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 looks so freaking delicious. Lively and bright and yummy! I’ve been trying to cut back on carbs a bit so I might give cauliflower rice a whirl, however the yellowy goodness of the rice here might just have to happen too. Perhaps a mix of both!
Made this for dinner for my hubby and I tonight. I told him “It’s a recipe from my favorite lady, so it’ll be good.” Once it was served I asked him how it was and his reply..”So good! Don’t change a thing.” I’d say it was a huge hit in this house! I did change one thing and add kalmata olives.. Mostly because I had them in the fridge, but it was still delicious!
From one DSM girl to another, thank you!
Awww, that is so great to hear! Thank you so much for the feedback, Jordan, I really appreciate it! :)
I just made this tonite and there is no way the rice cooks in 10 minutes…
I followed the recipe, simmered for 10 minutes, removed from heat and let sit with lid on for 5 minutes – rice is still hard in the center, with lots of liquid
I have put it back on for a while to cook of the liquid and hopefully soften the rice…
Other than that, this looks really good and I can’t wait to eat – come on rice!
Did you know that Chipotle actually published their guac recipe? https://chipotle.com/guac-recipe It’s delish- and actually no garlic!
Holy cow, how in the world is that possible?! I’ll make it then report back if it really tastes the same as my local Chipotle. ;)
I’ve never been a huge chicken fan, but I think that marinade/spice rub could convert me! I also LOVE the idea of turmeric rice…will definitely be trying that soon!
This all sounds so good that I swore a little while reading.
Can you do some kind of tutorial or lesson on Food Photography? I read a lot of blogs, and your pictures are among the BEST I’ve seen. Any advice you have would be so helpful. — also this recipe looks MOUTH-WATERING delicious.
You are too kind, Tanya! I think my biggest piece of advice is to shoot in natural sunlight but of direct sunlight (so no sun shining directly onto the food, rather make sure it’s filtered and indirect.) I also recently started bumping up my ISO which seems to make things just a little more brighter and clearer. I look up to SO many other bloggers who do photography way better than I could ever dream of doing, but those two tips are ones I swear by!
yummmmm!! Love chickpeas in a recipe!
YES YES YES!! So excited about this one!! We have a Greek restaurant that closed recently and they served a Greek chicken plate with yellow rice, chicken, pita, and a small Greek salad that was my favorite thing ever – just thinking about it makes me drool. Anyway, now I can start to recreate – hooray!!
Oh my gosh too funny – this sounds like it will definitely take the sting of losing that restaurant away!
Oh YES! YES! And YES! I’m making this dish this weekend! I was recently diagnosed with a gluten intolerance (which attacks my thyroid thankyouverymuch) and your recipes come in soooo handy! Thanks for hitting another one out of the ballpark!
Ugh, that stinks, Suzanne! Glad I can be a resource for you though!
Bravo Iowa Girl!
My wife eats chicken but my daughter doesn’t so I’ll sub in shrimp and it’s all good.
We all love garbanzos. Those cherry tomatoes are leaping off the screen. Great shot!
Thanks Charlie! I hope you all love it!
I am so excited about this! I found out my bad cholesterol levels aren’t the best (thanks to heredity lol) and have been looking for natural ways to combat that. I have been incorporating as much turmeric as possible, so this dish will be perfect :) lovely!
I’m in the same boat, unfortunately! Recently I’ve been drinking this recipe at night to get more turmeric into my diet: http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/golden-milk-turmeric-milk/
You had me at garlic sauce.
? It is unbelievable!