Easy Sushi Bowls For Dinner.
This simple, satisfying teriyaki chicken bowl is a favorite go-to for me, not only because it is quick and easy, but also because I can make the complete bowl for my husband and I, and a deconstructed version of it for my kids. Everyone is happy, well-fed, and satisfied—no exasperated reach for boxed mac-and-cheese required. That’s what I call a win-win! This bowl is on heavy rotation in my meal planner, and I hope it makes it onto yours as well.
How Do You Make Teriyaki Chicken?
We’ve opted for a shortcut on this one, since the whole reason we created this teriyaki chicken bowl is to make a dinner that’s as stress-free as it can be. Here’s how we do it:
- Buy boneless, skinless chicken breast. If you can buy it already cut into pieces—or ask your friendly local butcher to do it for you—even better.
- Buy a bottle of teriyaki marinade. Any teriyaki marinade that you like! We love this Soy Vay Marinade & Sauce, which can be purchased at most grocery stores.
- Place the chicken into a pan along with some of the teriyaki sauce. Don’t bother to marinate! We swear it tastes just as good without the extra step of marinating the chicken.
- Cook! A quick sauté over medium heat, and you can consider your chicken teriyaki-ed. You’ll achieve a lot of good flavor from cooking the chicken in the sauce, and then you can always add more sauce to the bowl if you’d like your teriyaki chicken bowl even more teriyaki-y.
How Do You Make Chicken Teriyaki Rice Bowls?
Even we admit, there’s something about bowls like this that look fussy. You see those lovely cucumber spears and that fanned out avocado and you think “that looks delicious but I’m never going to make it.” But we promise, bowls are easier than they look! And they win so many points for adaptability. The answer to “how do you make chicken teriyaki bowls?” is “however you want!”—everyone gets to make their own bowl with only the things they like in it. Here’s what you do:
- Sauté some chicken pieces.
- Steam some rice. Even without a rice cooker, this is an almost-effortless step.
- Chop up the green stuff while the chicken cooks.
- Take 30 seconds to squeeze some sriracha into some mayonnaise and mix it together.
- Chop up some nori, or just tear it up with your hands. Let your kids play with it, because it makes awesome crunchy sounds. Don’t tell them that it’s super duper crazy healthy, and maybe they’ll even decide they want to crunch some of it up into their bowl!
- Let everyone assemble the bowl of their dreams with whatever combination of things suits their fancy.
- Dig in!
Is Chicken Teriyaki Healthy?
It’s not not healthy, and served as part of a bowl like this, it makes for a complete, balanced meal—heavy on nutrients, good fats, and protein! Our teriyaki chicken bowl scores in the nutrition department because of:
- Skinless chicken breast! It’s a weeknight dinner staple for many reasons, but we love it because it’s a lean, mean protein source that happily soaks up flavor—hello, teriyaki sauce! It’s a blank canvas, which can be a great thing.
- Nori! If you’re not in the habit of keeping these crunchy sheets of dried seaweed in the pantry, now is the time to start! Salty and crisp, they’re fun to eat, low in fat and calories, and they’re a good source of iron, calcium and B vitamins.
- Avocado! Do we really need to sell you on avocado? I didn’t think so.
- Brown rice! We’ve seasoned ours with traditional sushi rice flavors (see below for more on that) which make it extra delicious, and no less nutritious.
- Cucumber! Obviously a super healthy component of this dish—so refreshing and a little sweet, cucumber is an unsung hero of the vegetable world.
- Sriracha mayo! Just kidding, this is not healthy—not even a little bit. But it is very very delicious, and a little drizzle here and there never hurt anyone.
Tell Me More About This Seasoned Rice Situation.
Intriguing, right? Sushi rice—the rice that is used to make sushi—is traditionally made simply with super-high quality, short grain white rice that is then flavored with rice vinegar and a bit of sugar and salt. We’ve taken that idea as inspiration and run with it, swapping brown rice for white, since it’s much more nutritious and we actually prefer its nutty flavor. Seasoning the rice lightly with rice vinegar adds a lot of interesting complexity to this bowl without much work. If you don’t have rice vinegar handy, it’s totally fine to serve plain brown rice, or you could even stir in a bit of the extra teriyaki sauce for an added boost of flavor. Like we’ve said, this teriyaki bowl is all about adaptability.
Tools You'll Need:
Bowls On Bowls On Bowls
Versatile, healthy, fast. Great for lunch. Easy for dinner. Just as good at room temp as they are piping hot. The list goes on and on—all we are saying is give bowls a chance. Here are a few of our other favorites:
- We’re head over heels for this Green Curry Buddha Bowl.
- Our Broccoli Beef Soba Bowl is a slurp-able umami-bomb.
- Super healthy and virtuous, our Quinoa Bowl will get you glowing.
Did You Love This Teriyaki Chicken Bowl Recipe?
If you make this chicken teriyaki sushi bowl, we’d love to hear about it! Snap a photo, add it to your Instagram feed or stories and tag us @themodernproper and #themodernproper.
