This BBQ Chicken and Rice Bowl has everything you want for a delicious and healthy meal. Served over rice or farro with crispy apples and a BBQ ranch dressing, it makes for an awesome lunch or dinner.
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I’m always on the search for a lunch that will fill me up but not put me to sleep at my desk in the afternoon. Greensboro recently had a Core Life Eatery open up and the first thing I tried was their BBQ Chicken bowl. I was not expecting to like this restaurant but was pleasantly surprised at how fresh all of their ingredients are. You can customize everything.
Their BBQ chicken bowl comes with thin slices of jicama. I enjoyed the flavors but thought I could tailor it to my preferences.
While I loved the crunch the jicama brought to the dish, it’s not something I keep on hand, and I’m not going to buy one just for the amount that I would want for this dish. Instead I decided to use apples, I always have them on hand. I chose a Piñata apple which is both sweet and tart. Stemilt Piñata apples are one of my favorites just to eat by themselves.
Even though they are grown in Washington, we still see them in our groceries around here. I always snatch them up when I can find them. I think the Piñata is the perfect blend between a fuji and a honeycrisp, sweet enough to eat all by itself but also great when added to other food whether you’re going sweet or savory. If you haven’t tried one, give them a try.
For my rice bowl, I decided to use farro instead of rice. I enjoy the texture and flavor faro adds over regular rice. I had some quinoa so I added a bit to the faro to give it some texture. You can use rotisserie chicken for these bowls, but if you’re going to cook farro, you might as well just bake your own chicken breasts. Sometimes I forget how easy it is to bake chicken breasts.
How do you cook chicken breasts
Rub chicken breasts with skin and bone with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake for 30 minutes. They will be done by the time the faro has cooked and it’s so much better than rotisserie chicken.
How you you make a BBQ chicken and rice bowl
Step 1: Bake the chicken breasts for about 30 minutes.
Step 2: While the chicken is cooking, cook the farro using chicken broth instead of water.
Step 3: Chop the cooled chicken and mix with half of the barbecue sauce. Mix the remaining barbecue sauce with ranch dressing.
Step 4: Add farro to the bottom of the bowl and top with corn chicken, apple sticks, green onions and avocado. Drizzle with dressing.
I next coated the chicken with my favorite BBQ sauce which is Rufus Teague Honey BBQ and then mixed a little with some ranch dressing to drizzle over the top. Add to the bowl whatever you like. My favorite additions are corn and avocado, but black beans would be good also. Finish with the apple sticks. They add not only a nice crunch but they’re a great compliment to all the other flavors going on in this bowl.
This is one of my favorite weeknight dinner recipes. All I need is chicken and farro and I just scrounge though the refrigerator for the toppings. It’s great if you have a household of picky eaters, everyone can make their own.
If you find yourself cooking with chicken a lot and want to know for sure that your chicken is cooked thoroughly, head to my informational page on ways to make sure your chicken is cooked all the way but still remains juicy and delicious.
More recipes that use chicken breasts
- Chicken mango quesadillas
- Chicken enchiladas
- Chicken chili
- Tex-Mex chicken and rice
- Queso chicken
- Lemon chicken
- Sun dried tomato chicken
- Grilled taco chicken
- Pesto chicken
- Garlic chicken
More fabulous APPLE recipes
- Flaky apple hand pies
- Apple cobbler
- Apple galette
- Apples with pork tenderloin
- Apple pie bars
- Apple dumplings
- Cooked apples
- Apple salad
If you loved this recipe, give it a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating! Also, snap a picture of your finished dish and share it with me on Instagram using the hashtag #butterandbaggage and tagging me @butterandbaggage.
BBQ Chicken and Rice Bowl
Ingredients
- 2 Chicken breasts bone in, with skin on
- olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 1 cup Farro cooked in chicken broth
- 2 cups Chicken broth
- 1 cup BBQ sauce divided
- 1 ½ cups fresh corn
- 2-3 tablespoon ranch dressing
- ½ cup white cheddar cheese grated
- 1 Apples Sliced thin and cut into thin strips
- 2 scallions chopped
- 1 Avocado sliced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º. Line rimmed baking sheet with foil.
- Rub olive oil over chicken breasts and generously salt and pepper both sides. Place on baking sheet and bake for 35-40 minutes.
- Cook farro per package instructions using chicken broth instead of water.
- When chicken has cooked and cooled enough to handle, remove skin and bones and chop into 1 inch cubes. Pour ½ cup BBQ sauce over chicken.
- Combine ½ cup BBQ sauce and 2-3 tablespoons ranch dressing.
- When ready to assemble, heat corn in microwave and chicken if it has cooled. Place farro in a bowl and top with chicken, corn, cheese and apple sticks. Top with avocado slices and scallions and drizzle with BBQ ranch mixture.
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