Low Calorie Italian Chicken and Cauliflower Rice
Replacing white grain rice with cauliflower rice can save on calories and can be just as filling. This Italian chicken and cauliflower rice is high in protein, and low in calories!
The total for this meal was 288 calories, 32 grams of protein, 31 grams of carbs, and 4 grams of fat.
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Have you picked up some cauliflower rice at Costco yet? This is the best place to purchase frozen riced cauliflower. I’ve been buying a large bag, that has four smaller bags inside. It just makes it so nice because it’s affordable, yet you don’t have to open a huge bag and feel like you need to use it all at once.
What is cauliflower rice?
Cauliflower rice (or riced cauliflower), is a way to cut cauliflower into tiny rice sized pieces. (Check out this post for my favorite recipes using cauliflower) Because cauliflower is so mild in flavor, when you cook with the small pieces of cauliflower, it takes on the flavor of the food you are cooking it with.
Cauliflower rice (at least the Green Giant frozen bags) says the calories are 20 calories for 1 cup, 2 grams of protein, 4 grams of carbs, and 0 grams of fat. Such a great, low calorie way to make a meal have more volume! Compared to regular rice, you’ll save 90 calories for every half cup!
Of course, you can always make your own cauliflower rice, however, I found it’s just as affordable to buy it pre-cut. If you want to make your own, Diethood has a great tutorial here. Most people just run it through a food processor, so it doesn’t take too long. However, you need to buy several heads of cauliflower to make enough for my liking, and I prefer it frozen so I can just use it in smaller amounts.
What’s in the Italian Chicken and Cauliflower Rice?
To increase the protein, and keep the calories low, I used:
- 4 ounces pre-cooked chicken breast
- 85 grams cauliflower rice (1 cup) thawed,
- 1/2 cup black beans (cooked or canned) (more protein and also fiber!)
- Sliced Cherry tomatoes
- Diced Red bell pepper
- Diced cucumber
- and two tablespoons of the Light Italian Olive Garden Dressing! I used to use this all the time, but it’s been awhile. There is only 30 calories for 2 tablespoons, and I love it so much!
Anyway, give this Italian chicken and cauliflower rice a try, and share your favorite things to mix into riced cauliflower!
Low Calorie Quick Chicken and Cauliflower Rice
Ingredients
- 4 ounces chicken breasts cooked
- 1 cup cauliflower rice thawed
- 1/2 cup black beans canned or cooked
- 4 small cherry tomatoes sliced
- 1/2 cup cucumbers chopped
- 1/4 cup red bell pepper diced
- 2 tablespoons light Italian Dressing
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a bowl.
- Mix Olive Garden Light Italian dressing over all ingredients and mix.
- Serve cold or warm.
Nutrition
For another Chicken and Cauliflower Rice Bowl, check out this recipe!
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