Okay, okay, before you get angry and say that wild rice pilaf isn’t keto – we’re definitely not using wild rice in this recipe. We’re using keto friendly alternatives, shelled hemp heart seeds to mimic this taste and texture, and boy does it do a good job. I grabbed these hemp seeds when I first heard about them and immediately knew I was going to do a rice type of dish. I highly recommend grabbing a pack to try out yourself!
The slightly crunchy, slightly al dente texture really gives off a vibe of a couscous or a wild rice. The flavor is very earthy and natural, exactly what you’d expect with a bowl of wild rice.
All in all, this is a great side dish. You just have to be a little careful with portioning, as hemp seeds are very high in fat – so just a little can go a long way (in terms of calories). I gave about 1/3 cup servings, which is what it came out to be when I added in all of the other ingredients – just enough to give you a perfect side dish with just about any meal.
Though I find this works extremely well paired with chicken, I can see pork or beef being an amazing meal with it too. You can easily change the spices up to form to the flavors you want, and make different kinds of wild rice dishes with it. Bon appetit!
Yields 4 servings of Keto Mushroom Wild Rice Pilaf
The Preparation
- 1 cup hemp seeds
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 ounces cremini mushrooms
- 1/4 cup slivered almonds
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon dried parsley
- salt and pepper, to taste
The Execution
1. Wash and slice mushrooms into small chunks.
2. Add butter to a pan over medium heat and let melt and bubble. Once bubbling, add sliced almonds and mushrooms to the pan.
3. Once mushrooms are soft, add hemp seeds to the pan. Mix together well.
4. Add chicken broth and seasoning to the pan and stir together well. Turn down the heat to medium-low and let the chicken broth simmer and be absorbed.
5. Once you’re happy with the consistency, turn the pan off and dish out!
6. This goes great with chicken dishes, but can be used with almost anything.
This makes a total of 4 servings of Keto Mushroom & Wild Rice Pilaf. Each serving comes out to be 315 calories, 28.4g fats, 3.3g net carbs, and 14.6g protein.
| NUTRITION | CALORIES | FAT | CARBS | FIBER | NET CARBS | PROTEIN |
| 1 cup hemp seeds | 885 | 78 | 13.9 | 6.4 | 7.5 | 50.5 |
| 2 tablespoon butter | 203 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 |
| 2 ounce cremini mushrooms | 16 | 0.1 | 2.3 | 0.3 | 2 | 1.4 |
| 1/4 cup slivered almonds | 142 | 12.2 | 5.3 | 3.1 | 2.2 | 5.2 |
| 1/2 cup chicken broth | 7 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0 | 0.6 | 0.8 |
| 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder | 5 | 0 | 1.2 | 0.1 | 1 | 0.3 |
| 1/4 teaspoon dried parsley | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| — salt and pepper | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 1259 | 113.6 | 23.3 | 10 | 13.3 | 58.4 |
| Per Serving (/4) | 315 | 28.4 | 5.8 | 2.5 | 3.3 | 14.6 |
Keto Mushroom & Wild Rice Pilaf
Ingredients
- 1 cup hemp seeds
- 2 tablespoon butter
- 2 ounce cremini mushrooms
- ¼ cup slivered almonds
- ½ cup chicken broth
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon dried parsley
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Wash and slice the mushrooms into small chunks.
- Add butter to a pan over medium heat and let it melt and bubble. Once bubbling, add the slivered almonds and mushrooms to the pan.
- Once the mushrooms are soft, add the hemp seeds to the pan. Mix together well.
- Add the chicken broth and seasonings to the pan and stir together well. Turn the heat down to medium-low and let the chicken broth simmer and absorb into the mixture. Let cook until desired consistency is reached.
- Serve and enjoy!
This was delicious! I haven't had rice pilaf in years, and this is my first taste of hemp seeds. Very good. The only thing I changed was that I had some fresh parsely, so I used it instead of dried.