Sesame-Ginger Chicken Bowls

Sesame-Ginger Chicken Bowls deliver big on flavor yet couldn’t be easier to prepare. These nourishing bowls feature juicy, tender grilled chicken thighs, rice, a cucumber-mango salad, and a sesame ginger dressing that is utterly divine. This is an exceptional meal that is perfect for meal prep or busy weeknights.

A Heavenly Meal In A Bowl

Don’t you love restaurant-worthy meals you can easily whip up at home on a weeknight? With Labor Day Weekend behind us, most of us are back to the grind and looking for quick and easy meals that are healthy, delicious and versatile. This sesame ginger chicken rice bowl will give you just that and wow, is it packed with goodness.

You start by making a sesame-ginger dressing/sauce that takes less than 5 minutes to prepare. If you are able to resist drinking it with a straw, you will use some of it to marinate the chicken, and the rest for drizzling the finished dish.

Fair warning, friends: this savory dressing is very addictive. It has a fiery kick from the ginger, nutty flavors from the tahini and sesame oil, sweetness from the sugar, salty umaminess from the soy sauce, and loads of intoxicating aromas from the garlic and green onions.

You have many options for building your bowl but I keep it pretty simple. The slices of juicy grilled chicken get piled on a bed of fluffy rice with a side of chopped cucumbers, mango and red peppers. Everything gets drizzled with more of that delicious sauce and let me tell you—it’s heaven in a bowl! I hope you enjoy this meal as much as we do.

Ingredient Notes

This rice bowl recipe is perfect for meal prep, making it easy to enjoy throughout the week. It yields a large batch that stays fresh and tasty, ensuring you have a delicious, stress-free lunch or dinner ready whenever you need it. Here’s what you’ll need to make it:

• Chicken: For this recipe, I like to use chicken thighs. They soak up the marinade really well and won’t dry out on the grill. You can use chicken breast if you prefer, but make sure to pound the meat to about a 1/4-inch thickness. This post has a lot of tips for grilling chicken breasts.
• Aromatics: To hit all the right savory notes in the marinade/dressing, we use plenty of ginger, garlic and green onions.
• Brown sugar: The sugar adds just a touch of sweetness and also helps with giving the chicken a lot of color and flavor when grilled. You can use white sugar, coconut sugar, or honey, if you wish.
• Toasted sesame oil: A little goes a long way in adding so much depth of flavor to the sauce.
• Rice vinegar: A splash of vinegar adds a bit of tanginess to the sauce. Lime juice, or any other light colored vinegar, will also work.
• Low-sodium soy sauce: For salty umaminess and depth of flavor. You can use coconut aminos if avoiding soy or gluten, just check the sodium levels and reduce accordingly.
• Tahini: For some nutty flavor and to make the dressing a little creamy, we add some tahini.
• Rice: You have a lot of options here. I love it with coconut rice or just plain white rice but brown rice, quinoa, wild rice, farro or barley will all work. To serve your meal quickly, make sure to have the rice made before your chicken is done grilling.
• Mango, cucumber, and red peppers: I really enjoy this ginger-sesame chicken with a pile of chopped cucumbers, mango and red peppers, especially when it is still warm outside. But edamame, avocado, red onions, blanched snow peas or green beans would also be great.
• Optional to garnish: Toasted sesame seeds.

How To Make Sesame-Ginger Chicken Bowls

The delicious sesame-ginger sauce is used here as a marinade and a dressing. It may seem like we make a large amount but trust me you will use it all in one sitting. If you miraculously have any left, it keeps for up to 1 week, tightly covered, in the refrigerator.

I prefer to grill the chicken for this recipe because it makes clean-up a breeze. If you don’t have a grill, or you prefer to not use the grill, you can cook the chicken in the oven (instructions included).

Here is a summary of the recipe with some visual instructions. Remember that full instructions with exact ingredients will be in the printable recipe card below!

Make the coconut rice (or plain rice). Start by making the rice so it can cook while you make the marinade/sauce. Tip: If you are marinating the chicken for more than 15 minutes, hold off on making the rice until you’re ready to grill it.

Blend up the marinade/sauce. Add all the marinade/sauce ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth.

Marinate the chicken. Place chicken in a bowl or Ziplock bag. Add a little less than 1/2 of the marinade and toss chicken really well to coat. Marinate at room temperature for 20 minutes or refrigerate for up to 24 hours.

Preheat grill to 450ºF. While the grill is heating prepare the salad.

Make cucumber-mango salad. Add the chopped cucumber, mango, and red pepper to a bowl. Drizzle with 1/4 cup of the sesame-ginger dressing, a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper. Toss to coat.

Grill the chicken. When the grill is hot, brush the grill grates until they’re very clean. Let the grill come up to temperature again, then lightly oil the grates. Place chicken thighs on the grill grates and cook the chicken for about 7 minutes per side (with the lid closed), or until temperature reaches 165°F internally. Transfer to a cutting board to cool slightly, then cut into ½-inch-thick slices. 

To cook chicken in the oven. Preheat oven to 450ºF. Place chicken thighs on a baking sheet (spread out so they aren’t touching each other). Cook the chicken for 20 to 25 minutes, or until temperature reaches 165°F internally. TIP: Turn on the broiler for the last few minutes to give the chicken a bit of char and extra color.

Assemble bowls. Portion the rice into bowls. Top with slices of chicken and a few spoonfuls of salad. Drizzle with some of the remaining sauce over top and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds, if using.

Can I Cook The Chicken On The Stovetop?

You absolutely can cook the chicken on the stovetop but I must warn you it will be messy. Brushing off all the marinade will definitely help so be sure to do that. Otherwise, you will get a lot of splatter.

Here’s how to cook the sesame ginger chicken on the stovetop:

In a large skillet, heat a tablespoon of neutral, or olive oil, over medium-high heat. Add the chicken in a single layer (do this in batches if necessary) and cook, undisturbed, for 4 to 6 minutes. Flip and cook another 4 to 6 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165°F on an instant-read thermometer. Proceed with recipe.

Other Ways To Serve Sesame Ginger Chicken

If you’ve been reading (and hopefully making) my recipes for a while, you’ll know that I like to serve just about everything “over rice” and this ginger sesame chicken is no exception. The rice soaks up the ginger sauce and it’s just so good. But if you need some alternate ideas, here are some options:

• In a Pita. Stuff the sliced chicken into a warm pita along with the veggies. Add a few dollops of Greek yogurt if you need it to be more saucy.
• With roasted sweet potatoes. Instead of serving the chicken with rice, dice a couple of large sweet potatoes and roast for 40 minutes. Delicious drizzled with the sesame-ginger sauce!
• With stir-fry veggies and/or noodles. A veggies stir-fry with or without noodles would be delicious with this sesame ginger chicken.

Storage Tips

Leftover salad will get quite soggy but it’s not bad if tossed with rice the next day. The leftover chicken and rice should be stored separately to make reheating easier.

• To store and reheat the chicken: Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Enjoy leftovers chilled, or reheat gently in a skillet or microwave until warmed through.
• To store and reheat rice: Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days. To reheat the rice, add 1teaspoon of oil to a small skillet set over medium heat. Add the rice and heat, covered, until soft and warmed through. Make sure to stir it occasionally so it doesn’t stick. Alternatively, you can reheat the rice in the microwave. Wet a piece of parchment paper, then crumble up with your hands and squeeze out all the water. Cover the rice and reheat in microwave using gentle heat, until warmed through.
• To store sesame-ginger dressing: Make-ahead dressing, or leftover dressing will keep well for up to 1 week, tightly covered, in the refrigerator.

More Rice Bowl Recipes To Try