I’ll make an admission first off. This wasn’t meant to be a browned butter recipe. But I started the butter and oil in the pot, got the chicken cooking in a skillet, and then went outside to my garden to pick some raspberries and tomatoes and some sage for this recipe. When I got back, the butter was browned. Oops. But I figured it would be tasty, so I went with it. Sometimes in life you get a happy accident.
I love risotto. It’s one of my favorite things to order in Italian restaurants, mainly because I’ve been gluten free for so long that I can’t get most anything else. But still, risotto is delicious. And it’s really versatile, because you can throw almost anything you have in the fridge into it and it’ll still taste good. Is cauliflower risotto as good as regular risotto? Of course not. You’re not going to get that creamy starchy goodness that you get from the short-grain rice slowly cooking. But the cauliflower version is much easier to make, so it’s got that going for it, which is nice.
For a lot of recipes that call for riced cauliflower, I’ll use frozen, because it’s so much easier. For this one, though, you’ll need fresh, because it cooks for a while and it’ll turn into complete mush by the time everything is finished. My grocery store has recently started carrying 1-pound bags of pre-riced fresh cauliflower, which is awesome because I absolutely hate doing it myself. It makes a complete mess of my kitchen and gets everywhere no matter how hard you try to avoid it. So the base of this recipe is 2 pounds of riced fresh cauliflower. Buy it pre-riced if you can, otherwise godspeed.
You’ll need two separate pans for this recipe: a non-stick skillet and a large saucepot or Dutch oven. Use some cooking spray on the non-stick skillet–I use this avocado oil one that I get from Costco. For the pot, you’ll want to add two tablespoons of olive oil and two tablespoons of butter. Heat both the skillet and the pot over medium-high heat. While they’re heating, sprinkle two chicken breasts with salt and pepper and mince one shallot. Mince enough sage leaves to make 1/4 cup, then set those aside. Put the chicken in the skillet and get it started cooking. Wait for the butter in the pot to start to brown before you start cooking the shallots. Make sure the butter doesn’t smoke–if it does, you’ve cooked it too much. Cook the shallots for about three minutes, then add your cauliflower and toss it to distribute the butter.
Keep an eye on your chicken while you’re doing all this. Depending on thickness, it should take about 6-8 minutes per side to be cooked through. After the cauliflower is coated in the butter and oil mixture, pour in a cup of chicken broth and stir frequently until most of the broth has evaporated. By this point your chicken should be done, so remove it from the pan and let it rest on a cutting board. Add 8 ounces of sliced baby bella mushrooms to the pan in a single layer and sprinkle them with kosher salt to taste. I used two good pinches.
While the mushrooms cook, pour a half cup of cream into the cauliflower and add a cup of grated parmesan cheese. You want the real stuff for this, not the canned shelf-stable variety. Keep stirring and add the sage. When most of the liquid has evaporated and the cauliflower rice has a creamy texture, add a tablespoon of kosher salt (you read that right–cauliflower needs a lot of salt) and 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg. Turn the heat down to low, slice the chicken breasts, and stir them and the cooked mushrooms into the pot. Add black pepper to taste and serve, or put into meal prep containers. This reheats really well in the microwave.
Browned Butter Cauliflower Risotto with Chicken and Mushrooms
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 large chicken breasts about 1 pound total
- 1 shallot minced
- 2 lbs riced fresh cauliflower
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 8 ounces sliced fresh mushrooms
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh sage
- 1 tbsp kosher salt plus more to taste
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Spray a non-stick skillet with cooking spray. Put the olive oil and butter into a large saucepot or Dutch oven. Heat both over medium-high heat.
- While the pans are heating up, salt and pepper the chicken breasts, chop the sage, and mince the shallot. Saute the chicken breasts in the skillet. Once the butter is browned but not smoking, saute the shallots for three minutes.
- Add the cauliflower to the pot and stir to coat with the butter and oil mixture. By this point, the chicken breasts should be ready to turn. Once you've turned them, add the chicken broth to the cauliflower and cook, stirring frequently, until most of the liquid has been evaporated.
- Remove the chicken from the pan once it's cooked through and add the mushrooms in a single layer, sprinkling with salt to taste. Add the heavy cream, parmesan, and sage to the cauliflower and cook until it's creamy and most of the liquid is gone, about five minutes. Turn the heat to low. By this point the mushrooms should be nicely browned.
- Slice the chicken and stir it and the mushrooms into the rice. Add a tablespoon of salt, the nutmeg, and black pepper to taste. Serve immediately or store in meal prep containers.
- Macros per serving: 330 calories, 6 grams net carbs, 28 grams protein, 18 grams fat.
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