Cauliflower rice bowls with turmeric chicken, roasted red onions, cucumber, tomatoes, olives and a tahini herb dressing are colorful, flavorful and healthful. Makes a great light dinner or a yummy lunch you can meal prep ahead for the week.
Let’s jump straight into the food today, cause I'm so excited to share this with you.
Today we are making cauliflower rice bowls with turmeric chicken, roasted red onions, cucumber, tomatoes, olives and a tahini herb dressing to bring it all together.
There are so many fantastic flavors and colors in these bowls!
Oh, and that chicken. Droolworthy.
It’s similar to my easy turmeric chicken, but we’re using thighs and we’re roasting them for extra flavor.
It comes out so juicy and flavorful and then gets added to the fluffy cauliflower rice and fresh, crisp veggies, drizzled with the dressing... and just wow.
You’ll definitely be digging in for bite after bite to get all these flavors and textures together.
Just so good!
Oh, and if you love bowls as much as I do, check out bean and rice bowls, Greek grain bowls, chicken shawarma rice bowls and turkey burger salad bowls.
Or browse all of my many, many bowls recipes.
OK, back to today’s recipe. Let’s get cooking!
Now, I’ve got some notes, tips and substitutions coming up below on how to make cauliflower rice bowls. Just tryin’ to be helpful.
If you want to jump on down to the recipe, simply scroll right on through the rest of the text. The recipe card is near the bottom of the page, above the comments section.
Ingredient Notes:
- Cauliflower rice: You can buy 2 (10 ounce) packages of frozen cauliflower rice or make your own cauliflower rice.
- Red onion: I love some roasted red onion, but you could skip this if you’re not a fan.
- Chicken: The boneless, skinless chicken thighs have a really great flavor and richness in this recipe and stay so juicy. You could also substitute boneless, skinless chicken breasts if you prefer. You could probably also just use a rotisserie chicken if you want to keep this extra easy.
- Veggies: I love the freshness and crispiness of the cucumbers and tomatoes, but you could add in whatever fresh or roasted veggies you love for these bowls.
- Dressing: The tahini herb dressing for these bowls is so good and takes just a few minutes to make in a blender. However, you could substitute another dressing or just use a dollop of hummus in the middle of your bowl if you’d rather.
Also, if you want to make these vegetarian, just leave off the chicken and substitute some roasted chickpeas or crispy tofu. You could even use a veggie burger as the protein.
And of course, you can use regular steamed brown or white rice - or another grain like farro - for these bowls if you want instead of the cauliflower rice.
Lots of ways to make this recipe work for you!
Speaking of, because I want this recipe to work well for you, let me share a few…
Tips and Tricks
- Use 2 bags of frozen cauliflower rice. Despite with the packaging might say for serving size, there’s hardly more than 2 servings in a single 10 ounce bag.
- Roast your chicken and red onion separately. This will allow the red onion to roast and brown instead of steam and get soggy due to the juices from the chicken.
- You can either use a separate sheet pan or just use two separate pieces of aluminum foil on your sheet pan to make two separate areas. Makes for easy clean-up too.
- Add a tablespoon of water at a time to thin out the dressing to your desired consistency. You can leave it thick and have it more as a thick sauce to dip your bites into, or thin it out and drizzle it more liberally over the bowls.
Hopefully that helps you have maximum success.
Last thing, what to do with leftovers…
Leftovers can be stored in a covered container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. It’s best to store the cauliflower rice and chicken separately from the fresh veggies and dressing, so you can reheat them on their own before assembling your bowl.
I hope you’ll give this recipe a try for a healthy dinner - or a yummy meal-prep lunch.
If you do, leave me a comment below or tag me on Instagram; I love seeing your creations!
Enjoy!
XO,
Kathryn
Cauliflower Rice Bowls with Turmeric Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 small red onion, cut into wedges
- 2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 1 ½ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 1 ½ teaspoons turmeric
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 (10 oz.) frozen packages cauliflower rice
- 1 cup cucumber slices (halve horizontally and cut into half moons)
- 2 cups halved cherry tomatoes
- ¼ cup sliced kalamata olives
For the tahini herb dressing:
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons tahini
- ¼ cup fresh parsley
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- Salt and pepper
- Water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil to create two separate cooking areas.
- Cut the chicken thighs into about 6 pieces to make smaller chunks. Season the chicken with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and the turmeric, cumin, salt and black pepper, rubbing to coat all sides. Place the chicken on one area of the foil. Place the red onion wedges on the other area and drizzle with remaining ½ tablespoon olive oil.
- Roast the chicken and red onion and 450 for 25 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.
- Meanwhile, make the dressing. Add all of the dressing ingredients, minus the water, to a blender or food processor. Pulse until well combined. Add a tablespoon of water at a time to reach your desired consistency. (You can leave it thicker for more of a dipping sauce or thin it out to drizzle over the bowls.)
- When the chicken is almost ready, cook the cauliflower rice according to package directions.
- Assemble the bowls. Divide the cauliflower rice among 4 bowls. Top with the roasted chicken, red onions, cucumber, tomatoes and olives. Drizzle with 2-3 tablespoons of dressing and serve the remaining dressing at the table.
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