These Chicken & Butternut Squash Harvest Bowls are filled with fall flavours and an easy meal prep idea. Almost everything cooks on one pan!
Ingredients and substitutions
- Olive oil – use any neutral cooking oil like avocado or canola oil.
- Chicken breasts – swap out for another type of meat of your choosing such as sausage.
- Honey mustard – combine Dijon mustard and honey for a similar flavour.
- Butternut squash – sweet potatoes can be used instead and are often easier to peel.
- Brussels sprouts – broccoli, cauliflower, parsnips, beets or turnips would also be good.
- Red pepper – try another veggie like mushrooms or carrots.
- Red onion – white onion, yellow onion or shallots would be the best substitutes here.
- Garlic – freshly minced garlic or jarred minced garlic can both be used.
- Fresh sage – use dried sage, rosemary or thyme if you don’t have any fresh sage on hand.
- Salt & pepper – to taste.
Wild rice
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- Wild rice – you can use any type of rice for this recipe or even use quinoa. Leave out the rice altogether for a low-carb option.
- Butter – swap out for a butter-free substitute of your choice to keep the rice moist.
How to make this recipe
- Cook the wild rice.
- Toss the chicken with honey mustard.
- Add everything to a sheet pan.
- Cook for 20-25 minutes.
- Divide amongst bowls and serve or store for later!
How to cook wild rice
Here's what you need to make 4 servings of wild rice:
- 1 cup wild rice
- 1 ¾ cups water
- 1 tsp. butter
Add all the ingredients to a rice cooker and just set it and forget it! You can also cook the rice in a pot on the stovetop, which should take about 45 minutes. I prefer the rice cooker method because it's hands off and often provides a faster cooking time, but you can use what you have on hand.
Frequently Asked Questions
Pretty much whatever you want! Add a variety of fall produce to these bowls in addition to a source of protein like chicken, sausage or turkey. You can even leave the meat out if you want a vegetarian option. The basic premise of these bowls is to combine a bunch of delicious fresh fall flavours into one healthy dish.
These harvest bowls have 379 calories per serving. They’re a great low-calorie meal option!
I just used a basic honey mustard to marinate this chicken, and that's really all you need! If you don't have any honey mustard on hand, you can mix together some Dijon mustard and honey to make a very similar marinade. You can also season your chicken with the same seasonings that you use on your vegetables (olive oil, garlic, sage, salt & pepper) then add a little bit of lemon juice.
Storing and reheating
These harvest bowls are great as leftovers! Divide the entire recipe into meal prep bowls and store them in the fridge for up to 5 days. When you’re ready to enjoy, sprinkle a bit of water over top so the chicken doesn’t dry out then microwave for 2-3 minutes.
Freezing the chicken and rice
You can't freeze this entire recipe, but you can freeze components of it. Freeze the chicken either raw in the honey mustard sauce or cooked for up to 3 months. You can also freeze the cooked rice for up to 3 months, which is a great way to cut down on prep time. Let everything defrost in the fridge overnight then reheat or cook as normal.
More sheet pan chicken recipes
Meal prep tools for this recipe
- Grab some glass meal prep bowls if you plan on turning this recipe into your weekly lunches.
- I get all my free-range chicken from Butcher Box, conveniently delivered to me frozen.
- This is the wild rice blend I use.
- A rice cooker is invaluable for saving time, and it cooks other grains, too!
Chicken & Butternut Squash Harvest Bowls
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb chicken breasts diced
- 1/4 cup honey mustard
- 1 cup butternut squash, diced
- 1 cup brussels sprouts, sliced in half
- 1 red pepper, chopped
- 1 small red onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 12 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped (alternative: 1 tsp dried)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
Wild rice
- 1 cup wild rice
- 1 3/4 cups water
- 1 tsp butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 F. Cook wild rice according to package directions on stove top or in a rice cooker (highly recommend a rice cooker so you can set it and forget it!)
- Toss chicken with honey mustard. Add all veggies to baking sheet, tossing with olive oil, garlic, sage and salt & pepper. Add chicken and cook in oven for 20-25 minutes until chicken is cooked through.
- Evenly divide all ingredients among four meal prep bowls. Serve and enjoy – leftovers last in fridge up to 5 days.
Rebecca says
I wonder if these would reheat ok in the oven. No microwave here
Taylor Stinson says
I would reheat in a skillet instead with a little bit of water sprinkled overtop 🙂
marianna friday says
Do you thaw out the chicken when freezing it raw marinated in honey mustard? How do you thaw the chicken? Also how do you thaw the rice like you mentioned being able to freeze? And do all of these veggies freeze well? Just need some tips on making it freezer friendly and tips to table. Thank you!
Taylor Stinson says
To be honest, this isn’t the best freezer friendly recipe. You can freeze the raw chicken in marinade or cook the chicken and freeze it afterward. You can also freeze the cooked rice. You can’t freeze the veggies. You can microwave the frozen rice for a few minutes to serve with the chicken and you can also let the raw chicken defrost in the fridge overnight then bake with the rest of the veggies. Alternatively, you can microwave cooked frozen chicken to serve alongside the fresh cooked veggies. It may make more sense to freeze the rice to cut down on prep/cook time and then just do the sheet pan fresh altogether but there are options if you need to do the chicken ahead of time too.
Louise says
Hi I was wondering if it is safe to reheat rice for lunch time
Taylor Stinson says
Yes it is!
Ilona says
I made this great recipe last night subbing with fresh white turnip, beets and carrots. Enjoyed by both hubby and I. My oven time was somewhat longer as always, each oven is a little different.
This recipe will become a star in my Fall line-up! Thanx Taylor
cathy C. says
This looks like a great dinner idea. Wondering though, what is the source of all the fat & saturated fat ? I am meal prepping for a heart patient so the stats are important to me. Thank you!
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Cathy..I’m not a nutrition expert so all I can guess is the olive oil? Or maybe there’s been a misprint with my recipe plugin because I don’t think it should be so high in fat. If you need to calculate it exactly you could plug all the ingredients in an app like MyFitnessPal!
Lt says
The mustard is the main fat offender from what i can tell.
Lori says
There are usually 0 grams of fat in mustard. The honey mustard would have some sugar carbs, if anyone is watching those.