Thai Chicken Lunch Bowls (Make Ahead)

Thai chicken lunch bowls have roasted vegetables and chicken served over rice with a tangy homemade 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.

Recipe video

Wondering how this recipe comes together? Watch this 1-minute video to see how easy it is to prep! You can find more recipe videos on my YouTube channel.

Don’t forget to pin this post to save it for later!

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

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 ¼ of the volume, and increase to taste)
• nut-free - swap the peanut butter for tahini or make this maple tahini dressing

Looking for more meal prep lunch bowls?

• Satay Chicken Lunch Bowls
• Slow Cooker Chipotle Honey Chicken Taco Salad
• Jerk Chicken Lunch Bowls
• Turkey Taco Lunch Bowls

Did you make this? Tag me on social @sweetpeasandsaffron and be sure to leave a comment and rate the recipe!

Thai Chicken Lunch Bowls (Meal Prep)

4.73 from 80 votes

Prep Time: 15 minutes mins

Cook Time: 25 minutes mins

Total Time: 30 minutes mins

• Pin

Print Rate

Thai chicken lunch bowls have roasted vegetables and chicken served over rice with a tangy homemade peanut sauce. Easy to prep and keeps well for four days!

4

Ingredients

• ▢ ¾ 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

• ▢ ¼ 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
• ▢ ½ tablespoon lime juice
• ▢ 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• ▢ 2 tablespoons of water (or more as needed to thin it out)

Additional:

• ▢ ¼ 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.

Would you like to save this?

We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!

Tips:

Reheat in the microwave and then sprinkle with peanuts just before serving.

These bowls will keep in the fridge for 3-4 days.

Video

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1bowl, Calories: 495kcal, Carbohydrates: 49g, Protein: 36g, Fat: 19g, Saturated Fat: 3g, Cholesterol: 70mg, Sodium: 596mg, Fiber: 6g, Sugar: 10g

Author: Denise Bustard

Course: Lunch

Cuisine: Thai

© Sweet Peas & Saffron - Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited.