Filled with veggies, hearty farro and a spicy chicken, this Buddha Bowl with Thai Chicken will leave you craving for more. Don’t forget the spicy peanut sauce!
These Buddha Bowls make the perfect make ahead lunch! Some other recipes that would work well for a make ahead lunch are these Chicken Lettuce Wraps, Chicken Bacon Ranch Wraps, or Beef Satay Noodles.
I am fairly new to the meal prep world. But because I love food, and I love to splurge every once in awhile, I try to keep most of my meals at home fairly healthy. Sometimes that is hard, though, especially when I’m at home and hungry and the easiest thing to eat is a grilled cheese sandwich.
But when I have prepped meals in the refrigerator, it makes it so much easier to grab for the healthy choice.
Enter the newest cookbook by Chungah Rhee – Damn Delicious Meal Prep.
I am really loving this book so far. I’ve only made a few recipes from it, but there are so many great recipes in it that make meal prepping easy and that are full of flavor.
I also love that it’s not just full of meals that can be saved as single serving meals – but there are lots of things that you can make ahead for the whole family, meals that are perfect for the freezer, or even snack ideas. I have a feeling I’ll be cooking from this cookbook a lot!
Let’s talk about the recipe I’m sharing from this cookbook today – these Thai Chicken Buddha Bowls. When I first got this cookbook, I made 2 recipes from it. This recipe won out for my favorite. And let me tell you – I am so in love with it. When I finished my first batch, I immediately wanted to turn around and make some more. I would seriously crave this recipe.
I will say that this is probably not the most family friendly meal, as it is a bit spicy, but I will gladly hoard these away in the refrigerator just for myself. I love the combination of the farro that is a bit chewy, the spicy chicken and the crunchy vegetables.
This recipe is seriously my favorite thing right now.
What is a Buddha Bowl?
So, you’ve probably been seeing Buddha bowls popping up over the last few years. And probably mostly on Instagram. Usually artfully arranged and super colorful. But what exactly are they?
Well, the basic concept behind a Buddha bowl is balance. Not too much of one thing – keeping a variety of nutrients, textures and flavors. Most contain a grain, some sort of protein, and lots of vegetables. The original mentions of Buddha bowls were vegan, but you will see many with lean meats these days.
There is no hard and fast rule to what they contain, but variety and balance seem to be the key.
Ingredients
This is what goes in the Buddha bowl, but the possibilities are endless!
- Sauce: This recipe has a homemade peanut sauce, consisting of peanut butter, lime juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, and sambal oelek. Sambal oelek is a ground chile paste, and you should be able to find it fairly easy in the international aisle of your grocery store.
- Grain: This recipe calls for farro, which I love for its texture. You can always use rice, but I think the farro is one of the things that made me fall in love with this recipe!
- Chicken: The chicken gets quickly marinated, then cooked in a Thai-inspired sauce to give it lots of flavor. We used chicken breast, but thighs could be used, as well.
- Vegetables: You could really get creative with the veggies, but we used kale, cabbage, and carrots. I especially love that these will all hold up for a few days when being used as meal prep.
- Toppings: I like to store the toppings on the side. We used cilantro and peanuts for the toppings.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you eat them?
When I first made this recipe, I had to go back and read it a few times because I thought for sure that you heated it up to eat it. But you don’t! This bowl is meant to be eaten cold, which I didn’t think I’d like but I actually really loved it cold. It also makes this meal one that is easier for people who are away from home since you can eat it anywhere without having to heat anything up.
Are Buddha Bowls healthy?
For the most part, Buddha bowls tend to be very healthy, or at least filled with lots of healthy ingredients. But just because something is labeled as a Buddha bowl doesn’t automatically make it healthy. It is only as healthy as the ingredients it contains. Many Buddha bowls contain a dressing of some sort, so be careful dressings that go overboard with the dressings or that serve a dressing with ingredients that aren’t that great for you.
How long do prepped meals last?
Depending on the meal, most meal prepped meals will last 3-5 days. Since I’m the only one that is eating these meal prep meals, I can only make one batch at a time and eat them over the course of 4 days. It makes it hard to keep a variety, but with meals as good as this one, you won’t mind eating the same thing for 4 days!
What are the best containers for meal prep?
Looking for some of those meal prep containers? I have these from Amazon and have really loved them so far! I would like to invest in some glass containers, but these are great right now.
More Thai Inspired Recipes
Spicy Thai Chicken
Thai Peanut Noodles
Thai Style Tacos with Lime-Cilantro Slaw
Thai Chicken Salad
Thai Style Hot Dogs
Sweet Thai Chicken Wings
Spicy Thai Noodles with Shrimp
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Buddha Bowl with Thai Chicken
Ingredients
Peanut Sauce:
- 3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
- 1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons sambal oelek (ground fresh chile paste)
Buddha Bowls:
- 1 cup farro
- 1/4 cup chicken stock
- 1 1/2 tablespoons sambal oelek
- 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized chunks
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 shallot minced
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 cups shredded kale
- 1 1/2 cups shredded purple cabbage
- 2 carrots peeled and grated
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro
- 1/4 cup roasted peanuts
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, lime juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, and sambal oelek. Whisk in 2-3 tablespoons of water. If using for meal prep, divide the sauce into 4 small containers. Cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
- Cook the farro according to the package directions, then set aside to cool.
- While the farro cooks, combine the chicken stock, sambal oelek, brown sugar and lime juice in a small bowl. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the chicken, cornstarch and fish sauce. Stir to coat the chicken. Let it sit for a few minutes to absorb the cornstarch.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, heat up the olive oil, then add the chicken and cook until golden, about 3-5 minutes. Add the garlic, shallot and ginger and continue to cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in the chicken stock mixture and continue to stir and cook for another minute, or until slightly thickened. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- For meal prep, divide the farro equally into 4 containers. Divide the chicken, kale, cabbage, carrots, cilantro and peanuts evenly between the 4 containers.
- Buddha bowls will keep covered in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Serve with the spicy peanut sauce.
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