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.
Courtney says
This turned out fantastic. I would suggest using a large bowl rather than a small bowl to mix everything. I definitely used more broccoli than it called for, and ended up with a 9 x 13 and an 8 x 8 casserole. Still turned out amazing, and this was exactly the meal I was looking for. Cauliflower rice is so easy to cook with, and if you cook it well enough, You won’t really notice the difference. So filling. I top it with red hot. Perfect meal.
Abbey Sharp says
Thanks for the feedback Courtney!
Michelle says
So easy and tasty. I just added fresh broccoli and taco seasoning to it and topped with some seasoned tortilla strips. Definitely adding to the rotation. Thank you for this yummy recipe.
Abbey Sharp says
Love these additions!
Cynthia Stewart says
This was absolutely delicious. I think I might up the ante next time and put in mushrooms, and maybe jalapeños. Definitely a recipe worth trying.
I used frozen cauliflower rice that I thawed first and had no issues with it.
Alicia says
It is yum! All the flavors work well together. All the veggies make me feel good eating it. Thank you for such an easy go-to recipe.
Bonnie Swan says
What tricks do you have to mix the cream cheese into the rest of the mixture?
Abbey Sharp says
You can thin it out with a bit of milk.
Donna Steele says
can I make a day ahead and then cook?
Abbey Sharp says
Yep for sure
Mary says
Looks delicious! I can’t wait to try this recipe out.
Sharon says
Sounds delicious and I would love to try it but neither corn starch or tapioca starch are allowed on a true keto diet. Is there something else I could use?
Abbey Sharp says
HI Sharon, one serving provides 9 grams of net carbs so it should be perfectly fine to include in a keto diet.