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These Barbecue Chicken Quinoa Bowls are a healthy way to get your barbecue chicken fix! Loaded with toppings and a creamy avocado drizzle that’s to die for!
New favorite weeknight dinner alert! These Barbecue Chicken Quinoa Bowls have been made a couple times since I first made them a few weeks ago and that doesn’t include the numerous days I ate the leftovers for lunch and dinner. These bowls are great if you meal prep for the week and there’s a couple shortcuts you can take so they’re incredibly easy to make.
Barbecue sauce is one of those things that I’ll only make if I have a lot of free time. If you are in the mood to make your own, here’s a Simple Barbecue Sauce recipe. There are so many good quality store bought sauces available these days compared to what there used to be. When I buy barbecue sauce there are a couple things I look for.
First, I make sure there is no corn syrup. Corn syrup is something I’m not a fan of it in condiments or anything really. Second, I make sure the first ingredient isn’t sugar and that the overall grams of sugar per serving isn’t out of control. My preference is that barbecue sauce have a nice balance of sweetness, acid (vinegar) and heat.
Another shortcut to make these barbecue chicken quinoa bowls is to use a store bought rotisserie chicken or any leftover chicken you have in the fridge. If you’re like me, there’s always cooked chicken of some sort on hand for making lunches and dinners during the week. I generally grill or bake a package of chicken breasts at the beginning of the week and use them in various ways.
I love using leftover chicken breasts for this Healthy Grilled Chicken Waldorf Salad, Greek Chicken Salad Lettuce Cups and for a fun appetizer, these Mini Chicken Enchilada Cups. The day I made these bowls I didn’t have any cooked chicken, so I opted for the extra easy route and bought a rotisserie chicken.
If you follow these two shortcuts the remaining steps to making these Barbecue Chicken Quinoa Bowls are easy. Start by cooking the quinoa. While the quinoa cooks chop the tomatoes and red onion, defrost the corn and rinse and drain the black beans. Then comes the best part, the avocado crema!
Put the avocado, Greek yogurt, cilantro, lime juice, salt and pepper in a high speed blender or food processor. Purée the mixture until it’s smooth. You’ll probably need to add in a tablespoon or two of water to thin it out. This simple sauce add so much flavor to the barbecue chicken bowls!
To assemble the bowls, starts by adding some of the cooked quinoa to the bowl. Top with the shredded chicken that’s been tossed in barbecue sauce. Then add the remaining toppings and drizzle with the avocado crema. For maximum flavor in every bite, I like to stir everything together. It may not look the prettiest after you do that, but dang does it taste good!
More Quinoa Bowls
Caribbean Salmon Quinoa Bowls
Berry Quinoa Breakfast Bowls
Sweet Potato and Black Bean Quinoa Bowls
Barbecue Chicken Quinoa Bowls
Ingredients
Barbecue Chicken Quinoa Bowls
- 2 cups cooked quinoa
- 2 cups shredded cooked boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 3 tablespoons barbecue sauce
- 1 cup canned black beans rinsed and drained
- 1 cup frozen defrosted corn I used fire roasted corn
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes chopped
- 1/4 cup diced onion
Avocado Crema
- 1/2 of an avocado peeled
- 1/4 cup plain non fat Greek yogurt
- 1/2 of a lime juiced
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
- Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
- Water to thin to a drizzling consistency I used 1-2 tablespoons
- Cilantro and extra barbecue sauce for garnish optional
Instructions
- Purée the ingredients for the avocado crema in a high speed blender or food processor. Thin with water as needed until it's a drizzling consistency.
- In a bowl combine the shredded chicken and barbecue sauce until coated.
- In 4 bowls or meal prep containers, equally divide the quinoa and barbecue chicken. Top with the black beans, corn, tomatoes and onion. Garnish with cilantro and drizzle with the avocado crema.
This was absolutely delicious and a great way to use up leftover rotisserie chicken. I didn’t love the avocado crema on its own but it added a healthy creaminess to the entire, super healthy dish. I’ve also roasted some cubed sweet potatoes to add in tomorrow. Thanks!!
I’m so glad you liked the bowls Melinda! Thank you for trying the recipe.