Whole30 Spanish Chicken And Cauliflower Rice
One pan Spanish cauliflower rice made in 25 minutes! Bursting with flavor! Paleo and whole30 friendly. Made with lemon, cilantro, chicken, and cauliflower rice. This one-pan skillet recipe makes for fast and easy meal prep.
Droolllll.
Ugh, you guys.
Never did I think, dream, imagine!
No one could have seen it coming… the utter need to faceplate into a oversized pile of Spanish cauliflower chicken and “rice”.
To you it may seem healthy, but wait until you try it! It’s just GOOD, you’ll never know it’s just 200 calories per serving.
You don’t think about healthy when you are eating Spanish chicken and cauliflower rice, there’s no room for that.
Only room for delicious thoughts like:
I WANT MORE!
I can’t believe that was so easy to make!
Can I have another serving?
I hope nobody else wants any!
Oh no! Am I already at the bottom of the pan (drop the fork).
Spanish cauliflower rice is the best!
Okay, now that we have covered the fact that you need this in your life, let’s talk details.
Cauliflower rice is a healthy sub for grains, and thanks to (most) stores, you don’t even have to make it at home anymore!
Just add a bag of cauliflower rice, some spices, fresh herbs, lemon juice, and that glistening herby/lemon chicken and you have yourself a weeknight-in dinner made in minutes; worthy of Netflix, pj’s, a square of dark chocolate for dessert, and second servings!
Every reason I love this one pan dinner that tastes like HEAVEN:
- New, exciting, fresh-flavor like, where have you been my whole life!?
- Secretly healthy ingredients, see: cauliflower rice.
- Meal prep friendly. In essence, can be stored in the fridge or freezer in single serving sizes for later.
- EASY.
- YUMMY, YUMMY, YUMMY, and YUMMY!
I hope you love it! Enjoy… and try and not eat the whole pan by yo self. 😉 It’s a tough life, but somebody has to do it. 🙂
More like this:
Sweet and Sour Paleo Chicken and Cauliflower Rice
Spicy Spaghetti Squash Noodles
Turkey Sausage Meatballs in Sage Cream Sauce
Pro tip: this is the cast iron skillet I use for this recipe (great value for such a low price!!! Not sponsored).
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian spice blend
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 3-4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 1 tablespoon olive oil for cooking
- 16 oz cauliflower rice
- 1 cup chicken stock
- lemon juice from 1/2 lemon
- fresh cilantro for garnish
- marinated tomatoes for garnish
Info |
Cook Time | 20 minutes |
Prep Time | 8 minutes |
Servings |
servings
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Ingredients
Chicken
Rice
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- In a small bowl mix together the spices for the chicken, then rub half of it on chicken (reserve half for later)
- Heat a skillet over medium heat then drizzle with 1-2 tablespoons olive oil and cook chicken until golden brown on each side (about 2-3 minutes on each side- you will finish cooking it later). Then remove and set aside.
- Fill skillet with cauliflower rice, stock, lemon juice, and the other half of the spice mix. Stir the cauliflower rice then set chicken thighs over rice and cook on medium/low heat for 20 minutes until chicken is cooked through.
- Garnish with chopped cilantro and lemon wedges (optional).
Nutrition Facts
Whole30 Spanish Chicken And Cauliflower Rice
Amount Per Serving
Calories 201
Calories from Fat 90
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 10g
15%
Saturated Fat 3g
15%
Polyunsaturated Fat 1g
Monounsaturated Fat 2g
Cholesterol 75mg
25%
Sodium 742mg
31%
Potassium 352mg
10%
Total Carbohydrates 7g
2%
Dietary Fiber 2g
8%
Sugars 3g
Protein 20g
40%
Vitamin A
26%
Vitamin C
35%
Calcium
1%
Iron
13%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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In the picture, it looks like there might be sun dried tomatoes? I don’t see that on the recipe list. What’s the red things in the picture? It looks really yummy!!
I garnished my dish with canned marinated tomatoes form Trader Joes. 🙂
What are the red things in the picture? Red bell peppers? Sundried tomatoes? Chili peppers?
Hi Kelsey, I garnished my dish with canned marinated tomatoes form Trader Joes. 🙂
Get her sent Down Under!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I”ll get her SORTED OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yummy — yummy, yummy, yummy!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No wrecking ball required, just ME, ME and more ME!!!!!!!!!!!!
This was absolutely delicious!!!! Tastes just like Arroz con Pollo! I used frozen cauli rice, so I think that’s why mine had too much liquid. No problem though-I just drained it off and cooked it a bit longer without the lid on-it turned out perfect! Thank you for the recipe
Great to hear Stephanie! Glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
Yes- I did frozen cauliflower rice too and same thing! Next time I will go through the pain and mess of making my own. Great flavour though!!
This was so good! I’m always a little skeptical of cauliflower rice, but there was no cauliflower taste to it at all and the texture was perfect. I’ll probably reduce the liquid by half next time (maybe my lid doesn’t let enough steam escape?) but other than that, it’s soooo good, even my kids loved it! Thanks Kaylie!
Great to hear, thanks Monica!
I had the same issue with the excess amount of liquid, any suggestions besides decreasing the amount of liquid? Any trick to get it similar to your picture?
Hi Christina, the only thing I can think of is it was cooked on a different temperature?
Awesome Cauliflower with a nice Kick!!!
This is very good and going in my regular rotation! I did not have tomatoes, but added half of a diced onion and a whole chopped zucchini. Definite keeper!
What is the serving size for the calorie count?
Hi Ashley, it’s four servings at 201 calories per serving- see at the bottom of the recipe. 🙂
Made this and followed recipe exactly. It tastes AMAZING!! I will definitely make this again! I did have the excess liquid many have commented on, so I just drained it after the cooking was done. I also garnished with cilantro and sun dried tomatoes….so delicious!!
This was amazing!!!! I must say that I modified the recipe some by adding fresh onion and garlic, as well as jarred roasted red peppers. Also, I didn’t have cilantro on hand, so I substituted fresh parsley for garnish. OMG!!!! Thank you so much for posting this recipe…it’s exactly what I needed to kick-start my flavor profile again!
when did you add the onion and garlic?
Do you use cooked cauliflower rice or do you keep it raw and it cooks with the chicken? Wondering how to prep the califlower. Thanks!
Hi Sandra, it cooks with the chicken.
Made this for dinner tonight. Super easy and super delicious!
Great to hear Christine! 🙂
So for the ‘rice’, do you just pulse cauliflower in a food processor until riced; then cook accordingly?
Exactly! 🙂
As a Latina, eating Paleo I’ve missed many of my traditional dishes. This tastes just like Arroz Con Pollo. I am not a fan of cauliflower! However, I ate this dish with such relish and satisfaction it was all I could do to contain myself and not eat more than my ‘Palm-sized’ portion! I also added half an onion, a little bit of chopped cilantro and sautéed it in tocino (pork belly) with the rendered fat, rather than EVO. (Yes all organic, free range) In addition, I had some curly kale so I chopped a little and threw it in the onion/tocino sauté as well. The husband who’s not Paleo had multiple servings. No problem with the amount of liquid in the dish, I used a slotted spoon to drain my serving while he poured it all over his plate, then used a spoon to ‘soup’ it up at the end. Now if only there was some way to have Frijoles Negro, served with “rice” and pork cracklings!
Love this!! So creative. 🙂
There was one big problem with this recipe. I didn’t make enough! (5people.) It was sooo good! My family loved it. Including the 7 and 12 year old. I did make it with chicken breasts instead of thighs. I will definitely make this again. Maybe with a little less spice because of the 7 year old, even though she went for seconds. I made rice for the kids and used the extra juice for that.
I love it Amber!
Fresh cauliflower, or frozen riced cauliflower?
Sounds yummy 😉
I have used both Sheri. 🙂
I doubled the recipe except for the cauliflower. Came out very good. Will make again for sure. Hard pleasing husband gives it an 10. WOW
Great to hear Lori!
Where is the sugar coming from? I can’t have sugar on the whole30 *wiping tears off keyboard*
Hi Shannon, my guess is it’s the sugar from the tomatoes- you should be good to go! It’s totally whole30 approved. Enjoy!
How big is a serving?
Hi Jo, a fourth of the skillet is a serving. 🙂
Love this recipe! I also found that it had too much liquid, but it could be because I use frozen cauliflower rice. After making this a few times, I found that using a combination of crushed tomatoes and chicken broth is a great combo. I do about 3/4 cup of each. I like to add spinach and shrimp, too. So delicious! Thanks for the recipe.
I’ve never used cauliflower rice, but I bought a couple of frozen packages. Do I cook it first? And does it have the same soft consistency of rice? Thank you! Anxious to try this
Hi Christine, you can lightly steam it, then drain the excess liquid and use. 🙂
I too found there to be a lot of liquid (I used thawed riced cauliflower and added snap peas about 5 minutes out of finishing) but after removing the chicken and veggies out of the pan, I added some slurry to make a gravy and pour it over the dish. This recipe is a keeper – so much great flavour! Thank you for sharing!
Hi Kaylie, I am cooking for someone who is following the Plant Paradox and cannot have tomatoes. Can you suggest a substitution for the tomatoes in the picture. I personally love tomatoes but he can’t have them. Thanks! Claren
Hi Claren, maybe marinated red bell peppers?
Can you use brown rice instead and would you cook the rice first. I’m making it for the first time thanks
Yes, that should work Billie.
Hi! If I don’t have a skillet, could I use any other type of pan ?
Yes, that works MJ. Enjoy!
Hi, too much liquid. I will try it again. All the other recipes I’ve tried are really good.
Does this work with chicken breast as well?
Yes, that will work Danielle- the cooking time might be longer for the chicken though.
Hey, so I’m going to try this based on raving reviews. Has anyone tried this with chicken on the bone? I don’t have deboned chicken. Otherwise I’ll use chicken breast
So delicious! I only used 1/2 cup of bone broth due to comments above as I was using frozen cauliflower rice. I added some chopped green onions and a chopped jalepeno pepper along with the cauliflower. Lime juice was substituted for lemon because that’s what I had on hand. 5 minutes before it was done I added some broccoli florets since my cauliflower was only 12 oz. This will definitely be in our regular rotation!
WOW! Flavor bomb! SO GOOD! I actually subbed the chicken for cod and it worked out wonderfully. Browned the cod for a couple mins on each side, removed them, got the cauliflour cookin and then added the cod back in towards the end. I only used 1 cup of broth because of all of the excess liquid comments and did not have a problem. Also didn’t have paprika but still tasted amazing! Thank you so much for this deliscious recipe, I will definitely be making again
The recipe was good except cut the stock down to about 1/2- 3/4 cup. PoI would of added more tomatoes and cilantro on top. Cut lemon slices and let them simmer with the cauliflower and chicken
My family loves this recipe and it has made it into my rotation of meals. However, it did take a few alterations to get it there. I actually don’t use the 1.5 cups of chicken broth. The first time I made it like this it was really soupy. Instead, I use two chicken bouillon cubes in 3/4c boiling water to dissolve cubes. Once dissolved, I add to pan. Second, Marinated tomatoes, I could never find, so I use sun-dried tomatoes or fresh tomatoes that are roasted. Third, I don’t put a lid on it as is summers for 20 minutes. This helps keep the liquid content down. This recipe is soo delicious and flavorful! It pairs well with avocado salad and corn for a tasty southwest inspired weeknight meal. Enjoy!
THIS IS DELICIOUS!! Easy to make and was just wonderful. My family loved it. The only thing I did differently was used smoked paprika cuz come on.. who doesn’t love smoked paprika? And skinless, boneless chicken thighs and that’s only cuz that’s all they had at the store. I loved how quick this came together and the taste blew me away. Definitely adding this to my regular meal rotation. Thank you!
Great to hear Ginger!
I’m curious, when you say 16 oz cauliflower rice, are you talking 2 cups or 4 cups? Because it’s different if you’re talking weight or volume. Thanks!
Hi Kristin, I used it from the bag, so I’m not sure how they measured it. :\ Sorry!
Wow, that was yummy. I’ll definitely add in our rotation.
Great to hear, thank you Michelle!
I have NEVER commented on a recipe, but I had to publicly confirm that this recipe is AWESOME! I’ve also never liked cauliflower rice no matter how it’s prepared, so I was skeptical to even try this. However, I can honestly say it does NOT taste like cauliflower! I prepared exactly as written with a couple of exceptions: based on other comments, I only used 3/4 cup of stock. I also added 1/2 can drained, diced fire roasted tomatoes. I was unclear on whether or not to cover the dish while it cooked so I used my own judgment and covered it for 15 minutes, then took the lid off and let it cook uncovered for five minutes. No excess liquid whatsoever. Absolutely delicious!
Hi Laura,
Thank you so much for the comment! I’m glad that you enjoyed this recipe 🙂
Whole Foods sells riced cauliflower. Have to use it quickly because it turns much faster than whole cauliflower. Love this receipe.
Whole Foods sells fresh riced cauliflower. Have to use it quickly because it turns much faster than whole cauliflower. Love this receipe.
Thank you!
This was my first time cooking this dish. I had a quick taste and it was good. Can’t wait to eat on tomorrow. I added roaster red peppers to set it up a notch. The next time, I would eliminate some of the cauliflower rice. … Rosie