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Mexican Meal Prep Bowls with Cauliflower Rice

Missing Mexican flavors but want a healthy low-carb meal prep lunch? These low-carb Mexican meal prep bowls with cauliflower rice are healthy, nutritious, and flavorful.

On top of that, low-carb, gluten-free, dairy-free, Paleo, Whole30-friendly, and high-protein.

I’m a big fan of Mexican food, as I’m sure many of you are too. What’s not to love about the warm, spicy flavors?

mexican meal prep bowls overhead shot

Everything but the carbs that is. That’s because Mexican cuisine relies heavily on carb-packed foods like beans, rice, and tortillas.

And as yummy, as they are, they’re not worth ditching your skinny jeans.

These Mexican Meal Prep Bowls are packed with Mexican flavors. That’s because you use a lot of spices- 8 different spices, to be exact.

So, they’re savory and sweet with a hint of heat. If you like it even spicier, feel free to add extra chili flakes.

mexican cauliflower rice bowl

Mexican Meal Prep Bowls with Cauliflower Rice

 

Besides being yummy, these chicken meal prep bowls are nutritious.

For starters, they’re low carb. In fact, one serving has only 9 grams of net carbs.

But even though they’re low carb, they contain a ton of fiber. In fact, one serving provides more than 1/3 of your daily fiber needs.

Fiber is great for your digestion. And it helps you feel full and less likely to hit the cookie jar.

They also contain only 406 calories. So, they’re perfect if you’re watching calories.

They’re also high in protein. In fact, one serving provides a whopping 48 grams of protein.

So, they make for a great post-workout meal, and they’re good for growing kids too.

They’re also rich in Vitamins A and C, which help boost your immunity.

As an added bonus, they’re also good sources of iron. Iron is important for keeping your energy levels up.

These Meal Prep Bowls are also naturally gluten-free. So, they’re the perfect meal prep bowls if you suffer from gluten allergies or intolerance.

low carb mexican meal prep bowls

How to Make Mexican Meal Prep Low Carb?

The key to making this Mexican Meal Prep Low Carb is that you use cauliflower rice instead of regular rice. This reduces the carb content considerably.

For instance, ¾ cup of cauliflower rice contains only 4 grams of net carbs. The same amount of cooked rice contains more than 30 grams of net carbs.

Besides having fewer carbs, cauliflower rice has fewer calories too.

For instance, ¾ cup of cauliflower rice contains only 20 calories. In comparison, the same amount of cooked rice contains more than 140 calories.

Cauliflower rice is also pretty nutritious. It’s an excellent source of vitamins C and K, and a good source of folate and vitamin B6.

Making cauliflower rice is pretty easy, and I’ll be showing you how to make it. However, if you prefer to buy it pre-packaged, you can buy it here.

Also, your typical Mexican meal prep bowl will usually have corn as one of the veggies.

But we all know that corn is loaded with carbs. Just one cup contains more than 35 grams of net carbs.

So, instead of corn, you’ll be adding wild rocket salad. Wild rocket salad is simply arugula salad.

Arugula is great for a low carb diet. Not only is it low in net carbs, it’s also packed with Vitamin K.

Now, vitamin K is a fat-soluble vitamin, so to increase the absorption of vitamin K from the arugula, I added some avocado to the salad as well.

Besides being rich in heart-healthy fats, avocado is low in net carbs. It’s also packed with fiber.

In fact, one avocado provides 54% of your daily fiber needs. So, eat up that avocado!

mexican meal oreo bowls pinterest pin

How to Make These Mexican Meal Prep Bowls with Cauliflower Rice

First of all, you’ll start by making the shredded chicken. To make it, get a big pot and place your chicken breasts in them, adding salt and pepper.

Then cover your chicken with about 1 inch of water, and bring to a boil. Once it starts to boil, let it simmer for about 12 minutes.

Chicken brests in water

Next, remove your chicken and shred it with a fork, or for extra convenience, you can use a food processor or meat claws. These meat claws are super affordable and efficient.

shredded chicken on a plate

While your chicken breasts are cooking, you can go ahead and start making the cauliflower rice.

Making your own cauliflower rice is really easy, and will save you money. To make it, begin by breaking apart your cauliflower head.

Then wash it, dry it, and cut it into smaller pieces. Then place them in a food processor and process until rice-like. This food processor should do the trick.

cauliflower rice in a glass bowl

Next, heat up a non-stick skillet, add some olive oil and chopped green peppers, sautéing them for a few minutes.

sauted green peppers

Then, add your cauliflower rice and chopped tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes.

cauliflower rice with peppers and tomato sauce in a pan

Finally, add your ground onion, garlic powder, cumin, paprika, crushed chili flakes, oregano, salt, and pepper. You’ll be doing a bunch of measuring, so make sure you have a good set of measuring spoons.

These ones here don’t rust or get stained. Feel free to add more crushed chili flakes if you like it spicy!

Mix well and let simmer for 5 minutes.

cooked low carb cauliflower rice

To serve, portion your cauliflower rice equally among 4 food containers. Then, add your shredded chicken, along with some wild rocket salad.

Then for some healthy fats, slice an avocado and top each meal prep bowl with it. This avocado slicer makes pitting and slicing your avocado a breeze.

Bon appetit!

low carb shredded chicken meal prep bowls

Loving this shredded chicken recipe? Here is another one you might like!

How Long Can You Keep This Chicken Meal Prep in the Fridge?

This Chicken Meal Prep lasts 3 to 4 days in the fridge. Make sure to store it in airtight food storage containers to keep it fresh longer.

I like these containers here because they are sustainable and chemical-free that will leak into your food.

If you prefer lighter containers, these BPA-free plastic containers are a good option.

mexican meal prep bowls with shredded chicken

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low carb mexican meal pinterest pin


Watch Full Instructions

macro-friendly meal prep ideas

Mexican Meal Prep Bowls with Cauliflower Rice (Low Carb)

Yield: 4 meal prep bowls
Prep Time: 8 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes

Mexican meal prep bowls that are also low carb! Great when you're craving for Mexican flavors and wanting a low carb high protein meal!

Ingredients

Cauliflower Rice:

  • 1 head cauliflower
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 green bell pepper (chopped)
  • 1 can chopped tomatoes (1.5 cup chopped tomatoes)
  • 1 tsp ground onion
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1/4 tsp crushed chili flakes
  • 1/2 tsp dried oregano
  • pinch of salt
  • pinch of black pepper

Shredded Chicken:

  • 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp black pepper

Salad:

  • 1 cup wild rocket salad
  • 1 avocado

Instructions

Shredded Chicken:

  1. Get a large pot, add chicken breasts to it, and season with salt and pepper.
  2. Cover the chicken with around 1 inch of water.
  3. Bring the water to a boil and let it simmer for around 12 minutes. Remove the chicken from water and shred it using either fork, claws, or a food processor.

Cauliflower Rice:

  1. Break apart cauliflower head. Wash, dry, and chop into smaller pieces.
  2. Pulse with a food processor until you’ve got cauliflower rice.
  3. Heat up a pan, add olive oil, chop green pepper and sauté them for a couple of minutes.
  4. Add cauliflower rice, chopped tomatoes, and simmer for 5 minutes.
  5. Mix in onion, garlic powder, cumin, paprika, crushed chili flakes, oregano, salt, and pepper. Mix as well as you can and let it simmer for 5 minutes.

Serving:

  1. Divide cauliflower rice equally among 4 food containers. Add shredded chicken to each of them as well as wild rocket salad. Slice avocado and top each meal prep bowl with it.mexican meal prep bowls with cauliflower rice

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 meal prep bowls Serving Size: 1 meal prep bowl
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 406Total Fat: 17gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 11.7gCholesterol: 138mgSodium: 499mgCarbohydrates: 17gNet Carbohydrates: 9gFiber: 8gSugar: 6.2gProtein: 48g

Nutritional values were obtained with automatic software using the amounts of products used. To get the most accurate representation of the nutritional values, you should calculate them with the actual ingredients used in your recipe. You are solely responsible for the nutritional information obtained to be accurate.

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Megan Murphy

Wednesday 10th of August 2022

Hi - when you go to eat these, do you reheat the whole thing in the microwave, lettuce and avocado too?

Karo @ AllNutritious

Sunday 21st of August 2022

You can eat these cold. Please don't reheat with lettuce and avocado as they're fresh and not cooked :)

chelsea

Monday 14th of June 2021

This recipe sounds delicious and I can't wait to make it! Could you take the pictures out of the instructions so that when I go to print it off I don't have to print 11 pages?

Karo @ AllNutritious

Tuesday 22nd of June 2021

Hi Chelsea,

sorry. I'll need to look into it. Google recommends adding images as most people don't actually print the instructions and I'm trying to balance out between what's needed for the business versus the customer. You could copy paste the instructions into your Word and print it, it would not import the images and you'd save the printing space. Hope that helps.

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