Mexican Chicken and Rice is a fabulous Paleo dinner recipe. Made with super food cauliflower rice in place of starchy white rice, this one pot meal is packed with protein and spicy Mexican flavor. Cauliflower rice is easy to make and a fantastic low-carb swap in place of high-carb white rice.
Since I don’t eat grains, this faux rice is a real treat for me. My husband liked it too.
Mexican Chicken and Rice
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 cup celery, finely diced
- 1 head cauliflower, trimmed
- 1 4 oz can diced green chilies
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, grilled and diced into 1-inch pieces
- 1 teaspoon celtic sea salt
- ground cumin, oregano, and chili powder to taste
- 1 avocado
- grated cheese, if desired
- salsa, if desired
Instructions
- In a 9 inch skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat
- Sauté onion over medium heat for 10 minutes, until soft
- Add celery to skillet and sauté for 5 minutes
- Place cauliflower in a food processor with the "S" blade and process until the texture of rice
- Add cauliflower to skillet, cover and cook 5-10 minutes, until soft
- Mix chilies and chicken into skillet
- Stir in salt, cumin, oregano and chili powder
- Serve, topping with avocado, cheese and salsa if desired
The idea for this Mexican Chicken and Rice came off of a low carb yahoo group in which I participate. That recipe was shared by a user named “glassmurf.” Her version used frozen cauliflower, 6 chicken breasts, plus cheese and tomato sauce, so as you can see, I took her basic idea and “Elanafied” it.
Mariana says
Seriously Yummy!
Just tried this recipe last night.
Little burnt out on chicken dishes, so I subsituted chicken with browned ground turkey and lean ground beef. (.5lb of each) Topped off with Avacado.
Came out great!
Highly recommend this recipe.
FYI, for the spices I used 1 teaspoon each, flavor was nicely balanced.
Amy Heflin says
Made this last night and loved it! I didn’t have avocado and celery, but I used Ortego taco Sauce which I love.
Sara says
Wonderful recipe. I’d say the “rice” is more quinoa consistency. It’s absolutely delicious!
Helen Raymond says
I made this as my first “Paleo” meal and it was great! LOVE the cauliflower as rice substitute – brilliant!
Lindsay says
This was so good! Made some modifications based on what I like, which is why I love your recipes Elana! You can really make them yours! I cooked the onion and the cut up chicken together in the pan, added a can of drained black beans, half a bell pep, and 2 zucchini in at the same time. And cooked til soft/heated thru. Added 1/2 t garlic powder, onion powder, 1 t oregano, smoked paprika, chili powder, cumin and then added in the chopped cauliflower and mixed and cooked til heated thru. Then turned off the heat and added a bunch of chopped cilantro and served w salsa avocado and shredded cheese.
Joey says
Elena,
The rice is such a brilliant idea!
Since I don’t have a food processor, I grated the cauliflower instead and made a lovely ‘pilau rice’ with salmon, so thanks again!
Best,
Joey
Marie says
Wow this was seriously delicious! I made the cauli-rice per the recipe and baked the chicken breasts in green enchilada sauce, then cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and served it with some of the sauce over the rice. I topped it with a dollop of Greek yogurt, in lieu of sour cream, and garnished it with avocado slices. Even my non-GF husband devoured it! This will definitely be a new dinner staple.. Thank you Elana for all your amazing recipes!
Beth @ Running on Cloud Nine says
Thanks for this great recipe, Elana! I made this and your Green Chili Turkey Burgers and blogged positively about both. I was curious to see what the nutritional difference was between cauli-rice and regular white rice and did a comparison chart of the two. The cauli-rice wins hands-down for it’s fiber, vitamin c and potassium. It is MUCH lower in both calories and carbs compared to white rice, too. I made it with the grating disc in my food processor and found that to work perfectly.
Kasey Paulus says
I love this recipe! I added a red pepper as well so it had a little color :)
jb says
WONDERFUL. Thank you. My eyes have missed rice but there is not a single thing to miss in this recipe. I’m very thankful I’ve stumbled across your blog!!