Thai chicken lunch bowls have roasted vegetables and chicken served over rice with a tangy home made peanut sauce. Easy to prep and keeps well for four days!
If your mornings are anything similar to mine, it is a rush to get out the door most weekdays. And busy days are exactly when you need a quick grab-and-go lunch, like these Honey Sesame Chicken Lunch Bowls or Chicken Fajita Lunch Bowls. Another tasty and satisfying meal prep recipe are these Thai Chicken Lunch Bowls.
If you like peanut sauce, you are going to LOVE this recipe!
Made by hundreds Lunch Prep Challenge participants, this was one of our most popular recipes in the challenge because it was easy to prepare and packed full of flavor.
Reasons you'll ♡ this recipe
easy to meal prep and flexible for ingredient swaps
can be adapted to your diet with low carb, gluten-free and even nut-free swaps available
healthy, filling, and so much better than buying lunch
Let's talk ingredients!
These lunch bowls are excellent for making with whatever fresh vegetables are available; I used broccoli and carrots, but think the chicken and peanut sauce would also be great with cauliflower, sweet potatoes, and/or bell peppers.
To change things up a bit from just using plain white rice, for this recipe I used brown basmati rice with some salt and chicken stock to add a touch more flavor to the rice.
rice - use your favorite rice: brown or white basmati are great choices. I also love serving this over quinoa or even cauliflower rice
chicken - I've used boneless skinless chicken breasts, but you could swap for boneless skinless chicken thighs. Try chickpeas to make a vegan lunch bowl.
vegetables - broccoli is pictured, but feel free to swap with what you have on hand: carrots, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, and/or bell peppers all sound good to me!
peanut sauce: creamy peanut butter, rice vinegar, brown sugar, sesame oil, and lime juice come together for a tangy, slightly sweet and savory sauce that is just perfect for drizzling over the chicken + vegetables
Meal prep tips
This recipe works great for meal prep! Here are some tips to get the most our of your prep:
multitask - get the brown rice cooking on the stove first, and then work on baking the chicken and veggies. While everything is cooking, make the peanut sauce.
containers- I recommend using condiment containers if you have them for keeping the peanut sauce separate from the other ingredients until you're ready to enjoy
storage - these can be kept in the fridge for up to 4 days; if freezing, you'll definitely want to keep the peanut sauce separate
Try these ingredient swaps:
vegan - use chickpeas instead of chicken, and vegetable broth as a substitute for chicken broth
extra protein - cook with quinoa instead of rice
low carb - try cauliflower rice as a swap for rice, use monk fruit sweetener in place of maple syrup (try 1/4 of the volume, and increase to taste)
nut-free - swap the peanut butter for tahini or make this maple tahini dressing
Course: Lunch Cuisine: Thai
Calories: 495kcal Author: Twit Tutul
Thai chicken lunch bowls have roasted vegetables and chicken served over rice with a tangy home made peanut sauce. Easy to prep and keeps well for four days!
Prep Time15 mins Cook Time25 mins Total Time30 mins
Ingredients
▢3/4 cup uncooked rice
Chicken
▢2 chicken breasts 12-16 oz total
▢1 tablespoon olive oil
▢1 tablespoon soy sauce
Vegetables
▢6 cups vegetables cut into bite-sized pieces I used broccoli and carrots
▢1 tablespoon olive oil
Peanut Lime Sauce
▢1/4 cup all natural peanut butter
▢1.5 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
▢1 tablespoon maple syrup (honey or brown sugar may be subbed)
▢1 teaspoon sesame oil
▢1/2 tablespoon lime juice
▢1 teaspoon ground ginger
▢2 tablespoons of water (or more as needed to thin it out)
Additional:
▢1/4 cup peanuts (optional- 1 tablespoon per bowl)
Instructions
Cook rice according to package directions. Set aside to cool slightly before dividing between four meal prep containers.
Pre-heat oven to 425°F.
Place the chicken in a small baking pan and drizzle in olive oil and soy sauce. Turn to coat.
Toss the vegetables in olive oil and arrange on a large baking sheet.
Place chicken and vegetables in the oven together. Bake the chicken for 25 minutes total or until an internal temperature of 165°F is reached, turning once halfway through the cook time. Bake the vegetables for 15-20 minutes, until softened and cooked through.
While chicken + veggies are baking, shake together peanut sauce ingredients. Portion out into condiment containers if you have them (if not you can drizzle over everything)
Divide chicken + veggies between the meal prep containers, and place a serving of peanut sauce on or with the container.
Storage
Store in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat until steaming hot, drizzle with peanut sauce and enjoy.
Notes Reheat in the microwave and then sprinkle with peanuts just before serving. These bowls will keep in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Nutrition
Serving: 1bowl | Calories: 495kcal | Carbohydrates: 49g | Protein: 36g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 70mg | Sodium: 596mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 10g
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