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These Gochujang Chicken Bowls are easy, wholesome, and perfect for meal prepping for the week ahead. Ground chicken is stir-fried with ginger and garlic, served alongside veggies and rice, and then it’s all drizzled in a sweet and spicy gochujang sauce.
This may be a simple recipe to throw together, but the complex flavor will blow you away. The ground chicken mixture is reminiscent of chicken lettuce wraps, except we transform it into a wholesome bowl with rice and veggies, all smothered in the addictively delicious sauce.
It’s no surprise that I love creating one-pan meals and easy recipe solutions for quick weeknight dinners or lunches for the workweek. Some of my favorites that are in frequent rotation are my Sticky Jalapeno Chicken, Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad, Street Corn Chicken Salad, and my Beef and Broccoli. They all reheat or save well in the fridge and are all super easy to make.
Key Ingredients
Ground chicken – 1 lb will yield about four lunch portions or three dinner portions. Avoid ground chicken breast to prevent it from being too dry.
Gochujang Sauce – one of my favorite ingredients to use in the kitchen is gochujang. It’s a fermented red pepper paste that is a little spicy, savory, and sweet. We combine it with honey, vinegar, garlic, sesame seeds, and sesame oil to make our homemade sauce.
Stir Fry Sauce – a delicious combination of soy sauce, broth, garlic, ginger, honey, and sesame oil.
Veggies – I love green beans or broccoli as a side to pair with the gochujang chicken and sauce. Thinly sliced cucumbers are also an incredible addition.
Yellow Onion – diced up and stir-fried with the chicken for lots of added flavor.
Red Fresno Peppers – slightly spicier than jalapenos. We remove the seeds to decrease the heat, and these add a kick of heat and lots of flavor.
Green Onions – a sprinkling of sliced green onions adds aromatic, bright flavor.
Cooked Rice – choose your favorite rice; you can use white rice, brown rice, or a lower-carb version like Banza rice.
How To Make Gochujang Chicken
First, whisk together the stir-fry sauce in a container and set aside. Make the gochujang sauce in a separate container and whisk until smooth. Taste and adjust, adding more honey if needed.
Add 1 tablespoon of sesame oil to the bottom of a skillet over medium-low heat. Add the yellow onion and Fresno peppers, and sauté for 2 minutes or until they begin to soften. Add in ground chicken and use a spatula to break it up into crumbles as it cooks. Cook until both sides are browned.
Pour in the stir-fry sauce and simmer on low heat for about 4-5 minutes. Set chicken aside in a bowl, tented with foil. Wipe out the excess sauce from the pan.
Into the same pan over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add in the green beans (or broccoli) and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they are slightly softened. Add a drizzle of sesame oil, 2 cloves of minced garlic, salt, and pepper into the pan. Stir frequently until garlic is fragrant and veggies are tender.
To assemble the bowls, add rice, ground chicken, and veggies. Drizzle with gochujang sauce and top with sesame seeds and green onions. You can also add soy sauce to the rice if preferred.
How Do I Meal Prep Gochujang Chicken?
Don’t you love recipes that can be meal-prepped? Some of my popular meal-prep-friendly recipes are my Sticky Jalapeno Chicken, BLT Chicken Salad, Street Corn Chicken Salad, and Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad.
Making these gochujang chicken bowls for work lunches or pre-made dinners is incredibly easy and one of my favorite dishes to have ready in the fridge. Not only does it reheat perfectly, but the flavors also continue to develop as it sits.
This recipe yields four lunch portions, or three larger dinner portions. I may be speaking for myself here, but when it comes to Korean food (or any Asian cuisine), I seem to scarf down larger quantities than usual.
Here are my tips for meal prepping:
- Cook your rice first as you prep the ingredients. Allow it to cool while you cook the rest of the dish.
- Saute the chicken and green beans according to the instructions, then allow them to cool.
- To assemble, add 1 cup of cooled rice into a meal prep container and drizzle with a little soy sauce if desired.
- Add 1/4 of the chicken and 1/4 of the green beans. Either drizzle over the gochujang sauce or place it in a 2-ounce condiment container to pour over before eating.
- To reheat, add a few teaspoons of water over the rice to rehydrate it, making it moist again.
What Containers are Best for Meal Prepping?
Whether you’re making this gochujang chicken recipe or storing any other food for leftovers, it’s essential to select meal prep containers that are refrigerator and freezer-safe, microwave-safe, dishwasher-safe, and BPA-free.
Although people love BPA-free plastic containers, I still prefer not to put my food in plastic. Even though they are allegedly free of toxic chemicals, it still makes me weirded out and can sometimes make my food taste plasticky.
I prefer to use glass containers. Some of my favorites are these single-compartment glass food containers or these two-compartment food containers.
Looking for More Meal-Prep-Friendly Recipes?
Sticky Jalapeno Chicken
Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad
Street Corn Chicken Salad
Beef and Broccoli
Thai Peanut Chicken Noodles
I hope you enjoyed my recipe for these gochujang chicken bowls! Please feel free to comment below with any questions or feedback.
If you make these or any other recipes, don’t forget to tag me on IG @BadBatchBaking to be featured on my story. Seeing your recreations makes my day.
Gochujang Chicken Bowls
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground chicken
- 4 cups cooked rice white rice brown rice or chickpea rice
- 1 lb. green beans trimmed and cut into thirds
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 2 small fresno peppers, thinly sliced seeds removed
- 3 green onions, sliced green and white parts
- 4 tablespoons sesame oil divided
Gochujang Sauce
- 2 tablespoon gochujang paste
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 heaping tablespoon honey or white/brown sugar will work too
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds regular sesame seeds work instead
Stir-Fry Sauce
- 1/4 cup broth vegetable or chicken broth
- 2.5 tablespoons soy sauce low sodium preferred
- 2 cloves garlic, minced or grated
- 1 inch piece ginger, grated
- 1 tablespoon honey you can also use white or brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
Instructions
- First, whisk together the stir-fry sauce in a container and set aside. Make the gochujang sauce in a separate container and whisk until smooth. Taste and adjust, adding more honey if needed.
- Add 1 tablespoon of sesame oil to the bottom of a skillet over medium-low heat. Add the yellow onion and Fresno peppers, and sauté for 2 minutes or until they begin to soften. Add in ground chicken and use a spatula to break it up into crumbles as it cooks. Cook until both sides are browned.
- Pour in the stir-fry sauce and simmer on low heat for about 4-5 minutes. Set chicken aside in a bowl, tented with foil. Wipe out the excess sauce from the pan.
- Into the same pan over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon sesame oil. Add in the green beans and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they are slightly softened. Add another drizzle of sesame oil, 2 cloves of minced garlic, salt, and pepper into the pan. Stir frequently until garlic is fragrant and veggies are tender.
- To assemble the bowls, add rice, ground chicken, and veggies. Drizzle with gochujang sauce and top with sesame seeds and green onions. You can also add soy sauce to the rice if preferred.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
AMAZING! Slightly spicy with not too much of a kick. Definitely making next week again