These Sweet Chili Chicken Meal Prep Bowls are a delicious make-ahead lunch idea. Serve with jasmine rice and your choice of toppings!
Customize these bowls with your favorite toppings like steamed veggies, sliced avocado, or fresh herbs for a meal that’s as versatile as it is tasty. They’re perfect for busy weeks, and are sure to keep you fueled and energized!
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Perfect for meal prep: Make your lunches for the week in one go!
- Customizable: Add your favourite toppings to suit your taste.
- Quick and easy: Simple ingredients and minimal effort make it ideal for busy schedules.
Ingredients and substitutions
Chicken
- Chicken breasts – boneless skinless chicken thighs would also be good in this recipe.
- Egg – use a bit of milk instead to help the cornstarch stick to the chicken.
- Cornstarch – potato starch, arrowroot or flour would also help coat the chicken.
- Olive oil – or any other neutral cooking oil like canola or grapeseed oil.
- Sweet chili sauce – a mixture of hot sauce and honey will provide a similar flavour.
- Sriracha – Sambal Oelek would be a good substitute here or you can leave it out entirely.
Rice and veggies
- Jasmine rice – substitute for any type of rice or rice noodles. Leave this out altogether for a low-carb option.
- Olive oil – or any other neutral cooking oil like canola or grapeseed oil.
- Matchstick carrots – feel free to substitute for another julienned veggie of your choice like cucumber.
- Red pepper – use any colour bell pepper or another veggie of your choice.
- Shredded red cabbage – swap out for another veggie like raw lettuce instead.
- Soy sauce – coconut aminos or tamari are the best substitutes for soy sauce.
How to make sweet chili chicken
Step 1: Coat the chicken.
Toss the chicken in cornstarch.
Step 2: Sauté the chicken.
Cook the chicken until browned.
Step 3: Make the rice.
Prepare the rice in a rice cooker or on the stovetop.
Step 4: Toss in the sauce.
Add sweet chili sauce and sriracha to the pan with the chicken.
Step 5: Sauté the veggies.
Cook the carrots, red pepper, and red cabbage with soy sauce.
Step 6: Assemble your bowls.
Divide rice into meal prep bowls, top with sautéed veggies and chicken, and finish with your choice of toppings.
Recipe Tips & Variations
Customize these sweet chili chicken meal prep bowls to your liking! Here are some customization options:
- Crispier chicken: For extra crispiness, pan-fry the chicken in batches to avoid overcrowding the skillet.
- Make it saucier: Double the sweet chili sauce if you prefer extra sauce for drizzling.
- Protein: Swap out the chicken breast for chicken thighs, shrimp or tofu.
- Vegetables: Add in any veggies of your choice like cucumber, zucchini, mushrooms, bok choy and more.
- Flavor add-ins: Feel free to add in some fresh ginger, garlic, soy sauce, lime juice or honey to take the sauce to the next level!
- Sides: Swap out the jasmine rice for brown rice, cauliflower rice, egg noodles or even fried rice.
- Toppings: You can garnish your bowls with bean sprouts, scallions, crushed peanuts, sesame seeds, chopped cilantro, chopped cabbage and more.
Frequently asked questions
Do you need to marinate the chicken in the sauce?
This recipe doesn’t require marinating the chicken. Just brown the chicken then add in the sauce and it’ll be plenty flavourful already! That being said, you can definitely marinate it if you want to.
Is sweet chili spicy?
Yes, sweet chili definitely has a bit of a kick to it, but the sweetness of the sauce cuts down on the heat. If you don’t like too much spice, mix together honey and a bit of hot sauce for a similar flavour.
Do you eat these bowls hot or cold?
You can enjoy these bowls cold or pop them in the microwave for 1 to 2 minutes. I’d suggest sprinkling some water over top before microwaving to ensure the chicken and rice don’t dry out.
How to store, reheat, and freeze
- Storing: Keep any leftover sweet chili chicken bowls in the fridge for up to 5 days in airtight containers.
- Reheating: Sprinkle a bit of water over the chicken to keep it moist, then microwave for 2-3 minutes. For added crunch, consider leaving the toppings off and adding them fresh after reheating (optional).
- Freezing: Freeze the chicken and rice separately for up to 3 months in airtight containers. Unfortunately, the veggies don’t freeze well as they can become soggy when thawed.
- Defrosting and reheating: Thaw the chicken and rice in the fridge overnight, then reheat as normal.
More chicken meal prep recipes
Meal prep tools
- A rice cooker makes meal prep so much easier!
- Get your glass meal prep bowls here.
- And of course I get all my free-range chicken breasts from Butcher Box.
Sweet Chili Chicken Meal Prep Bowls
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1 lb chicken breasts, cubed
- 1/3 cup cornstarch
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 pinch salt
- 3/4 cup sweet chili sauce
- 1 tbsp Sriracha
Jasmine rice
- 1 1/4 cups water
- 1 cup jasmine rice
- 1 tsp butter
- 1 pinch salt
Vegetables
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup matchstick carrots
- 1 red pepper, sliced
- 1 cup Shredded red cabbage
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
Topping ideas (all of these are optional 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
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix chicken with cornstarch. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over med-high heat. Add chicken and season with salt, then saute for 5-6 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. Add another tbsp olive oil and sautee carrots, red pepper and red cabbage together with soy sauce for 5 minutes until cooked through.
- Divide rice among four glass meal prep bowls and top with veggie mixture. Add chicken and your choice of optional toppings. Serve and enjoy!
Comments & Reviews
Marianne Kleminski says
What would you sub for the corn starch?
Taylor Stinson says
You could try using flour instead!
Bob says
This is my first lunch meal prep and this is a great recipe. I will cut back on the Sriracha a bit next time but otherwise a really delicious dish.
Laura says
Thank you for sharing this recipe — it was so so good! However, I would love to know more about the nutritional content of the sweet chili sauce you used. The sauce I picked up in the store was 70+ calories for a serving of 2 tbsp. As your recipe stated, I went with 3/4 cup of the sauce, which I realized would be almost 400 calories just for the sauce alone!
Maybe I didn’t buy the right kind of sweet chili sauce. Would you mind sharing the nutritional details of your sauce — or make a recommendation for a brand that is lower calories?
Thanks!
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Laura – so happy you enjoyed! I used Thai Kitchen’s sauce – it is 70 calories per 2 tbsp. At 400 calories worth of sauce for the whole recipe, you would be looking at 100 calories total per serving. I have the full nutritional info listed at the bottom of the recipe and you’re looking at 430 calories per meal prep bowl overall (including sauce!), which is right on track with what you should be having for a meal. You should be aiming for 300-500 calories for each meal of the day. Hope this helps!
Amanda says
oh my goodness!! SOOOO yummy!!! I used broccoli (which I steamed for a bit first), matchstick carrots, and red pepper for the veggies and followed everything else exactly!! I gotta be honest…I wasn’t totally sure as it was coming together. But man! Sooo GOOD!! Even my husband approved and that’s a big deal! We will be adding to the list of lunch ideas!
james marshall says
How is this Korean and not just vaguely Asian?
Taylor Stinson says
It doesn’t say Korean anywhere in this dish that I can see – sorry for any confusion!
Ace says
How much rice makes 4 cups cooked??
Taylor Stinson says
1 cup dry rice and 2 cups water typically creates 4 servings of rice!
Helene says
This is an amazing dish. Adding to our regular lineup. Thank you!
Jen says
Is the nutritional info including the rice? I Just Want to figure out the nutritional info without the rice 🙂
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Jen – it is including the rice. You would have to re-calculate without the rice unfortunately!
Tanya says
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
Taylor Stinson says
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!
Karine says
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 🙂
Taylor Stinson says
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!