Buffalo Chicken Rice Bowl

This Buffalo Chicken Rice Bowl is one of the easiest meals you can put together. It’s a great option for meal prep for the week and makes an easy lunch or dinner.

I am so excited to share this Buffalo Chicken Rice Bowl. You can make everything just for this meal, or it’s a great way to use up leftover shredded chicken or rice. It’s got the classic buffalo spice, and it’s paired with a cabbage slaw that is coated in a tangy, dill dressing that is very similar to ranch dressing.

Ingredients

Rice: You can use any rice you like. White or whole grain, go with whatever makes you happy or you have on hand.

Cabbage slaw mix: Any bag of cabbage slaw mix will do. If you want to change it up, you can opt for other types of slaw such as the kale or broccoli slaw mixes – those would taste good as well.

Greek yogurt: Greek yogurt makes an excellent base for a slaw dressing. Just make sure you get the plain and not flavored. It adds a lovely buttermilk like taste to the slaw dressing – making it like buttermilk ranch.

Mayo: Use any kind you like to mix with the Greek yogurt. When I don’t have homemade mayo on hand,  I’m team Duke’s Mayo all the way.

Apple cider vinegar: This adds an extra tang to the dressing.

Honey: Obviously, this adds the sweetness, but you can sub agave nectar if you prefer.

Seasonings: Garlic powder, dried dill, salt, and pepper are the key seasonings to the slaw dressing. They’re the basics for that ranch flavor.

Buffalo wing sauce: I personally like Frank’s Wing Sauce (not the original Frank’s Hot).

Melted butter: The wing sauce has some butter flavor to it, but I like to add a little extra melted butter to add to the sauce for the chicken.

Toppings: A little avocado and cilantro add extra creaminess and a kick of freshness to the rice bowl.

How to Make Buffalo Chicken Rice Bowls

This recipe is fairly straight forward. You make the rice and have the chicken already cooked and shredded. The biggest part is making the slaw. You’ll make the slaw dressing by mixing the Greek yogurt, mayo, vinegar, and seasonings together and toss the shredded cabbage with the dressing. Then you’ll toss the cooked chicken with the buffalo sauce and melted butter. The only part left is to layer the bowl with the rice, chicken, slaw, and toppings of avocado and cilantro.

Tips for Prepping Ahead and Adapting

I really like having an easy prepped or pre-made protein and carb source to have around to use in recipes like this throughout the week. I like to make this Instant Pot Shredded Chicken, or sometimes, I’ll buy the pre-shredded chicken from Costco or get a rotisserie chicken and shred it myself. The same goes with the carb source, I’ll make a batch of rice in my instant pot (like this one), but mostly, I’ll get instant rice or the 90-second microwave rice. All of these options work great for recipes like this.

To make this extra easy, I buy the pre-shredded coleslaw mix rather than shredding up cabbage myself. You can do that if you want, but that will add some time. That’s how life is though – sometimes, I have a lot of time to make things myself, and others I need some pre-made items to help me along. No shame in either, and you can still bang out a completely nutrient-dense meal with minimal effort. I love recipes like this for that exact reason. If you opt for mostly the pre-prepped/convenient items, then you’ll only have to mix up the sauces. If you want to it be extra easy, you can also opt not to make the slaw dressing and go with your favorite store-bought ranch. It’s all adaptable to your individual needs and desires.

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