This Buffalo Chicken and Broccoli Meal Prep is a simple but incredibly flavorful make-ahead lunch, full of buffalo marinated chicken breast and tender broccoli florets. Makes a perfect work lunch or a quick and easy weeknight dinner!
You know I love buffalo chicken lunches (like my buffalo chicken salad or buffalo chicken meatballs), so here’s another to add to the list. I’ve been working on a super basic, reliable, and easy to make buffalo chicken bowl that’s something other than chicken, celery and carrots. Here she is!
This dish looks pretty basic, and I’m not gonna lie, it is. But sometimes, that’s what meal prep is about. Making the basics delicious and reliable, so you can keep them in your rotation and come back whenever you need.
A little bit of marination helps keep this chicken breast tender and juicy. The rest of the marinade is the cooking sauce for later. I love serving it all over some white rice for a delicious and filling meal.
What are the ingredients in this Buffalo Chicken and Broccoli Meal Prep?
This recipe uses chicken breast, broccoli, and a combo of pantry items to make a flavorful and filling meal prep lunch. Here are all the ingredients I used along with a little more information:
- boneless skinless chicken breasts – I used one package of chicken breasts that was about 1 1/4 pounds total. If yours is slightly more or less, that’s okay too.
- buffalo sauce – I always use Frank’s!
- avocado oil – This is my preferred cooking oil. Half goes into the marinade while the other half is reserved for cooking the chicken.
- honey – To balance the heat, I use some honey in the sauce. I found that one tablespoon wasn’t enough, but two was too sweet.
- white vinegar – This is our acid which helps break down the chicken fibers and tenderize the chicken. Even just 30 minutes helps this method work!
- garlic powder, onion powder & smoked paprika – This helps bring more depth of flavor to the chicken other than just heat from the peppers of the buffalo sauce.
- fresh ground black pepper & fine sea salt – Cooking essentials! The salt and pepper help add flavor to the chicken when marinating and cooking.
- rice of choice + cooking liquid – My preference is to cook jasmine rice in chicken broth in my Instant Pot, but you can use whatever method of cooking rice you prefer, or follow the box directions. Remember, using broth gives you more flavor than just using water.
- broccoli florets – You’ll need about 4 cups of broccoli florets for this recipe, which is about one medium head of broccoli.
- garnish: I enjoy this meal with no garnish but I also loved it with some Ranch dressing and green onions on top. I think it would also be really good with some melted cheese!
How do you make this Buffalo Chicken and Broccoli Meal Prep?
There are only a few simple steps to go from ingredients to meal prep lunches in less than an hour! Here’s how it goes: make the sauce and marinate the chicken, start the rice, cook the chicken and broccoli, then put it together.
For making sauces like this one, I like to pour everything into a mason jar and shake it up. This is easier for me than stirring and I like how mess-free it is. If you don’t have any mason jars, a bowl and whisk will work just fine.
Add all of the sauce ingredients to your mason jar (be sure to reserve 1 tablespoon of oil) and give it a few good shakes until it’s all the way mixed.
Add the cut chicken pieces to a medium bowl and then drizzle about half of the sauce over the chicken. Mix it together until all the chicken is coated in sauce.
Cover it and let the chicken marinate for at least 30 minutes. Put the chicken in the fridge if you’re planning to let it sit for any longer than that.
While the chicken is marinating, I like the prep the broccoli and start the rice cooking. I like to look for a small to medium sized head of broccoli, which should make about 4 cups of florets. Make sure they’re all about evenly sized.
After the 30 minutes is up, start cooking the chicken. Heat the remaining avocado oil in a large skillet or Dutch Oven over medium heat. Once hot, add all the chicken to the pan, spreading it into a single layer.
Let it cook undisturbed for about 5 minutes, until it begins to brown. If there’s a lot of liquid in the pan (it’s probably from the chicken, some brands can contain extra water), feel free to drain some of it off to help the chicken brown.
Stir and flip the chicken and again let it brown on the other sides as well. This should take another 3-5 minutes depending on your chicken size and temperature.
Once the chicken is cooked through (you can check by breaking open the biggest piece), add the broccoli and remaining sauce to the skillet and mix it up to disperse the sauce and coat the broccoli.
Let it cook for another 2-3 minutes, until the broccoli is bright green and barely fork tender. If you like your broccoli a little more tender, let it cook for another couple minutes, but keep a close watch. Remove the pan from the heat and let it cool slightly before you assemble the meal prep bowls.
Portion the cooked rice and buffalo chicken and broccoli into meal prep containers with lids and let them cool before placing into the refrigerator.
Best tips for making Buffalo Chicken and Broccoli Meal Prep:
Here are my tips for making the best Buffalo Chicken and Broccoli Meal Prep bowls:
- Don’t overcook the broccoli. I prefer my broccoli with a bit of texture and crunch instead of being all mushy! Since you’ll most likely be reheating this meal, it’s important to just barely cook the broccoli so it doesn’t overcook when it’s heated a second time.
- Don’t skip the marination time. A little time to sit lets the vinegar work it’s magic and helps make the chicken extra tender and juicy.
- Add toppings! This meal prep is kind of basic but adding toppings can elevate it to awesome. Anything you love with buffalo will work! Your favorite cheese, Ranch dressing, fresh herbs or onions.
- Double the sauce: If you like a saucier meal prep, feel free to double the sauce recipe and add more after cooking! It’s great with or without extra sauce in my opinion.
Can I use cauliflower instead of broccoli or a mix of both?
Yes! You’ll need about 4 cups total, but this can be made up of broccoli, cauliflower, or a mix of both.
Alternative customization ideas:
Here are a few ways you could customize this dish to your own tastes and preferences:
- Heat & sweet: This ratio of Frank’s and honey is how I liked it the most – a nice heat but also enough honey to balance it so you can eat a big portion without burning your whole mouth. But you can definitely add more buffalo sauce or honey to get it exactly how you like.
- Use cauliflower or a mix: You need about 4 cups of florets, but you can use broccoli or cauliflower!
- Toppings: The best way to customize this meal is to add your favorite toppings. Try melting some cheddar cheese on top or adding some blue cheese crumbles! I love adding a drizzle of Ranch dressing and some green onions.
- Add more veggies: Add some peas or sauté some onions and garlic in with the chicken!
Where do you get those containers?
It’s so important to have dependable containers for your meal prepped meals (see ALL my recommendations here!). Airtight, glass, freezer safe – those are some of my requirements.
For this meal, I used my 2 Compartment Glass Meal Prep Containers made by Prep Naturals. I got them on Amazon. These are my favorite containers for meal prep rice bowl style meals like this.
How do you meal prep this recipe?
This recipe makes delicious leftovers for lunch or dinner. There are also a couple different ways to do some prep and save time later if that’s your thing:
- Ingredient prep: Up to 12 hours ahead of time, you can make the sauce, cut and marinate the chicken, and cut the broccoli into florets. This will save you quite a chunk of time when you go to cook the chicken and broccoli.
- Prep for the week: Make the recipe as written, then portion the ingredients evenly into four meal prep containers and enjoy throughout the week. This is one of my favorite methods for this recipe.
- Make & freeze: Make the recipe as written, then portion into four individual servings using airtight containers or 2-cup Souper Cubes. Be sure to label and enjoy within 3 months for best quality (but will last longer if necessary.)
- Enjoy now & later: Prepare all the ingredients and make the recipe as written. Eat some for lunch or dinner right now, then save the rest in an airtight container and enjoy in the next 4 days.
Store these meal prep bowls in airtight containers with lids (such as the ones pictured, or something else like Pyrex!) and keep in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Portion into individual servings using airtight containers or Souper Cubes (transfer to another container if you want). Be sure to label and enjoy within 3 months for best quality (but will last longer if necessary.) For best results, thaw overnight before reheating.
Loosely cover the meal with the lid and microwave on High for 90 seconds to 2 minutes, or until it’s hot and steamy. This meal would also work well reheated in a HotLogic Mini Portable Oven – see my full review here!
If you want to add cheese, do it after cooking: add shredded cheese then put the lid on for a couple minutes to let the steam melt the cheese.
Want to Save this recipe for later?
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Buffalo Chicken and Broccoli Meal Prep
This Buffalo Chicken and Broccoli Meal Prep is a simple but incredibly flavorful make-ahead lunch, full of buffalo marinated chicken breast and tender broccoli florets. Makes a perfect work lunch or a quick and easy weeknight dinner!
- Total Time50 minutes
- Yield4 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup buffalo sauce (I love Frank’s!)
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil (divided)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1 1/4 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 16–20 ounces) cut into 1-inch or bite-sized pieces
-
1 1/4 cups uncooked rice of choice + cooking liquid
- 4 cups broccoli florets (about 1 medium head of broccoli)
- optional garnish: green onions, Ranch dressing, cheddar or blue cheese crumbles
Instructions
- Prep sauce & marinate: In a small mason jar with lid, combine buffalo sauce, 1 tablespoon avocado oil (reserve the rest for cooking), honey, white vinegar, garlic powder, sea salt, onion powder, smoked paprika and fresh ground black pepper. Put the lid on tightly and shake until well mixed (you can also use a bowl and whisk). To a medium mixing bowl, add the raw chicken breast pieces. Drizzle half of the sauce over the chicken breast and set the rest aside for later. Stir gently until the chicken is coated in sauce. Cover and let marinate for about 30 minutes (store in the fridge if marinating for any longer, up to 12 hours).
- Start the rice: While the chicken is marinating, start cooking the rice according to package directions, or method of choice. Feel free to reduce or increase the amount of rice to your liking. I use my Instant Pot to cook 1 1/4 cup dry white rice, which makes about 3 3/4 cups of cooked rice to divide between 4 meals. Once the rice is done, set aside to cool until the chicken and broccoli are done.
- Cook the chicken: In a large skillet or Dutch oven, heat 1 tablespoon avocado oil over medium heat. When hot, add the chicken to the skillet in an even layer. Let the chicken cook until browning (about 4-5 minutes), then flip pieces and cook for another 4 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked through (you can break the largest piece in half to check.)
- Add broccoli & sauce: Once the chicken is fully cooked, add the broccoli florets and the remaining sauce to the pan, then stir until the broccoli is coated with sauce. Continue to cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes until the broccoli is bright green and barely fork tender (add another 2-3 minutes cook time if you like more tender broccoli). Stir once more and remove the pan from the heat to cool.
- Meal prep it: Divide the rice and the buffalo chicken broccoli evenly between 4 meal prep containers. Garnish with green onions, ranch dressing, or any kind of cheese you want. Put the lids on and store for up to 4 days in the refrigerator, or up to 3 months in the freezer. To reheat, loosely cover the meal with the lid and microwave on High for 90 seconds to 2 minutes, or until it’s hot and steamy.
Notes
Sauce: The amount of sauce made in the recipe is just enough for cooking the chicken and broccoli. If you like it saucy, I recommend making a double batch of the sauce!
Total time includes 30 minutes of marinating time for the chicken. Nutrition information estimated with My Fitness Pal using jasmine rice with no toppings.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Lunches
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/4 of recipe
- Calories: 492
- Fat: 11g
- Carbohydrates: 57g
- Protein: 38g
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