Italian Keto Chicken and Rice
Published September 17, 2021 • Updated February 24, 2026
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My Italian take on keto chicken and rice, made in one skillet with hearts of palm rice, fresh tomatoes, spinach, and a squeeze of lemon. Dairy free and ready in about 25 minutes.
I started making this Italian chicken and rice when I realized how many of my weeknight keto dinners had turned into cheese-heavy casseroles. I love cheese, but sometimes I want something lighter that still feels like a complete dinner. This one-pot skillet version checks every box: fresh cherry tomatoes that cook down into a natural, slightly thick sauce, tender chicken thighs that stay juicy, and hearts of palm rice that soaks up every drop of flavor. The whole thing comes together in about 25 minutes, which is faster than most of the casseroles I was making before.
Hearts of palm rice is the real star here. I’ve tried cauliflower rice in this recipe (it works), but hearts of palm has a neutral flavor that lets the tomato, lemon, and basil come through without competing. One of my readers, Fatima, put it perfectly after making it four times: nothing else pulls the lemon and tomato into every bite the way hearts of palm does. After making this dozens of times myself, I agree completely. If you can find hearts of palm rice at your store, grab a few bags. I go through about two a week now.
The dairy-free angle wasn’t planned. I originally tested a version with heavy cream, and it was fine, but the fresh tomatoes cooked in chicken broth already created enough body in the sauce that the cream felt unnecessary. So I dropped it. If you’re avoiding dairy because of inflammation or just want a lighter keto chicken dinner, this is one of the best options I’ve come up with. The sauce has a clean tomato flavor that doesn’t weigh you down. And if you do want cheese on a given night, a handful of mozzarella stirred in at the end melts right in.
This is the kind of recipe I reach for on nights when I don’t have the energy to think. One skillet, minimal chopping, and the spinach wilts right into everything in the last few minutes. One detail I’ve learned from making this so many times: add the lemon juice at the very end, off the heat. If you cook it into the sauce, the brightness disappears. Off the heat, it stays sharp and lifts the whole dish. If you like Italian-flavored keto meals, my Tuscan Chicken Pasta, Skillet Lasagna, and Creamy Pesto Chicken are all in the same lane.
For a brothy version of this dinner, my Chicken and Rice Soup uses the same hearts of palm rice and has a completely different feel. I make both on repeat.
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Ingredients
3 tablespoons olive oil -
1 garlic clove, minced
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1 pound skinless, boneless chicken thighs
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3/4 teaspoons salt
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1/2 teaspoon pepper
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1/4 cup chicken broth
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1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
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2 cups spinach
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9 oz hearts of palm rice, or cauliflower rice
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3 tablespoons lemon juice
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2 tablespoons fresh chopped basil
Step by Step Instructions
Step by Step Instructions
Cut chicken
Cut up chicken thighs into bite sized pieces. Set aside.
Sauté garlic
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté for about 30 seconds or until fragrant.
Cook chicken
Add diced chicken to the skillet. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until browned on all sides, then remove from the skillet.
Cook tomatoes
Pour in chicken broth to deglaze the pan. Add sliced tomatoes. Sprinkle with salt and let cook until tomatoes have burst and released their juices.
Add everything back to the skillet
Add spinach, chicken and rice or cauliflower to the skillet. Stir to combine and let cook for 3-4 minutes or until spinach is wilted and rice is heated. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice and fresh basil.
Nutrition disclaimer
The nutrition information provided is an estimate and is for informational purposes only. I am a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.); however, this content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your physician or other qualified health provider before making any lifestyle changes or beginning a new nutrition program.
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Get My Macros + Recipes →Frequently Asked Questions
Why use hearts of palm rice instead of cauliflower rice?
I've tested both in this recipe more times than I can count. Cauliflower rice works, but it has a distinct flavor that competes with the basil and lemon. Hearts of palm rice is neutral, and it absorbs the tomato sauce in a way cauliflower just doesn't. One of my readers described it as 'nothing else pulls the lemon and tomato into every bite,' and I think that nails it. If you only have cauliflower on hand, use it, but try hearts of palm once and you'll see the difference.
Can I add cheese or cream to make this richer?
I've done both. A handful of shredded mozzarella stirred in at the end melts right into the sauce and gives it more body. Heavy cream works too, about 2-3 tablespoons. I usually skip the dairy because the tomato sauce has enough richness on its own, but on nights when I want something heavier, cheese is my go-to addition.
How do I store leftovers?
I keep leftovers in a glass container in the fridge for up to 3 days. When I reheat, I add a splash of broth because the rice absorbs liquid as it sits. Microwave works, but I prefer reheating in a skillet with a lid so the chicken stays tender instead of drying out.
What makes this different from a traditional casserole?
The traditional version uses regular rice and usually a cream-based sauce. When I converted this for keto, I swapped in hearts of palm rice and built the sauce from fresh tomatoes cooked down in broth instead of canned cream of mushroom soup or heavy dairy. It's lighter, faster, and the Italian flavors (basil, lemon, tomato) give it a completely different feel than what I grew up eating.
Can I use dried basil instead of fresh?
I've done it when I'm out of fresh. Use about 1 teaspoon of dried basil and add it earlier, when you're cooking the tomatoes, so it has time to bloom. Fresh basil stirred in at the end gives a brighter flavor that I prefer, but dried still makes a good dish.
Can I make this on a busy weeknight?
This is one of my go-to weeknight dinners specifically because there's almost no prep. I chop the chicken, halve the tomatoes, and everything else goes straight from the bag or bottle into the skillet. Start to finish, I'm done in about 25 minutes, and there's only one pan to wash.
Can I add other vegetables to this?
I've thrown in sliced zucchini, diced bell peppers, and mushrooms at different times, and they all work. Add firmer vegetables like bell peppers when you cook the tomatoes, and softer ones like zucchini or mushrooms with the spinach at the end. I'd stick to 1-2 additions so you don't water down the sauce.
Can I use chicken breast instead of thighs? I've never really cooked with thighs before.
No cream. Tomatoes and lemon carry it.
I tested cream a couple times, Greg, and kept going back. Once those tomatoes break down in the broth the sauce is already there.
That tracks. Once it breaks down there's already enough going on in the pan.
Is hearts of palm rice convincing enough to serve people who aren't doing keto? That was my actual concern before I made this for a small dinner at my sister's. Once the lemon hit the tomatoes in the skillet, I stopped second-guessing it. By the time we sat down, one of her friends asked what kind of rice it was, and I had to explain the whole hearts of palm situation. Four stars only because the spinach gets a little lost in there, and next time I'm doubling it.
That question from her friend is the whole test. Doubling the spinach is right, I've been doing the same.
Obsessed. One garlic clove is criminal.
Three is the real number. I wrote one in the recipe for the garlic-shy crowd but mine always gets at least three, sometimes four.
Making it again this week with at least three cloves. The garlic-shy crowd can fend for themselves.
Forgot the lemon once. Husband noticed.
Husbands notice. Mine caught a missing ingredient once and never let me live it down.
Ha, good to know it's not just mine. Lemon goes on the counter first now.
Making this Sunday for meal prep. Does hearts of palm rice hold up after a few days or should I just stick with cauliflower?
Hearts of palm holds up fine, 3 days no problem. It does absorb the sauce as it sits, so splash a little broth in when you reheat. Cauliflower works if that's what you have but the flavor competes with the lemon and basil.
20g protein, one pan. making this every week.
One pan and 20g protein. Hard to argue with that.
pat the chicken dry before it hits the pan.
Dry chicken sears, wet chicken steams. Makes a real difference with the thighs in this one.
My grandmother made this every Sunday. Simple Italian chicken with tomatoes and rice, nothing fancy. I hadn't thought about it in years, not since I went keto. Figured that version of comfort food was just behind me.nnThe hearts of palm rice is what finally got me there, or close enough that it counts. The lemon and those cherry tomatoes together, spinach wilted in at the end. It's not identical. But it brought back something I wasn't expecting to feel on a random weeknight.nn4 stars. The original had actual arborio and I'm not pretending otherwise. But this one goes in the permanent rotation.
Arborio has a starch cloud that can't be replicated, so the 4 stars is fair. That it still brought something back on a random weeknight is the whole point.
My mom made a version of this every Sunday when I was little. Went keto four years ago and figured that dish was just gone. The lemon and cherry tomatoes together tasted exactly like hers.
That lemon brightness hitting the tomatoes is what makes it work. Four years is too long without a Sunday dish.
Italian food was the one thing I couldn't stop missing when I went keto, and this gave some of it back. Lemon and cherry tomatoes make it taste like actual food, not diet compromise. Spring evening, one skillet, felt normal again.
The lemon is what does it. Without it the whole thing reads like diet food.
Finally made this after it kept showing up in my feed. I cook a lot of chicken but hearts of palm rice was new to me, and somewhere between the tomatoes and the spinach I realized this was going to be better than I expected. The lemon at the end is what seals it. Not sure why I waited so long.
Hearts of palm gets people like that. Neutral enough that it just takes the sauce without doing its own thing. Cauliflower would have competed with the lemon.
My mom used to make this exact thing on Sunday nights, like the exact flavor profile, olive oil and garlic and those tomatoes all jamming together in one pan, and I haven't tasted it in two years because I figured that was just done for me after going keto. The hearts of palm rice kind of breaks your brain a little when you first see it, but then it soaks up all that lemon and broth and you stop thinking about it because you're too busy eating. I actually sat there after my first bowl feeling kind of emotional about it. Sounds ridiculous. Wasn't, though. Something about the squeeze of lemon at the end pulls the whole thing into this very Italian place, not fussy, just right. Made it on a Tuesday night and it genuinely felt like a Sunday. Going in the regular rotation.
That garlic and cherry tomato in the olive oil is where the memory is. One pan and it smells right before it's even done.
I've been doing keto on and off for three years and chicken and rice was always the thing I mentally filed under 'foods that are just gone now.' Made this Tuesday night and the hearts of palm rice was doing something cauliflower never quite managed for me. It's not a perfect swap but the texture holds up in the sauce, and the lemon with the spinach kept it from feeling heavy the way a lot of my keto dinners do. I'm just grateful this exists.
Yeah, cauliflower dissolves in a sauce like this. Hearts of palm holds. The lemon is the whole reason it doesn't feel like a heavy stew.
Four batches in and I've started squeezing the lemon in at the very end instead of with everything else, and the brightness is completely different.
Yeah, acid fades when it cooks. Makes sense to hold it like the basil. Gonna try this.