Tender, sauced shredded chicken, vibrant yellow rice, tangy pickled onions, fresh greens, and a drizzle of cilantro pesto on top. It’s a feast for both the taste buds and the eyes!
In This Post
Watch How To Make These Chicken Bowls
I’m Going On Six Weeks Straight Of Making These.
Kudos to these slow cooker chicken bowls for boosting my protein intake during the week, for being incredibly delicious, and for reheating beautifully (you know how reheated chicken can turn out sometimes).
It’s a mix of yellow rice, juicy sauced shredded chicken, zesty pickled onions, fresh greens, and that cilantro pesto drizzled on top—definitely a glorious explosion of flavor and color.
I keep resisting the urge to write a full recipe for it, because bowl “recipes” can be overwhelming, am I right? So many small elements, so many layers… but you keep asking me about them, and I keep gravitating back towards them, so let’s make this work.
The strategy: create these 4 components.
- Crockpot chicken.
- Yellow rice.
- Pickled onions.
- That cilantro pesto I keep mentioning.
(Everything you need is included in the recipe below.)
I usually toss a little salad on there, whether it’s a pre-mixed salad bag, or lately a handful of microgreens from Costco!
The great thing is that having prepped chicken, rice, pickled onions, and green sauce makes the foundation for an array of other tasty dishes. So forthwith, two for one! You’re your own gourmet chef at this moment.
In my household of four, I typically prepare the quantities stated for a family dinner along with 1-2 lunches for myself from the leftovers. And I genuinely look forward to those leftovers.
Wishing you a wonderful week of delicious meals!
With two adults and two little ones, this quantity will cover one family dinner plus 2 lunch servings for me! Amplify these amounts if you wish to serve a larger family for dinner and/or have plenty of leftovers!
Crockpot Chicken Bowls with Yellow Rice and Cilantro Pesto
Total Time:
3 hours 20 minutesYield:
4–5 servings 1x
Description
Tender, sauced shredded chicken, vibrant yellow rice, tangy pickled onions, fresh greens, and a drizzle of cilantro pesto on top. It’s a feast for both the taste buds and the eyes.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Crockpot Chicken:
Yellow Rice:
Cilantro Pesto
Other items for the bowl:
Instructions
- For the Crockpot Chicken: Position the chicken in a slow cooker and pour the sauce over it; let it cook for 2 1/2 – 3 hours on high. Shred the chicken directly in the slow cooker. Introduce the cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce. Season as preferred.
- For the Rice: Rinse the rice using a fine mesh colander. Place the rice, water, butter, salt, chili powder, and turmeric into a small pot. Bring to a boil. Cover, lower the heat, and simmer for 15 minutes. After that, uncover, fluff, and season as desired.
- For the Cilantro Pesto: Blend everything in a small chopper or food processor until it reaches a slightly chunky consistency (I prefer some texture)! It’s a rather thick sauce, which I adore – feel free to add water to thin it to your liking.
- Assemble Your Bowls: I enjoy laying down the yellow rice as a base, adding a portion of shredded chicken, a handful of salad greens, piquant pickled onions, and a generous spoonful of that cilantro pesto on top!
Notes
Preferred simmer sauces: My favorites include Frontera’s Red Chile Sauce, Somos Al Pastor Sauce, and Siete Enchilada Sauce.
Favorite salsas: I appreciate you asking – my go-to salsa is the Siete Casera Mild Salsa Roja, which is smoky, flavorful, and mild enough for my kids. Mateo’s Salsa is another favorite.
For meal prep: Store the different components separately, allowing you to reheat the chicken and rice while keeping the sauce, pickled onions, and salad greens chilled and fresh.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 hours
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Crockpot
- Cuisine: Mexican-Inspired
Keywords: chicken bowls, crockpot chicken, slow cooker chicken, rice bowl