The 15-Minute BBQ Chicken Bowl I Can’t Stop Making
BBQ Chicken Bowl
I may be a chef and a cookbook author, but I'm also a huge proponent of taking shortcuts in the kitchen when you need to. All of our lives are busy and there's no shame in making things easier, especially if it means that you get to have a delicious and nutritious meal on the table much more quickly.
When I'm grocery shopping, I keep my eyes peeled for products that can streamline my cooking and one of my favorite shortcuts are bagged salad kits. They're often good as-is, but I've also found that they can go from good to really great with a few tweaks here and there.
About a year ago, I spied the coleslaw mix at Trader Joe's and tossed it in my cart figuring that I could find a use for it. And that purchase led to one of my all-time favorite dinners, BBQ Chicken Bowls. It's a dish that's on repeat at my house. I love that it's light and fresh and super customizable—and that you can make it in 15 minutes flat. Here's what you need to know.
Related: 42 Rice Bowl Recipes For Whatever Leftovers You Have On Hand
How to Make My 15-Minute BBQ Chicken Bowl
This is ultimately a choose-your-own-adventure type of dish and it can be slightly different every single time you make it, so think of it more as a formula than a prescriptive recipe. Here are the basic building blocks, but I encourage you to make it your own.
? Make the slaw. I usually start by tossing the slaw together so the cabbage and other veggies can hang out in the dressing while I put the rest of the bowl together. I always taste the little dressing packet just because it's going to vary from brand to brand and kit to kit. And often all that a store-bought dressing packet needs to wake it up is a little bit of acid because they tend to be on the sweeter side. So just a squeeze of lime or lemon or a splash of vinegar can really help make the slaw feel more balanced and help all the other flavors pop. Toss the slaw with your doctored dressing and let it sit while you make the rest of your bowl. The slaw is also a great place to toss in any fresh herbs that you need to use up or the handful of raisins that's left in the bottom of the box.
? Get the rice ready. Next up: grains. I like to use rice, but you could also use farro or quinoa or whatever grain you like or have on hand (this is another great way to use up leftovers). Trader Joe's has really great frozen brown rice that I use often, but there are lots of quick-cooking rices at the grocery store, so those work great too.
? Make the meat. The last thing that you're going to do is cook your meat. So you just heat a little oil in a skillet, add your ground meat, and cook while stirring and breaking up the meat into teeny tiny pieces with a spatula. I often use ground chicken in this recipe. I always buy ground meat because it cooks so quickly. I usually buy ground chicken or turkey because they're lean proteins that you can doctor up in a million exciting ways. If you're using ground chicken, you're not trying to brown it, you just want it to no longer be pink. And that happens in five to six minutes, which is amazing. This is another place where you can adjust the recipe to suit you. Ground beef works well and you can also swap out the meat for a can of black beans or pinto beans or crumbled tofu that you brown in the skillet. Have a rotisserie chicken in the fridge? Shred some of the meat and heat it with the bbq sauce.
? Add the sauce. Once your protein is cooked, add in your favorite barbecue sauce. Barbecue sauces tend to be quite salty, so you usually don't need much additional salt, but be sure to taste it to see if it needs any additional seasoning. And I'm a citrus freak, so I'll usually add a squeeze of lime.
? Assemble and top. Now it's time to grab your bowls and start building. Start with the slaw, then add some rice and a scoop of the meat mixture. I often top the bowls with halved cherry tomatoes and some chopped scallions, but feel free to get creative with the toppings. This is good place to use up those broken tortilla chips in the bottom of the bag, that half avocado in the fridge or those two radishes that are lingering in the crisper drawer. Part of the fun of this recipe is that it can be different every time.
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