Alrighty guys. This chorizo cauli-rice casserole is probably one of my favorite creations that I’ve made. Yesterday’s butter chicken flautas (recipe here) were amazeballs, but this recipe is special. Wanna know why? Probably not, but I’ll tell you anyway. I hate cauliflower. HATE it. My hatred is to the point I was actually dreading making this dish. My husband actually gets tired of me putting cauliflower dishes on the meal plan because it comes time to make it and it ends up being two hours of “I don’t wanna make it. Cauliflower’s yucky.”
When I tell you that I could scarf back like 10 platefuls of this casserole, you know it’s damn good. Which makes me pretty proud of myself because I was able to turn something I hate into something I love. How you ask? By completely disguising the cauliflower by masking it with shit that actually tastes good. 😂
Here we go!
Chorizo Cauli-Rice Mixture
The nice thing about this recipe is the versatility. Cooking for kids who don’t like spice? You can sub hamburger instead of chorizo. Feeling fancy and want to make your own cauliflower rice? Nerd! Haha, just kidding… kinda. Hate cauli-rice? Hey, me too! You can sub real rice. Don’t like green chiles? Use regular diced tomatoes instead of rotel. This recipe is pretty easily adapted, which is nice.
Regardless of how you modify this recipe for your own tastes, you’re going to start off by browning the meat of your choice with some onion. While this is happening, cook your cauliflower rice and drain the SHIT out of it. You’ll want to wring it essentially dry using paper towels. If you don’t, your casserole will be watery and gross. And probably will still taste like sweaty feet, I mean cauliflower. After you wring it out, add it into the meat mixture with some garlic and mix it all really well without draining the meat.
Won’t it be too greasy without draining the chorizo? Nope! The cauliflower actually gets coated in it and it adds to the flavor of the dish. But go ahead and drain it if you reeeeeally want to. After you’ve combined all of this stuff, go ahead and dump it into a greased 13×9 casserole dish.
The Sauce
This is the most integral part of the dish. It ensures you can’t taste the stinky cauliflower. And yeah, the combo kinda sounds funky, but I promise you, it’s bomb.
Stay with me here, but we’re going to combine one condensed can of cream of chicken, 1/2 cup of milk, 1/2 cup of sour cream, and then salt, pepper, and taco seasoning. After you get that all mixed up, you’re going to add a 15 oz can of beans as well as a can of rotel to the sauce. The kind of beans doesn’t really matter. I used a three-bean blend of black, kidney, and pinto beans like these ones here, but you could really use whatever you want.
Looks and sounds a little odd, but I swear to god, it’s SO good.
Assembling, Baking and Topping
After you mix the sauce all up, you’re going to stir it into the chorizo cauli-rice concoction. Don’t just pour it over the top. Make sure you fully mix it in to really hide the cauliflower, haha! Then you’re going to cover the whole thing with cheese. I used a cheddar jack mix from Costco, but really anything from pepper jack to plain cheddar would work.
After you’ve assembled it, you’re going to pop that bad boy into the oven at 350 for 20 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and the saucy cauliflower mixture is fully heated through. Afterward, you can add any optional toppings of your choice. Great topping ideas are:
- Green Onion
- Cilantro
- Roma Tomato
- Pico de Gallo
- Sour Cream
- Hot Sauce
- Tortilla Strips/ Chips
We decided to top ours with cilantro, pico and sour cream. Though tomorrow, I’m going to use the casserole as a dip for my tostitos scoops, haha! But that’s all there is to it!
Creamy Chorizo Cauli-Rice Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 large yellow onion, chopped
- 1 lb ground chorizo sausage We used hemplers, but johnsonville is good too. Can use soy-rizo or ground beef as well.
- 6 cups cauliflower rice, cooked and WELL drained We used two 12 oz packages of microwavable cauli-rice.
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 10.5 oz can condensed cream of chicken soup
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 tbsp taco seasoning
- 1 10 oz can rotel diced tomatoes with green chiles, well drained Can sub plain diced tomatoes instead
- 1 15 oz can beans of your choice I used a tri-blend of pinto, black beans, and kidney beans.
- 2 cups shredded cheddar jack cheese
Optional Toppings
- Green onion
- Cilantro
- Roma tomato
- Pico de gallo
- Sour cream
- Hot sauce
- Tortilla strips or chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 13×9 inch casserole dish with cooking spray.
- Heat olive oil in a large pot or deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground chorizo and onion and cook until chorizo is browned and onion is softened, about 5-7 minutes. Do not drain grease.
- Add cooked cauli-rice and garlic to the meat and onion in the pan and mix well. Saute until garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds. Transfer the mixture to the casserole dish and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the cream of chicken, milk, sour cream and seasonings. Whisk well. After the sauce is mixed, stir in the Rotel and the beans. Pour the finished sauce over the cauliflower and chorizo mixture and stir through, ensuring all of the cauliflower is coated and the beans and tomatoes are well distributed throughout.
- Evenly spread the cauliflower mixture over the casserole dish and top with cheese. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and the sauce and beans are heated through.
- Let cool for 10 minutes before serving and top with any toppings of your choosing. Enjoy!
Notes
And there you have it: creamy chorizo cauli-rice casserole! I swear, if this can trick a 28 year old who hates cauliflower into liking cauliflower, this could trick the pickiest of picky eaters. Try it with your kiddos and see how they do!
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