Layered Mexican Casserole with Chicken and Cauliflower Rice (Video) – Kalyn’s Kitchen

posted by Kalyn Denny on April 19, 2021

This new recipe for Layered Mexican Casserole with Chicken and Cauliflower Rice is a lower-carb version of a Mexican casserole from the past! You’ll love the new version with Green Chile Enchilada Sauce, sour cream, green chiles, and diced chicken layered with seasoned cauliflower rice and cheese!

PIN this tasty casserole to make it later!

I’m excited to share this new recipe for Layered Mexican Casserole with Chicken and Cauliflower Rice, and we absolutely devoured this when we tested the recipe. This new version of an old favorite was inspired by a commenter who complained that my recipe for Layered Mexican Casserole with Chicken and Pinto Beans was not low-carb.

Of course people come to my site all the time who don’t know how my personal eating journey has evolved, so I patiently explained how that recipe with beans was from the days when I followed the original South Beach Diet (and nowhere in the recipe did it claim to be low in carbs, and it wasn’t tagged low-carb either.) But that comment got me thinking, and I wondered if I could come up with a version of that mega-popular layered casserole that was lower in carbs?

And it was actually pretty simple to adapt it into this lower-carb version. The new recipe has one layer with Green Chile Enchilada reduced on the stove and combined with green chiles, sour cream, diced chicken, and sliced green onions. The other layer has a cauliflower rice mixture that also has onions, cumin, and green bell pepper. And of course, every layer has cheese.

And even though we didn’t change the recipe that much from the version with beans, I decided to make this a separate post to avoid confusion. If you’re looking for a new idea for Cinco de Mayo this year, I promise this recipe will be a hit with most Mexican food fans!

What ingredients do you need for this recipe?

Why I love Hatch Green Chile Enchilada Sauce:

I’m a long-time fan of Hatch Green Chile Enchilada Sauce (affiliate link) which is a delicious canned green chile enchilada sauce that’s gluten-free. Even though the ingredient list has tiny amounts of sugar and cornstarch, the sauce adds only 3.5 carbs per serving to this recipe. And this sauce is so flavorful and convenient to use that for me’s a product worth using. If you find other canned Green Chile Enchilada Sauce that’s also low in sugar, by all means use whatever sauce you prefer!

Steps for making this casserole:

(Scroll down to see complete recipe with nutritional information.)

1. Preheat oven to 375 F/190C. Spray a casserole dish with non-stick spray. 
2. Take frozen cauliflower rice out of the freezer.
3. Put Green Chile Enchilada Sauce  in a small saucepan and simmer until it’s reduced to one cup.
4. Dice onion and green bell pepper and slice green onions, and cut chicken into small dice. 
5. Heat olive oil in a big frying pan, add onion and green pepper and cook until they’re starting to brown. Add ground cumin and cook a few minutes more.
6. Add frozen cauliflower rice and cook over high heat until rice is hot and some steam has evaporated, about 4 minutes.
7. When Green Chile Enchilada Sauce is reduced to one cup, put it in a medium-sized bowl and stir in diced green chiles. Taste to see if you want some Green Tabasco Sauce.)
8. When the mixture is still warm but not hot, stir in the sour cream, diced chiles, and green onions.
9. Make a layer in the casserole dish with half the cauliflower rice mixture.
10. Add half the chicken/sour cream mixture by spoonfuls, and spread it over the cauliflower rice.
11. Add half the grated cheese over the chicken mixture.
12. Make another layer each of cauliflower rice mixture, chicken mixture, and grated cheese.
13. Bake uncovered about 30-35 minutes. 
14. Let stand 5-10 minutes before cutting, and serve!

Make it a Low-Carb Meal:

I’d love this layered casserole with Spicy Mexican Slaw with Lime and Cilantro or Spicy Lime Coleslaw for a low-carb meal!

More Mexican Dishes with Green Chile Flavors:

Green Chile and Chicken Mock Enchilada Casserole
Green Chile Chicken Tacos
Low-Carb Twice-Cooked Chicken with Green Chiles and Cheese
Salsa Verde Chicken Bake
Green Chile Chicken Burrito Bowl
Green Chile Turkey Enchilada Soup
Instant Pot Green Chile Pork Enchiladas

Weekend Food Prep:

This recipe has been added to a category called Weekend Food Prep to help you find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!

Ingredients

• 3 cups frozen cauliflower rice (see notes)
• one 15 oz. can Hatch Green Chile Enchilada Sauce
• 1 medium onion
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 T ground cumin (see notes)
• one 4 oz. can diced green chiles (see notes)
• 1 T Green Tabasco Sauce (optional)
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 2 cups diced cooked chicken
• 1/4 cup sliced green onion
• 2 cups grated Mexican Cheese Blend

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 F/190C. Spray a 9″ x 12″ x 3″ casserole dish with non-stick spray. (You need a dish close to that size to hold this recipe.)
2. Take frozen cauliflower rice out of the freezer and let it start to thaw on the counter.
3. Put Hatch Green Chile Enchilada Sauce (or sauce of your choice) in a small saucepan and simmer until it’s reduced to one cup.
4. Dice onion and green bell pepper and slice green onions.
5. Cut chicken into small dice. (We used cooked rotisserie chicken from Costco, which made it easy.)
6. Heat olive oil in a frying pan big enough to hold the cauliflower rice, add onion and green pepper and cook until they’re barely starting to brown, about 5 minutes.
7. Add ground cumin and cook a few minutes more.
8. Then add frozen cauliflower rice and cook over high heat until rice is hot and liquid has evaporated, about 4 minutes.
9. When Green Chile Enchilada Sauce has reduced to one cup, put it in a bowl that’s big enough to hold the chicken, and stir in diced green chiles. (Taste to see if you want the optional Green Tabasco Sauce.)
10. When the mixture is still warm but no longer hot, stir in the sour cream, diced chiles, and green onions.
11. Make a layer in the bottom of the casserole dish with half the cauliflower rice mixture.
12. Add half the chicken/sour cream mixture by spoonfuls, and spread over the cauliflower rice.
13. Add half the grated cheese over the chicken mixture.
14. Make another layer each of cauliflower rice mixture, chicken mixture, and grated cheese.
15. Bake uncovered 30-35 minutes, or until casserole is bubbling hot and the top is nicely browned. 
16. Let stand 5-10 minutes before cutting, and serve!

Notes

We made this with 3 cups cauliflower rice, but if you’d like a thicker cauliflower rice layer you can use a bit more. If you’re not a huge cumin fan, you might want a bit less cumin. The diced green chiles are mild Anaheim chiles, not jalapenos!

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving:

Calories: 285Total Fat: 19gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 71mgSodium: 257mgCarbohydrates: 13gFiber: 2.4gSugar: 7gProtein: 18g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
The Green Chile Enchilada Sauce I use in this recipe does have teeny-tiny amounts of cornstarch and sugar. But those amounts are so low that this recipe is probably  low enough in net carbs for most carb-conscious diets, although maybe something to have for a treat. For the original South Beach Diet it would be recommended to use low-fat dairy products if you’re making this.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Casserole Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You can also Follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.