Chocolate Cauliflower Oatmeal (Grain-Free & Dairy-Free)

Name: Chocolate Cauliflower Oatmeal {Grain-Free, Dairy-Free}
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 2
Cuisine: Paleo
Ingredients: 1 cup homemade vanilla coconut milk beverage or your favorite dairy-free milk; 2 - 2 1/2 cups cauliflower rice (about the amount that comes from a medium head of cauliflower); 2 teaspoons cocoa powder; 1 scoop collagen protein; 4 whole eggs; 1/2 cup organic blueberries or chopped strawberries, for topping; your choice of sweetener, you’ll need the equivalent of 1-2 teaspoons of maple syrup or molasses per serving

September 24, 2017 / By Carrie Forrest, MPH in Nutrition / 74 Comments

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This Chocolate Cauliflower Oatmeal recipe is a grain-free alternative to oatmeal. This makes it great for paleo or grain-free folks, or for those just wanting to try something different for a healthy breakfast made from vegetables.

Okay, so Chocolate Cauliflower Oatmeal falls into that category of weird-sounding foods. A sweet dish using cauliflower just sounds wrong, but I promise you that it’s really good! I’m not even the first person to try cauli oats, I also found this apple and cinnamon version from The Healthy Foodie.

This chocolate version I’m sharing with you today that makes for a nice breakfast that is grain-free and helps get more veggies into the diet. Watch the video to see how I made it!

You’ll start with a medium head of cauliflower, broken into florets:

Thirty seconds in the food processor (this is the food processor I have; get it certified refurbished at a discount on Amazon!) makes rice, err “oats” in this case:

It should look like this (OR, just buy cauliflower rice already made at your local grocery store in the refrigerated or freezer aisle):

If you are going to make this dish, you might actually want to prepare the rice the night before, otherwise it’s kind of a pain to do in the morning.

Just go ahead and put it in a sealable container in the fridge until you’re ready to cook it, you’ll get about 2-3 tightly packed cups from a medium to large-ish head of cauliflower. If you decide to use frozen cauliflower rice, you’ll need to give it a quick de-frost in the microwave or let it defrost overnight in the fridge. Be sure to squeeze out any excess water from the frozen version before making this dish.

When it comes time to make the oatmeal, my preference is to use a non-dairy milk like my Vanilla Coconut Beverage (the little black dots come from the seeds of a vanilla bean). Almond milk (see my budget-friendly recipe here), cashew milk, or whatever your preference is fine. If you can tolerate dairy, feel free to use regular milk. Here are all the ingredients you’ll need for this recipe (eggs, milk, cocoa powder, collagen protein, cauliflower, and fruit):

You’ll start by heating the milk to a low simmer:

Add the cauliflower rice, and cook it over low heat for a few minutes:

The last step is to stir in four whole eggs, cocoa powder, and some sort of sweetener like molasses. You just have to cook it a few more minutes so the eggs are done:

Serve hot, with fresh fruit for topping, if desired:

You can top it with whatever else suits your fancy. I used cacao nibs and coconut to give it more texture: