Sweet Chili Chicken Meal Prep Bowls
These Sweet Chili Chicken Meal Prep Bowls with jasmine rice, bean sprouts & cilantro are a delicious one-skillet make-ahead lunch idea that'll carry you through the work week!
Okay hands down these Sweet Chili Chicken Meal Prep Bowls are my new favourite lunch. I know I've said that about various bowls in the past, and maybe that's just because I go through phases of food obsessions and I constantly have new flavours of the week.
I'm such a food-a-holic (that's a thing right? Tell me that's a thing) that I sometimes feel like I'm even cheating on my fave food with other food.
Those pulled chicken burritos I had for dinner last night?
Yeah, they're already old news in my head, and I'm already thinking of new ways to put the leftover pulled chicken to good use for my lunches this week.
But for now, bring on ALL the sweet chili Thai sauce. Aka my fave sauce ever (flavour of the moment quite literally so to speak!)
My obsession with this sauce actually first started with these Bang Bang Shrimp Tacos. I had had them a few times at Bonefish Grill in the States and was absolutely convinced that I could create an exact replica at home, and of course I made them a little bit healthier by reducing the oil and just tossing them in egg and flour before sauteeing. I've actually got an updated video on those babies coming in the next couple of weeks to the blog so stay tuned!
Of course while I was making these Bang Bang Shrimp Tacos over and over, I kept running out of sweet chili sauce, and at my local grocery store there's only these tiny little bottles that are like $4.49 each so needless to say my little shrimp taco habit was getting expensive.
Around this time my little brother was heading back to college and stopped by Costco to pick up a few essentials for his student house and guess what he comes waltzing in with? An absolutely GIANT bottle of sweet chili sauce! I was in love!!!
Too bad he took the damn thing with him…
Ever since then I think I truly realized the magic of sweet chili sauce and have since added it to my roster of go-to sauces and use it in just about every kind of meal prep possible – remember these Sweet Chili Chicken Salad Jars? Yep, another one of my faves using this sauce.
SO GOOD.
Now the key to these Sweet Chili Chicken Meal Prep Bowls is tossing cut up chicken breast chunks with egg and cornstarch to create a little bit of faux breading on the outside. I also added breadcrumbs to the mix but I've made chicken this way a few times without the breadcrumbs and think I actually prefer it without. This way you can cut down on the simple carbs a bit and just enjoy with jasmine rice.
Anybody else really LOVE jasmine and basmati rice? I could care less about regular rice but there's something about the overall aroma and fragrance of these two types that can take any regular meal from pretty ordinary to deliciously spectacular.
So anyway, getting back to this chicken. Once you have it coated, go ahead and saute with some olive oil and salt until browned. Toss with sweet chili sauce and sriracha (optional, for spicier bowls!) and then top with whatever veggies you have on hand! I sauteed some red cabbage, matchstick carrots and red pepper together with some soy sauce but there's no reason you couldn't throw some broccoli or spinach in there, or maybe some mushrooms or just mixed bell peppers.
The trick to meal prep is just keeping everything simple and reducing your food waste as much as possible so go nuts with the veg here!
Will you be making these Sweet Chili Chicken Meal Prep Bowls?
When you've got meal prep like this on hand for the week, you'll wonder why you ever let yourself stumble through the work week before without delicious lunches. SO easy, delicious and healthy!!!
If you try any of my recipes be sure to let me know on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or in the comments – I’d love to see what you come up with!
Get your square glass meal prep bowls here!
And of course I get all my free-range chicken breasts from Butcher Box!
Sweet Chili Thai Chicken Meal Prep Bowls
Ingredients
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1 cup matchstick carrots
- 1 red pepper, sliced
- 1 cup Shredded red cabbage
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 4 cups cooked jasmine rice
Topping ideas (all of these are optional add-ons to top your bowls with after)
- 1/2 cup bean sprouts
- 4 scallions, sliced
- 2 tbsp peanut pieces
- 2 tbsp sesame seeds
- 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
Chicken
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3 chicken breasts, cubed
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup cornstarch
- 2 tbsp breadcrumbs (optional; though I show this in the video I think I prefer without breadcrumbs!)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup sweet chili sauce
- 1 tbsp Sriracha
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix chicken together with egg, cornstarch and, is using, breadcrumbs. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over med-high heat. Add chicken and salt and saute for 5 min until browned. Add sweet chili sauce and sriracha and cook another 3-4 min until chicken is fully cooked.
- Meanwhile, cook jasmine rice according to package directions on the stove or in a rice cooker. Remove chicken from pan and move to a bowl, setting aside. Do not wipe skillet clean, instead adding 2 tsp olive oil and sauteeing carrots, red pepper and red cabbage together with soy sauce.
- Divide rice among four glass meal prep bowls (I got mine from IKEA!) and top with veggie mixture. Add chicken and your choice of optional add-on toppings. Garnish with lime wedge (optional) and serve! Keeps in fridge up to 5 days.
This is the bomb! Followed to a T but added a fresh fresno pepper since i like heat! Making it again next week but instead of chicken I am going to do this with large shrimp! Thanks for the food addict!
This looks so good. I’m making it right now
Yay! Let me know how you like it Erin 🙂
This literally tastes like chinese takeout and is so easy!
So happy you enjoyed it Allison!! Thanks for sharing with me 🙂
Very excited to make this for meal prep this week : ), but have 1 very important question….. I’m allergic to eggs; what do you suggest to replace it with for the coating??? When baking I use flax egg, but think it will taste terrible on chicken lol Thank you!
Hey Michelle! You could try leaving out the egg altogether and just tossing in flour or cornstarch before frying. Hope that helps!
Can you reheat the rice mid week?
You definitely can 🙂
I’ve made this tonight for my lunches in work this week. Looks good. Do I reheat this in the microwave? What tastes best ?
You can either eat cold or reheat in the microwave..I prefer the microwave 🙂
I can usually only get cilantro and scallions in relatively big bunches (more than this recipe calls for). Cilantro especially doesn’t last long. Any suggestions for keeping it fresh at least until the next week when I can make the recipe again? Thanks!
Hey Pete! If I know I need to stretch my cilantro into the next week I will keep the roots standing up in a large glass of water in the fridge – there are some herb savers that I’ve seen too that you can find on Amazon. You can also try wrapping it in sopping wet paper towel and placing inside a sealed ziploc bag. This is how I save the life of my greens like spinach and kale. Hopefully some of these tricks work for you!
Was pretty good! Used pre-fried chicken tenders, steamed the veggies lightly (with the addition of broccoli), and added peanut butter and toasted sesame oil to the sauce (while doubling the Sriracha and chili).
Love the substitutions and add-ins! Sounds delicious!!!
This was soooooo tasty.
How does the sauteed vegetables hold up for lunch meal preps by Friday? Gross and soggy?
Hey Christina – as long as you’re not keeping the bowls more than 5 days the veggies hold up fine!
This was one of the best recipes I’ve ever tried! I’m a flight attendant and meal prep is key. I love all your healthy ideas, they’re right up my alley! Thank you 🙂
Thank you so much Karine I’m so happy you like these bowls!!! 🙂 Please let me know if you ever have any other recipe requests!
Hi these look great. I was wondering how many grams/ounces of chicken breast you use as I want to be as true to the nutritional value as possible. Also if serving to my kids as well do you think it would be ok to omit the sriracha? Thanks
Hey Tanya – unfortunately I can’t provide the exact g/oz worth of chicken used and the nutritional info on all of my recipes is a best estimate. I always use medium-sized boneless skinless breasts if that is helpful. You can also definitely omit the sriracha!
Is the nutritional info including the rice? I Just Want to figure out the nutritional info without the rice 🙂
Hey Jen – it is including the rice. You would have to re-calculate without the rice unfortunately!
This is an amazing dish. Adding to our regular lineup. Thank you!
How much rice makes 4 cups cooked??
1 cup dry rice and 2 cups water typically creates 4 servings of rice!