Before I get this review started let me clear the air on cauliflower rice. It’s good, I enjoy it, but I don’t eat it all the time. Why? Because I find it very temperamental. There isn’t a middle ground with this stuff on any grounds. Either you can pulse it too much or not enough, so the size is wrong. Cooking it can be a nightmare because raw cauliflower rice is awful and the texture of overcooked is even worse. These issues led to the appeal of Nature’s Intent Cauliflower Rice.
NATURE’S INTENT CAULIFLOWER RICE APPEAL
We found a box of six at Costco for $26.00. That works out to about $4.30 a bag. The bag contains four portions so when you break it down that way the price isn’t near as bad as you would think. The appeal in the packaging for us was it could be microwaved in that same package in just 60 seconds.
There is no way on God’s green earth you can prep a head of cauliflower, pulse it into rice, and cook it in 60 seconds. Combine that with the fact there is no mess, and you have a winner. As two people that used to eat a lot of rice out of microwavable bags this seemed like a winner.
COOKING NATURE’S INTENT CAULIFLOWER RICE
We followed the instructions to a tee by cracking the top of the bag a little bit and throwing it in the microwave for one minute. The bag held up well and the rice came out piping hot. We poured it into a bowl to spice it and the size of the cauliflower was incredibly consistent. That size speaks well to heating this up on a stovetop in a quick and efficient manner.
Nature’s Intent was bang on with how long it should be cooked as the texture seemed near perfect. I expected as it was bagged, we would see some gumminess, but that wasn’t the case. I won’t say the rice was perfectly fluffy, but there certainly wasn’t a lot stuck together or lumpy.
THE TASTE
This is obviously the biggest part of the review. To describe the taste, I must refer to one very simple thing. Cauliflower. This Cauliflower Rice, that came out of a bag, tasted like Cauliflower. Considering that is the whole point then I guess you can count that as a win.
The best part of this product for me is the potential. I can easily see us cooking this up with some soy sauce, various spice blends, or our favorite sauces. It takes on the flavor of whatever it’s paired with, so the possibilities are endless.
ONE FOUND DOWNSIDE TO NATURE’S INTENT CAULIFLOWER RICE
We were very impressed with the rice and never found any flaws until the next day. As any good keto’er does we of course took two portions and set it aside to take to work the next day. We topped it with our Bacon Ranch Casserole and that’s where things fell apart.
Warming up the cauliflower in the microwave the second time didn’t go well at all. It turned to absolute mush and had a very strong taste that actually overpowered the casserole. The texture became so off putting that I didn’t finish mine. Wendy worked through it out of hunger, but her review of the experience wasn’t exactly glowing.
4 STAR RATING
If we were doing a ranking system, I would give Nature’s Intent Cauliflower Rice a 4.5 out of 5. The taste is great, the ease of cooking is amazing, and I didn’t even get into the macros. Coming in at only 2 carbs per serving you truly can’t lose.
The only downside we found; was it doesn’t hold up well for leftovers. In all fairness to Nature’s Intent, Cauliflower Rice is a delicate product anyway, so nuking it twice likely wasn’t in the companies best laid plans.
My advice… head to Costco, pick up a box and enjoy. With the amount of work, you have to put in for Keto, it’s nice to be able to sit back and let a company do the work.
Bill
