Growing up, chicken rotel was MY FAVORITE FOOD on the planet! I asked my mom to make it any time I was allowed to choose (i.e. my birthday). It is truly comfort food in all it’s glory. I have no clue where she learned how to make this heavenly casserole, but Lord, I thank whoever shared the recipe with her.
And we must not confuse chicken rotel with chicken spaghetti. They are not equivalent in my life. Traditionally, chicken rotel is chopped chicken cooked in cheesy spaghetti with rotel tomatoes (hence the name), mushrooms, and peas. Nothing fancy but hot damn, it’s good.
My birthday was over the weekend and all be damned if I wasn’t getting my chicken rotel. My husband HATES this dish. I mean, the first time I ever made it for him when we were dating he said “it’s edible”. That was also the evening of our first fight, coincidentally. So, I don’t make it often, sadly.
I decided this week I needed to re-focus and start making more lower-carb dishes and get back into the gym. I LOVE my low-carb and keto recipes so that isn’t an issue for me. But, pregnancy cravings make it hard to turn away Taco Bell and Sesame Chicken from time to time.
So, when I decided to make chicken rotel this week I had the *brilliant* idea to replace the noodles with…CAULIFLOWER. Y’all, dare I say I liked it even more?! It was seriously SO GOOD that even my husband (who, remember, hates this meal) liked it.
The whole recipe makes 3-9″ pie plates worth so I made 1 with noodles for my kids but even they liked the cauliflower. Win-win-win!!!
Next time you’re in the mood for a warm, cheesy, easy casserole, I hope you give this a shot and love it as much as I do!
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked chicken
- 1 lb Velveeta cheese, cubed
- 2 12oz packages frozen cauliflower, steamed
- 1 can green peas, drained
- 1 can rotel tomatoes, drained
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 green pepper, diced
- 8oz mushrooms, sliced
- 6 tbsp butter
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
- In saute pan, melt butter over MED heat. Add mushrooms, onions, and bell pepper, and cook until the vegetables are tender and most of the butter is absorbed. About 5-7 minutes.
- In a large bowl, combine cooked chicken, peas, Rotel, cheese, and cooked cauliflower. Add the sautéed veggies and toss to combine.
- Divide the mixture between 3 9-inch pie plates, 3 8×8 glass dishes, or 1 9×13 dish + 1 8×8 dish.
- Bake for 30 minutes.
A Few Notes About This Recipe
- This recipe will yield 12 servings however you distribute your filling.
- This recipe is intended to be LOW-CARB. If you are following a ketogenic diet and staying at 20g carbs per day, you will obviously need to make sure this dish fits your macros.
- This recipe is obviously not “clean” with processed cheese as the main ingredient. If you want to make it cleaner, replace the Velveeta with shredded cheese or a homemade cheese sauce. You could use the sauce from this recipe. I’ve made it both ways and they’re equally delicious.
Low Carb Chicken Rotel
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked chicken
- 1 lb Velveeta cheese cubed
- 2 12 oz packages frozen cauliflower steamed
- 1 can green peas drained
- 1 can rotel tomatoes drained
- 1 small onion diced
- 1 green pepper diced
- 8 oz mushrooms sliced
- 6 tbsp butter
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
- In saute pan, melt butter over MED heat. Add mushrooms, onions, and bell pepper, and cook until the vegetables are tender and most of the butter is absorbed. About 5-7 minutes.
- In a large bowl, combine cooked chicken, peas, Rotel, cheese, and cooked cauliflower. Add the sautéed veggies and toss to combine.
- Divide the mixture between 3 9-inch pie plates, 3 8×8 glass dishes, or 1 9×13 dish + 1 8×8 dish.
- Bake for 30 minutes.
