- Chipotle is adding
cauliflower rice to its menu at select restaurants in Colorado and Wisconsin starting July 15. - It is compliant with
Keto , Whole30,Paleo , Vegan and Vegetarian diets and has only four carbs per serving. However, it does cost an additional $2, which is about the same as adding guacamole or queso to an order. - We visited a participating Wisconsin location to find out what
Chipotle 's cauliflower rice tastes like and whether or not it's worth the extra $2.
Following is a transcript of the
- Medha Imam: So, Chipotle came out with cauliflower rice, but before they let the entire public try it out for themselves, they decided to release it at this tester market.
Clancy Morgan: Why cauliflower rice? What's wrong with their other rice?
Medha: So, the other rice has a lot of carbs in it. But is it worth the extra $2?
Clancy: Right, just like you have to weigh, is guac worth it? Are chips worth it? Is queso worth it? We're gonna go and see, is this cauliflower rice worth the extra $2?
Medha: Oh, my God, this is gonna look so weird. OK. So, we're about to start the blind taste test for the cauliflower rice. So, just from feeling and touching the cauliflower rice, it feels very different from regular white or brown rice. It has a tougher texture, and it doesn't stick together like the white rice. I see that there's a lot of cilantro. Instead of being shredded, the cauliflower is actually in cubes. [laughs]
Clancy: All right, can you see anything, Medha? Medha: No.
Clancy: OK. I'm gonna come mix them up, so you won't know which one's which. Do you remember the "Bird Box"?
Medha: Yeah, do I look like that?
Clancy: A little bit.
Medha: Oh, God. I think that's the brown rice. Because, I don't even know how to describe it, but the brown rice has, like, an indent. This one?
Clancy: Yeah.
Medha: This is the white rice. It's definitely saltier. It is thinner than the one I just tried before. The cilantro has no taste, honestly. So I don't know what y'all are all tasting, the other half of the world, when you eat cilantro. Man, I hope I'm right. This is the first blind test I've done. Third one, here I go. Wow, that is so salty. Holy moly. This is the cauliflower. I know this is the cauliflower, because it has, like, no rice-grain texture whatsoever. Lots of cilantro. Oh, my God, it's very salty. It's extremely salty compared to everything else. I hope I'm right. [laughs]
Ah, I was right! I know my Chipotle. I know my Chipotle. I feel like it is a good alternative, if it had less salt in it. Right now, I feel like this entire bowl could be its own meal itself. Like, its own veggie meal. Even though the cauliflower rice didn't have a fluffy texture, I thought what it did well was that it still felt kind of like rice, but very thin rice grains, because of how quick it dissolved into your mouth. But it was just too salty. I think I'm going to judge it better when I eat it with everything else, 'cause I never usually eat Chipotle rice by itself, 'cause.... But I will try it in a burrito bowl. That's next.
Clancy: All right, Medha, here is your Chipotle.
Medha: I'm super-duper excited. People recommend shaking your Chipotle burrito bowl, but I don't like to shake it. I just like that each part is a bit separate, and that's because I want to taste - oh, my God. Oh. [laughs] I thought I broke the fork. So, this is the white rice bowl. Mm.
Clancy: All right, don't fill up on that bowl, Medha.
Medha: I know, I'm just trying to eat the rice so I can tell the difference. OK, so this is a big chunk of rice. Can you see it, Clancy?
Clancy: Yeah.
Medha: It kind of looks like part of the beans. OK, here I go. [seagull screeching] We are not next to a beach, even though it sounds like one. We're not. We're literally in a plaza in the middle of Wisconsin.
Very salty. It doesn't help. It's too salty, man. I don't - I don't like that. And it's not really adding any textures, because it just, it feels like it's part of the fajitas. It feels like it's part of the black beans. It's not adding anything different. If people are worried about carbs - actually, no. I feel like if people are worried about carbs, then just don't get any rice, just get a salad. Really is just an extra vegetable.
Clancy: So, the important question. Worth $2?
Medha: No. I think it doesn't add any different texture. It tastes more like a salad than it does a rice bowl.
Clancy: Could I pay you $2 to eat that?
Medha: No, you could pay me $2 and I'd eat it, but it's too salty. So, Chipotle, cut down on the salt.
[Medha and Clancy switch places.]
Medha: What do you think?
Clancy: I don't hate it.
Medha: What?
Clancy: I'm not saying you're wrong, but....
Medha: What? Clancy: It definitely is saltier. Kind of good. It's not as good as just, like, white or brown rice, because maybe it's, I'm just used to that in, like, a burrito bowl, but, I don't know, it tastes good. It still doesn't bring too much of its own flavor, in terms of, like, messing up the flavors that are already going on in the burrito bowl. Yeah, it tastes all right. I think you're wrong. [laughs]
Medha: OK, I just want you to try this.
Clancy: OK, I'm just gonna try the cauliflower rice on its own. All right. Ugh. [coughs] Trying it on its own, so much cilantro, so much salt, you were right. It tastes kind of funky on its own, not the best. I didn't mind it in the bowl. Maybe that's just because there are so many other flavors going on that I didn't notice it, but there's heavy cilantro in the cauliflower rice. But, again, if you're someone who is specifically looking to limit the amount of carbs you have, then I think the $2 would be worth it to that person, because the flavor is pretty good.
Medha: I just don't think this is worth the extra $2.
Clancy: Yep, $2.
Medha: You don't?
Clancy: You can get a lot with that. Especially if you're already getting guac. That's, like, $2.25.
Medha: Yeah, that's so much.
Clancy: That's an extra $4.
Medha: Yeah.
Clancy: No, thanks.
Medha: Mm-mm.
Clancy: Yeah. Oh, well.