Pizza Chicken w Cheesy Cauliflower Rice

About

Use this recipe when you want to meal prep or make a simple dinner that can make everyone at the table happy. Chicken breasts are seared with Italian spices before they’re loaded with pizza toppings. In this recipe, the chicken is topped with bacon, pepperoni, and cheese. If you’re a premium Carb Manager user, you can edit any recipe with any ingredient substitutions you wish before you add the recipe to your food log. The pizza chicken is finished in the oven, so the top is golden and crispy like a pizza pie. Served on the side is a scoop of ultimate-cheesy Keto rice made with riced cauliflower. Who doesn’t love when their vegetables are packed with melted cheese to make them all go down smooth? For meal prepping purposes, you can store the portioned meals in airtight containers in your refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Difference Between Frozen Or Fresh Cauliflower Rice

In most recipes, it won’t matter much if you decide to use thawed riced cauliflower from frozen or fresh cauliflower that you rice yourself. If you’re cooking frozen rice in a pan, you’ll need to allow extra time for all that excess moisture to evaporate from the cauliflower. The same goes for cooking any casserole-style dishes in the oven. As for texture, it’s a matter of preference. If you follow the recipe directions exactly, you’ll tend to find frozen riced cauliflower cooks to a more tender final product, but can turn to mush if over-cooked. Freshly riced cauliflower will have a slightly firmer texture but will feel more similar to rice grains, but the after-taste of cauliflower could potentially be stronger.

Can I Cook The Chicken In My Air Fryer?

You can cut down your cooking time by using an air fryer if one is available to you. Preheat the air fryer to 375 degrees. Instead of searing the chicken on your stove, add all the toppings to your pizza chicken before cooking it. Cook the pizza chicken in the air fryer for 15 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees internally. The air fryer will give your chicken a crispy, browned outside and juicy center without having to sear the chicken first.

Ingredients

8 oz chicken breast boneless skinless raw
½ teaspoon olive or extra virgin olive oil
⅛ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon oregano, dried
¼ teaspoon thyme, dried
¼ teaspoon basil, dried
⅛ teaspoon garlic powder
⅛ teaspoon onion powder
1 tablespoon marinara sauce
2 teaspoon real bacon bits
8 slice – each 0.1 ounce pepperoni
2 oz mozzarella cheese, whole milk
8 oz cauliflower rice
⅛ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon black pepper
⅛ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon parsley, dried
1 tablespoon butter, unsalted
1 oz cream cheese
½ cup, shredded cheddar cheese, natural
¼ cup, shredded colby jack cheese

Instructions

Prepare 4-ounce chicken breasts by patting them dry with a paper towel and pounding them flat, if necessary. Your chicken breasts should be around ½-inch thick. Rub ¼ teaspoon olive oil into each breast, and season the chicken with salt, pepper, oregano, thyme, basil garlic powder, and onion powder. Heat a pan on your stove on very high heat. Once the pan is hot, place the chicken in the pan to sear.
Sear your chicken on each side, but don’t cook the chicken all the way through. You’ll finish cooking the chicken in the oven. Transfer the seared chicken to a well-seasoned sheet tray, and turn on the oven to preheat to 350 degrees (return the pan to your stove for later). Spread ½ tablespoon marinara sauce across the top of each chicken breast. Follow up with 1 teaspoon bacon bits, 4 slices of thin-sliced pepperoni, and 1 ounce of whole-milk mozzarella in that order on each piece.
Place the pizza chicken in your oven. Bake the chicken for 15 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees internally and the cheese is completely melted. At your discretion, you can cook the pizza chicken under a broiler at the end of the recipe to give a more golden-brown top, just like a pizza coming out of the oven. While the chicken breasts are cooking in your oven, you can turn your attention to the cheesy rice.
If you kept your pan that you used to cook the chicken, you can use this same pan to cook your rice in. This way, the rice can pick up other flavors and cook in the natural fat from the chicken. Toss riced cauliflower (frozen or fresh) in the pan with salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and parsley. Cook the rice on high heat on your stove until the rice is golden and the spices have lightly charred. If you used frozen cauliflower rice, this process will take a little longer to ensure the excess moisture evaporates.
Reduce the heat to low, and add butter and cream cheese to the pan of rice. Stir the ingredients until the butter has melted and the cream cheese has melted into a lump-free spread. Fold the rice over until it’s all coated in the cream cheese mixture. Follow up by adding the cheddar and colby jack cheese to your pan. Continue folding the rice as the cheese melts and thickens your rice into a dense, creamy dish. Serve approximately 4 ounces of cheesy cauliflower rice with each portion of pizza chicken.