These easy and delicious chicken teriyaki meal prep bowls are perfect for quick and healthy lunch or dinners throughout the week. Coming together in under 30 minutes, you’ll love how easy these are to prep. Plus they taste amazing, even reheated!
I haven’t always been a big fan of meal prep, but recently I have rediscovered it and I will admit that there is something to it. I find when I’ve taken the time to meal prep just a little bit, my days end up less stressful and I make better food choices.
Knowing that if I am in the flow with work, I don’t have to fully stop to make myself a nutritious lunch leaves me with much more time, and also means that I am eating well because I don’t have to think about it. I just heat it up and keep going about my day.
Since my turkey meatball meal prep, I wanted to create more delicious and easy meal prep recipes that not only taste good when reheated, but also don’t require spending hours in the kitchen cooking and cleaning up.
This teriyaki chicken ticks both boxes. It’s very simple to make, you can do it all in one pan, and when reheated still packs so much flavour, you’ll actually want to eat it!
I’m no stranger to teriyaki, it’s one of my favourite flavours and this sauce is based on my go to combination which I’ve used for my teriyaki salmon and avocado rice bowls as well as my air fryer teriyaki salmon (another favourite of mine).
TIP! You can also make this meal for dinner one night and then save the leftovers for lunch or dinner the next day which is another sneaky way to meal prep without really meal prepping!
Key Ingredients
Most of the ingredients you’ll need are for the sauce, with the rest being fairly flexible.
Note all ingredients and their quantities are laid out in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Chicken breast – I like chicken breast for this recipe as it’s lower in fat than chicken thigh and one of the reasons I want to meal prep is to create healthy meals. You can however use what you prefer.
- Rice – any rice pairs perfectly with this teriyaki chicken. I am using basmati but you can also use regular long grain rice or even brown rice. Quinoa is also a great option!
- Broccoli – this has to be my favourite vegetable and it’s one that meal preps very well as you can slightly undercook it so it doesn’t go soggy when reheating. You can of course add any vegetables you like.
- Soy sauce – the base of the teriyaki sauce providing saltiness and essential umami flavours. Use tamari for a gluten-free option.
- Brown sugar – to sweeten and balance the sauce.
- Ginger and garlic – essential aromatics to give the sauce flavour. I am using fresh but you can substitute with jarred or even powdered if that’s all you have.
- Honey – to add extra flavour.
- Sesame oil – you can omit if you prefer but it adds so much flavour I highly recommend using it.
- Mirin – not as common in most pantries, it’s a common ingredient in Japanese cooking. If you don’t have any, you can substitute with dry sherry or even rice wine vinegar.
- Cornflour – also known as corn starch, this is used to thicken the sauce slightly. We’re not using too much as we want to make sure the sauce still reheats well without getting too gelatinous which can happen when cooled.
Order of operations
Alright the most important thing when meal prepping is the planning and preparation otherwise you may end up with pans everywhere and find yourself in a bit of a chaotic rush that is taking much longer that you anticipated which is exactly the opposite of why we meal prep.
The below order of operations will help you stay organised and ensure that you know exactly what to do when for the best efficiency in the kitchen so you can move on with your day. Also make sure you have your containers washed and ready to use before you start!
- Put on the rice to cook
- Make the teriyaki sauce
- Chop and cook the broccoli
- Chop and cook the teriyaki chicken
- Divide everything between your containers
As written his recipe makes 4 decent sized portions with roughly 50 grams of protein and sitting under 500 calories per serve, but adjust accordingly depending on how much you like to / need to eat.
Step-By-Step Instructions
Now that you’re feeling comfortable with what to expect, let’s get stuck in!
I like to cook my rice in my rice cooker as I find it’s the easiest way for meal prep as you can just set it and forget it, but if you like to cook rice on the stove then get that sorted.
Next, make your teriyaki sauce. You’ll need to peel and chop the garlic and ginger and then combine them with the rest of the sauce ingredients in a small bowl, mixing well to combine. Sit that aside.
Wash the broccoli and chop it into bite sized florets. Heat a little olive oil in a large frying pan and add in the broccoli seasoning with salt and pepper. Toss the broccoli to cook until it’s starting to darken in colour. Remember we want to slightly undercook the broccoli here as it will steam again when reheating.
After you’ve chopped the broccoli, you can use the same cutting board to dice the chicken breast into 1 inch pieces as this will be the final thing you need to chop.
Once the broccoli is done, remove it from the pan (you can straight away divide it between your 4 containers).
Into the same frying pan, add a little more oil and the diced chicken and cook for a few minutes until browned. Pour in the teriyaki sauce and toss to combine. Cook for 2 minutes until the sauce starts to thicken and the chicken pieces are coated and cooked through.
Note that the sauce won’t be super thick which is intentional as it will thicken further while it cools and we want to ensure that when reheated the chicken will still be saucy and not dry which is a common issue when teriyaki chicken is reheated.
By now your rice should be cooked, so divide it up between your containers with the broccoli and finally, add the chicken. You can garnish the chicken with sesame seeds and sliced spring onions if you like before putting on the lid and placing in the fridge.
Storage and Reheating Instructions
This recipe makes 4 portions making it perfect for a week of lunches or dinners for one person, or to feed 2 people for 2 meals. This meal prep will last in the fridge for up to 4 days.
To reheat, I just keep it in the container and microwave it for approximately 3 minutes, but the amount of time will depend on your microwave. You want the chicken hot in the middle and the rice to be steaming.
Can this recipe be made vegetarian or vegan?
Yes, it’s easy to customise this recipe to make it suitable for a meat-free diet. Simply swap the chicken for firm tofu that has been either frozen and torn into chunks (see my tofu nuggets recipe for more detail on this method) or simply cut into cubes. Cook the tofu in the pan until brown and then add the sauce as instructed.
To ensure this recipe is suitable for a vegan diet, make sure to also swap the honey in the sauce recipe for additional brown sugar.
More easy chicken recipes:
Air Fryer BBQ Chicken Thighs
Honey Soy Chicken
Easy Chicken Fried Rice
Honey Garlic Chicken Wings (Oven Baked)
Crispy Chicken Burgers
Teriyaki Chicken Meal Prep
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil divided
- 800 grams chicken breast
- 400 grams broccoli (approx 1 head
- ⅔ cup basmati rice
- Sesame seeds to garnish
- Spring onions to garnish
Teriyaki Sauce:
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon mirin see notes
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh ginger
- 1 clove garlic crushed
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 ½ teaspoons corn flour mixed with 2 tablespoons water
Instructions
- Prepare Rice: Cook the rice according to package instructions. If using a rice cooker, set it up and cook the rice. If cooking on the stove, follow your preferred method. Once cooked, set aside.
- Make Teriyaki Sauce: In a small bowl, combine chopped garlic, chopped ginger, soy sauce, honey, mirin, rice vinegar, and sesame oil. Mix well and set aside.
- Prepare Broccoli: Wash the broccoli and chop it into bite-sized florets. Heat a little olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the broccoli florets, season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat. Cook until the broccoli starts to darken in colour, ensuring it remains slightly undercooked as it will steam again when reheated. Remove from the pan and divide evenly between four meal prep containers.
- Prepare Chicken: On the same cutting board used for broccoli, dice the chicken breast into 1-inch pieces. In the same frying pan, add a little more olive oil and the diced chicken. Cook for a few minutes until browned. Pour in the prepared teriyaki sauce and toss to combine. Cook for an additional 2 minutes until the sauce thickens slightly and the chicken is fully coated and cooked through.
- Assemble Meal Prep Containers: Divide the cooked rice evenly between the four meal prep containers followed by the teriyaki chicken. Garnish the chicken with sesame seeds and sliced spring onions if desired.
- Seal the meal prep containers with airtight lids and refrigerate until ready to eat.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as a guide only and is calculated using automated online tools, therefore we cannot guarantee the accuracy. We encourage you to make your own calculations based on the actual ingredients used in your recipe.
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