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chicken recipe

Leftover Chicken Grain Bowl with Peanut Sauce

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Two colourful chicken grain bowls with peanut sauce, boiled eggs and veggies.

Leftover Canadian Raised chicken NEVER goes to waste in our house! It’s perfect for lunches or to repurpose for a weeknight meal! This tasty grain bowl with peanut sauce, transforms “fridge-finds” into a satisfying (and pretty) dinner!

Ingredients For 2 bowls
  • 2-3 leftover cooked chicken thighs – skin on
  • 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa – cooked to package instructions (or grain of your choice)
  • Selection of fresh or cooked vegetables, herbs and nuts (use what you have available) – I used spicy cabbage slaw, carrots, green onions, jalapeños, cherry tomatoes, edamame, avocado, cilantro and cashews.
  • Hard boiled eggs – halved
  • 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp Peanut sauce
  • 1/2 tbsp olive oil
Preparation

Remove the chicken skin and set aside.

Diced the chicken thighs into bit size pieces.

Heat a small non-stick skillet over medium heat, add the olive oil and heat for 30 seconds. You don’t want the pan to get too hot or you run the risk of burning the skin before it gets crisp.

Toss in the chicken skin in a single layer—you should hear a sizzle when the pieces hit the oil. Pan-fry each piece for about 3 minutes on each side, until golden brown. Use tongs to transfer the crisp chicken skin pieces to a paper towel–lined plate and let them cool briefly. Like bacon, they will crisp even further as they cool. Once cool, break or chop into small pieces.

Add the diced thighs to the hot pan and coat with oil/ fat in the pan, add 2 tbsp peanut sauce, stir to blend in and cook until chicken is warmed through, 1-2 minutes.

Assemble bowl with quinoa, vegetables, cilantro, cashews & eggs around the sides. Add chicken to the middle, sprinkle with crispy skin and serve 1/4 cup of peanut sauce with each bowl.

Pour sauce over bowl, toss to combine an enjoy!

Peanut Sauce

Ingredients:
  • 1/2 cup peanut butter
  • 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons avocado oil 
  • 2 tablespoons lime juice
  • 2-3 tablespoons sambal oelek (add to spice preference)
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • small piece of fresh ginger, peeled
  • 1 clove of fresh garlic, peeled
  • 1/4 cup of water
Preparation

Blend all the sauce ingredients together in a small blender or food processor until smooth and creamy.

Prep Time: 5 mins

Makes: 1 1/2 cups (6 x 1/4 cup servings)

A colourful chicken grain bowl with peanut sauce, boiled eggs and veggies.

This Chicken Grain Bowl recipe was made with the thighs from my Sheet Pan Lemon Honey Chicken with Rosemary & Tarragon recipe that was developed in partnership with Chicken Farmers of Canada. Opinions in this post are my own. 

Sheet Pan Lemon Honey Chicken with Rosemary & Tarragon

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Large sheet pan with twenty chicken thighs on top of a variety of roasted vegetables.

Making extra chicken to use for the next day’s lunches or dinner is an easy way to take the stress out of weekday meal prep. This Sheet Pan Lemon Honey Chicken with Rosemary & Tarragon recipe is one of the easiest ways to make delicious tender chicken, while you go about your routine and let the magic happen on just one pan. The vegetables, rosemary and tarragon add even more amazing flavor to the dish, and the steam helps to create a lovely sauce at the bottom of the pan! Make a pot of rice and serve everything over the rice to sop up the delicious juices!

Ingredients
  • 10 Chicken Thighs – Raised by a Canadian Farmer
  • 2 teaspoons lemon zest
  • 4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 4 tablespoons local honey
  • 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  • 6 sprigs rosemary
  • 6 shallots, halved
  • ½ red onion sliced
  • 10-12 medium carrots (heirloom if available)
  • A handful of cherry tomatoes
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • Salt & pepper
  • 4 sprigs of tarragon – small tender leaves left whole and larger leaves chopped
Preparation

Combine the lemon zest, lemon juice, honey, Dijon mustard, garlic, ½ teaspoon pepper and 1 teaspoon salt. Add the chicken thighs to a resealable bag and pour in the marinade. Seal the bag and massage the chicken with the marinade to coat well. Marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes or up to 4 hours in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Remove the chicken from the refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking.

Add the carrots, onions, shallots & rosemary, to a sheet pan that just holds everything (not to big as the chicken should sit on top of the vegetables). Drizzle with the oil and season with salt & pepper. Toss well to coat. Spread the vegetables evenly over the bottom of the pan. Place the chicken pieces on top of the vegetables allowing the marinade to drip off into the bag before adding to the pan. Add remaining marinade to a small pot, bring to a boil, turn off and set aside.

A sheet pan of veggies and chicken thighs ready to go into the oven

Bake chicken & vegetables for 25 minutes, then baste with reserved marinade. Add the tomatoes to the sheet pan and return to the oven. Cook for an additional 20 – 25 minutes until chicken is golden brown and cooked to 165 degrees F. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with the tarragon, and allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving with the softened vegetables.

Close up photo of a sheet pan of chicken thights with rosemary, taragon and veggies.

This Sheet Pan Lemon Honey Chicken with Rosemary & Tarragon recipe was developed in partnership with Chicken Farmers of Canada who uphold quality standards we can trust! Opinions in this post are my own.