These hot honey chicken bowls are a delicious, nourishing, and super simple weeknight meal. This balanced bowl is made with tender, spiced, roasted sweet potatoes and chicken, served over rice with avocado, slices of crunchy pickled cucumber and a drizzle of hot honey. You’ll love the perfect balance of sweet and spicy flavours!
For more simple bowls, make sure to also try this hot honey sweet potato beef bowl, or these reader favourite burger bowls!
If you’ve been looking for a healthy dinner idea for busy weeknights, then look no further because this hot honey chicken bowl is going to be for you. Just like with this hot honey salmon, this is such an incredibly simple dinner, but the combination of sweet and spicy flavours, and the balance of textures all coming together in the one bowl makes this recipe a standout.
I love a good bowl recipe because they are so easy to make and can be customised based on what you have on hand or what your tastes are. This recipe is also perfect for meal prep, making it a great option if you’re looking for ways to make eating a balanced meal for lunch or dinner a little easier.
What I like about this recipe is that most of the cooking is pretty hands off as it’s just letting the chicken and sweet potatoes roast away in the oven. You could also do this step in the air fryer which would make the process even quicker!
For more simple chicken rice bowl recipes, make sure to also try these chipotle chicken bowls or these teriyaki chicken bowls.
Key Ingredients
As I said, this is a super simple recipe and you really don’t need much to make these delicious hot honey chicken and rice bowls.
Note all ingredients and their quantities are laid out in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Chicken thighs – boneless skinless chicken thighs are best for this recipe as they stay really juicy when baked and have a lot of flavour. You can substitute with chicken breast but they will likely cook quicker and are prone to becoming dry so make sure to watch them and take them out of the oven as soon as they are cooked.
- Sweet potato – they get roasted to bring out their sweetness which works so well with the hot honey.
- Spices – flavour is added to the chicken and sweet potatoes with a combination of smoked paprika, garlic powder and ground cumin. Feel free to add a little cayenne pepper as well if you want more heat.
- Cucumber – for added texture and essential crunch, the cucumber is quickly pickled in a combination of rice wine vinegar, sugar and salt.
- White rice – I like to keep things simple and serve this bowl with a base of white rice, but you can use brown rice, quinoa, or even cauliflower rice for a low carb option.
- Hot honey – You can buy hot honey at the supermarket, but if you don’t have any or prefer to make your own, then you can simply combine honey with your favourite hot sauce (I like Frank’s Red Hot) to make a super simple homemade version.
Step-By-Step Instructions
I honestly just love how easy these bowls are to make, but because of the combination of ingredients you just get this perfect balance of flavours that make it feel a lot fancier than it actually is.
Start by preheating the oven and cooking your rice. You will know by now, I only ever cook my rice in a rice cooker so I am always going to start by getting that on so I can just focus on the main event with my recipe and when that’s done, I have perfectly cooked rice ready to serve.
Cut up your sweet potato into chunks. You can peel it or simply wash it well and leave the skin on – you decide! Once chopped, add it to a bowl with the chicken thighs and add in the olive oil, smoked paprika, garlic powder, cumin, salt, and pepper. Give it a good mix to make sure everything is coated.
Place the chicken and sweet potatoes onto a large baking tray in a single layer and then place in the oven for around 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked and the sweet potatoes are tender and lightly caramelised.
While the chicken and sweet potatoes are roasting away, you can make your quick pickled cucumbers. This is optional, fresh cucumber will still add a delicious crunch, but the extra step of the pickled cucumber really just elevates the balance of flavours in this bowl.
Place the sliced cucumber into the container or bowl with the rice wine vinegar, sugar and salt and give it a good shake or mix to combine. Set it aside in the fridge until ready to serve.
👉Don’t have hot honey? You can make your own by combining ¼ cup honey and 1–2 tablespoons of Frank’s Red Hot sauce (adjust to taste) in a small bowl and microwaving it until it mixes up and is a drizzly consistency.
Now it’s time to assemble! I like to serve my chicken sliced as if I am eating a bowl, I really only want to be using a fork…you can’t be cutting things in a bowl with a knife!
Divide up your cooked rice into your serving bowls or meal prep containers. Top with the roasted sweet potatoes and sliced chicken. Add your pickled cucumber, a little sliced avocado if you like and then drizzle everything generously with the hot honey. I like to add a few sesame seeds to finish but that’s completely optional.
Storage and Meal Prep
To meal prep this recipe, cook the rice, bake the chicken and sweet potato, make the pickled cucumber, and mix the hot honey (if you’re making your own) all at once. Let everything cool before assembling it into containers.
Divide the rice, sweet potato, and chicken into airtight containers. Pack the pickled cucumber and hot honey into separate containers.
Reheat the rice, sweet potatoes and chicken in the microwave until hot, top with the cucumber, fresh avocado and a drizzle of the hot honey.
You can store these hot honey chicken bowls in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Recipe FAQs
You can. I like to use thighs as they are more forgiving when baking and tend to remain juicy. If you want to use chicken breast then just be aware that it will cook quicker and is prone to becoming dry so make sure to watch them and take them out of the oven as soon as they are cooked.
Yes this is a great option! Cook the sweet potato at 200°C/400°F in the air fryer for about 12–15 minutes, then add the seasoned chicken thighs and cook for an additional 12–15 minutes, flipping halfway through.
The heat will depend on the hot honey you use. If you choose to make your own you can customise the spice level depending on how much hot sauce you add. You can also make the dish spicier by adding a little cayenne pepper to the chicken and sweet potato spice mix.
If you do make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating below! And tag any of your creations on Instagram with @eightforestlane as I would love to see.
More easy rice bowl recipes:
Quick and Easy Spicy Prawn Rice Bowls
Teriyaki Salmon and Avocado Rice Bowls
Air Fryer Salmon Bowls
Taco Bowls
Hot Honey Chicken Bowls
Ingredients
For the chicken and sweet potato:
- 500 grams boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 large sweet potato diced into 1.5cm cubes
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
For the quick pickled cucumber:
- 1 small cucumber thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
For serving:
- 2 cups cooked white rice
- 1 ripe avocado sliced
- ¼ cup hot honey see notes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°C (fan 180°C) / 400°F.
- In a large bowl, toss the chicken thighs and diced sweet potato with olive oil, smoked paprika, garlic powder, cumin, salt, and pepper until well coated. Arrange everything on a lined baking tray in a single layer.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes, flipping the chicken halfway through, until the chicken is cooked through (internal temp 74°C / 165°F) and the sweet potatoes are tender and lightly caramelised.
- While the chicken bakes, mix the vinegar, sugar, and salt in a small bowl until the sugar dissolves. Add the cucumber slices and toss to coat. Let it sit for at least 10 minutes, tossing occasionally.
- Spoon the cooked rice into bowls. Top with baked sweet potato, chicken (sliced if you like), avocado slices, and pickled cucumber. Drizzle generously with hot honey to finish.
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.
Teresa says
Another delicious and easy meal. Will be eating this again.
Sally says
Thanks Teresa – so glad you enjoyed this one!
Brooke says
Easy and delicious weeknight dinner! I used chicken breasts instead of thighs.
Sally says
So glad you enjoyed this one Brooke!
Kari says
Excellent!
Sally says
Thanks Kari!