These buffalo chicken rice bowls are incredibly satisfying! A bed of rice is topped with buffalo chicken, blue cheese, carrots, celery, and tomatoes. This recipe is simple to make and is perfect for meal prep!
These buffalo chicken and rice bowls are a recipe that I've been making for years! They are an impressive option to make for family and friends, or they are perfect for meal prep. The bowl is super versatile, so feel free to swap out ingredients or add in extras.
You all know how much I love buffalo. If you’re craving more buffalo check out these air fryer buffalo chicken tenders, healthy buffalo dip or buffalo chicken thighs!
Reasons to Love This
- The recipe is a healthy meal! It has lots of veggies and is loaded with protein from the chicken breast.
- The bowls are versatile; you can add or subtract any ingredients and it still tastes good! You can modify the recipe to make it low carb, high protein, gluten free or dairy free.
- The buffalo chicken rice bowls are perfect for meal prep. The leftovers hold up great in the refrigerator and taste good even when reheated.
Ingredients Needed
- Rice: use white rice – my favorite is the instant 5-minute white rice.
- Chopped veggies- I love cherry tomatoes, carrots and celery. These add extra crunch and pair well with the buffalo flavor.
- Blue cheese- blue cheese crumbles are commonly used in buffalo chicken recipes. You can also use feta cheese. Feel free to leave it off if you don’t like blue cheese.
- Buffalo sauce- any brand will work – my favorites are Franks Red Hot sauce or Sweet Baby Ray’s Wing Sauce.
- Chicken breast- use a boneless, skinless chicken breast and chop into cubes about ½ inch by ½ inch. You can also sub with boneless and skinless chicken thighs or chicken tenderloins.
Step by Step Instructions
Marinade the chicken: prep the marinade by combining the buffalo sauce, garlic, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Add the chicken cubes and place in the fridge for 20 minutes.
Prep the veggies: chop all veggies into small pieces.
Cook the chicken: cook over medium heat until done. Top with remaining buffalo sauce.
Assemble the bowls: set out 4 bowls and divide all ingredients evenly amongst the bowls. Start with a bed of rice on the bottom. Top with the chicken breast, veggies, and cheese. Add some extra buffalo sauce or ranch if desired!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! This can be made with a rotisserie chicken that has been shredded. It also works great with any type of leftover cooked chicken – grilled chicken, baked chicken, shredded crock pot chicken.
his recipe does have a bit of a kick to it, thanks to the wing sauce! To decrease the spiciness, use less wing sauce or add ¼ cup of heavy cream to the sauce to help balance it out. I also find that adding extra ranch on top can help decrease the spice.
Yes! This works great with cauliflower rice, brown rice, long grain rice, or really any type of rice. I prefer white rice since it’s light and fluffy and mixes well with the buffalo sauce. The cauliflower rice would be perfect to make this a low carb meal.
Variations
Cooked chicken: use a pre-cooked chicken breast such as a shredded rotisserie chicken or crock pot chicken that has been shredded. Mix the ranch and buffalo sauce together, then mix with the shredded chicken.
Gluten Free: All ingredients for this recipe should be GF, but always double check.
Dairy Free: leave off the cheese. Double check the wing sauce is dairy free!
Low carb: make this low carb by subbing the white rice with cauliflower rice. Or eliminate the rice completely and serve over a bed of lettuce.
High protein: increase the protein content of this recipe by doubling the amount of chicken breast used. Add ¼ cup of plain, nonfat greek yogurt as a garnish and extra protein source.
Meal Prep Tips
Buffalo chicken rice bowls are the perfect meal prep recipe. The ingredients hold well and still taste great after reheating.
- When storing for meal prep, place the chicken and rice together in a container separate from all other cold ingredients (carrots, tomatoes, celery, and blue cheese). Reheat the chicken and rice first, then add your additional ingredients.
- Consider doubling or tripling the recipe if you plan to eat this for multiple meals or want to serve it to multiple people.
- Add some variety to this if using it as meal prep. For example, one day consider using a different type of veggies, such as cooked broccoli and mushrooms. Another day, you could swap out the blue cheese with feta cheese. Another variation is to replace the rice one day with tortilla chips! I love to switch things up so it doesn’t get boring!
More Healthy Recipes
Buffalo Chicken Rice Bowls
Ingredients
- 2.5 cups white rice cooked
- 1 lb chicken breast raw and cut into cubes
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup buffalo sauce divided
- 1 cup carrots diced
- 1 cup celery diced
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
- ½ cup blue cheese crumbles
- ⅓ cup green onion
- Optional: ranch, feta cheese, lettuce
Instructions
- Combine ¼ cup buffalo sauce, salt ,pepper and garlic in a large bowl. Mix well. Add the raw chicken cubes and marinate in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.
- Prepare all produce while the chicken marinates. Chop the carrots and celery into small pieces. Cut the tomatoes in half and chop the green onion into small pieces.
- Place a pan over medium heat. Add 1 tbsp. of olive oil. Add the marinated chicken cubes and cook until done (Chicken is done when it reaches 165F). Add the remaining ¼ cup buffalo sauce and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Assemble the bowls. (Ingredients will be divided evenly amongst 4 bowls). Place ¼ of the rice in the bottom of a bowl.
- Add the buffalo chicken, carrots, tomatoes and celery.
- Top with blue cheese and optional ranch or buffalo sauce. Enjoy!
Alyssa
This looks delicious! I can't wait to try it. Thanks for sharing!
Jazmin
This bowl is AMAZING. I never write reviews but holy cow this was good. Do yourself a favor and double the recipe.