Quick Honey-Chile Chicken Bowl: Trader Joe’s Recipe
This tangy-sweet, 4-ingredient rice bowl with mild Aleppo chiles is perfect for weeknights. No marinating necessary.
It’s 6 p.m. and you forgot to marinate the chicken (again). But you don’t panic. Because you know that this 4-ingredient rice bowl will still make you a weeknight hero.
It’s so simple but the flavors are complex: sweet, tangy and thyme-y with a gentle kick of heat. The sauce is barbecue-esque, but not as smoky or heavy.
You need less than 30 minutes of prep time, and the oven does most of the hard work for you. Grab a quick bagged salad from the fridge and you’ve got a complete, easy dinner in under an hour.
You can also serve this shredded chicken on burger buns with coleslaw or King’s Hawaiian rolls (YUM). It would be tasty in all kinds of wraps or salads. I like to make a rice bowl with black beans and a quick pico de gallo salsa.
This chicken keeps well in the fridge and is great for meal prep. Reheat the rice with a splash of water or ice cube, or by placing a wet paper towel on top of the bowl.
Watch Me Make This Recipe
Can’t see the video below? Watch it on Instagram.
Ingredients
- Chicken breasts
- Trader Joe’s Honey Aleppo Sauce
- Rice
Optional:
- Lemon
- Herbs, for garnish and flavor
The honey Aleppo sauce does the heavy lifting so you don’t have to fuss with so many ingredients. Let’s get into the specifics.
Trader Joe’s Honey Aleppo Sauce Ingredients
- Olive oil
- Honey
- Red wine vinegar
- Crushed Aleppo peppers
- Salt
- Dried Rosemary
- Dried Thyme
- Garlic Powder
Trader Joe’s Honey Aleppo Sauce Review
A good sauce can drastically improve any meal, and Trader Joe’s Honey Aleppo Sauce is no exception. Trader Joe’s bills this product as an “all-purpose sauce” that’s “sweet, savory, tangy, and slightly spicy,” and I concur.
The 10-ounce bottle will set you back $4. In a 2 tbsp.-serving, you’ll find 130 calories, 11 grams of fat and 260 milligrams of sodium.
There is quite a bit of olive oil in this stuff, if that matters to you. Be sure to shake well before using!
The sauce’s base is olive oil and honey, but 8 other simple ingredients are contained in this product. Among them are crushed Aleppo peppers, which are popular in the Middle East.
Aleppo papers are “about half as hot as crushed red chile flakes, but twice as flavorful,” according to Trader Joe’s. The Spice House describes these peppers as having notes of raisin, pomegranate and sun-dried tomato — the tomato flavor definitely came through for me.
I think this is a great sauce to keep in your cabinet for use on chicken, lamb, salmon or shrimp with fresh garlic or lemon.
Recipe Variation: Honey Aleppo Shrimp
Trader Joe’s published a shrimp recipe using this sauce and it’s super simple.
Take 1 lb. of thawed, frozen shrimp and place in a bowl with the sauce. Coat evenly, refrigerate for 10 minutes, then cook over medium heat for 5 to 10 minutes, or until shrimp are opaque.
Easy Honey Aleppo Chicken Bowl: Trader Joe’s Recipe
Equipment
- Baking dish
Ingredients
- 1.5 lb. chicken breasts boneless and skinless
- 1 jar of Trader Joe’s Honey Aleppo Sauce
- 3 c. uncooked rice type of your choice
Optional:
- juice of 1 lemon
- Herbs for garnish e.g. cilantro, chives, etc.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Prepare rice according to instructions on package. If using a rice cooker, use a rice-to-water ratio of 1:1.
- In a baking dish large enough to comfortably accommodate the meat, place chicken breasts inside. Salt and pepper chicken breasts on both sides. Take sharp knife and cut Xs into chicken. Pour entire bottle of sauce and (optional) lemon on top of the chicken.
- Bake for 30 minutes, or until chicken is fully cooked through.
- Remove chicken from the baking dish and place in a medium-sized bowl. Shred the chicken with forks. To make chicken saucier, spoon a generous amount of leftover liquid from the dish into bowl and stir until evenly distributed. Repeat to taste.
- Enjoy while hot with rice or on burger buns! Don't forget to rate this recipe.
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Honolulu girl obsessed with farmers markets, eating, seasonal ingredients, eating, writing and eating. Read more about me here and get new recipes from me every week @feedthesoulblog.
