Mediterranean Chicken and Chickpea Bowls are a healthy, gluten free, Mediterranean-inspired version of a Chipotle Burrito Bowl!
Chipotle Burrito Bowls are one of my favorite “out and about treats”, but when I’m home and craving something similar with a Mediterranean spin — healthy and vibrant Mediterranean Chicken and Chickpea Bowls are totally checking the box!
Think Greek Salad, meets Greek Chicken, meets yellow rice (because YUM) to create a healthy, beautiful, and totally filling bowl meal that’s easy to make right at home.
Mediterranean Chicken Bowls
Fluffy yellow rice is topped with roasted chicken and chickpeas that have been marinated in a Greek-inspired vinaigrette, plus the freshest components of a classic Greek Salad: cucumber, red onion, and tomato.
Lastly, an intensely garlicky sauce that I borrowed from my Chicken Shawarma Fries with Mediterranean Salsa is drizzled on top.
Together these ingredients create a dazzling bowl of flavor, color, and deliciousness. What are we waiting for, let’s get cooking!
How to Make This Recipe
Start by mixing up the lemon dressing that’s used as both the chicken and chickpea marinade.
In small bowl or mason jar, whisk or shake up fresh lemon juice, honey, salt, pepper, dried oregano, a little bit of Dijon mustard, a couple minced garlic cloves, and extra virgin olive oil.
Reserve 1/4 cup of the marinade then add to a bowl with a 15oz can chickpeas (also called garbanzo beans) that has been drained and rinsed, then lightly season with more salt and pepper.
Pour the rest of the marinade into a large Ziplock bag with 1lb chicken breasts, more salt and pepper, then place both the chickpeas and chicken into the fridge to marinate while you prep the rest of the dish.
Next blend up the garlic sauce that gets drizzled on top of the bowls – I am so obsessed with this sauce!
It’s just mayonnaise, fresh lemon juice, garlic cloves, and salt blended until smooth. You can make this sauce up to a couple days ahead of time, FYI.
Next up is the yellow rice which gets it’s lovely hue from turmeric. Turmeric has been used medicinally for thousands of years and not only has anti-inflammatory benefits, but can also help lower bad levels of cholesterol (among many other benefits.)
It’s difficult to describe turmeric’s flavor – warm is the first word that comes to mind – though it gives this rice an almost buttery taste. I love it!
To make the yellow rice, add chopped shallots or onion to extra virgin olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat then season with salt and saute until the shallots are tender, 2 minutes.
Add minced garlic then saute for 30 seconds, and then add turmeric and saute for another 30 seconds.
Lastly, add long grain white rice like basmati or jasmine then stir to coat and toast until the rice is fragrant, about a minute.
Pour in chicken broth then turn the heat up to bring to a boil, place a lid on top, and turn the heat down to low so the broth is barely at a simmer. Cook for 10 minutes then remove the pan from the heat and let sit for 5 minutes before removing the lid and fluffing the rice.
Finally, roast the marinated chicken breasts. Remove the chicken from the marinade then place onto a foil-lined, nonstick-sprayed baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees, or until cooked through, then chop once the chicken is cool enough to handle. This is another step you could do a day ahead of time.
You could absolutely saute or grill the chicken instead, but roasting it produces the most tender and juicy chicken, plus it’s easy and hands-off. Pop it in the oven, set a timer, and forget about it!
Last stop – assemble! Scoop the yellow rice into bowls then top with the marinated chickpeas and chopped chicken, plus sliced cherry tomatoes, chopped fresh cucumbers, thinly sliced red onions, and lots of creamy garlic sauce.
Sprinkle with chopped parsley, if you please, then devour!
I hope you love these healthy and vibrant Mediterranean Chicken and Chickpea Bowls with Yellow Rice as much as I do!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts, ~1lb
- 15 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in half
- 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded then chopped
- 1 small red onion, minced or thinly sliced
- chopped fresh parsley, optional
For the Chicken and Chickpea Marinade:
- 1/4 cup lemon juice, ~2 lemons
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed or very finely minced
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
For the Garlic Sauce:
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise, I like Hellman’s EVOO mayo
- 1 – 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 2 large cloves garlic, smashed
- salt
For the Turmeric Rice:
- 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 Tablespoons minced shallot or onion
- salt
- 1 clove garlic, pressed or minced
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 cup long grain white rice, like basmati or jasmine
- 1-1/2 cups chicken broth
Directions
For the Chicken and Chickpea Marinade:
- Whisk marinade ingredients together in a small bowl then reserve 1/4 cup marinade and pour the rest into a large Ziplock bag. Add chicken to the Ziplock bag, season with more salt and pepper, then place in the refrigerator to marinate while preparing the rest of the dish. Combine reserved 1/4 cup marinade with chickpeas in a bowl then season with salt and pepper and place in the refrigerator to marinate alongside the chicken.
For the Garlic Sauce:
- Combine ingredients in a blender or food processor then blend or process until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to use — can be made several days ahead of time.
For the Turmeric Rice:
- Heat oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots or onions, season with salt, then saute until softened, 2 minutes. Add garlic then saute for 30 seconds, and then add turmeric and saute for 30 seconds. Add rice then saute until fragrant, 1 minute, and then add chicken broth and turn heat up to bring to a boil. Place a lid on top then turn heat down to low and simmer for 10-12 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat then let sit for 5 minutes before removing the lid and fluffing the rice. Set aside to cool slightly.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees then line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil and spray with nonstick spray. Remove chicken from marinade then place on the baking sheet and roast for 15-20 minutes or until cooked all the way through. Chop once cool enough to handle.
- Scoop rice into bowls then top with chopped chicken, marinated chickpeas, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, and red onion, then drizzle with garlic sauce and sprinkle with chopped parsley, if using, and serve.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are estimates only. Please read our full nutrition information disclaimer.
This recipe is a keeper! Very good. I don’t use salt. The garbanzos were unsalted as is the stock. The chicken and mayo and grey poupon have added salt. Usually, low sodium foods lack depth. This recipe is not like that. I rough chopped fresh dill and added it to the mayo based sauce. Simple prep. Great result. Thank you!
I’m so glad this was a hit, Bob! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
Hi. I made this tonight. Is it supposed to be a hot or cold dish? The rice and chicken were hot then I put cold chickpeas cucumbers tomatoes and the garlic sauce that was in the fridge. When I mixed it together it was not as warm as I’d like. But it was SO delicious!
Hey Michele! You can assemble/eat this meal at whatever temperature you like. Similar to Chipotle — there’s a mix of hot, base ingredients, and cold toppings.
These Mediterranean bowls are fire. My fiancé and I live in California and have access to a bunch of great Mediterranean food, but this has become one of our favorite dishes to cook at home. We often add chopped lettuces, kalmata olives, a dollop of hummus, or even a little bit of purple saurkraut and make it into a big Mediterranean salad kind of thing (but the recipe is good as is). Thanks, Kristen!
I’m thrilled to hear this, Giancarlo! Love the addition of hummus and kalamata olives – YUM! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
This was actually very delicious. Even the people in my house who poopoo everything liked it. I added some summer squash and red onion to the chicken and chickpeas to roast and just topped with the cucumber and tomato. I didn’t even make the sauce because the marinade was so lovely.
That sounds so delicious, Rachel!! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
I have a question! Would it be possible to make the chicken ahead and freeze it? Would this effect the taste? I realize this would mean making the marinade twice as the chickpeas share the same dressing. I’ll be cooking for a huge group and am trying to do ahead whatever I can.
Random question, but when you rinse the chickpeas, do you try to work off the “shells/husks”?
I don’t!
This recipe is fantastic! I sub 1/2 greek yogurt for the mayo amount and you can’t tell at all.
This is one of our family’s favorite meals and one of your favorites to make for guests. It is easily customizable so people can put on what they like. We love the turmeric rice so much that we often make it as a side dish for other meals.
This is the BOMB!!! I love you can basically do all the prep the day before leaving only the rice and chicken to cook. I’ve made for my daughters maids made luncheon, women’s retreat, 80th birthday, and of course my family L-O-V-E-S!!! Everyone can choose…or not, what they like to top with. Recommend for a “wine down” time before dinner is your marinaded olives with garlic and Fresh herbs. YOU Are truly my go to girl? thank you thank you.
You are too kind, Shawn!! So glad to hear you are enjoying the recipes – made my day!
Do you have nutritional information for recipes? Would love to have them as wanting to know fat content especially. Thanks!
How long do you marinate the chicken and chickpeas?