a plate that fills like dinner. Ground beef browned in olive oil, piled with onion, garlic, bell pepper, and celery, then finished with cauliflower rice tossed in paprika, Italian seasoning, and a pinch of chili on high heat.
Cauliflower rice does the job white rice usually handles — same volume in the pan, same way it soaks up the spice blend — at 15 grams of carbs for the whole plate. Fifteen minutes, one pan, full portion.
247 calories and 22 grams of protein for a plate that fills like dinner. Ground beef browned in olive oil, piled with onion, garlic, bell pepper, and celery, then finished with cauliflower rice tossed in paprika, Italian seasoning, and a pinch of chili on high heat.
Cauliflower rice does the job white rice usually handles — same volume in the pan, same way it soaks up the spice blend — at 15 grams of carbs for the whole plate. Fifteen minutes, one pan, full portion.
Ingredients
- onion 0.5 piece
- garlic 1 clove
- celery 1 stalk
- bell pepper 1 piece
- olive oil 0.5 tablespoon
- 96% lean ground beef 3 ounces
- paprika (ground spice) 1 teaspoon
- Italian seasoning 1 teaspoon
- chili powder 1 pinch
- water 3 tablespoons
- cauliflower rice 4 ounces
Method
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Finely chop the onion. Press the garlic. Slice the celery. Dice the bell pepper.
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Heat the oil in a pan and cook the ground beef for 4 minutes until done. Add the onion, garlic, bell pepper and celery and stir-fry for 5 minutes. Then add paprika, Italian seasoning, chili powder, water and the cauliflower rice. Cook on high heat for 3 minutes.
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Serve the cauliflower rice stir-fry with ground beef on a plate. Season with pepper and salt to taste.
Keep the cauliflower rice on high heat for the full three minutes in Step 2. Stir-frying cruciferous vegetables in oil without water produced 7.9 times more isothiocyanates (protective plant compounds) than eating them raw in a 2020 analysis. The brief dry heat destroys a competing enzyme that would otherwise intercept those compounds before they form.
Why This Works
Behind this recipe
Is cauliflower rice actually lower in carbs than regular rice?
By a wide margin. Cauliflower rice has roughly 5 grams of carbs per 100 grams. Cooked white rice has about 28 grams in the same amount. This plate uses 112 grams of cauliflower rice, and the total carbs for everything on the plate come to 15 grams.
Is 22 grams of protein enough for one meal?
22 grams puts this plate in the range most research on per-meal protein utilization has studied. The idea that the body caps out at 20 or 30 grams per sitting is one of the most persistent myths in fitness. Recent research found no hard ceiling on how much protein the body can use from a single meal. At 22 grams from lean beef, this plate delivers a solid protein serving.
Read the full evidence reviewCan I use ground turkey or chicken instead of beef?
Yes. The cooking method works the same with any ground protein. The 84 grams of 96% lean ground beef in this recipe is the primary protein source. Extra-lean ground turkey or chicken at a similar weight gives a comparable protein count with slight differences in fat and flavor. Adjust the cooking time in Step 2 if the grind is coarser or finer.
