Sheet pan roasted chicken breasts, butternut squash and red onion served with black beans, brown rice and guacamole make this a healthy meal in a bowl that is perfect for an easy weeknight dinner.
This post is in partnership with Wholly Guacamole
Hey rockstar! Who’s ready to make beautiful music in the kitchen with me?
This is one of those recipes that you’ll be applauding all week long. Why? Because it’s healthy, super simple, it’s perfect for meal planning to pull together for a simple dinner and you can take it on the road for lunch at work or school.
And because it’s healthy, loaded with protein and good for you ingredients, you just might be able to fit into those skinny leather jeans after all. How many rock ‘n roll references can we compose in this post? Let’s just take note (DOH! another one!) and see.
I was inspired to make this chicken rice bowl recipe after sampling a version of it when Wholly Guacamole’s Live Wholly Festival came to Sandy, Utah as the grand finale for their Live Wholly Tour. The festival wrapped up their cross-country, open mic search to discover one of America’s newest musical acts to perform with that night’s headliner and one of my husband’s favorite bands, The Cold War Kids. The grand prize winner was Brad Blackburn who sang his sweet songs of happiness to the crowd and as the grand prize winner, went home $10,000 richer! How cool is that?
Not only was music in the air, but there were some super good guacamole laced eats to be had as well. Two of the favorites I sampled were the Avocado Chocolate Chip Cookies (YES! the guacamole makes these cookies taste stellar but a bit healthier with good fats from avocado) and a Grilled Chicken-Corn and Guacamole Bowl, where the only sauce needed was Wholly Guacamole’s chunky guacamole.
I’m always game for making guacamole from scratch, but I love the convenience of having a guacamole with real chunks of avocado in it sitting in my fridge and not turning brown. We can all dip to that!
About the Recipe
Food in bowls is such an easy way to get all that’s good for you, and with me giving my weekly meal planning my all, I thought tweaking the grilled chicken rice bowl recipe I had at the festival to make it sheet-pan friendly was a smart way to go. Instead of using corn, I used butternut squash, and instead of grilling my chicken and veggies, I roasted them in the oven to caramelized goodness.
Simply line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, add red onions and cubed butternut squash to a bowl and drizzle with olive oil and season with spices. Place on the baking sheet and then do the same to the skinless, boneless chicken breasts.
Be sure to cut your chicken breasts in half lengthwise to cut down on their cooking time and get more for your buck.
To assemble the bowls, I added some black beans and brown rice (instead of white) for even more protein power. Then, add a dollop or three of guacamole, choose any of their flavors from Classic to their new Chipotle Lime Flavor. My husband and daughter love sour cream, so they added a dollop there with a sprinkling of cilantro as the final act.
I made these into ready to serve portions for Smudge’s take to school lunch. The great thing is they don’t have to be warmed to be served and individual Wholly Avocado minis are perfect individual portion sizes and at just 100 calories, they’re the secret star of the show.
All that’s left to say is, “GUAC ON!”
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment below or take a photo and tag me on Instagram with #foodiecrusheats.
Roasted Chicken, Butternut Squash and Guacamole Rice Bowls
Ingredients
- 2 cups long-grain brown rice
- 1 15- ounce can black beans
- 1 cup cilantro leaves , chopped, plus more for garnish
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons ground chili pepper
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil , divided
- 3 cups cubed butternut squash
- 1 red onion , sliced into ¼-inch slices
- 2 8- ounce skinless , boneless chicken breasts, trimmed and cut in half lengthwise
- 1 8- ounce package Wholly Guacamole® Dip of your choice
Instructions
- Cook the brown rice according to package directions, Stir in 1 cup of the cilantro and keep warm. Warm the beans in a small saucepan or the microwave and keep warm.
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
- Line a 9 X 13-inch baking sheet with aluminum foil and set aside.
- In a small bowl or ramekin, mix the cumin, chili powder, kosher salt and pepper together. In a medium size bowl, add the butternut squash and onions. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle with 2 teaspoons of the seasoning mix. Toss and spread out the veggies on the sheet pan.
- In the same bowl, add the chicken and drizzle with the remaining olive oil. Sprinkle with the remainder of the seasoning and toss to coat well. Place the chicken on the foil lined sheet pan. Do not layer on the vegetables, but instead lay alongside.
- Place the sheet pan on the middle rack of the hot oven and cook for 11-13 minutes. Do not disturb the vegetables or chicken so that they develop a caramelized crust. Transfer the chicken to a plate and cover with foil, then put the baking sheet back into the oven and cook the vegetables for an additional 5-7 minutes or until desired doneness.
- Slice or chop the chicken breast. Assemble the bowls by layering the chicken with 1 cup brown rice, ¼ of the black beans the butternut squash and roasted onion. Top with guacamole and garnish with cilantro leaves and serve.
Hey rock star. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you’ve been inspired to get in the kitchen and cook something good.
This post is sponsored by Wholly Guacamole. As always, thank you for reading and for supporting companies I partner with, which allows me to create more unique content and recipes for you. All opinions are always my own.
Are you following me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest?
Thanks for reading and subscribe to FoodieCrush to have each post delivered straight to your e-mail box.
Rate & Comment