This Simple Pork Fried Cauliflower Rice is a quick, one-pot dinner that can be made in under 30 minutes and it’s an affordable way to eat healthier. Plus it’s paleo and free of gluten, soy, eggs, and peanuts!
Hey friends, it’s Recipe ReDux time again! This month’s theme is all about saving money on main dishes. Since eating healthy can be perceived as pretty expensive (and it can depend on what you’re buying), having an arsenal of budget-friendly healthy recipes is really important if you’re on a budget.
Recipe ReDux January 2016: Budget-Friendly Eats:
How low can you go? Can you make a meal for less than $3 per serving? Whatever your budget, show us your healthy entree recipe to help keep food spending in check in 2017.
Healthy eating doesn’t have to be expensive! People can make healthy and allergy-friendly food work on a budget, it just takes planning ahead and knowing what foods are going to fit best into your budget.
For this Recipe ReDux, I decided to make one of my favorite one-pot dinners that’s ready in under 30 minutes: Simple Pork Fried Cauliflower Rice. I used diced ham from the store in this recipe, but this tastes amazing with leftover bone-in spiral sliced ham. It’s so good! If you don’t want pork, you can sub in rotisserie chicken or eggs if you can have them.
I bought everything for this recipe at Walmart (except the coconut aminos, I get those on Vitacost) since they have some of the most affordable prices. Here’s a little money math with this recipe:
- Cubed ham, 8 ounces = $1.81 (half of the 16 ounce package for $3.63)
- Cauliflower crumbles from Green Giant, 16 ounces = $3.97 (you can cut costs more here by cutting up your own cauliflower instead of buying it pre-cut)
- White onion and green onion = about $1
- Red bell pepper = about $1.25 (I buy a 3-pack of peppers to save money)
- Garlic clove = about $0.05
- Sesame oil = $0.14 for 1/2 Tbsp.
- Coconut aminos = $0.32 for 1 Tbsp
- Fish sauce = $0.20 for 1 Tbsp
- Coconut amino teriyaki sauce = about $0.38 for 1 Tbsp.
- About $9.12 total for this meal, and there is about 4-5 servings = $1.82 – $2.28 per serving
Some of the most affordable foods are very healthy and whole food: brown rice, beans, chicken breast, eggs, vegetables like broccoli and zucchini, potatoes and more. These items just take a bit more time to create meals with since they aren’t prepared foods, but that’s where planning a menu comes in.
Honestly, I have struggled so much with planning a menu on a consistent basis over the past 12 years that I’ve been cooking for my family. Sticking to a schedule isn’t my strength, but I’m getting better at it each week and making it a solid habit. My husband and kids actually planned this week’s menu so that gave me a break from trying to figure out what to write down.
Simple Pork Fried Cauliflower Rice (Egg and Soy Free)
Ingredients
- ½ Tablespoon sesame oil
- ½ medium yellow onion diced
- ½ large red bell pepper seeded and diced
- 1 large garlic clove minced (I use a garlic press)
- 16 ounces cauliflower crumbles
- 8 ounces diced ham
- 1 Tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 Tablespoon coconut aminos
- 1 Tablespoon coconut amino teriyaki sauce or more aminos
- 3 to 4 green onions sliced
Instructions
- In a large deep pan or wok, gently heat the sesame oil (it smokes easily so don’t overheat it).
- Chop up the onion and the pepper and saute with the garlic until the onions and peppers begin to soften.
- Add in the cauliflower crumbles and cook until the cauliflower begins to soften a bit
- Add in the diced ham, green onions, fish sauce, coconut aminos, and coconut teriyaki sauce and cook until the ham is heated through and the cauliflower is softened a bit to your liking
- Garnish with sliced green onions and serve immediately
- Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Sarah Jane Parker is the founder, recipe creator, and photographer behind The Fit Cookie. She’s a food allergy mom and allergy friendly food blogger of 12 years based in Wyoming. Sarah is also an ACSM Certified Personal Trainer, ACE Certified Health Coach, Revolution Running certified running coach, and an ACE Certified Fitness Nutrition Specialist
I struggle at meal planning! And keeping meals healthy and affordable. This solves all those problems. And it looks so good!
Thanks Melissa! I was actually surprised at how affordable this meal was once I did the math 🙂
Sarah that bowl is just so pretty!! I love the idea of cauliflower rice…. get my kids to eat some veggies.. <3 Looks so yum…
It’s definitely a great way to add more veggies to meals!
I love everything about this… the recipe (OMG I love cauliflower rice and am DEFINITELY trying yours tonight!) the bowls… LOVE them and the fact you struggle with planning too… honestly, I suck at meal planning but I am TRYING to get better!
Making meal planning a habit is definitely a process! But the more I do it, the easier it gets 🙂