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Nourish your body with this Chicken Buddha Bowl packed with broccoli, roasted sweet potato, avocado, and a spicy yet light mango sauce for a perfect and hearty lunch or dinner. It’s definitely customizable based on what you have on hand and dietary preferences.

A chicken buddha bowl with mango and avocado.
Chicken Buddha Bowl with Spicy Mango Sauce

This is the kind of meal you just feel so good after eating, thanks to the fact that it leaves you both feeling nourished and satisfied! A bowl full of good-for-you-ingredients: roasted chicken, veggies, rice or quinoa, avocado and mango. I love Buddha Bowls, and this one in particular because it’s customizable to what you have on hand, and absolutely anything and everything is awesome with this mango sauce on top!

This Buddha Bowl recipe has been a favorite in my house for years, and I hope you are going to love it too!

A sheet pan with chicken and roasted vegetables.

But first, what is a Buddha Bowl?

A Buddha Bowl, also known as a grain bowl or nourish bowl, started to show up around 2013, and then really started to get trendy in 2016, which is when this recipe first appeared on this website.

The history of the name buddha bowl can mean many different things depending on who you ask, ranging from the concept of serving a meal that is balanced in nutrients (because balance is a key Buddhist concept) to simply a full bowl representing the full belly of the Buddha image. But regardless of where the name actually came from, it generally now has come to be known as a grain bowl served with tons of veggies, some form of protein and sometimes a quick and simple sauce.

Mango dressing being made in a blender.

Ingredients Needed

  • Veggies: Sweet Potato, Broccoli, Spinach
  • Chicken Breasts
  • Mango
  • Avocado
  • Olive Oil
  • Chili Paste + Red Pepper Flakes
  • Salt and Pepper
  • Cooked Rice or Quinoa
  • Coconut Milk
  • Apple Cider Vinegar
  • Honey
  • Sesame Seeds

How to Customize it Based on Your Preferences

The beauty of this Buddha Bowl is that you can totally make it work for you, in terms of what ingredients you have on hand, or what your dietary needs are.

Need to make this grain free? Simply omit the grains and add in more veggies to bulk it up.

Need to make this vegetarian? Simply omit the meat, and swap it in with either beans or another plant-based source of protein.

Don’t have broccoli on hand? Swap it in with something you do have, like cauliflower!

There is a lot of room for creativity here, and we’d love to hear what you end up with so feel free to share how you’ve customized this in the comment section.

A sheet pan with chicken and roasted vegetables.

How to Make it Work for Meal Prep

Grain bowls make such a great meal prep because they’re already meant to be eaten in one vessel, which makes it the perfect meal to grab-and-go. But, we do have some advice as to what exactly works well for meal prep and for how long.

First off, I suggest skipping out on the fresh greens if you plan to store this in the refrigerator. The greens will wilt and won’t taste as good as it does when fresh.

Secondly, the avocado won’t last either. So skip out on that for meal prep.

The mango sauce can be put directly on top, and heated up along with the buddha bowl. Or, you can leave it separate.

This can be eaten warm or cold. It’s totally up to you.

A buddha bowl with chicken, avocado, mango and sweet potato.

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A chicken buddha bowl with mango and avocado.

Chicken Buddha Bowl with Spicy Mango Sauce

5 from 3 votes
Nourish your body with this Chicken Buddha Bowl packed with spicy broccoli, roasted sweet potato, avocado, and a spicy yet light mango sauce for a perfect and hearty lunch or dinner. It's definitely customizable based on what you have on hand and dietary preferences.
Servings 4
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 medium sweet potato diced into 1" pieces
  • 2 cups broccoli florets
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • Salt and Pepper
  • 1 lb. boneless and skinless chicken breasts
  • 1 tablespoon chili paste
  • 2 cups baby spinach or thinly sliced kale
  • 1 avocado sliced
  • 1 mango cubed
  • 1 cup cooked rice or quinoa optional
  • Sesame seeds for garnish

Mango Dressing:

  • 1 cup diced fresh mango
  • 2 tablespoons coconut milk
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  • Pinch red pepper flakes

Instructions

  • Preheat your oven to 400°F
  • Add sweet potato, broccoli florets, olive oil and a big pinch of fine sea salt and black pepper and toss to coat. Evenly spread the veggies on the pan, and push aside a little space in the middle. Place chicken breasts in the middle, and rub a splash of olive oil, salt and pepper on top. Bake on the lower rack until veggies are tender and chicken is cooked through to 165ºF, about 30-40 minutes. Start checking the chicken at 30 minutes, and remove from the oven if done before veggies are tender.
  • Meanwhile, make mango dressing: add diced mango, coconut milk, vinegar, honey and red pepper flakes to a blender. Blend together until smooth and creamy. Set aside until ready to use.
  • Let chicken rest for 5 minutes before dicing.
  • Toss sweet potatoes and broccoli together with chili paste. Set aside to slightly cool.
  • Divide greens, chicken, sweet potatoes, broccoli and rice among four bowls. Top with avocado and mango and a sprinkle of sesame seeds. Drizzle mango sauce on top.
  • Serve warm.

Notes

This recipe was originally published in 2016, and republished with new photos and an updated recipe in 2021.

Nutrition

Serving: 1/4 recipeCalories: 675kcalCarbohydrates: 49gProtein: 36gFat: 39gSaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 70mgSodium: 730mgFiber: 10gSugar: 11g
Author: Lexi Davidson


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Comments

  1. 5 stars
    This meal is a delicious mouthgasm. I made a few alterations:

    * no chicken
    * seasoned sweet potato and broccoli with Trader Joe’s Italian Style Soffritto seasoning blend
    * add same seasoning to the dressing
    * topped with pickled onions

  2. Chili paste — is that the same thing is Huy Fong’s Chili Garlic Sauce? Or something completely different?

  3. Did you know plate Joy has your photo and a modified version of this on their service? I just wanted to see if you knew.

  4. I’m really into buddha bowls at the moment and this one looks great. Brilliant colors. The mango would be delicious. What a great idea to do a tropical buddha bowl, I haven’t tried that yet!

  5. Hi there! So I made these everything turned out great except the dressing. It was gritty when I first made and kinda dried out into little clumps in the fridge. I used a mini food processor as I don’t really have a high-speed blender – could that be the problem? I even added more vinegar and coconut milk to smooth it out but nothing helped. But the chicken with purple sweet potatoes and spicy roasted broccoli was delish!

    1. Some brands of coconut milk are gritty. A mini processor would not smooth out the texture. The coconut milk could be strained and then a smooth sauce would result.

  6. Your photography is so nice and colorful. I like the combination of dishes with spicy mango sauce. Can’t wait to try this on coming weekend!

  7. This sounds like my kind of buddha bowl! I love the addition of roasted sweet potatoes and the mango dressing sounds delish.

  8. Oh my gosh girl, I want to pour that sauce on ALL the things! This bowl if packed with flavor and I want it for lunch! Pinned!

  9. Gorgeous colors and photography, Lexi!! Buddha bowls are my JAMMMM. Thanks so much for sharing <3