Name: Easy Pesto Chicken Rice Bowl Meal Prep
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 50 min
Ingredients: 20 oz. chicken breast, raw (cut into 1 inch pieces); 1 1/4 cup rice, uncooked; 8 oz. pesto; 12 oz. cherry tomatoes

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Easy Pesto Chicken Rice Bowl is the perfect high protein meal prep with only four ingredients and made directly in the meal prep containers.

Why You’ll Love Easy Pesto Chicken Rice Bowl Meal Prep

Meals should be delicious, as well as quick and easy. This Easy Pesto Chicken Rice Bowl fits all the criteria. You only need four ingredients to make a meal with big flavor. The pesto is the star. If you have extra time, then you can always make pesto from scratch.

Easy Pesto Chicken Rice Bowls are baked directly in the individual meal prep containers to save time on clean up and trying to evenly divide up the recipe after baking. It is the most efficient way to meal prep!

I always prioritize eating meals with around 30 g protein to ensure I meet my daily protein goal. Each pesto chicken rice bowl provides 31 g protein. Fiber is my next focus. This meal provides 2 grams of fiber so I like to eat it with a salad to get in more vegetables or have a fruit for more fiber.

Easily Adjust Number of Servings

Since the recipe is prepared directly in the meal prep containers, you can make more or less servings depending on how many you want. The amount of each ingredient needed per bowl is in the directions, so you can choose to only make 3 meals or go for 10 if you are cooking for multiple people.

Adjust the amount of rice per your preference. Water will be double the amount of rice.

What is Pesto?

Pesto originated in Genoa, Italy. Traditional pesto has basil, pine nuts, garlic, olive oil, and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Ingredients are ground together to form pesta, which comes from the word pestare, meaning “to pound or crush with a mortar and pestle.”

Easy Pesto Chicken Rice Bowl Ingredients

chicken breast, pesto, cherry tomatoes, rice

Rice: the carb and energy source. White rice works best as the brown rice tends to need a longer time in the oven to fully cook and can result in dry chicken.

Chicken: the protein source and provides vitamin B12 and zinc.

Pesto: the delightful flavor and provides fats. Make from scratch or use store-bought to make it easy. I used Trader Joe’s Vegan Kale, Cashew, & Basil Pesto.

Cherry tomatoes: adds color and flavor. High in vitamin C and lycopene, an antioxidant that may help heart and bone health.

How to Make Easy Pesto Chicken Rice Bowl

Preheat oven to 350°F. Place oven safe meal containers on a large baking sheet.

Then, add ¼ cup rice, 4 oz chicken, and 3 tbsp pesto sauce to each bowl.

pesto chicken rice bowls: rice, chicken, and pesto in bowl prior to cooking

Next, add ½ cup of water to each bowl and stir.

Then, slice cherry tomatoes in half. Add 2.5 ounces (about ½ cup) of tomatoes to each bowl.

pesto chicken rice bowls with tomatoes prior to cooking

Bake for 40-50 minutes or until rice has absorbed the water. It should not be soupy as rice should absorb most of the liquid.

Tips

Be sure to rinse your rice before cooking to yield fluffy rice.

If it is watery, bake longer to fully cook rice. White rice works best for these bowls because brown rice takes longer and can result in dry chicken.

Easily adjust number of servings. The amount of each ingredient needed per bowl is in the directions. Use that to just make 3 bowls or 10!

Want more or less rice? Use the amount of rice you want and add double the amount in water.

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