Chicken Cauliflower Bake Recipe
This cheesy and flavorful low carb Chicken Cauliflower Rice Bake is rich, hearty, and comforting. It starts with tender chicken that you simply roast in the oven and then shred. Next the rich, creamy, and tangy cheese sauce is made with onion, garlic, cream cheese and shredded cheese. Finally, everything is combined with the cauliflower rice and baked to a cozy perfection.
Servings 6 servings
Ingredients
Chicken
- 16 ounces Chicken Breasts boneless skinless
- 1 teaspoon Olive oil
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
Casserole
- 1 head Cauliflower (or 4-5 cups riced cauliflower)
- ½ cup Onion, small diced
- 3 cloves Garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons Olive Oil
- 8 ounces Cream cheese softened
- ½ teaspoon Sweet Paprika
- 1 teaspoon Dried Oregano
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
- 1 cup Chicken Broth
- ½ cup Milk 1% (low fat, whole, or Skim also work)
- 4 tablespoons Cornstarch
- 2 cups Baby Spinach Leaves, raw
- 1 ½ cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese
- 1 tablespoon Fresh Italian Parsley chopped Optional for garnish
Instructions
Prep-Ahead Steps
- Preheat the oven to 400 F degrees.
- Peel and dice the onion. Peel and mince the garlic. If you are using parsley for garnish, rough chop the parsley and store in a baggie.
- Place the chicken breasts on a sheet pan and coat with the olive oil, salt, and pepper. Then roast in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove and let cool enough to touch. Shred the chicken and place in the casserole dish.
- While the chicken is roasting, make the cauliflower rice. Cut off the cauliflower florets from the head. Add the florets to a food processor and pulse until the cauliflower resembles the size of rice. Be sure not to over process so that it becomes breadcrumb size.NOTE: If you have a small processor, do this in batches and fill it half way with the florets, then pulse, empty, fill again and so on until you have completed it all. If you are not going to be cooking tonight, then put in a storage bag in the fridge.
- Add the cauliflower rice to the casserole dish with the shredded chicken. You can also add in the spinach leaves at this point.
Cooking Steps
- Preheat a medium frying pan or skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil, onion, and garlic. Stir to combine and coat in oil and cook for 3 minutes.
- Then add the chicken broth, softened cream cheese, paprika, oregano, salt, and pepper. Wisk to fully combine.
- Make the cornstarch slurry by mixing and dissolving the cornstarch in the cold milk. Then whisk this into the pot with the cream cheese mixture. Finally, turn off the heat and stir in ¾ cup of the shredded cheese until melted and combined. Then pour this cheese sauce over the cauliflower and chicken. Gently mix to combine. If you have not mixed in the spinach yet, do that now.
- Bake in the oven COVERED for 30 minutes. Then remove the cover, sprinkle on the remaining shredded cheese and bake for 15 minutes uncovered. Remove from the oven and let rest for 10-15 minutes before serving.
