Thai Chicken Buddha Bowls
Healthy, hearty and nutritious bowls filled with whole grains, plenty of veggies, and a simple peanut sauce that is absolutely to die for!
I’m trying to detox here post-Paris.
I started with the green detox smoothie and now, I’m staying strong with these buddha bowls.
Now you might ask, what exactly is a buddha bowl? There seems to be a million definitions but this is what I came across.
Buddha bowls, sometimes referred to as glory or hippie bowls, are hearty, filling dishes made of various greens, raw or roasted veggies, beans and a healthy grain like quinoa or brown rice. It’s essentially a hearty bowl filled with nutrients and vitamins that aid in weight loss and/or overall health.
So that’s exactly what we have here, guys.
- Whole grain: farro
- Protein: chicken
- Vegetables: kale, cabbage, bean sprouts, carrots
- Bonus: best peanut sauce ever
There’s plenty of goodies for you here. Farro is a far superior whole grain with more protein and fiber (than say, brown rice) and we have a rainbow of veggies here, which basically means, the more colors we have, the more nutrients we’re getting.
But really, the point to remember is this.
The peanut sauce here is absolute LIFE. That is all.
Thai Chicken Buddha Bowls
Ingredients
- 1 cup farro
- ¼ cup chicken stock
- 1 ½ tablespoons sambal oelek, ground fresh chile paste
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 shallot, minced
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 cups shredded kale
- 1 ½ cups shredded purple cabbage
- 1 cup bean sprouts
- 2 carrots, peeled and grated
- ½ cup fresh cilantro leaves
- ¼ cup roasted peanuts
For the spicy peanut sauce
- 3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
- 1 tablespoon reduced sodium soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons dark brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons sambal oelek, ground fresh chile paste
Instructions
- To make the spicy peanut sauce, whisk together peanut butter, lime juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, sambal oelek and 2-3 tablespoons water in a small bowl; set aside.
- Cook farro according to package instructions; set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together chicken stock, sambal oelek, brown sugar and lime juice; set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine chicken, cornstarch and fish sauce, tossing to coat and letting the chicken absorb the cornstarch.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken and cook until golden, about 3-5 minutes. Add garlic, shallot and ginger, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in the chicken stock mixture until slightly thickened, about 1 minute; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Divide farro into bowls. Top with chicken, kale, cabbage, bean sprouts, carrots, cilantro and peanuts.
- Serve with spicy peanut sauce.
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
Can you use almond butter to mitigate a peanut allergy?
Yes, absolutely.
This looks great! I really like the visual appeal of a purple, green and orange combination of veggies so I make a few things that combine purple cabbage, shredded carrots and something green (could be spinach, other type of greens or cucumber depending on whether it is a hot dish or a salad). I never notice fish sauce smelling up the house when I cook, but my windows are open all year so that might make a difference. I agree with the reader who asked for more Buddha bowls. They are so great for packing as lunches to work. And I love trying alternatives to rice or wheat based noodles like farro, millet, etc. Thanks so much for this recipe.
Hi! Love your website and recipes. Quick question, what fish sauce do you prefer? The one I bought was not particularly good. Thank you!
I typically use Thai Kitchen since that’s the only brand my grocery store carries. Hope that helps, Robin!
Literally just finished eating this for the first time today. Soooo good! I followed the recipe exactly (except I forgot to put the cilantro on today). The peanut sauce is delicious. Definitely a keeper.
This was great! TY
Could the farro and peanut sauce be made ahead of time?
Yes. Just use your best judgement when it comes to food storage and shelf life.
To he a buddha bowl it should be animal-free… that is the most common definition of a buddha bowl, buddhism is vegan itself. I love buddha bowls and will make it with “fake chicken” because we are vegan, I am no offended that you used chicken, but it shouldnt be named “Buddha”.
Is the sauce pretty spicy? I want to make this but my kids won’t eat anything spicy. If it is spicy, is there any substitution that would make it less spicy? Thanks!
The sauce has a little bit of spice but you can reduce or omit the sambal oelek as needed. Hope that helps!
The first time I made this I did NOT have the sambal open so I substituted sriracha sauce making it much less spicy but still delicious. Today I made it according to directions and it is spicy. Perfect for me but maybe too spicy for kids. I expect it’s not too spicy with the substitution
Did you toss your kale with any sort of dressing? It looks shiny in the pictures, suggestive of some type of dressing. Thanks!
I did not actually – it’s just a spritz of water for photographic purposes. 🙂
Did you all serve the peanut sauce on top or on the side?
Either/or works!
Made this tonight and it tasted great! The fish sauce stunk up the whole house though. Any recommendations for getting the smell out ? But the recipe really got my busband and me to eat a lot of veggies. Keep the Buddha bowls coming!
Glad you enjoyed the recipe! Other than airing out the house a few times, I don’t have any special tricks to get the smell out. Closing all doors while cooking to keep the smell out of certain areas would be my only other trick. But that depends on how your kitchen is set up of course. Hope that helps!
I loved this recipe! Any suggestions to thin out the peanut dressing? My dressing was really thick but tasted great.
A little bit of water should do the trick!
All I can say is WOAH! We had this last night for dinner and it was so tasty!
The peanut sauce is the perfect compliment to the chicken and there was so much flavor in the dish. Thank you so much for sharing this delicious recipe!
I also had quinoa on hand and substituted that for the farro. These bowls were filling, delicious, and healthy. The chicken and peanut sauce have a great taste. It is exciting to know that such delicious and interesting flavors can be made with simple ingredients that you have at home and without the unhealthy additives. A wonderful, bright meal for the dreary days of January. Thanks for a great recipe.
I loved this! I added even more veggies! Corn, radishes, broccoli stems! The peanut sauce was SO tasty! Thank you for this recipe!
We picked up the ingredients yesterday and made these tonight. You are right, the peanut sauce is amazing!
The only thing we changed was that we used quinoa in plane of farro. Thank you for a fresh and delicious dinner recipe.
Buddha bowls are the best ideas ever. I like lots of variety and flavours and this way, we can have it all in one bowl. So pretty to look at too.
Absolutely wonderful! Thank you for such a delicious recipe!
looks great! do you think red chili paste and sambal oelek would be interchangeable? i use so little of it that i don’t want to have both on hand, and i already have red chili paste. i’m going to add this to next week’s meal prep for lunches. 🙂 thanks!
You can substitute Sriracha if you prefer!
I ended up subbing fish sauce with Worcestershire. It worked great! I will be adding this recipe in to my rotation. While it looks like a lot of ingredients , most of them I already had in my kitchen and there is down time while the Farro cooks so it comes together in no time! Thank you for sharing this dish!
What is the nutritional value for the peanut sauce please ! It all looks divine x
The nutritional info is now added. Thank you for your patience!