Easy Chicken & Quinoa Meal Prep

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Veggie loaded quinoa fried rice recipe with sticky glazed chicken thighs.

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chicken meal prep with fried quinoa rice recipe

Chicken Meal Prep

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If you’re looking for easy recipes as chicken meal prep before a major exam, here’s a recipe that won’t fail you.

When doing chicken meal prep, I prefer using dry rubs. They don’t take a lot of time and they rank high on the flavor meter. I am making this super easy for you by using ready-made spice rub- the Chinese five spice powder.

Just rub the spice powder along with a good seasoning of salt on the chicken thighs and you’re are done marinating. Using a non-stick pan, fry the chicken in two batches.

I always recommend frying in small batches in all my chicken meal prep recipes to give you a crispy cover and your chicken won’t taste like boiled meat.

 

Quinoa Fried Rice Recipe

There’s something about rice that you just can’t give up on them, especially fried rice. But when you’re on a weight loss program, fried rice is usually out of bounds. But I have found the perfect replacement for rice in any fried rice recipe.

It’s leftover Quinoa!

Quinoa is one of the latest, most versatile superfoods. Quinoa is the best healthy low carb alternative for your fried rice recipes. Replacing starchy rice with healthy quinoa, you get 15 times fewer carbs than rice. Plus it contains double the amount of protein and 5 grams extra fiber.

It’s gluten-free. It’s a complete protein. AND it’s a Kosher food.

The beauty of Quinoa is that you can replace them with rice, add them to your salads or even add them to your soups and tacos.

For this Quinoa recipe, I am making my version of the Quinoa Fried Rice Recipe. Replacing starchy rice with healthy Quinoa. Rice has a pretty high standard when it comes to fried rice. But believe me, this quinoa fried rice recipe would be something you would want to try out again and again.

When you ask me how to cook quinoa, I use two methods. You can cook it like rice or you can boil it like your favorite comfort food, pasta.

For fluffy, super tasty Quinoa every single time, let it sit for a few hours or overnight after cooking. You can also use leftover Quinoa. This helps prevent the mushy taste that could put your entire family off of Quinoa for the rest of their lives.

You can also check out my YouTube video on How To Cook Quinoa to see how I do it.

 

 Weekly Meal Prep

If you’re a college student, a weekly meal prep can save you during the last stressful days. Follow me on Facebook for my live Weekly Meal Prep every Friday!

For all my weekly meal prep, I create five servings. So now you can create them during the weekend for the five days of the week.

Other popular chicken weekly meal prep you can try are my 6 ingredient chicken meal prep and my six ingredient meal prep.

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chicken meal prep with fried quinoa rice recipe

Quinoa Fried Rice with Sticky Spiced Chicken

Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Chinese, Japanese
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Servings: 5 meals
Author: Bobby Parrish
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Ingredients

For the quinoa:

  • 3 ¾ cups cooked quinoa roughly 1 ¼ cups uncooked quinoa
  • ½ a red onion diced
  • 1 red bell pepper diced
  • 2 cups of broccoli florets cut in small bite size pieces
  • 2 medium size carrots diced roughly the same size as the peppers
  • 4 cloves of garlic minced
  • 2 teaspoons of fresh ginger peeled & grated
  • 4 eggs lightly beaten
  • 1 cup frozen peas
  • 1.5 tablespoons of low sodium soy sauce
  • 1-2 teaspoons sriracha or chili sauce
  • 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
  • ¼ cup green onions finely sliced
  • 1 tablespoon sesame seeds toasted if desired
  • Kosher salt
  • Fresh cracked pepper
  • Veggie oil

For the Chicken:

  • 10 boneless skinless chicken thighs or 5 chicken breasts, butterflied(ask your butcher to do that)
  • 2-3 tablespoons sweet chili sauce found in the Asian aisle of stores
  • 2-3 tablespoons Chinese five spice powder
  • Kosher salt
  • Sesame seeds

Instructions

  1. Cook’s Notes:
  2. It’s best to boil the quinoa one or two days ahead of time, or at least 3 hours ahead of time. That way the quinoa will dry out and soak up the flavors of the pan when cooked. To cook the quinoa, bring two and two-thirds cups of water to a boil and add ½ a teaspoon of salt. Add the quinoa, stir well, reduce to a simmer, and cook for 20 minutes with the lid off. All the water should be absorbed and the quinoa will be fluffy. If it looks uncooked(has not unraveled) towards the end, add another ¼ cup of water and cook until the water evaporates and the quinoa looks cooked. Remove from the heat and fluff well with a fork. Add the quinoa to a large bowl and let sit at room temperature until it cools down, then place it in the fridge overnight, or until ready to use it. Or you can spread the quinoa on a sheet tray, and let it sit at room temperature for a few hours.
  3. I buy the low sodium soy sauce and toasted sesame oil from Trader Joe’s, they have great prices on pantry items like these.
  4. Chinese 5 spice can be found at spice stores, or in the spice aisle at your grocery store, but call ahead and ask if they have it. I will put an Amazon link to it below this recipe.
  5. Season the chicken with a generous pinch of five spice powder and a good pinch of salt on each side. Let sit at room temperature for 15-20 minutes. Pre-heat a large non-stick pan or preferably cast iron pan over medium heat with 1 tablespoon of veggie oil for 2 minutes. Working in 2 batches, cook the chicken about 5-7 minutes each side, only flipping it once and not touching the chicken in-between flips. You will know the chicken is ready to be flipped when the meat turns opaque on the sides and the tops, and it’s nicely golden brown. Cook another 6-7 minutes and remove the chicken from the pan. Immediately brush some of the sweet chili sauce then sprinkle over some sesame seeds. Cook remaining chicken and set aside.
  6. For the quinoa fried rice, use the same pan as the chicken and pour off a little of the fat if it looks like there is too much, or add a little veggie oil if there is not enough. Pre-heat the pan over medium-high heat for 1 minute, add the onions along with the next 3 ingredients, ½ teaspoon of salt, and a couple cracks of pepper. Cook for 7 minutes, stirring a few times. Add the garlic, ginger, and cook another 2 minutes. Lightly beat the eggs and add them to the pan, stirring the whole time until the eggs look like a very soft scramble. Immediately add all of the quinoa and mix well. Add the peas, next 3 ingredients, and mix very well. The heat from the pan will warm the peas. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring often, so the quinoa soaks up all the flavors. Check for seasoning, there is a very good chance it will need more soy sauce and sriracha. Turn the heat off, add the green onions and sesame seeds, and set aside.
  7. Assemble your meal prep containers with some chicken and quinoa fried rice. You can keep everything in the fridge for 5 days and reheat in the microwave or the oven. Or you can freeze everything for 2-3 months.

Recipe Notes

Macros:
563 calories per meal using chicken thighs..548 calories with chicken breasts
16.5 grams of fat per meal using chicken thighs..10.5 grams with chicken breasts
40 grams of carbs per meal
62 grams of protein per meal
7.5 grams of fiber per meal

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7 thoughts on “Easy Chicken & Quinoa Meal Prep”

  2. Vicky

    The only instruction I would add is that quinoa should be well rinsed prior to adding to the boiling water. Some may be sold as pre-rinsed, but most (especially bulk) is not. It can have a very bitter taste if not rinsed.

    Thanks for another fabulous recipe!

    Reply
  3. Jacqui

    Ok sorry I am completely confused how is this keto? 40 grams of carbs per meal its double my daily intake of carbs…..I guess I am just not sure how this fits into a keto under 20 or even low carb lifestyle when under 50 carbs is pretty normal. How do you get away with such a high carb boost for a meal

    Reply
    1. Dessi Parrish

      This recipe isn’t keto. Not all of our recipes are keto – if they are we will list them as keto. This one was meal prep for college students.

      Reply
    2. Melly

      If you want to make the meal lower in carbs, try substituting cauliflower rice for quinoa. Any maybe leave out the peas. Everything else is pretty low in carbs.

      Reply

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