15-Minute Pesto Chicken Cauliflower Rice Recipe | Low Carb Dinner Idea

Here’s a really easy healthy dinner idea: a 15-minute pesto chicken cauliflower recipe. Filled with vegetables, pesto, garlic, cheese and chicken this healthy dish is so good! It’s a super easy gluten free recipe, you can use leftovers to make this quick low carb meal, perfect for busy weeknights.

Pesto Chicken Cauliflower Rice

I’ve been trying to eat gluten free and kinda low carb for a while now, so cauliflower rice has become a regular thing on our dinner table. I’m sneaking it into pasta dishes, risotto dishes, pretty much anywhere for my son, who’d spit out anything that looks green and is not a cucumber. When I’m cooking something only for me I make some variation of cauliflower rice. It’s easy, it’s quick, I eat a ton of vegetables and they taste really good! Of course, cooking only for myself, by myself, rarely happens, so let’s appreciate that moment and call it self-care.

Ingredients

The ingredients for this cauliflower recipe are quite easy to find and pretty healthy. Here’s what you’ll need:

red pesto
leftover shredded chicken
cauliflower rice
tomato
garlic
shredded mozzarella
arugula
dill
olive oil
milk
salt and pepper

Substitutions

You can use dairy-free alternatives if you want to make this easy meal dairy-free. Simply use your favorite vegan milk and vegan cheese instead of the regular.
Make it vegetarian by leaving out the chicken.

How To Make Cauliflower Rice That Doesn’t Suck

Before you start making this cauliflower rice recipe you’ll need to have cauliflower rice.

You can do store-bought, but making your own rice from cauliflower is super easy: simply use a food processor – pulse the cauliflower florets 2-3 times, make sure to not overprocess. Your “rice” can get too small and mushy if you do. You want bigger chunks for the same texture that rice has, not flakes.

Another option that requires minimal equipment, but some time is grating your cauliflower manually as if you live in the 20th century. Luckily, my food processor also has a grater attachment, so sometimes I do that and the cauliflower rice is ready in 15 seconds.

How To Make Pesto Chicken Cauliflower Rice | Step By Step

Before you start cooking, it’s good to have all of your ingredients ready for the ride: wash and chop tomato, arugula, dill, peel and mince the garlic, shred the mozzarella cheese, and shred or chop the cooked chicken. This preparation will take you around 5-10 minutes.

Step 1: Saute the tomato with olive oil for around 1-2 minutes. Then stir in the cauliflower rice and garlic for another minute.

Stir in the chicken, tomato paste and pesto, add salt and cover the pan to cook for 2 minutes.

Step 2: Add the milk and half of the shredded cheese. Cover for another 2-3 minutes.

Step 3: Stir in the rest of the cheese and the rest of the garlic. Then add the dill and arugula and cook for 1-2 more final minutes.