This Chicken Cauliflower Rice Casserole with Broccoli is a perfect baby and toddler friendly family dinner. Have dinner on the table in less than an hour. It’s also naturally low in carbs, high in fibre and keto-friendly.
I don’t think I fully appreciated the beauty of the classic casserole until I became a mom. But since I now legit have no more than 30 minutes to make a meal, and I have to do it with a kid throwing tupperware all over the floor, I like to keep things simple. This Chicken Cauliflower Rice Casserole with Broccoli takes a few amazingly simple short cuts like frozen cauliflower rice and a rotisserie chicken to get a balanced, high protein meal on the table STAT.
Why This Recipe Works
This is such a simple weeknight dinner that is cooked in one dish. The less dishes to do on a busy night, the better.
This chicken cauliflower rice casserole can easily be doubled and made in two baking dishes to freeze one for later or meal prep the second casserole! It reheats wonderfully and you’re going to love how it’s such a time saver.
This casserole uses a lot of shortcuts to make dinner time easier. We like to use shred a rotisserie chicken instead of taking the time to make a chicken on a weeknight. We also use pre-riced cauliflower rice to keep prep time to a minimum.
Key Ingredients
Uncooked Cauliflower Rice — This can be purchased at the frozen section of your grocery store. If you’re unable to find it, you can make your own by placing cauliflower florets into a food processor.
Vegetables — On top of the cauliflower, we also have broccoli and bell pepper to up the vegetable quota. If you want to add more or different vegetables, you are welcome to!
Rotisserie Chicken — To make for less clean up and time spent in the chicken, we use a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken. This cauliflower rice casserole is also great if you’ve got leftover chicken hanging around in your fridge as well.
Cheeses — We use a variety of cheeses to make this casserole. We use cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and mozzarella cheese. If you have a different melty cheese that you like to use like parmesan or gruyere. It’s up to you!
Seasoning — Since this is meant to be a kid friendly recipe, we use pretty mild seasonings such as oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and salt and pepper. Chili is optional, depending on your kiddo’s tolerance.
How to Make This Recipe
Step 1: Preheat oven to 400F and grease a 13×9” casserole dish.
Step 2: In a small bowl, mix together the milk and the cornstarch or tapioca starch.
Step 3: In a large bowl, mix together the cauliflower rice, broccoli, bell pepper, chicken, milk and starch mixture, cream cheese, 1 cup cheddar, 1 cup mozzarella, oregano, garlic, onion, paprika, chili if using, pepper and salt.
Step 4: Toss to mix very well and transfer to the casserole dish.
Step 5: Top with the remaining ½ cup of cheddar and ½ cup of mozzarella.
Step 6: Bake for 45 minutes uncovered or until golden brown. Allow to sit for 5 minutes before topping with parsley and enjoying.
Expert Tips
Want to freeze this for later? Once you’ve baked the chicken cauliflower rice casserole and allowed it to cool, simply wrap it up tightly with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and transfer to the freezer. When ready to enjoy, allow it to thaw overhead in the fridge overnight before heating it through in the oven.
I would suggest shredding your own cheese as pre-shredded cheese have a flour coating on them that prevents them from clumping. However, this makes it grainy when melted. To quickly shred a block of cheese, you can use a food processor.
If you do not want to use cooking spray in your baking dish, you can use parchment or tin foil but your dish might still stick to it. You can always grease your pan with butter or olive oil as an alternative to cooking spray.
Recipes FAQs
Yes!! The flavours in this casserole are very mild and comforting, and what kid doesn’t like when something is covered in cheese? I served this to Baby E for almost a week and he loved it every time! If you want to add some more kick, feel free to add some spicy chili pepper and hot sauce!
I love using cauliflower rice, not because it’s low carb or keto-friendly, but because it’s a tasty way to sneak in extra fiber and antioxidants. And it’s now so easy to find it in the freezer aisle at any grocery store. But yes, since cauliflower rice is much lower in calories than traditional rice or grains, this chicken and broccoli casserole is keto friendly and low carb.
Yes! This casserole makes so much, and I’m just a family of three, so I often keep it in the fridge and rewarm portions of it as I am hungry. If you want to make the casserole ahead of time and then rewarm the entire thing, you absolutely can! I would assemble everything, and then when you’re ready, just top it with the cheese and bake.
Considering that kids need carbs, I suggest serving this cauliflower rice casserole with a nice loaf of crusty bread with butter. It’s a really awesome way to get a balanced meal, but still, sneak in some extra nutrients and fibre with cauliflower rice and introduce them to a potentially less-loved vegetable.
More Recipes You Might Like
- Cabbage Cheeseburger Casserole
- Vegetarian Pizza Casserole
- Vegan Mexican Pasta Casserole
- Vegan Moussaka with Hummus Bechamel
- Keto Cabbage Roll Enchiladas
Now tell me, what are some of your family’s favourite casserole dinners? Let me know in the comments below.
Chicken Cauliflower Rice Casserole with Broccoli (Healthy Keto Friendly)
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 2 tbsp corn starch or tapioca starch
- 4 cups uncooked cauliflower rice
- 1 head broccoli cut into very small florets
- 1 bell pepper finely diced (green if keto)
- 1 rotisserie chicken shredded
- 1/2 cup cream cheese lite or regular for keto
- 1 ½ cup old cheddar cheese shredded, divided
- 1 ½ cups fresh mozzarella cheese shredded, divided
- 4 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried powdered garlic
- 2 tsp dried powdered onion
- 2 tsp sweet paprika
- 1 tsp chili powder optional and to taste
- ½ tsp ground pepper
- 1/2 -1 tsp sea salt omit for children
- Parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 F and grease a 13×9” casserole.
- In a small bowl, mix together the milk and the cornstarch or tapioca starch.
- In a large bowl, mix together the cauliflower rice, broccoli, bell pepper, chicken, milk and starch mixture, cream cheese, 1 cup cheddar, 1 cup mozzarella, oregano, garlic, onion, paprika, chili if using, pepper and salt.
- Toss to mix very well and transfer to the casserole dish.
- Top with the remaining ½ cup of cheddar and ½ cup of mozzarella. Bake for 45 minutes uncovered or until golden brown. Allow to sit for 5 minutes before topping with parsley and enjoying.
Video
Notes
- Want to freeze this for later? Once you’ve baked the cauliflower rice casserole and allowed it to cool, simply wrap it up tightly with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and transfer to the freezer. When ready to enjoy, allow it to thaw overhead in the fridge overnight before heating it through in the oven.
- I would suggest shredding your own cheese as pre-shredded cheese have a flour coating on them that prevents them from clumping. However, this makes it grainy when melted. To quickly shred a block of cheese, you can use a food processor.
- If you do not want to use cooking spray in your baking dish, you can use parchment or tin foil but your dish might still stick to it. You can always grease your pan with butter or olive oil as an alternative to cooking spray.
Nutrition
Abbey Sharp is a Registered Dietitian (RD), regulated by the Ontario College of Dietitians. She is a mom, YouTuber, Blogger, award winning cookbook author, media coach specializing in food and nutrition influencers, and a frequent contributor to national publications like Healthline and on national broadcast TV shows.
Cathy says
Love it! Husband went back for seconds! Will make again for family… ❣️
Isabella_Adeline says
Wondering if it would work to freeze before baking and then thaw and cook in the oven camping….Anyone have any thoughts?
Karen says
What do you mean by old cheddar… aged?
Abbey Sharp says
yes!
Alison says
Just devoured this for dinner. Probably should have noted it’s 12 servings.. mine will be 6 at the serving size we just ate oops! Testament to how delicious it is I guess 🙂 thanks again for another brilliant family recipe.
Kimberly Martin says
Would you have a suggestion for making this vegetarian? I was thinking maybe chick peas instead of chicken? Or Tofu?
Abbey Sharp says
Yep! Both would be good options.
A Welborn says
Do you know how many servings are in the dish?
Abbey Sharp says
Around 12
Carmen says
This was a great dish! So delicious. I used frozen broccoli and cauliflower rice. I also used a rotisserie chicken. A lot faster. This is going to be a dish I will take to pot luck dinners.
Abbey Sharp says
Yay! Thats awesome. Thanks Carmen 🙂
Shelly says
What kind of milk do you use? Can you use almond milk?
Abbey Sharp says
yep definitely. Any milk will do!
Heather says
How did you adjust baking time/liquids if using frozen rice?
Abbey Sharp says
Hi Heather, I would let the cauli rice defrost before or you can give it a couple extra minutes in the oven.
Giselle says
This was excellent! Will definitely be making it again.
Shelley Russo says
was wondering what cauliflower rice you use. did you make it from a head of cauliflower or from the freezer section.
Abbey Sharp says
Either should work
Janet says
This was perfect! Kids loved the cheesiness and I loved that it was low carb!
Abbey Sharp says
Awesome! So happy the kiddos enjoyed them
Karen says
I really liked the casserole. I didn’t use the milk and cornstarch as they are not keto approved (as far as I know). I subbed in heavy cream. I made a very small casserole to try it out. I’ll definitely make the full version next.
Abbey Sharp says
Hi Karen. Great question about the milk and cornstarch! Technically all foods are “keto friendly” when kept within the daily carbohydrate limit for ketosis, which is usually around 50 grams of carbs a day. So while it is true that milk and cornstarch do contain carbs, when the recipe is divided up into multiple servings, you are only getting about 2.7 grams of carbs from the milk and corn starch combined. And even with the inclusion of the milk and corn starch, this recipe provides 12 grams of carbs in total which *does* make it keto-friendly for folks needing to limit their carb intake. I hope that clears things up!
Nancy Bastian says
Instead of milk can you use heavy whipping if do how much
Abbey Sharp says
I dont see why its an issue.
Christina says
Could I use frozen cauliflower rice? I’m thinking If thaw it First but I’m not sure how to adjust the cook time. Thanks!
Abbey Sharp says
I’m not sure the cooking time will change much though it may be mushier and more watery. if you try it, i would probably put it in frozen and just make sure to drain any excess water.
Mary Kay says
How low carb is this? I couldn’t find that nutritional info. Most keto recipes give carb count and/or net carbs per serving. Thanks.
Abbey Sharp says
You can find it in the recipe. It’s 9g of net carbs per serving.
Rian says
This looks so yummy! Definitely trying this! Here’s a recipe I think you might like: Thai Style Coconut Chicken
Abbey Sharp says
Enjoy!
Angela says
This dish sounds amazing! I love how easy it is to make, perfect for a weeknight family meal.
Abbey Sharp says
For sure. Thanks Angela
Deborah Brooks says
I love to use cauliflower rice in casseroles. So easy to use as a base and mix in all the veggies.
Abbey Sharp says
Totally easy
Kelly says
How much chicken do you add? 1lb? 1.5? Thanks!!
Abbey Sharp says
About 1.5 lbs
Kelsey says
This was hit for the whole family. I wish I had used softened cream cheese (or cut into smaller pieces) as mixing it didn’t work well so broke chunks and had to place them (even when melted didn’t blend). Would also garnish with Bacon and Green onions. Thank you for this nice addition to our menu!