As I mentioned in my last post for the Grilled Chicken Souvlaki Recipe, the oven at the lake house we’re renting acts like a furnace, so I won’t be doing much baking for the next few months until the weather cools again.
Fortunately, I made this delicious low carb baked chicken with cauliflower rice over a month ago – and I figured I’d better share it ASAP, because even with a working oven most people aren’t looking to bake their dinner in the Summertime while the grill reigns supreme.
I promise this recipe is worth a little residual heat in your kitchen though – it’s easy to throw together and tastes fantastic!
When I was a kid, baked chicken with rice was a regular meal at our house. There were 5 of us kids and we were on a very tight budget, so chicken thighs or drumsticks with rice was not only easy – it was inexpensive.
Even though the cauliflower is a bit more expensive than rice cup for cup – this low carb recipe still won’t break the bank. It also reheats well making it the perfect keto recipe for lunches all week.
Typically with chicken and rice in our house, my mom would either flavor it with orange juice or cream of mushroom soup – both of those bring back good memories, but aren’t so low carb friendly.
In my version, I used olives and lemon to give it a complex, tangy flavor. It’s comforting as chicken and “rice” should be – but also fresh and bright enough to be enjoyed in the Summertime since it’s not overly heavy.
As is, this recipe is Paleo friendly and even Whole 30 compliant – it’s dairy free, egg free, nut free, grain free, gluten free, etc. If none of those things are a concern – a little feta cheese thrown in before baking would make this recipe even more delicious.
Now if, like me, you loathe the idea of turning your oven on when it’s over 80 degrees outside, you could definitely make this in a slow cooker. The only trade off is, you won’t get the crispy chicken skin that is my hand’s down favorite part.
Still tasty though – and perfect for those busy weeknights when you want to come home to a delicious low carb dinner ready to serve.
Lastly, I love the versatility in this dish, because you can really customize the flavors in an infinite number of ways on this low carb chicken and “rice” recipe. Change out the olives, lemon and parsley for any other herbs and or veggies, maybe some tomatoes, a creamy sauce, etc. and you can eat this all year in a hundred different ways.
In fact I’ll probably be experimenting myself once I start using my oven again – I’ll be sure to post the delicious results if and when I do!
As always I love getting your feedback and comments – let me know what you thought of it and also your creative ideas on how to flavor it differently!
Low Carb Baked Chicken and Cauliflower Rice
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
This is a fantastic low carb remake of the baked chicken with rice recipe of my childhood. It’s inexpensive, delicious, and easy to throw together. It’s also Paleo and Whole 30 compliant!
Ingredients
For the cauliflower rice:
- 7 cups finely chopped raw cauliflower
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- 1/3 cup pitted green olives (I used Castelanata), quartered
- 2 Tbsp lemon zest
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt (or more to taste)
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
For the baked chicken:
- 2 lbs chicken pieces (drumsticks, thighs, or breasts)
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp paprika (smoked if you have it)
Instructions
- Combine all of the cauliflower rice ingredients together in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Spread out in a 13 x 9 baking dish.
- Combine all of the chicken seasonings in a small bowl. Rub all over the chicken pieces. Place the chicken pieces on top of the cauliflower rice. Sprinkle any remaining seasoning over the top.
- Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and the skin is crisp. Serve hot.
- Alternatively, you could put all of this in a crockpot and cook it on low for 6 hours.
Notes
Approximate nutrition information per serving:
1 pc. chicken & 1 cup cauli rice – 345 calories, 19g fat, 5g net carbs, 34g protein
- Category: Main Dish
- Cuisine: Mediterranean
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Tere says
Soooo, I was thinking about you as I prepared this dish tonight. I was out of cauliflower…didn’t have time to run to the market for more; so, I still don’t know if our Cauli prices have risen like yours. So, price is not the reason I subbed Brussels sprouts for the cauliflower. However, I’ll let you know if the Brussels are just as good as the cauliflower. (I’m just leaving them whole b/c I don’t think I’d like riced Brussels sprouts).
Mellissa Sevigny says
I bet it was great – lemon and olives would be delicious with brussels sprouts too I imagine! Let me know who it turned out!
Kelly Isaacson says
How would you prepare for a freezer type meal?
teri says
Hi I want to make this recipe but do you use rice or are you calling it cauliflower rice since its chopped so small?
Mellissa Sevigny says
It’s “riced” cauliflower – so no real rice involved! Just chop or grate the cauliflower and it will give you a very rice like texture!
teri says
Awesome making it tonight!
Pearl Smith says
Did you read the ingredients list?
Michele says
Hi Melissa,
I made this last night and it was really good. I used 2 heads of Cauliflower, which came out to 10 cups riced. I only added 1 cup of chicken broth and cooked it for 1 hour at 425. I used 4 large chicken breasts on the bone so it took longer. I also added extra olives. I would make this again for sure but would be careful about the chicken broth if you don’t want it to be too wet. I might even try plain old chicken breast without the skins since I had a difficult time getting the skin to crisp up even after a few under the broiler. The spice blend was yummy and it gets lost if you pull the skin off. My 14 year old son even liked it and he hates cauliflower! Great dish. Thank you!
Mark says
I made this a week ago, although I cooked it for about half an hour at 400° followed by some length of time (maybe another half hour) at 300-325°. It was absolutely delicious!
Elizabeth says
I made this tonight and it didn’t turn out so well. I’m trying to figure out why. First of all, it took much longer to cook the chicken thighs – over an hour. Of course, that may just have been due to the size of my thighs (my chicken thighs, that is). Secondly, the cauliflower mixture had a LOT of liquid. Between the chicken broth and the juices the thighs exuded, the “rice” was really wet. Maybe I didn’t have enough cauliflower? I confess I didn’t measure it; I just processed one medium-large head. And finally, I found the lemon flavor jarring and overwhelming. That much zest plus the juice was too much, at least for me.
I’m disappointed because the recipe sounded so promising. I will say the chicken turned out tender, juicy, and flavorful. I really enjoyed the spice rub. It sounded pretty plain – but the flavor was wonderful!
If you have any thoughts about why my dish didn’t work, please let me know. I’d love to try this again and have it turn out as well as it seemed to for others.
Thank you!
Nicole says
I also had the problem with too much liquid. I set the chicken aside and tossed up the cauliflower rice in a frying pan until all the juices were gone, solved the problem!
Karen says
I will try that! Mine has a little too much liquid too
Angela Raum says
1 head of cauliflower equals about 4 cups so you’d need 2. I used frozen bags in which I used 3 bags, which made 10 cups. I froze the rest.
Julie says
Agree…certainly not as good as it looks. Edible, but could use a lot of tweeking. I found it a bit lacking , an amateurish dish. The rub was the only good combination of flavors.
nicole thomas says
Made this yummy dish on friday…was so good…. added the feta and twice as much olives ( green and black!!) everyone thought it was so gourmet and delicious…. thank you again, my favorite genius… i keep sneaking bites of the “rice” :)
Tamarra says
The lemon and olives sounds yum. And crispy chicken skin is the best! A nice easy dinner to put together, my kids love ‘chicken on the bone’ (drumsticks) so I’ll be sure to try this out.
Mellissa Sevigny says
Hope it’s a hit with the whole family Tamarra! Hungry Jr. loves drumsticks and calls it “chicken on the bone” too!
nicole thomas says
Melissa, you are wonderful… thank you!! I really love your flavor profiles, not just with this recipe… but period! You are gifted :)
Mellissa Sevigny says
Awwww – thank YOU Nicole! It’s comments like this that keep me going when I’m having a long day! :)
Jan says
Perfect thing to do with that cauliflower I have in my vegetable bin. I was going to shop for bone-in chicken thighs this evening any way! I’ll cut the recipe in half, though, since it’s just me :)
Mellissa Sevigny says
Can’t wait to hear back Jan! Hope you like it as much as we did!
Jan says
I commented last night when I actually had just eaten this delicious meal, but apparently it got lost in the internet ether. This was a 5-star meal – the chicken thighs had very crispy skin and the seasoning was great. The cauliflower rice had a really nice flavor combination. Together it was definitely a win. The best part, though, is that I have 3 (now 2) meals left. Had one for lunch at work today. Thanks, Melissa for all the great recipes!