Spiced Mediterranean Chicken Bowls

Yesterday’s creamy, spicy red pepper feta dip, meet: today’s absolutely delicious, protein-packed spiced Mediterranean chicken bowls.

I filled these beautiful bowls with flavors inspired by my favorite Mediterranean restaurants in Chicago and wow, they were everything I wanted and more. This recipe takes just 30 minutes to make and has the perfect amount of spice, freshness, and hearty, savory flavors. Just like your go-to takeout order, these chicken bowls are great for customizing, too!

Check out all those amazing toppings and ways you can make these bowls your own, then get this recipe on your meal prep menu ASAP!

Everything you’ll need to make these Mediterranean chicken bowls

I love a good build-a-bowl meal like this one because you get the perfect mix of flavors and textures in every bite. Here’s what goes into these gorgeous bowls:

• For the sauce: we’re adding my brand new Spicy Roasted Red Pepper Feta Dip to each bowl for saucy, spicy, savory flavor in every bite.
• Ground chicken: pack in lean protein with deliciously spiced ground chicken. You’ll cool the chicken with diced onion, too.
• Spices: we’re seasoning the chicken with garlic powder, cumin, dried oregano, paprika, turmeric, dried thyme, salt, and pepper. The combination makes the chicken SO flavorful.
• For serving: load up your bowl with cooked rice, roasted chickpeas, sliced Persian cucumber, and pickled red onion, then garnish with extra feta cheese, olive oil, fresh mint, and fresh parsley. I love scooping everything up with warm pita bread!

Make these bowls your own

The best part about these spiced chicken bowls? They’re so easy to customize:

• Choose your meat: feel free to use ground turkey, beef, or ground lamb in place of the chicken! Alternatively, you could cook chicken breast or thighs and add it to your bowls.
• Pick a grain: I love serving everything over brown rice or Jasmine rice, but you could use any grain you’d like such as quinoa, farro, orzo, or even pearl couscous.
• Add an extra kick of heat: the roasted red pepper feta sauce is meant to add a lovely spice to the bowls, but you could also add homemade pickled jalapeños with the garnishes!

Can I make these bowls vegetarian?

Absolutely! Simply skip the meat and add a can of rinsed, drained chickpeas, or use the spices to season and cook crumbled tofu. If you have a favorite plant-based meat alternative, feel free to throw that in!

Looking to try a new sauce?

The spicy red pepper feta sauce takes these bowl to the next level, but feel free to have fun trying out different sauces if you’d like! Here are some more ideas:

Spiced Mediterranean chicken bowls in 3 easy steps

1. Make the sauce. Start by blending all of the ingredients for the red pepper feta sauce, then set it aside while you make the rest of the bowl components. This is a good time to get your toppings ready, too!
2. Cook the chicken. You’ll cook your ground chicken with diced onion and all of those yummy spices in a little olive oil.
3. Assemble the bowls. Spread some of the feta sauce into your shallow bowl, then add your rice, chickpeas, and ground chicken. Finally, top with cucumbers and pickled red onion, and garnish with extra feta, herbs, and a little olive oil. Serve it up with warm pita, or enjoy as is!

Storing tips

Want to meal prep these Mediterranean chicken bowls for the week? Store each component of the bowl in separate, airtight glass containers: red pepper feta sauce, spiced chicken, rice, and garnishes. Simply assemble a bowl for yourself when you’re ready to eat.

More nourishing dinners you’ll love

Get all of my dinner recipes here!

I hope you love these spiced Mediterranean chicken bowls! If you make them, be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked them. Enjoy, xo!

The
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook

125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day

30-Minute Mediterranean Chicken Bowls

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

ServesServes 4 servings

Wonderful spiced Mediterranean chicken bowls with perfectly seasoned chicken, rice, spicy red pepper feta sauce, and plenty of fresh toppings. These 30-minute Mediterranean chicken bowls are packed with protein and make the best meal prep dinner! Serve with warm pita bread to scoop up every delicious flavor.

Ingredients

• 1 batch Spicy Roasted Red Pepper Feta Dip
• For the spiced ground chicken:
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 pound ground chicken (or turkey or sub beef or lamb!)
• ½ medium to large yellow onion, finely diced
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• Lots of freshly ground black pepper
• For serving:
• 2 cups of cooked rice of choice (I love jasmine or brown rice!)
• 1 cup roasted chickpeas (I love Biena) or regular rinsed and drained chickpeas work too!
• 4 Persian cucumbers, halved lengthwise and sliced
• Pickled red onion
• Warm torn pita, for scooping
• To garnish:
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Extra feta crumbled
• Fresh mint leaves
• Fresh chopped parsley

Instructions

• Make the Spicy Roasted Red Pepper Feta Sauce according to the recipe.

• Cook the chicken: Add olive oil to a large skillet and place over medium-high heat. Once warm, add in the onions and cook for 3 to 5 minutes until softened. Push onions to the edges of the pan and add the ground chicken, breaking apart the meat with a wooden spoon or meat masher and working the onions in. Once meat is broken apart nicely, season the chicken with salt, garlic powder, cumin, oregano, paprika, turmeric, thyme and freshly ground black pepper. Cook until the meat is fully cooked and no longer pink, about 5 to 7 minutes total.

• To serve: Add a big scoop of the feta sauce and spoon it around nicely on one side of a shallow bowl. On the other side, add in a ½ cup scoop of rice. Then top with ¼ cup of the roasted chickpeas over part of the feta sauce and a scoop of the spiced ground chicken rice in the middle. Top with some chopped cucumbers and pickled red onion. Garnish with a drizzle of olive oil, some crumbled feta and fresh mint leaves and chopped parsley. Serve with warm torn pita bread for scooping and enjoy!

Nutrition

Serving: 1bowl (without the pita)Calories: 733calCarbohydrates: 61.4gProtein: 42gFat: 35.9gSaturated Fat: 11.1gFiber: 10.9gSugar: 8.1g