Ground Chicken and Cauliflower Taco Skillet

A 5-ingredient recipe has no business being this good. Pan roasted cauliflower bites and taco seasoned ground chicken are cooked in one pan then topped with a layer of melted pepper jack cheese. The end result is a high protein taco skillet that’s as versatile as it is delicious. You can make tacos and tostadas, burrito bowls, tortas, and all kinds of goodies.

How to Make This Taco Skillet (A Visual Walkthrough)

Step One: Pan Roasted Cauliflower Florets

Start by cutting cauliflower florets into smaller bite size pieces. Next, put a pan over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan. Once the oil starts to slightly smoke, the pan is ready for the cauliflower.

Carefully add the cauliflower pieces to the pan and stir or toss to coat them in the oil. Once you’ve done that, leave the cauliflower untouched for about 2-3 minutes so it can pick up a bit of golden brown color before stirring again. Repeat this for another 2-3 minutes until the cauliflower is slightly tender (not soft) and browning in spots. (See the photo below for an example.)

Be careful not to overcook the cauliflower, as it will cook with the taco seasoned ground chicken and cheese in later steps. Just pick up some browning then transfer it from the pan to a bowl and set aside.

Step Two: Taco Seasoned Ground Chicken

Speaking of the chicken, step two sees you brown and fully cook a pound of lean ground chicken breast before briefly simmering with fire roasted diced tomatoes and taco seasoning. Then the roasted cauliflower is added back to the pan. It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3, 4.

Want to add a bit more volume to this taco skillet? You can experiment with cooking diced onion and peppers with the cooked ground chicken for a few minutes before the tomatoes and taco seasoning go in. Take a look at my cheesy beefy Goodles for an example. Or maybe even sliced tomatoes like my pesto turkey and cauliflower.

I’ll also briefly plug my chili crisp cauliflower and beef skillet as a sauce and flavor alternative, in case you’re liking the look of things so far. It’s essentially the same process as this recipe without any melted cheese.

Step Three: Melted Cheese Layer

Talk about a segue! They don’t call me the Dax Shepard of food blogging without reason.

First things first, you have to decide whether to bake the taco skillet in the oven or just cover it on the stovetop to melt the cheese. Covering works fine, but I prefer the added texture on the cauliflower and around the edges from the oven.

It’s only an extra 10 minutes. Just be sure to turn the oven on before you start cooking!

The recipe calls for pepper jack or colby jack cheese, but any soft melting cheese like queso Oaxaca or asadero works fine. Related: Get to Know Your Mexican Cheeses

In my experience, 4 ounces of cheese is just the right amount for topping a taco skillet like this. It melds everything together and gives lots of flavor without being overly cheesy. And yes, that’s a thing.

Pro tip: Push some of the larger cauliflower pieces to the edges and leave them uncovered by the cheese if you’re roasting in the oven. This keeps the cauliflower on the crispier side.

In past recipes like my chicken taco bake, I recommended baking for 15-20 minutes at 400ºF. Going that long does create a crispier golden brown cheese crust, but I was going for a more cheese-pulley topping similar to queso fundido with this chicken and cauliflower skillet.

But it’s up to you! The choice is yours and yours alone.

Pairing Ideas and Tips for Serving

I know you have spotted those incredible looking tortillas and tacos by now. All I did to make those was toss corn tortillas in a hot pan while the cauliflower and ground chicken were in the oven, transferring them to a tortilla warmer as they were ready.

I garnished with chopped cilantro, queso fresco, lime juice, and my favorite condiment of all time in salsa macha. The photos you see here feature salsa macha from Tia Lupita that’s made with cranberries and pepitas (and olive oil instead of palm oil). I also have a recipe that uses shallots, sesame seeds, and soy sauce for a unique umami twist.

Nonfat Greek yogurt is also a great sour cream substitute and another way to add some protein and cooling acidity to your tacos with fewer calories.

In addition to tacos, I think this cauliflower and chicken combo would make great burrito bowls with rice or Mexican cauliflower rice at their base. Beans and cauliflower might be a fiber overload, so maybe roasted fajita veggies or even freshly sliced peppers would be great for rounding out the bowls.

However you end up serving this recipe, I hope you love it! If you do, recipe reviews are always super helpful and appreciated. You can also ask me questions about this recipe, my love for salsa macha, or anything else in the comments at the bottom of this post.