How to Make a 15 Minute Chicken and Cauliflower Rice Meal
Do you ever have those nights when you just don’t feel like cooking, and you don’t really have food planned for a meal? Let me show you how to make a 15 minute chicken and cauliflower rice meal that will solve both of those problems!
Several years ago, I was trying to come up with a meal for us, but I was exhausted, had nothing planned, not a lot of groceries, and I was on a low carb diet at the time. That is not a good combination for cooking a weeknight dinner.
I rummaged through the pantry, refrigerator, and freezer and put together a meal that has become one of our favorites. Besides the flavor combination, I love it because it is such an easy dinner. It is definitely one of my favorites to make in a pinch or when I am short on time – you can have it ready from start to finish in 15 minutes!
Benefits of the 15 Minute Chicken and Cauliflower Rice Meal
There are multiple benefits to this meal, making it the perfect recipe. Here are a few of them:
- 15 Minutes! This is great when you don’t have much time or are exhausted. You know, typical busy weeknights.
- I usually have all of these ingredients on hand, so I can throw it together in a moment’s notice. If these are not staples in your house, next time you go to the grocery store, add them to your cart.
- It is a healthy meal. All of the ingredients are great choices, but cauliflower rice seems to be a healthier choice than white rice.
- It is a great way to get more vegetables into you diet as well as the whole family.
- Low carb meal
- All of these ingredients are very inexpensive.
- Delicious!
- Great for the whole family. (I even got my picky-eater granddaughter to eat it – with seconds! I just didn’t tell her that it wasn’t white rice until afterwards. She loved it!)
- This is a one pot meal – talk about easy clean-up!
- The left-overs are just as good – just store them in an airtight container, and enjoy them for lunch or for another family meal.
Ingredients for 15 Minute Chicken and Cauliflower Rice Meal
Ingredients
Instructions (15 Minutes)
Instructions
- Follow the package directions and cook the frozen cauliflower rice in the microwave. This usually takes about 5 minutes.
- While the cauliflower is cooking, add the olive oil to a large skillet and warm on medium-high heat.
- If you want to add onions to this dish, add them now and cook them until they are tender.
- Add the beans, Rotel tomatoes, and chicken to the skillet. Stir the ingredients together and continue cooking on medium-high heat.
- Once the cauliflower rice is finished cooking in the microwave, drain it well and add it to the skillet, stirring it into the mixture well. Continue heating.
- Add the cilantro to the skillet and stir together. Turn it to medium heat for about 1 minute, remove, and serve.
- Top each portion with shredded cheddar cheese and enjoy!
Other Options
- If you are not in a hurry and don’t mind it taking longer than 15 minutes, you can:
- Use fresh chicken, cubed – I prefer boneless skinless chicken breasts, but you could also use chicken thighs or rotisserie chicken as well. If it is not pre-cooked chicken, add it to the onions and cook chicken before adding the vegetables.
- After microwaving the cauliflower rice, sometimes I will boil it for a couple of minutes before adding it to the mixture. This removes any “cauliflower” smell that it may have. It doesn’t happen often. Be sure to squeeze out all of the excess liquid.
- Make your own cauliflower rice with a head of fresh cauliflower and a food processor.
- Saute a little bit of fresh garlic with the onions, or add garlic powder.
- Add a can of corn, drained.
- If you don’t have black beans, you can use pinto beans. I have done that in a pinch.
- We have used packaged cauliflower rice on occasion that is meant to be like fried rice. It has corn and green peas mixed in with it. It is a great option, but we prefer the plain cauliflower rice.
- Add chopped fresh jalapenos and/or bell peppers in with the onion to soften before adding the other ingredients.
- You can also omit the cheddar cheese if you want.
Recommended Item
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Recipe Card
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15 Minute Chicken and Cauliflower Rice Meal
This 15 minute meal is healthy, delicious, and quick to prepare. It is my go-to meal on busy nights.
Ingredients
- 1 Bag of Frozen Cauliflower Rice
- 2 Cans of White Meat Chicken (Drained)
- 1 Can of Black Beans (Drained)
- 1 Can of Rotel Tomatoes (NOT Drained)
- 2 T. Olive Oil
- 1 Bunch of Cilantro, Chopped or Cut into small pieces with kitchen scissors
- Shredded Cheddar Cheese
- Salt and Black Pepper, or other seasonings of choice
- Chopped Onion (Optional)
Instructions
- Follow the package directions and cook the frozen cauliflower rice in the microwave. This usually takes about 5 minutes.
- While the cauliflower is cooking, add the olive oil to a large skillet and warm on medium-high heat.
- If you want to add onions to this dish, add them now and cook them until they are tender.
- Add the beans, Rotel tomatoes, and chicken to the skillet. Stir the ingredients together and continue cooking on medium-high heat.
- Once the cauliflower rice is finished cooking in the microwave, drain it well and add it to the skillet, stirring it into the mixture well. Continue heating.
- Add the cilantro to the skillet and stir together. Turn it to medium heat for about 1 minute, remove, and serve.
- Top the dish with shredded cheddar cheese and enjoy!
I don’t know if you have ever eaten cauliflower rice recipes before, but I hope you will give this cauliflower chicken meal a try. We started out eating it when I was trying a low carb diet, but we actually like it better than regular rice.
The next time you have busy weeknights or you just don’t feel like cooking, give it a try and let me know what you think in the comments section. I would also love to hear about any other cauliflower recipes you use.
Related Posts
Church Ladies’ Favorite Potluck Recipes (Main Meals)
How to Make Farmer’s Market Chicken and Vegetables
Recipe – Spanish Chicken and Rice
Until next week,
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“Let the whole earth shout to the Lord; be jubilant, shout for joy, and sing.” Psalms 98:4
Adding to my list of your fabulous recipes to try, Susan. I am horrible in the kitchen but your recipes make me feel like I can actually contribute to the meals. So excited for this – it looks delicious! Hugs, CoCo
I don’t think you could mess this one up if you tried! I hope you love it. It is my go to meal when I am tired or short on time.
I printed this one right away – believe it or not I have never had cauliflower rice! However, I am trying to sneak in more veggies lately and I think this recipe sounds great!
I am surprised that my husband ever tried it, but he did. Now he eats it all the time. It is also wonderful in “mashed potato” form. We put all of the potato toppings in it. It is delicious!