Mediterranean chicken and rice is one of my favorite easy meals to make. If you can shake seasonings up in a bag with liquid, and cook some chicken up in a pan you can make this meal. It's relatively low effort and is really tasty. The Variable sides section can be adjusted per your intake needs as well so this makes a good cut meal.
Total servings: 4
Prep time: 20 minutes | Marinade time: ~45 minutes | Cook time: 2 hours (rice), 15 minutes (chicken) | Total Time: 2 hours
Nutrition facts per meal (with sides): 1095 calories, 92g protein, 121g carbs, 25g fat
Required Equipment
Rice cooker (or not if you want to baby sit it)
large skillet
zip-top bags
meat thermometer
Main Ingredients
- chicken breast (raw) (2 lbs, approx 907g), (1496 calories, 281g protein, 0g carbs, 32g fat)
- lemon (2 per 2 lbs meat), (34 calories, 1g protein, 10g carbs, 0g fat)
- olive oil (1 tablespoon, approx 14g), (120 calories, 0g protein, 0g carbs, 14g fat)
- white vinegar (1 tablespoon) (negligible nutrition facts)
- coconut oil (1 tablespoon, approx 14g), (117 calories, 0g protein, 0g carbs, 14g fat)
- spices
- turmeric (1/2 tablespoon)
- garlic granules (1/4 tablespoon)
- onion granules (1/4 tablespoon)
- dried dill (1/4 tablespoon
- crushed red pepper (to your preference)
- cayenne pepper (1/4 teaspoon or to your preference)
- salt (1 teaspoon)
- pepper (1 teaspoon)
Nutrition total: 1766 calories, 282g protein, 10g carbs, 60g fat
Nutrition per meal: 442 calories, 70g protein, 3g carbs, 15g fat
Variable Sides
- brown rice (cooked) (10 cups, approx 1950g), (2160 calories, 50g protein, 450g carbs, 18g fat)
- Spicy greek yogurt sauce (455 calories, 40g protein, 21g carb, 22g fat)
- hummus (whatever your favorite brand is)
- pita bread
- assorted diced veggies
Nutrition total: 2615 calories, 89g protein, 471g carbs, 40g fat
Nutrition per meal: 654 calories, 22g protein, 118g carbs, 10g fat
Preparation Instructions
- Start cooking the brown rice, I recommend the mediterranean blend noted here:
- Juice the lemons.
- Add the lemon juice, olive oil, and vinegar to your zip-top bag.
- Add all spices, close the bag, and shake to combine.
- Trim chicken and place in bag, you may wish to pound chicken thin if especially thick.
- Make sure all of the chicken breasts are covered by the marinade. Place the bag in a large bowl, and place in the fridge to marinate for 1 hour.
- Once the brown rice is nearly done remove the chicken from the bag and dry on paper towels, pat dry any excess liquid.
- Heat a frying pan and add the coconut oil, once oil is hot add chicken breast.
- Cook until internal temperature of chicken is equal to 165 degrees.
- Let rest for 3 minutes, then dice into either strips or chunks, your choice.
- Plate the brown rice, and hummus (if eating), top with chicken, veggies and cover in the greek yogurt sauce
Tools Used
Pots and pans (Amazon Affiliate link)
Meat thermometer (Standard link)
Rice cooker (Amazon Affiliate link)
Please review my article on better brown rice prior to purchasing the above rice cooker if you want to have a lot of leftover rice.