Chicken Parmesan Rice Bowls

Will. It. Rice bowl? Of course! Anything can become a rice bowl! I took a few of our favorite flavors and turned them into a very quick rice bowl. Rice bowls are filling from the rice, with protein from the chicken, and a big veggie serving.

Chicken Parm Rice Bowl - The Three Bite Rule

This would be great with risotto or orzo but I had leftover brown rice so I went with that. If by chance you don’t love arugula as much as I do, sautéed veggies or roasted broccoli or any veg!

Chicken Parmesan Rice Bowls
Ingredients: (for 2)

1 1/2 cups prepared rice (or other grain)
4 tablespoons parmesan cheese
4 chicken tenders or ~8 chicken chunks
1/2 cup tomato sauce
2 cups arugula
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella
1/4 cup fresh mozzarella

Directions:
Cook or warm the rice and stir in 1/2 the parmesan.
Cook the chicken (mine was airfried).

Top the chicken with sauce and shredded mozzarella. Return to the oven/airfryer/toaster oven to melt the cheese.
Toss the arugula with Italian dressing or oil & vinegar.
Assemble the bowls with rice in the bottom and top with chicken, fresh mozzarella, arugula, and sprinkle remaining parmesan on top.
Enjoy!

Chicken Parm Rice Bowl - The Three Bite Rule

This is really good and nicely filling. I love the melty cheese with the chicken, and the fresh arugula with a little bit of dressing adds brightness.

Some of our other fav grain bowls are:
Pineapple Coconut Rice Bowls
Winter Veggie Grain Bowls
Chicken, Bacon, & Avocado with Honey Mustard

Chicken Cordon Bleu Grain Bowl

The classic crispy thin chicken rolled around ham and swiss gets a weeknight makeover in this grain bowl. I included all the usuals but in a very assemble your own rice bowl. This was a hit for everyone, and the kids can go either way on rice lately. Cordon bleu translates to blue ribbon so let’s all agree these flavors are winners.

Of course, pounded/breaded/fried chicken cutlets made at home would be better, and a subtle and from scratch sauce would be lovely, but this is the speedy way!

Chicken Cordon Bleu Grain Bowls
Ingredients: (for ~4)

1 1/2 cups arborio rice (or any grain you like)
2 cups chicken broth (as needed for your rice/grain)
~3 cups breaded chicken – chopped or popcorn style
~4 slices of deli ham
~4 slices of swiss cheese
~1 cup arugula (or green beans or broccoli or other veg as you like)
2 teaspoons mayo
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon water
salt & pepper

Directions:
Cook the rice/grain. My risotto takes 7 minutes in the pressure cooker.
Cook the chicken, again according to the package if fully cooked or not.
Chop the ham, cheese, and arugula.
Mix together the mayo, dijon, and water to a dressing consistency and sprinkle in salt & pepper.

Assemble the bowls with rice as the base with rice, ham, cheese, greens, chicken and finish with a drizzle of the mustardy sauce.
Enjoy!

I was pretty jazzed that everyone was into it. I don’t think either kid opted for any of the mustard sauce but it always means something for everyone – each kid ate some of everything and one kid was very into the chicken and the other was all about the ham and cheese. I’ll take it.

Grain bowls are such the perfect meal for me and I have more in mind! Some other favorites are veggie burger ones & a chicken BLT one & a chipotle shrimp one & others. That reminds me, this winter veggie grain bowl needs to be added to my meal plan ASAP!

Chicken, Bacon & Ranch Meatballs

These are tried and true flavors in our house so they became meatballs! They’re balanced and not overwhelming in the bacon or ranch flavors.

We had them with mashed potatoes and brussels sprouts. The big guy discovered as mastery in pealing and is ready for anything with a peal-able skin.

Chicken, Bacon & Ranch Meatballs
Ingredients:

16 oz ground chicken
1 egg
~2-3 strips of bacon, cooked, chopped and fully cooled
2 teaspoons ranch powder
1 garlic clove, minced/1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
salt & pepper
oil for frying

Directions:
Preheat a large skillet to low-medium heat.
Mix together the ground chicken, egg, bacon, ranch, garlic, breadcrumbs, and salt & pepper.

Raise the temperature for the skillet to medium and add vegetable oil.
Preheat the oven to 350-degrees.
Form into balls and gently pan fry for about 3 minutes on each side.
Keep warm in the oven to finish cooking, check that the internal temperature gets to >165 degrees.

Enjoy!

We liked this meal. With 3 items it usually is safe to assume the kids will like 2 out of 3, which is good enough. The little girl always likes meatballs so she was into those the most. The big guy was the one who asked for brussels sprouts and he made the mashed potatoes so those two were his fav!

Mexican Chicken Salad

This is the perfect use of leftovers from taco night. I mixed up shredded chicken with part mayo and part avocado before adding corn and black beans. Customize it with any add ins from the leftovers!

It is great scooped up with chips or on a roll! It even keeps pretty well.

Mexican Chicken Salad
Ingredients: (for 2 servings)

1 1/2 cups shredded chicken
1 small avocado
2 tablespoons mayo
1 teaspoon taco seasoning
1/4 cup corn
1/4 cup black beans

Directions:
Mix together the chicken, avocado, mayo, and taco seasoning. Gently mix in the corn and black beans.

Serve with tortilla chips or on a bun. Top with pickled onions or jalapeños or cilantro or tomatoes and spice it up as you like.

This was so good. I refrigerated a portion to see how it was the next day – survey says: yup! It was good! I squeezed some lime to wake it up and loosen it up. The avocado isn’t the same green the next day, but the whole thing didn’t look as sad as old guac.

Honey Mustard Lettuce Wraps

This is so so easy, and we all can use some easy ones, right? I will preface that the kids were meh on this but I attribute that to being ohh-so-tired after a busy day at the playground and meeting friends at the pool.

The Three Bite Rule - Honey Mustard Lettuce Wraps

There are all the ways in the world to customize this. I mostly see lettuce wraps with sesame/teriyaki flavors and wanted something totally different. These are honey mustard and pickles. Ranch and bacon would of course be crowd pleasers here. Caesar and cukes would be fun too!

Honey Mustard Lettuce Wraps
Ingredients (serves 4):

24 oz package Popcorn Chicken (or any breaded chicken cut up)
1 head bibb lettuce
1/4 cup honey mustard dressing
1/4 cup pickles (I did some with bread & butter pickles & some with dill pickles)
1 small tomato
additional toppings: avocado, cheese, pickled onions

Directions:
Cook the chicken according to the package (mine needed 18 minutes in the air fryer)

The Three Bite Rule - Honey Mustard Lettuce Wraps

While the chicken in cooking, chop the pickles and tomatoes to become a relish.
Allow the chicken to cool a bit just to a not-hot temp.
Toss the chicken in about half the dressing.
Assemble the lettuce wraps with chicken, pickle topping, more dressing if desired, and any other toppings!
Enjoy!

The Three Bite Rule - Honey Mustard Lettuce Wraps

If it is hard for little hands, use a tortilla instead, or put the whole thing inside a tortilla. I chopped the chicken into bite-size pieces for the kids.

I’d totally make these again. Maybe another day or another flavor would work as a dinner when the stars align. I don’t count them out one time. These are so easy that these could also be a quick lunch or a solo-dinner as you can make as much or as little as you need. I’m on my way to make another version to be my lunch today!