This vegetarian grain-free paella is packed with veggies! This recipe is made with riced cauliflower instead of regular rice. It has a great paella taste and contains a variety of vegetables, including cauliflower, onion, red bell pepper, tomato, peas, artichokes, parsley, and garlic. Eating a variety of vegetables is important because different vegetables contain different vitamins, minerals, and other nonessential nutrients. This recipe is rich in nutrients and also grain free, gluten free, and dairy free.
If you’re looking for a grain-free meat paella recipe, check out my Cauliflower Rice Paella with chicken and chorizo.

I have a smaller paella pan so the ingredients are proportional to my pan size, if you have a bigger pan, the portion size may vary.

Why Cauliflower Rice?
Cauliflower is an incredibly popular vegetable right now. It is a great, grain-free substitute in many recipes. Substituting with cauliflower rice is an easy way to add more vegetables to your plate. Cauliflower is an excellent source of fiber and contains vitamin C, vitamin K, vitamin B6, folate, potassium, and magnesium. It also contains nonessential nutrients, such as antioxidants, which protect cells from damage1.
What You’ll Need to Make Vegetarian Cauliflower Rice Paella:
Veggies: This vegetarian grain-free paella contains a ton of veggies. To make this recipe, you will need riced cauliflower, a sweet onion, a red bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, peas, artichoke hearts, and garlic. I used frozen riced cauliflower and frozen peas for this recipe.
Herbs & Spices: You will need fresh parsley, paprika and saffron spices for this recipe.
Oil: You will need avocado oil to make this recipe. I use avocado oil for high temperature cooking because it has a high smoke point.

I hope you enjoy this recipe. If you give it a try, please leave a comment below or tag me on instagram and let me know what you think!

Veggie Cauliflower Rice Paella
Equipment
- Small Paella Pan
Ingredients
- 3 cups Frozen Riced Cauliflower
- 1/2 Sweet Onion
- 1 Red Bell Pepper
- 8 Cherry Tomatoes
- 1/4 cup Frozen Peas
- 5 Artichoke Hearts
- Parsley, Paprika, Saffron
- 2 Garlic Cloves
- 3 tbsp Avocado Oil
Instructions
- Chop the onion and red bell pepper. Add the chopped onion and red bell pepper to the pan. Sauté the red bell pepper and onion in 2 tbsp avocado oil on medium heat until the red bell pepper starts to soften and the onion turns slightly brown. This will take approximately 5 minutes. Add paprika and salt and pepper to taste.
- While the pepper and onion are cooking, cut 8 cherry tomatoes in half. Then, add the cherry tomatoes and frozen peas to the pan.
- Add 2 minced cloves of garlic to the pan and (if needed) an additional tbsp of avocado oil to cook the garlic in. Allow the garlic to simmer for about 30 seconds.
- Add the frozen riced cauliflower and the artichokes to the pan and mix the contents of the pan. Add approximately 1- 1 1/2 cups of water to the pan. The contents of the pan should begin to boil. Add a pinch of saffron and additional salt, pepper, and paprika to taste. Note: You do not want to add too much water because the fresh and frozen vegetables will release some water.
- Cook the paella until all of the water has evaporated (approximately 25 minutes). Once all of the water evaporated, I allowed my paella to cook a little longer on low heat to allow it to cook and stick to the pan. Allow the paella to cool slightly and top with fresh parsley.
References:
- Elliott, Brianna. “The Top 8 Health Benefits of Cauliflower.” Healthline, Healthline Media, 14 Apr. 2017, http://www.healthline.com/nutrition/benefits-of-cauliflower.
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