Weight Watchers Freestyle Recipe of the Day: One-Skillet 4-Ingredient Easy Taco Cauliflower Rice
Ground turkey mixed with cauliflower rice, salsa and taco seasoning, this Easy Taco Cauliflower Rice Skillet is quick, easy, healthy, low carb, low points and absolutely delicious!
WW Taco Cauliflower Rice Skillet
It was a big hit when I served it to my mother and brother for lunch with a variety of tasty toppings that included chopped avocado, low-fat sour cream, salsa, baked corn chips and low-fat spicy bean dip. This summery slow cooker peach salsa would also be delicious.
Perfect for Taco Tuesdays, or anytime you're craving Mexican, this quick and easy 4-ingredient skillet dish comes together in less than 30 minutes.
The best part? I was left feeling satisfied and energized until dinnertime—not heavy and sleepy like Mexican food often can).
How Many Calories and WW Points in this Taco Cauliflower Rice?
According to my calculations, this recipe makes 4 generous servings with about 225 calories each and:
4 *SmartPoints (Green plan)
4 *SmartPoints (Blue plan)
4 *SmartPoints (Purple plan)
6 *PointsPlus (Old plan)
To see your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, Click here!
Recipe Notes
The secret to keeping this skillet low in carbs and WW SmartPoints is substituting "cauliflower rice" for regular rice, which depending on the type, has 5 to 7 SmartPoints per cup.
While it's hard to beat the convenience of frozen cauliflower rice, you can also make it yourself by blitzing cauliflower florets in a food processor (affiliate link) or blender (affiliate link), or grating them on a box grater (affiliate link), until you've got tiny rice-size pieces.
Click Here to Learn How to Make Cauliflower Rice
Taco Skillet Additions & Variations
different meats: ground beef or ground chicken would work
spicier: add additional chili powder, cumin, or chopped jalapeño to the ground meat while while cooking. Serve with additional hot sauce.
heartier: add a can of drained beans and/or corn
additional topping suggestions: salsa, corn, shredded cheese, avocado, light sour cream, and crumbed taco chips and chopped cilantro would all be yummy.
additional serving ideas: use this taco rice skillet as a stuffing for burritos, tacos, zucchini, peppers, etc.
Is Cauliflower Rice Better Than Rice? Good for Losing Weight?
Cauliflower rice is lower in calories and carbs than regular rice. Cauliflower has 25 calories and 5g carbs per cup.
It's also a WW Zero Points food.
By comparison, one cup of cooked brown rice has 205 calories, 45g carbs and *6 WW SmartPoints.
Rice cauliflower is also a good source of fiber. So if you are trying to cut your calories, watch or carbs and/or lose weight, it is a much better choice.
If you like this easy taco cauliflower rice skillet recipe, be sure to check out my other Weight Watchers friendly recipes including Skinny Chicken & Brown Rice Bowl, Cauliflower Rice & Beans, Cauliflower Rice Recipe Roundup, Simple 3-Ingredient Sloppy Joes and Easy Southwestern Goulash
If you've made this Low Carb Cauliflower Rice Taco Skillet, please give the recipe a star rating below and leave a comment letting me know how you liked it. And stay in touch on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for the latest updates.
Easy Healthy Taco Cauliflower Rice Skillet Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound 93% lean, ground turkey
- 1 package taco seasoning (or chile powder to taste)
- 4 cups finely chopped cauliflower (fresh or frozen)
- 1 cup salsa
- ½ cup water
- Optional toppings: chopped cilantro, shredded cheese, chopped avocado, chopped tomatoes, chopped lettuce
Instructions
- Slice the cauliflower head into large chunks, leaving stems on. Use a cheese crater or food processor or blender to coarsely grate the cauliflower to get about 4 cups' worth. (Or use purchased frozen cauliflower rice).
- Coat a non-stick skillet set over medium heat with non-stick cooking spray.
- Add the ground turkey, and cook, breaking up and stirring the meat until it is browned.
- Add the taco seasoning and cauliflower. Stir until well combined.
- Add the salsa and water and stir again and then cover the pan and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cauliflower is cooked to your liking.
- Serve with your favorite toppings.
Recipe Notes
- different meats: ground beef or ground chicken would work.
- spicier: add additional chili powder, cumin, or chopped jalapeño to the ground meat while while cooking. Serve with additional hot sauce.
- heartier: add a can of drained beans and/or corn.
- additional topping suggestions: salsa, corn, shredded cheese, avocado, light sour cream, and crumbed taco chips and chopped cilantro would all be yummy.
- additional serving ideas: use this taco rice skillet as a stuffing for burritos, tacos, zucchini, peppers, etc.
*Points® calculated by WW. *PointsPlus® and SmartPoints® calculated by Simple Nourished Living; Not endorsed by Weight Watchers International, Inc. All recipe ingredients except optional items included in determining nutritional estimates. SmartPoints® values calculated WITHOUT each plan's ZeroPoint Foods (Green plan, Blue plan, Purple plan) using the WW Recipe Builder.
This is how SkinnyTaste makes her own version of Mexican Cauliflower "Rice"
More Weight Watchers Cauliflower Rice Recipes
- Roasted Cauliflower Rice with Garlic & Lemon (SkinnyTaste)
- Healthy Cauliflower Fried Rice (EatYourselfSkinny)
- Sloppy Joe Cauliflower Rice (SkinnyKitchen)
- Healthy Cheesy Cauliflower Rice (HungryGirl)
- Skillet Cauliflower "Arroz" Con Pollo (SkinnyTaste)
- Caribbean Jerk Shrimp with Cauliflower Rice (EatYourselfSkinny)
- Salsa Verde Chicken with Cauliflower Rice (HungryGirl)
- Skinny Thai Chicken, Peanut & Cauliflower Rice Stir-Fry (SkinnyKitchen)
This video demonstrates Slimming World's spiced cauliflower recipe:
Martha is the founder and main content writer for Simple-Nourished-Living.
A longtime lifetime WW at goal, she is committed to balancing her love of food and desire to stay slim while savoring life and helping others do the same.
She is the author of the Smart Start 28-Day Weight Loss Challenge.
A huge fan of the slow cooker and confessed cookbook addict, when she's not experimenting in the kitchen, you're likely to find Martha on her yoga mat.
This post contains affiliate links to products I like. When you buy something through one of my Amazon links or other (affiliate links), I receive a small commission that helps support this site. Thank you for your purchase!
Subscribe to Get: Top 10 Reader Favorite Recipes
The Top 10 Most Popular Recipes (PDF) on Simple Nourished Living + Weekly Support Emails with Tips & Easy Healthy Recipes Not Found Anywhere Else!
Amelie Moore
Made it tonight, it came out quite tasty. Definitely in the “make again” category.
Roshani Khanna
What a beautiful dinner! Great recipe!
Roshani Khanna
We made these for dinner tonight and LOVED them.
Martha McKinnon
Glad you liked it Roshani!
Yami Sharma
Such a very fantastic post, I am here to see this post as very brilliant blog.
Nikita Arora
This looks amazing!!! Will certainly be trying this out this week! Thank you for sharing.
Martha McKinnon
Thanks Nikita!
Meredith
I love this recipe. I added a fried egg on top and it only made it better!
Martha McKinnon
So glad to hear this Angela! A fried egg on top sounds delicious 🙂
Rita
My husband and I loved this skillet dinner. Very few points but lots of substance and flavor.
Diane Barnett
I am new to WW but what is in it that makes it 4 purple points? Thanks,
Diane Barnett
I figured it out. It is because of the ground turkey being 93% lean instead of 98% lean which would be 0 purple points.
Laura Matty
Oh my goodness-I just made this for lunch today-it was so good and easy! Served it over a salad with some shredded FF cheddar&plain NF Greek yogurt and sprinkled WW torilla chips on top-what a winner! Thank you!
CJ
I want to divide this into 6 servings for dinners all week. Would you suggest freezing the portions or will they be okay in the fridge?
Martha McKinnon
I think it would be fine in the fridge, but if you are concerned you could always freeze. ~Martha
Ashleigh
This recipe is AH-MA-ZING!! We love it and have added it to our regular rotation!!
Nancy
I made this tonight, not only is it super easy to throw together but absolutely delicious. Will definitely be making again. Thanks Martha for another very awesome recipe!!
Lori A Schmitt
Made this yesterday for my lunches for the week. I used ground chicken breast and added black beans and corn because why not?
It is so easy and delicious! Will definitely make again.
Martha McKinnon
Hi Lori,
So glad you liked it! Thanks for taking the time to let me know. ~Martha