Seasoned with flavors from Brazil, this Brazilian Chicken with Coconut Sauce over cauliflower rice is a quick dish to whip up, with a exotic flavors (and not too much heat) for your family dinner table.
The chicken is pressed into the spice mixture, and then fried in coconut oil. We use the same pan for the chicken as the sauce, to capture all those savory bits and juice from the chicken while saving dishes.
Turmeric is a wonderful spice to use, as it has many health benefits. Usually in more spicy dishes, this is a great dish to get turmeric in your family regularly even if they don’t like spicy foods.
Click here to read more about the health benefits of turmeric
If you use tapioca (too starchy for use on the GAPS diet, but a great gluten-free flour), you may want to serve this chicken with a special treat of Brazilian Tapioca Cheese Bread.
Click here to see the recipe for Brazilian Tapioca Cheese Bread
Brazilian Chicken with Coconut Sauce over Cauliflower Rice
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper omit if you want to avoid spicy
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 4-6 boneless skinless chicken thighs 1.5 lbs (find organic chicken here)
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- Cauliflower Rice:
- 1 tablespoon butter ghee, or coconut oil
- 1 pound cauliflower riced (grated)
- Coconut Sauce:
- 1 onion
- 1 knob ginger grated (about 1 teaspoon)
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- 1 cup grape tomatoes or 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
- 1 can 14 ounce coconut milk (find coconut milk here)
Instructions
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In a shallow pan, mix cumin, coriander, turmeric, cayenne (opt), salt, and pepper. Press chicken into the spice mixture until evenly coated. Allow to sit in the pan that the spices were mixed in as the oil heats.
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In a large skillet, preferably cast iron, heat 2 tablespoons coconut oil over medium heat.
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After 5 minutes, when oil is melted and skillet is hot, place chicken in skillet, not overlapping but it can be touching.
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Cook chicken 10-15 minutes on each side, until no longer pink in the middle.
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As chicken cooks, melt butter, ghee, or coconut oil for the cauliflower rice in a medium skillet over medium-low heat
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Rice cauliflower (grate in food processor) if needed, and then add to melted butter.
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Cook cauliflower rice uncovered, stirring every 5 minutes with a spatula to make sure it cooks evenly.
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Remove chicken once cooked, set aside.
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To the pan that the chicken was cooked in, add chopped onion. Sautee for 5 minutes, until soft, then add tomatoes and continue cooking for 5 more minutes.
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Add in coconut milk, ginger, and garlic and cook 1-2 more minutes, stirring to combine well. Cauliflower rice will be done cooking by now as well.
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Serve chicken over cauliflower rice, topped with coconut sauce.
I think the recipe sounds great but it never has the nutrition facts on the recipe. This i very important to me.
Nothing was said about ginger or garlic????
Sorry Laurissa, you just add it to the coconut sauce.
Looks delicious! Wondering if this would freeze well?
It does!
sorry dumb question – would you freeze after cooked? and just reheat in a sauce pan after thawing? We have lots of frozen cauliflower rice we could easily make a fresh batch of.
I freeze the chicken before cooking, but you could after cooking too – just undercook it a little bit so it doesn’t become dry on reheating :) No dumb questions!
Tried this out for my turmeric roundup and it was amazing! My kids even ate the cauliflower rice, which they never do! I subbed out the tomatoes for mushrooms and it was still good. Probably even better with the tomatoes!Thanks!