If you are looking for a nutritious and filling meal that's easy to prepare for meal prep, then look no further than this Chicken Protein Bowl. It is packed with protein, fiber, and plenty of vitamins and minerals. It's my go-to for a healthy lunch that I can make in advance. Whether you're meal prepping for the week or just want to make a quick dinner, this protein bowl has you covered.
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With grilled chicken as the star, this bowl is a great source of lean protein. It's also nutrient rich, as we have loaded it with fresh veggies and quinoa. This power bowl gives a balanced mix of macronutrients and micronutrients.
The best thing about this protein bowl recipe is that is is versatile and so easy to customise. You can easily swap out ingredients to suit your tastes or dietary needs, or just whatever you have that needs using in the fridge.
This chicken power bowl recipe is simple enough for a weeknight dinner and can be prepped ahead for a grab-and-go meal.
Looking for more meal prep recipes? Why not try our protein packed Steak and Rice Bowl delicious Meal Prep Breakfast Sandwiches, tasty Greek Chicken Bowls, juicy Greek Yogurt Chicken or our super easy Sheet Pan Eggs?
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Ingredients and Substitutions
A full ingredients list, along with US Customary and Metric measurements, can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Chicken - We used chicken breasts that we had already cooked from our Air Fryer Chicken Breasts. You could use our Slow Cooker Chicken Breasts too. Opt for organic or free-range chicken if possible. This ensures a higher quality of meat with no added hormones or antibiotics. You could use chicken thighs if you wanted it to be juicier.
- Brown rice and Quinoa Mix - A complete protein, quinoa contains all nine essential amino acids. It's also gluten-free, making it suitable for those with gluten sensitivities. We mixed the quinoa with brown rice, as we love the mix and the nutty flavor that brown rice gives. To make it lower in carbs, you could use cauliflower rice.
- Black Beans and Corn - This a colorful mix that adds not only color, but some extra protein too.
- Lettuce - This helps to bulk the protein bowls out, without adding a lot of extra calories. We like to add something with crunch like romaine. You could add some spinach in too to make it more nutritious.
- Vegetables - This is an easy way to add a lot more goodness to these high protein bowls. We used mini peppers, cucumber and tomatoes.
- Sauce - We have given some more options for this below, but to keep this a healthy protein bowl, we made a sauce with Greek yogurt as the base and added some cilantro (coriander), salt, pepper and lime juice to it.
- Feta - Everything is better with feta, right? A little goes a long way, as it has such a strong flavor.
- Onions - We added our Quick Pickled Red Onions. You could just use sliced raw red onions, but I know some people find them difficult to digest.
Variations
- Protein alternatives: Swap chicken for grilled shrimp, tofu, or chickpeas to keep the bowl protein-rich, but something a bit different.
- Grains: Replace quinoa and brown rice mix with either just one of them or you could use farro or couscous for a different texture and taste.
- Vegetables: Feel free to add any veggies you have on hand, such as roasted sweet potatoes, roasted asparagus or steamed broccoli. You could also add our Air Fryer Roasted Vegetables for a real veggie boost.
- Dressing Variations: You can experiment with different dressings like a tangy balsamic vinaigrette, spicy tahini dressing, or a simple olive oil and lemon juice combo. Our Chipotle Southwest Sauce is a good addition too.
How To Make Chicken Protein Bowls
- Step one: Build your bowl with lettuce, rice, quinoa, corn, beans, cucumber, tomato, peppers, red onions and cheese. Combine the yogurt, coriander, salt, pepper and lime juice and add to the bowl.
- Step two: Add the cooked chicken and enjoy.
Serving Suggestions
This chicken protein bowl is pretty much a meal in itself, as it has the carbs, protein and veggies. But, if you do want something a little extra on the side then you can't go wrong with some tortilla chips.
Why not try our Baked Tortilla Chips or Air Fryer Tortilla Chips?
Storage
Store: This is perfect for protein bowl meal prep. We love these Meal Prep Containers and this will keep in the fridge in these containers for up top 4 days - perfect for easy meals
Freeze: We wouldn't recommend freezing the assembled bowl. You can freeze the chicken and rice and quinoa mix separately and then defrost them ready to make a power bowl. Follow the individual freezing instructions for those recipes.
Dannii's Top Tips
- If you are going to add avocado to these power bowls, then do that just before you are going to serve them to avoid them going brown.
- If you prefer your chicken warm, store it separately and reheat it in the microwave for about 1-2 minutes before adding it to the bowl.
- For some extra crunch, you can top this with some toasted walnuts or almonds.
- If you are adding a dressing to this, do so just before serving so everything doesn't get soggy.
- You could add a spoonful of hummus to add some extra protein and some creaminess.
Frequently Asked Questions
There are a few ways that you can add more protein to these power bowls. You can cook the rice and quinoa mix in a bone broth, you can add some cottage cheese and chickpeas to it and you can also top with some crushed nuts.
Yes, if you don't want to use whole chicken breast, then you can cook up some ground chicken breast or ground beef in your favorite seasoning blend and add that.
More High Protein Recipes
If you like these protein bowl ideas , let us know how you got on in the comments below.
Tag us in your creations on Instagram @hungryhealthyhappy - Use the hashtag #hungryhealthyhappy too.
Recipe
Chicken Protein Bowl
Ingredients
- 2 Chicken breast - cooked
- 4 portion Brown rice and quinoa mix
- 120 g (0.75 cups) Black beans - canned; drained weight
- 100 g (0.66 cups) Sweetcorn - canned; drained weight
- 2 head Romaine lettuce - chopped
- 40 g (0.25 cups) Feta
- 4 servings Pickled red onions
- 0.5 Cucumber - diced
- 12 Cherry tomatoes - quartered
- 4 Mini peppers - sliced
- 200 g (1 cups) Greek yogurt
- 5 g Fresh coriander (cilantro) - finely chopped
- 1 Lime - juice only
- 1 pinch Sea salt
- 1 pinch Ground black pepper
Instructions
- Build your bowl with lettuce, rice, quinoa, corn, beans, cucumber, tomato, peppers, red onions and cheese.
- Combine the yogurt, coriander, salt, pepper and lime juice and add to the bowl.
- Add the cooked chicken and enjoy.
Recipe Tips
- If you are going to add avocado to these power bowls, then do that just before you are going to serve them to avoid them going brown.
- If you prefer your chicken warm, store it separately and reheat it in the microwave for about 1-2 minutes before adding it to the bowl.
- For some extra crunch, you can top this with some toasted walnuts or almonds.
- If you are adding a dressing to this, do so just before serving so everything doesn't get soggy.
- You could add a spoonful of hummus to add some extra protein and some creaminess.
Nutritional Information
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The nutritional information provided is approximate and is calculated using online tools. Information can vary depending on various factors, but we have endeavoured to be as accurate as possible.
As all appliances vary, cooking times are a guide. Please note that by changing the serving size, the cooking time may also need to be altered.
R says
This isn't a receipe. It's an idea. You give all the measurements and then provide nothing?
Dannii Martin says
I am not sure what the problem is. All the measurements are there, along with the instructions. It's a protein bowl where you just load all the cooked ingredients into it (all those recipes are linked to). I am not sure what else you need to be provided with?