Layered Mexican Casserole with Chicken and Cauliflower Rice

Layered Mexican Casserole with Chicken and Cauliflower Rice is a lower-carb version of an earlier casserole with Mexican flavors! You’ll love the new version with Green Chile Enchilada Sauce, sour cream, green chiles, and diced chicken layered with seasoned cauliflower rice and cheese!

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Layered Mexican Casserole with Chicken and Cauliflower Rice is a recipe I’m excited to share, and we absolutely devoured this when we tested the recipe. This new low-carb version of an old favorite casserole was inspired by a commenter who complained that my recipe for Mexican Chicken Casserole with Pinto Beans was not low-carb.

And that comment got me thinking, and I wondered what I could come up with for a version of Layered Mexican casserole with chicken that was low in carbs? And this recipe is the happy result of a few experiments, and Kara and I loved this recipe when we tested it!

What ingredients do you need for this recipe?

(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe with ingredients.)

• Hatch Green Chile Enchilada Sauce (affiliate link) or other low-sugar green enchilada sauce
• frozen cauliflower rice
• onion
• olive oil
• ground cumin (affiliate link)
• diced green chiles (affiliate link)
• Green Tabasco Sauce (affiliate link) for added heat if desired
• sour cream
• diced, cooked chicken
• green onion
• grated Mexican Blend Cheese

How did we make the Layered Mexican Casserole low in carbs?

This Mexican chicken casserole recipe has a layer with Green Chile Enchilada sauce reduced on the stove and combined with green chiles, sour cream, diced chicken, and sliced green onions. The other layer has a cauliflower rice mixture that also has onions, cumin, and green bell pepper. And of course, all the layers has cheese. I promise this recipe will be a hit with Mexican food fans, especially if they’re watching their carbs!

I used Hatch Green Chile Enchilada Sauce for the Layered Mexican Casserole:

I’m a long-time fan of Hatch Green Chile Enchilada Sauce (affiliate link) which is a delicious canned green enchilada sauce that’s gluten-free. Even though the ingredient list has tiny amounts of sugar and cornstarch, the sauce adds only 3.5 carbs per serving to this recipe. And this sauce is so flavorful and convenient to use that for me it’s a product worth using. If you find other canned Green Chile Enchilada Sauce that’s also low in sugar, by all means use the sauce you prefer!

How low in carbs is this Layered Mexican Casserole?

This tasty casserole has only 10.6 net carbs in a serving, with 18 grams of protein!

How to make the Layered Mexican Casserole with Chicken and Cauliflower Rice:

(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe with ingredient amounts.)

1. Preheat oven to 375 F/190C. Spray a casserole dish with non-stick spray.
2. Take frozen cauliflower rice out of the freezer.
3. Put Green Chile Enchilada Sauce  in a small saucepan and simmer until it’s reduced to one cup.
4. Dice onion and green bell pepper and slice green onions, and cut chicken into small dice. 
5. Heat olive oil in a big frying pan, add onion and green pepper and cook until they’re starting to brown. Add ground cumin and cook a few minutes more.
6. Add frozen cauliflower rice and cook over high heat until rice is hot and some steam has evaporated, about 4 minutes.
7. When Green Chile Enchilada Sauce is reduced to one cup, put it in a medium-sized bowl and stir in diced green chiles. Taste to see if you want some Green Tabasco Sauce.)
8. When the mixture is still warm but not hot, stir in the sour cream, diced chiles, and green onions.
9. Make a layer in the casserole dish with half the cauliflower rice mixture.
10. Add half the chicken/sour cream mixture by spoonfuls, and spread it over the cauliflower rice.
11. Add half the grated cheese over the chicken mixture.
12. Make another layer each of cauliflower rice mixture, chicken mixture, and grated cheese.
13. Bake uncovered about 30-35 minutes. 
14. Let the Layered Mexican Casserole stand 5-10 minutes before cutting, and then serve!

Make it a Low-Carb Meal:

I’d love this Layered Mexican Casserole served with any of these side dishes for a low-carb meal:

• Avocado Tomato Salad
• Spicy Mexican Slaw with Lime and Cilantro
• Spicy Lime Coleslaw
• Tomato Avocado Salad with Edamame 
• No-Mayo Vinegar Coleslaw

Weekend Food Prep:

This Layered Mexican Casserole recipe has been added to a category called Weekend Food Prep where you’ll find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!

Want more low-carb Mexican Food?

Check out Keto Mexican Food Dinners for more tasty Mexican dishes that are low in carbs!

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Print

Yield: 8 servings

Layered Mexican Casserole with Chicken and Cauliflower Rice

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Total Time 55 minutes

This tasty Layered Mexican Casserole has a layer with seasoned cauliflower rice topped with a layer of chopped chicken, sour cream, and green chile enchilada sauce. And of course there is cheese!

Ingredients

• 3 cups frozen cauliflower rice (see notes)
• one 15 oz. can Hatch Green Chile Enchilada Sauce
• 1 medium onion
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 T ground cumin (see notes)
• one 4 oz. can diced green chiles (see notes)
• 1 T Green Tabasco Sauce (optional)
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 2 cups diced cooked chicken
• 1/4 cup sliced green onion
• 2 cups grated Mexican Cheese Blend

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 F/190C. Spray a 9" x 12" x 3" casserole dish with non-stick spray. (You need a dish close to that size to hold this recipe.)
2. Take frozen cauliflower rice out of the freezer and let it start to thaw on the counter.
3. Put Hatch Green Chile Enchilada Sauce (or sauce of your choice) in a small saucepan and simmer until it's reduced to one cup.
4. Dice onion and green bell pepper and slice green onions.
5. Cut chicken into small dice. (We used cooked rotisserie chicken from Costco, which made it easy.)
6. Heat olive oil in a frying pan big enough to hold the cauliflower rice, add onion and green pepper and cook until they're barely starting to brown, about 5 minutes.
7. Add ground cumin and cook a few minutes more.
8. Then add frozen cauliflower rice and cook over high heat until rice is hot and liquid has evaporated, about 4 minutes.
9. When Green Chile Enchilada Sauce has reduced to one cup, put it in a bowl that's big enough to hold the chicken, and stir in diced green chiles. (Taste to see if you want the optional Green Tabasco Sauce.)
10. When the mixture is still warm but no longer hot, stir in the sour cream, diced chiles, and green onions.
11. Make a layer in the bottom of the casserole dish with half the cauliflower rice mixture.
12. Add half the chicken/sour cream mixture by spoonfuls, and spread over the cauliflower rice.
13. Add half the grated cheese over the chicken mixture.
14. Make another layer each of cauliflower rice mixture, chicken mixture, and grated cheese.
15. Bake uncovered 30-35 minutes, or until casserole is bubbling hot and the top is nicely browned. 
16. Let stand 5-10 minutes before cutting, and serve!

Notes

We made th Layered Mexican Casserole with 3 cups cauliflower rice, but if you'd like a thicker cauliflower rice layer you can use a bit more.

If you're not a huge cumin fan, you might want a bit less cumin.

The diced green chiles are mild Anaheim chiles, not Jalapenos!

Nutrition Information

Yield

8

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 285Total Fat 19gSaturated Fat 9gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 8gCholesterol 71mgSodium 257mgCarbohydrates 13gFiber 2.4gSugar 7gProtein 18g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

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Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
The Layered Mexican Casserole recipe uses a Green Chile Enchilada Sauce that does have teeny-tiny amounts of cornstarch and sugar. But those amounts are so low that this recipe should be low enough in net carbs for most carb-conscious diets, although possibly not for strictly Keto. For the original South Beach Diet it would be recommended to use low-fat dairy products for this recipe.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Casserole Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This Layered Mexican Casserole was created in 2021 as a lower-carb version of a favorite Mexican Chicken Casserole from the past! It was last updated with more information in 2025.

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