Cauliflower Rice Stir Fry tossed with garlic butter chicken and carrots is ready in only 25 minutes! A perfect one-pot, veggie-packed quick and simple stir-fry for a busy weeknight. The whole family will enjoy this sweet and tasty nutrient-loaded cauliflower rice stir-fry.
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I love one pot meals! And even more, I love one pot meals that literally take minutes to throw together. Cauliflower rice stir fry is exactly this, plus it gives your family a double dose of veggies.
This cauliflower rice stir fry is a sneaky way to get your children to eat not just 1 vegetable at dinner, but 2.
It's a grain free recipe, so carbs are limited. This makes it a light dinner, great for around those winter holidays loaded with sweet and tasty treats! You'll not only love how this cauliflower rice stir fry tastes, but how it makes you feel.
This cauliflower rice stir fry recipe uses frozen cauliflower rice. Frozen cauliflower rice has became a lifesaver for me. I keep a large bag of individual servings from Sam's Club in the freezer at all times.
I love it because frozen cauliflower rice doesn't need to be defrosted. You can fry it right from frozen or steam it in the microwave. The package I get can be steamed in the microwave or pan-fried for only 5 minutes straight from the freezer. This reduces prep time significantly, and who doesn't love that?
Back before I had children and a lot more free time, I used to grate a head of cauliflower into perfect little rice-looking pellets, slowly fry it or saute it, and turn it into the base of a simple "rice bowl".
Grating cauliflower doesn't really take that long if you have the time, but sometimes we just don't.
Example: hungry children who need to eat, do homework, and get in the bath and go to bed in less than 2 hours after you get home from work.
Ingredients
For this chicken and cauliflower rice stir fry, you need:
- frozen cauliflower rice: or grate a full head using a cheese grater
- carrots: chopped or grated
- minced garlic: if you're sensitive to garlic, reduce to 5 cloves
- diced chicken
- chicken broth: vegetable broth works too
- fresh squeezed lemon: lemon juice can be used in a pinch
- grated Parmesan: I don't recommend substituting with fresh because it melts differently
- diced onion
- fresh parsley: or use dried and reduce the amount to ⅓
Step-By-Step Directions
Making garlic butter cauliflower rice stir fry is simple.
- In a large pan melt 6 tablespoon of butter over high heat. Add the chicken, paprika, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. Turn the heat to medium and cook about 5 minutes, until chicken begins to brown and is no longer pink inside. Add garlic during the last minute. Remove chicken and juices from pan.
- Add 2 tablespoon of butter to the pan and melt, scraping the brown bits from the bottom. Add the onions and carrots and cook for 4 minutes, until onions begin to caramelize and carrots become tender-crisp.
- Add the cauliflower rice and chicken broth and saute for 5 minutes, breaking apart the cauliflower with a spatula as it warms. Stir frequently.
- Remove from the heat and add the parsley and Parmesan cheese. Squeeze with lemon and mix well. Toss with the reserved chicken and juices.
Serve with additional fresh parsley if desired.
Enjoy!
Recipe
Garlic Butter Chicken and Cauliflower Rice Stir Fry
Ingredients
For the chicken:
- 6 tablespoon butter
- 2 large chicken breasts, diced
- 2 teaspoon paprika
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 2 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 8 garlic cloves, minced
For the cauliflower rice:
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 cup onions, chopped
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 10 oz frozen cauliflower rice (see notes if using fresh cauliflower rice)
- ¼ cup chicken broth
- 2 tablespoon fresh parsley
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese
- ½ lemon
Instructions
- In a large pan melt 6 tablespoon of butter over high heat. Add the chicken, paprika, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. Turn the heat to medium and cook about 5 minutes, until chicken begins to brown and is no longer pink inside. Add garlic during the last minute. Remove chicken and juices from pan.
- Add 2 tablespoon of butter to the pan and melt, scraping the brown bits from the bottom. Add the onions and carrots and cook for 4 minutes, until onions begin to caramelize and carrots become tender-crisp.
- Add the cauliflower rice and chicken broth and saute for 5 minutes, breaking apart the cauliflower with a spatula as it warms. Stir frequently.
- Remove from the heat and add the parsley and Parmesan cheese. Squeeze with lemon and mix well. Toss with the reserved chicken and juices. Serve with additional fresh parsley if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Serving
This recipe keeps well in the fridge for around 2 days. It is also freezer-friendly for up to 6 months.
I hope that you enjoy this delicious recipe! If you've made it, let me know what you thought in the comments below.
If you enjoyed this recipe, make sure to give it a star rating and let me know what you thought in the comments! And follow me on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for more delicious recipes!
Emily
I don’t tend to leave many recipe reviews but I almost talked myself out of making this due several reviews basically saying it was blander than expected. It seemed inconceivable given the ingredients list so I gave it a try today and I am SO very glad I did, it is delicious!!! I made two small adjustments - I used chicken thighs and omitted the chicken broth. My favorite way to have cauli rice is prepped in a dry pan so all the moisture cooks off and leaves a better taste and texture so thought the addition of moisture at that step was not going to be best for my taste. It is fabulous and will be in our rotation, especially since I typically have all of the ingredients on hand regularly. Thanks for the great recipe!!!
Kristina
Hi Emily- I am glad you tried it too! Thank you for the feedback, and those are good recommendations. This is also one of my favorites to make weekly. Thank you for the feedback.
S
My family and I thought this recipe was very underwhelming. Not sure what it was missing. All of the ingredients seemed like they would be flavorful but to us it was lacking. I made it with both rice and cauliflower rice, separated some of the chicken and sauce after it was done.
Lauren
The sodium was very high and could tell when I was eating it
Good taste but high seasoned taste
B
Made this tonight for my family of 6,oldest 18 and youngest 5 yo. Everyone loved it and cleaned their bowl! Thanks for the great recipe. I am looking for great recipes for cauliflower rice and this will definitely be added to our future menus.
Katie
Unfortunately this recipe did not turn out well 🙁 The cauliflower rice was very mushy and soggy. I'm not sure if the broth was necessary? The flavor also didn't turn out good. Maybe it's just the taste of cauliflower rice? It was my first time cooking with it. I do enjoy cauliflower but this didn't taste good. I'm sorry 🙁 Not sure if I could do something different next time or if this recipe just isn't for me.
Kristina
Sorry to hear you didn't enjoy it! I think cauliflower rice needs some getting used to. Since this was your first time cooking with it, I wouldn't give up on it but maybe try it in a recipe where it's less of a main ingredient. I am thinking maybe as a replacement for rice in stuffed peppers, something like that. If you want to try this again, you can add more seasonings to the chicken (garlic powder, onion powder, maybe even a little cumin if you enjoy it). You may enjoy it with more lemon and parmesan cheese, too. Adding some toasted panko bread crumbs mixed with italian seasoning at the end will give it more of a crunch!