Chili Lime Tilapia with Spanish Cauliflower Rice

Chili Lime Tilapia with Spanish Cauliflower Rice is a low-carb flavor explosion that will elevate your whole night. Let’s be real low-calorie and low-carb labels aren’t labels that naturally associate with delicious food. BUT OH MY– this recipe will change your mind.

Bright, fresh pico atop a perfectly seasoned and light piece of tilapia all on top of a bed of the BEST cauliflower rice you have ever had: this recipe will make your heart skip a beat.

What is Chili Lime Tilapia with Spanish Cauliflower Rice

Do you ever come to dinner feeling like you need a healthy refresh? This Chili Lime Tilapia with Spanish Cauliflower Rice is my go-to recipe to get us feeling healthy and rejuvenated.

This recipe has the flavors of the BEST fish tacos served on a bed of fresh Spanish Rice-inspired cauliflower rice. Chili Lime Tilapia is light, and limey and has a little bit of warmth from the kick of some chili powder. Spanish cauliflower rice is seasoned with tomato paste and cumin which creates a full profile of flavor. This recipe is refreshing, light, and beautifully seasoned. It’s even special enough for guests.

How To Make Low-Carb Spanish Cauliflower Rice

Cauliflower rice is a low-calorie and low-carb alternative to regular rice. According to Healthline, Cauliflower rice has just 10% of the calories of prepared white rice (about 25 calories per cup serving). And only 3 grams of carbs (that’s a whole 18 grams of savings compared to regular rice)! Check out the statistics here.

As someone who is admittedly always trying to find more interesting ways to consume vegetables–cauliflower rice is a great way to add in some more veggies in an approachable side dish.

Follow the instructions below to create out-of-this-world Spanish Cauliflower Rice:

• Wash and chop a whole head of cauliflower. The chopped pieces don’t need to be too small– they just need to fit into your food processor or blender.
• Add chopped cauliflower to a blender. Pulse the cauliflower until it resembles “rice” sized pieces. Don’t over-pulse or the mixture will become paste-like.
• Place the “riced” cauliflower, 3 cloves of garlic, and olive oil into a large pan over the stove and heat to med-low heat. Stir in the tomato paste to the cauliflower (it’s okay if some of the cauliflower rice clumps together at this stage).
• As the cauliflower rice is cooking, add the salt and cumin. Then slowly add your chicken broth. Stir the mixture until the chicken broth is soaked up by the riced cauliflower.
• Continue to cook for another 5-7 minutes, and stir often so that the cauliflower rice does not burn onto the bottom of the pan.
• Remove pan from heat. Add in the zest and juice of the lime and the fresh cilantro.

Cost Saving Tips For This Recipe

Admittedly, seafood isn’t the most inexpensive of all ingredients. But at Fancy Frugal Fixes, we don’t want to just cut ingredients out of our diets altogether. Instead, we find ways to work it into our budget at low costs for a fraction of the price that we could get at a restaurant.

Here are some of my best tips to reduce the cost of this recipe:

• Make Your Own Cauliflower Rice
  • Cauliflower rice that you find in the freezer section can be quite expensive and comes in the tiniest package. For this recipe, you would need 2 bags of frozen cauliflower rice (if saving time is more important to you than saving money the bags are a great alternative). But, you can make cauliflower rice quite easily. All you need is a blender or food processor and a head of cauliflower. Check out the instructions in the recipe below.
• Buy Frozen Tilapia
  • You can always save by purchasing frozen seafood. This will reduce your ingredient cost quite significantly. Frozen fish does tend to break a bit easier than fresh fish, but for a recipe like this, if the fish flakes a bit, that is okay.
• Plan More Southwestern or Mexican Meals Out For the Week
  • One of our biggest budget-saving tips is to reduce the amount of ingredients that you are purchasing for the week. To do this take a look at the ingredients that you will not be using up in this recipe and then create additional menu items from that. For example, if you won’t finish up the cilantro you would need to purchase, you can add this recipe for Sheet Pan Mexican Street Corn Stuffed Chicken Zucchini Boats to your weekly menu. Not only will this help you save money, but you can also reduce your household food waste.

More Fancy Budget-Friendly Dinners

At Fancy Frugal Fixes, we take pride in developing budget-friendly recipes that are flavorful, cost-effective, and budget-minded. Even as we are budgeting or being cautious with our grocery spending, it’s important to enjoy food that is healthy and feels special. Eating at home COSTS way less than takeout or restaurant prices, but nobody wants to miss out on restaurant-quality meals. Check out some of our favorite restaurant-quality dinners that you can make without busting your budget.

• Baked Peruvian Chicken and Potatoes with Cilantro Lime Sauce
• Quick Mediterranean Shrimp Sheet Pan with Lemon Olive Oil Sauce
• Parmesan Crusted Tilapia with Bruschetta