Korean Chicken Rice Bowls are a fresh and healthy rice bowl recipe topped with Korean-inspired chicken, avocado, cucumbers, shredded carrots, pickled red onions, and a spicy mayonnaise on top!
I am a big fan of rice bowls for family dinners. Everyone can choose all of the components that they like, and make their own customizable bowls. Oh, and I love the sauces. Rice bowls must. have. sauce! The sauce on these Korean Chicken Rice Bowls is incredible, so these are definitely one of my new favorites!
The bowl starts with a bed of coconut rice. Sure, you could use regular rice but WHY WOULD YOU when you could have coconut rice?! It’s so fluffy and adds a hint of sweetness from the coconut milk. Then, there’s chicken breast or tenders (I highly recommend tenders!), that are marinated in a Korean-inspired combination of soy sauce, brown sugar, honey, garlic, ginger, and sesame oil. The chicken is cooked on the grill or a stovetop and then served on top of the rice along with shredded carrots, cucumbers, pickled red onions, avocado, and that delicious Sriracha sauce.
What You’ll Need
Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts or Tenders – I love using tenders for this recipe, as they cook more evenly and are super tender!
Sesame Oil
Soy Sauce
Garlic
Ginger
Honey
Brown Sugar
Red Onion
Apple Cider Vinegar
Sugar
Avocado
Carrots
Cucumbers
Rice
Coconut Milk
Mayonnaise
Sriracha or Gochugang
Garlic Powder
Milk
How to Make Korean Chicken Rice Bowls
This recipe has quite a few components, so there are a number of things going on in this dish. To start, make the marinade for the chicken and marinate it. You can marinate it for as little as 30 minutes, or up to overnight. Simple combine soy sauce, brown sugar, honey, garlic, ginger, and sesame oil and then whisk together.
Next, make the quick pickled onions. Bring apple cider vinegar, water, and sugar to a boil and then pour over the red onions in a jar. They’ll be ready to go in about 30 minutes!
Then make the coconut rice by combining the rice, coconut milk, water, and salt, and bringing to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
While the rice is cooking, you can prep the carrots, cucumbers, and avocado, make the Sriracha mayonnaise, and cook the chicken.
The chicken can be grilled or cooked on a stovetop – whatever you prefer! For both methods, cook for 4-5 minutes on each side, or until a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees F. They will take a little less time if you are cooking the chicken tenders, and a little bit longer if your chicken breasts are very thick. I recommend pounding them to even thickness so they cook faster!
Now it’s time to assemble it all up! Simple divide the rice between the bowls and then top with chicken, shredded carrots, sliced cucumbers, avocado, pickled onions, and a drizzle of the mayo!
Korean Chicken Rice Bowls for Meal Prep
This is a great recipe to prep in advance for easy lunches throughout the week! There are quite a few uncooked/raw items in it – shredded carrots, avocado, and cucumbers, so those need to be kept in a separate Tupperware, along with the sauce. This way, you can heat up the chicken and the rice separately and then add the raw ingredients afterwards.
1.5lbsboneless skinless chicken breasts or tenders
1/4cupsoy sauce
2tbspbrown sugar
2tbsphoney
2tbspsesame oil
1tbspfresh minced ginger
3cloves garlic, minced
Pickled Red Onions
1red onionsliced
3/4cupapple cider vinegar
1cupwater
2tbspsugar
1tspsalt
Veggies
2carrotsshredded
1English cucumbercut into bite-sized pieces
1avocadodiced
chopped cilantrofor topping
Coconut Rice
2cupsjasmine rice
14ouncescoconut milk
1 1/2cupwater
1/2tspsalt
Spicy Mayo
1/3 cupmayonnaise
1-2tbspSriracha or Gochujang
1/2tspgarlic powder
1-2tbspmilk
Instructions
Korean Chicken
In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, brown sugar, honey, sesame oil, ginger, and garlic.
Pound out the chicken so that they are even thickness throughout about 1/2" thick.
Put the chicken in a shallow baking dish or bowl and then add the marinade. Let marinate for at least 30 minutes or up to 8 hours.
To cook the chicken, use either a grill or saute it on the stovetop.
For a grill, heat a grill to medium-high heat. Add the marinated chicken and cook for 4-5 minutes on each side. Use a meat thermometer to ensure they are cooked through to 165 degrees F.
For stovetop, heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add a tablespoon or two of olive oil and cook the chicken for 4-5 minutes on each side, until they are 165 degrees F in the middle.
Pickled Red Onions
Place the red onion in a mason jar or glass tuppeware.
In a saucepan, add the vinegar, water, sugar, and salt.
Bring to a simmer and whisk until the sugar is dissolved.
Pour mixture over the onions. Refrigerate the onions. They'll be ready in 30 minutes, but you can make these a day or two in advance!
Coconut Rice
Rinse the rice in a strainer under water.
In a medium saucepan, add the rice, coconut milk, water, and salt and bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until the liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and keep covered, letting it rest for 15 minutes.
Spicy Mayo
Add the mayo, hot sauce, garlic powder, and milk to a small bowl and whisk to combine.
Assembly
In large serving bowls, add desired amount of rice, chicken, carrots, cucumbers, onion, and avocado, and then drizzle with the sauce. Top with chopped cilantro.