This Harissa Honey Chicken Bowl recipe is the most delicious lunch meal prep option out there! Modeled after a popular chain restaurant, these bowls are chock-full of sweet, spicy chicken, turmeric rice, a bunch of fresh veggies, two different sauces, pickled red onions, and crumbled feta. Your lunch game just got a major facelift!
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This recipe is…
If you’ve been to Cava, you know the sweet and spicy honey harissa combo is insanely delicious. While we love a good take-out lunch, we love even more the feeling of having a week’s worth of lunches prepped and ready to go in the fridge. Meal prep lunches give you complete control of ingredients (no mystery oils go into your lunch unless you choose them!) and save you a pretty penny!
If you’re looking for more meal prep lunch recipes to add to your rotation, we’ve got a plenty! Try these Greek chicken salad bowls, these southwestern quinoa salad bowls, and these quick, easy buffalo chicken wraps.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s loaded with flavor – though the ingredient list may look lengthy, it’s honestly the very best way to layer flavor upon flavor and get a real restaurant-quality bowl at home. These bowls are bursting with spicy, sweet, bright, zesty flavors!
- It’s perfect for meal prep – these bowls are the best meal prep recipe. Each component is easy to prep, and once you’re done, you have the option of either assembling in lunch containers right away (ideal if you work outside of the home and need to quickly grab lunch from the fridge before you head out in the morning) or storing each component in a container of its own and assembling a bowl each day before sitting down and enjoying lunch (perfect if you work from home).
Harissa Chicken Bowl Ingredients
We know, the ingredient list is lengthy, but rest assured that each ingredient is easy to find, and, if you follow the recipe, will lend itself to FIVE generous lunch portions. Find ingredient notes (including substitutions and swaps) below.
- Harissa paste – be sure to grab harissa paste here and not harissa seasoning. Both are delicious but used very differently!
- Chicken tenders – chicken tenderloins are hard to beat – they’re juicy and delicious. That said, if you have chicken breasts or thighs on hand, they’ll absolutely work too.
- Basmati rice – we love basmati rice for both its nutty flavor and the fact that it doesn’t get mushy after cooking. If you prefer a different rice variety or just have a different one on hand, though, feel free to swap it.
- Pickled onions, tzatziki, and hummus – all three of these toppings can be homemade or store-bought. If you want to go homemade, our pickled red onion recipe is as easy as it gets, our tzatziki recipe is delicious and made with only 4 ingredients, and our classic hummus is as silky smooth as it gets. If you want to save some time and go store-bought, though, no shame in that at all!
A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Recipe Variations and Modifications
- Make it dairy-free – to make this recipe dairy-free, simply omit the feta cheese and tzatziki sauce.
How to Make Harissa Honey Chicken Bowls
You’ll start by getting your chicken into its honey harissa marinade, then you’ll bake it, prep the rest of the components, and assemble! Follow along for the full how-to below.
Step 1: Add a ¼ cup of harissa paste, ½ cup of honey, ½ cup of lime juice, ¾ cup of olive oil, and a teaspoon of salt to a large container and whisk together. Set aside half of the mixture for the dressing, then place the chicken tenders in the container with the rest of the marinade and toss to fully coat. Place the lid on the container and let the chicken marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, up to overnight. While the chicken marinates, prep the pickled onions.
Step 2: Preheat the oven to 375°F. Place the marinaded chicken tenders on a sheet pan and bake for 25 minutes.
Step 3: Place the corn on a baking sheet and bake with the chicken, at 375°F for 25 minutes. If you want some color on your corn, you can broil AFTER the chicken comes out of the oven, rotating every 2 minutes for 5-6 minutes total.
Step 4: Add 2 cups of basmati rice, 2 cups of water, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, the turmeric, and ½ teaspoon of salt to a pot over medium heat. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer and cover the pot for 10-15 minutes. Once the rice is done, stir in the lemon juice.
Step 5: Once the chicken has cooled enough to handle, use two forks to shred it.
Step 6: Use a sharp knife to cut the corn off of the cob.
Step 7: Halve the avocados and slice the mini cucumbers into half moons.
Step 8: Assemble 5 lunch containers by layering the rice, mixed salad greens, chicken, corn, and cucumbers. Add a scoop each of tzatziki and hummus, and top with an avocado half, picked red onions, crumbled feta, and drizzle with the dressing.
How to Serve
Serve your honey harissa bowls filled to the nines with all of the flavorful goodies included in this recipe!
How to Store and Reheat
You can prep the ingredients in 5 meal prep lunch containers right off the bat (that’s what we did!) or store each component in a separate container so that assembly is a breeze.
You can reheat your bowls, if you’d like, but if you went ahead and prepped them into meal prep containers, you may consider just enjoying them cold so that you don’t have to pick off any of the toppings before enjoying!
Frequently Asked Questions
We think these bowls are definitely a healthy option! They’re loaded with protein, healthy fats, fiber, and energizing carbohydrates. If there is something on the list that you need to avoid for health reasons, simply leave it out of your bowl!
When it comes to Cava’s harissa honey bowl (the bowl that this recipe was modeled after) the chicken itself isn’t super spicy, but the red harissa paste that is included in the bowl is.
Harissa is a thick paste made of dried red chiles, garlic, olive oil (or another oil, depending on the brand you buy), plus a handful of spices.
More Favorite Healthy Lunch Ideas
If you tried this Harissa Honey Chicken Bowl recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below!
Harissa Honey Chicken Bowls
Ingredients
For the Marinade and Dressing
- ¼ cup harissa paste
- ½ cup honey
- ½ cup lime juice
- ¾ cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 pounds chicken tenders
For the Rice
- 2 cups basmati rice, dry
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon salt
For the Bowls
- 3 ears of corn
- 3 Persian cucumbers
- 2 avocados
- ½ cup pickled onions store-bought or homemade pickled onions
- ¾ cup crumbled feta
- 10 ounces mixed salad greens
- 1 cup hummus store-bought or homemade hummus
- 1 cup tzatziki store-bought or homemade tzatziki
Instructions
- Add a ¼ cup of harissa paste, ½ cup of honey, ½ cup of lime juice, ¾ cup of olive oil, and a teaspoon of salt to a large container and whisk together. Set aside half of the mixture for the dressing, then place the chicken tenders in the container with the rest of the marinade and toss to fully coat. Place the lid on the container and let the chicken marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, up to overnight.
- While the chicken marinates, prep the pickled onions.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Place the marinaded chicken tenders on a sheet pan and bake for 25 minutes.
- Place the corn on a baking sheet and bake with the chicken, at 375°F for 25 minutes. If you want some color on your corn, you can broil AFTER the chicken comes out of the oven, rotating every 2 minutes for 5-6 minutes total.
- Add 2 cups of basmati rice, 2 cups of water, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, the turmeric, and ½ teaspoon of salt to a pot over medium heat. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer and cover the pot for 10-15 minutes. Once the rice is done, stir in the lemon juice.
- Once the chicken has cooled enough to handle, use two forks to shred it.
- Use a sharp knife to cut the corn off of the cob.
- Halve the avocados and slice the mini cucumbers into half moons.
- Assemble 5 lunch containers by layering the rice, mixed salad greens, chicken, corn, and cucumbers. Add a scoop each of tzatziki and hummus, and top with an avocado half, picked red onions, crumbled feta, and drizzle with the dressing.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
I’m reading the recipe and have a question.. 2 cups of rice and only 2 cups of water? Seems like it should be more water.. just checking before I make if for company!
Yes! I know it sounds crazy! A 1:1 ratio helps ensure that the rice stays fluffy but not sticky!
I made it with Jasmine rice and 2 cups of water was NOT enough, I had to add another 11/4 cups… thankfully it turned out fine. This was a delicious recipe, but I need to find Harrissa paste, I used more of a sauce and it didn’t have enough spice to balance out the sweetness of the honey. But I’ll definitely make this again! My husband loved it!
Love! I made this with the store bought yellow rice to make it easier.
Great idea, Kristin! We are so happy you enjoyed it!