German Rice Salad

I’ve got German food that runs through my blood.

My mom’s side of the family was very German. Think last names like Schiwart and Knippa. My grandma grew up on a small North Texas farm and learned how to make some of the best German food around. We eat egg noodles for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Meat dressing for special occassions. My grandma’s brother was a sausage maker—and made some of the best German sausage (light grey, highly peppered) you could find this side of the Atlantic ocean.

I’ll stop by one of OKC’s best German restaurants, Ingrid’s, when I need my fix of Schnitzel. I’m also a big fan of German potato salad. What’s the difference between German and American potato salad? I’m glad you asked. German potato salad is always served warm. It has a heavy vineager taste with just a slight sweetness added. German potato salad is always chunky and mixed with bacon. It’s utterly delightful.

In one of my old recipe boxes I found a recipe that was exactly like German potato salad but with rice. Intrigued, I put it to the test. I used cauliflower rice instead of real rice—and it came out magical.

It tastes exactly like warm, vinegary potato salad…minus the starchy tubors. The cauliflower rice was actually a winner in this recipe. It soaked up the apple cider vinegar to the extent that you couldn’t even taste the ‘cauliflower’ taste. I loved the addition of chopped boiled eggs. That’s a big time retro throwback right there, adding boiled eggs to salads. But in this case, it really worked.

If you’re ready for a slightly retro, slightly exotic salad—than this one is for you. It’s actually quite filling, too. You could eat it by itself for lunch. I used it mainly as a side, but it quickly took over my plate.

Enjoy!

German Rice Salad

• Servings: 8-10
• Time: 25 minutes
• Difficulty: Easy
• Print

A tangy, delicious side salad with rice, bacon, eggs and green onions.

Ingredients

• 3-4 cups cooked cauliflower rice (I used two bags of the frozen variety)
• 6 slices bacon
• 2 TBS. sweetener (sugar or erythritol)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 4 green onions, sliced
• 2 boiled eggs, chopped
• 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 tsp. celery seed
• 2 TBS. pimientos, chopped
• 1/4 cup bacon drippings

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and place bacon on top. Bake for 20 minutes or until crispy. Let cool on pan.
2. In a large bowl, stir together green onions and pimiento. Add cauliflower rice, sweetener, salt, boiled eggs, vinegar and celery seed. Crumble bacon on top and stir. Pour off bacon drippings from baking sheet into mixture and stir. Serve warm.

Step-By-Step Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and place bacon on top. Bake for 20 minutes or until crispy. Let cool on pan. In a large bowl, stir together green onions and pimiento.

Add cauliflower rice, sweetener, salt, boiled eggs, vinegar and celery seed. Crumble bacon on top and stir.

Pour off bacon drippings from baking sheet into mixture and stir. Serve warm.