Cilantro Lime Chicken Bowls

You guys know I love meals in a bowl, especially one that can work as meal prep to reheat during the week. These cilantro lime chicken bowls are my new favorite. With turmeric rice, refried black beans, shredded cabbage, juicy chicken, and a creamy cilantro ranch to top it all off, you cannot go wrong. If you just want to make the chicken, it’s delicious in tacos or really with anything! Meals like this are great because everyone can pick how much they want of each component and they are great to reheat throughout the week as a meal prep option. As soon as my kids go down for naps, I’m usually immediately conquering a task like laundry, recipe testing, cleaning the house, or something else. Frequently it’s 2pm before I have time to eat and a meal like this guarantees that I’m going to have something healthy and nourishing with the protein to keep me full until dinner. Meals in a bowl that have all the components I’m looking for in a healthy, protein-packed option are perfect and make sure there’s no way I’m skipping lunch and raiding our snack pantry later in the afternoon.

Ingredients for Cilantro Lime Chicken Bowls

• Chicken: We are using one of my favorites, boneless skinless chicken thighs. Chicken thighs have more fat than chicken breasts, keeping them moist and delicious. They’re forgiving to cook and soak up the marinade so well.
• Olive oil: We are using this both in the marinade and for cooking the chicken.
• Lime: Lime juice is in so many components here; it’s in the marinade, the cilantro lime ranch, and for an extra squeeze of lime at the end if you want.
• Cilantro: Fresh cilantro is for the marinade, cilantro lime ranch, and for some fresh cilantro as a topping if you want even more of a flavor punch.
• Seasonings: salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, turmeric, and chili powder. There are a lot of different seasonings coming into the play, mostly in the chicken marinade to give you such a flavorful protein. The turmeric is what gives your rice the vibrant color and it’s also the perfect pair with the cilantro lime chicken.
• Rice: I’ve been loving basmati rice lately for its flavor and how quickly it cooks. I love the texture of it being a long and thinner grain of rice. It’s my favorite lately!
• Refried black beans: I’m just using a can of refried beans, use your favorite brand or if you’re feeling adventurous you can make your own!
• Fresh cabbage: I love using some finely shredded cabbage here for crunch and to add some veggies.
• Yogurt: For more protein, we are using plain Greek yogurt and making a simple cilantro lime ranch using a food processor. If you want extra spice, feel free to add in a fresh jalapeno with the seeds removed.
• Mayo: Mayo comes together with the Greek yogurt for a creamy, dreamy sauce to top these bowls with!

How to Make Cilantro Lime Chicken Bowls

• First, prep your chicken. I like to do this in the morning that I’m going to be cooking this for dinner. Chop your chicken into bite-sized pieces then mix together your marinade ingredients: lime juice, fresh cilantro, olive oil, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, and smoked paprika. Place the chicken in a large zip-top bag and pour the marinade over it. Seal the bag and mix it around to make sure it’s ready to cook.
• When ready to cook, you can have your rice cooking at the same time as the chicken. Place the rice, turmeric, salt, and a little olive oil into a pot with water and cook until the water is almost gone. Then add the lid and turn off the heat.
• For the chicken, heat some olive oil in a large skillet. Work in batches, being careful not to crowd the chicken. If you put too many pieces of chicken in the pan at once, it will steam instead of giving you those crispy browned edges that you want! You can also cook your chicken in the air fryer if you prefer.
• Heat up your black beans in whatever way is easiest for you!
• To make the cilantro sauce, add the fresh cilantro, lime juice, yogurt, mayo, salt, onion powder, and garlic powder to a food processor. Blend until very smooth. You can also add fresh jalapeno to the food processor if you want (seeds removed).
• Assemble your bowls by adding the black beans, chicken, rice, and shredded cabbage to the bowl. Drizzle with the cilantro lime ranch and serve with some extra fresh cilantro and lime wedges.

Whether you make these for dinner or some mela prep lunches, these cilantro lime chicken bowls are just too good. I hid the leftovers from Kevin so I could eat them myself! They truly are that good.