A little bit ago, we shared how we make buffalo wing sauce. Just three ingredients and it can sit in your fridge for weeks — here’s the buffalo sauce if you want to take a quick look. Since sharing it, we’ve kept a constant supply of buffalo wing sauce in the fridge, which is why this easy (and pretty healthy) buffalo chicken rice bowl was born.
How to Make Buffalo Chicken Rice Bowls
The base of the bowl is brown rice. I wasn’t the biggest fan of brown rice, until I stumbled onto Saveur’s Perfect Brown Rice Recipe. It’s a game changer. Instead of heavy, mushy rice, you can make light and fluffy brown rice with ease. If you aren’t into brown rice, white rice, this easy cilantro lime rice, or others grains are excellent substitutes. Next to the rice, we pile lots of fresh salad greens and add a handful of lightly steamed broccoli. Then we drizzle a make-shift ranch dressing on top. The star is perfectly cooked chicken breast topped with our homemade buffalo wing sauce. It’s tasty, pretty to look at and won’t kill your diet. The rice bowl comes together quickly (especially if you already have cooked rice in the fridge). To cook the chicken, we use our go-to method of searing in a pan, flipping then covering with a lid and turning down the heat. After 10 to 15 minutes on low, the chicken is cooked through, but not dry. We use this method for our Lemony Chicken Breasts with Cucumber Feta Salad — another quick and easy dinner idea! An added bonus to this method: you can steam veggies in the same pan. About 5 minutes before the chicken is done, lift the lid and throw in broccoli or other veggies. Place the lid back on and let them steam alongside the chicken. Win win! Salt and fresh ground black pepper 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 cups broccoli florets 2 tablespoons buffalo wing sauce, see our homemade buffalo sauce recipe 1 cup warm cooked brown rice, recipe below 3 cups salad greens 2 lemon wedges 2 tablespoons ranch dressing, see our quick recipe below 2 tablespoons crumbled blue cheese Water Pinch of salt Juice from 1 lemon wedge 1/4 teaspoon dried dill Pinch onion powder Pinch salt and fresh ground black pepper 2When there is about 5 minutes left before the chicken is done, lift the lid and throw in the broccoli florets. Cover with the lid then cook until the broccoli is bright green and tender. (If after 5 minutes the broccoli is done, but the chicken still needs time, transfer the broccoli to a plate then continue to cook the chicken until done). 2Divide the rice between two bowls. Add the salad greens to one half of the bowl. Squeeze a lemon wedge over the salad in each bowl, and then drizzle 1 teaspoon of olive oil on top. Scatter the steamed broccoli over the greens. 3Slice the chicken then place next to the salad greens and broccoli. Spoon the warmed buffalo wing sauce over the chicken. Drizzle ranch over the salad and broccoli then crumble blue cheese on top. 2In a large pot with tight-fitting lid, bring 10 cups of water to a boil. Add the rice, stir then bring back to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer then cook, uncovered, for 30 minutes. 3Drain the rice using a strainer. Shake it a couple of times to remove excess moisture then place the rice back into the saucepan. Cover with the lid and set aside, off of the heat, for 10 minutes. Fluff the rice with a fork and season with a pinch of salt.
