30-minute meal: Stir-fried chicken and vegetables smothered in a sweet-spicy teriyaki sauce and served over coconut rice.
Sweet Teriyaki Chicken Rice Bowl
Busy lives and busy families need quick meals! On some days dinner-time comes too fast, so this 30-minute meal can rescue the day; the Sweet Teriyaki Chicken Rice Bowl is the answer!
With the rice cooking, mix together the ingredients for the sweet-spicy teriyaki sauce and thicken on the stove. Chop the chicken and vegetables to prepare for the stir fry. Add coconut milk to the cooked rice and let it continue to warm while you fry the chicken and then the vegetables.
Build your dinner bowl by starting with coconut rice, topped with stir fried chicken and vegetables, then generously drizzle it all with a sweet-spicy teriyaki sauce and sprinkle with shredded coconut, green onions, and fresh pineapple.
Dinner served. Quick, healthy and delicious!
Ingredients for the Sweet Teriyaki Chicken Rice Bowl
Coconut Rice
I really enjoy making coconut rice with my already cooked white rice in the Instant Pot. I have tried making regular white rice with coconut milk instead of water and my rice becomes very sticky and often burns on the bottom of the pot.
Instead, I just make white rice, the normal way. Then I quick release on my Instant Pot as soon as the rice has finished. I add the coconut milk and a tiny bit of sugar. Then, stir the milk and sugar into the rice until it is completely incorporated. Put the lid back on the Instant Pot and let the coconut rice continue to warm until you are ready to serve dinner.
Sweet-Spicy Teriyaki Sauce
This Sweet-Spicy Teriyaki Sauce is medium spicy. There are options to make this Teriyaki Sauce mild also. No worries!
This Teriyaki Sauce uses the typical ingredients, with a few changes…
- Brown sugar: I like the use of brown sugar instead of granulated sugar for a more robust flavor.
- Soy sauce: You can use regular soy sauce, low sodium soy sauce, tamari sauce, or even coconut aminos.
- Honey: Yes! This adds another dimension to the flavor.
- Fresh Minced Garlic and Fresh Grated Ginger: Fresh instead of dried really makes a huge difference. Don’t take the shortcut here. You will be glad you bought the fresh stuff!
- Asian chili garlic sauce: Here’s where the “spicy” comes in. It’s not super spicy, but I would say it’s medium spicy. This ingredient is found in the Asian Food Section of the grocery store. It’s right next to the Sweet Thai Chili Sauce, which is your substitute for a less spicy option. If you still want a little spice, but mild instead of medium, use Sweet Thai Chili Sauce. If you don’t want spicy at all, leave this ingredient out completely.
- Cornstarch: This is my preferred way to thicken an Asian-style sauce.
Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry
- Boneless, skinless chicken: Cut the chicken into small cubes or thin strips so it will stir-fry faster.
- Coconut oil: Not only is this a healthy oil to cook with, it tastes amazing with this chicken.
- Salt and Pepper: Definitely adds some flavor to the chicken while you are frying it. You could also add a couple of shakes of onion powder and garlic powder. The chicken would taste wonderful! Keep it simple since the Sweet-Spicy Teriyaki Sauce will be the star of the show.
The Vegetables:
Use any combination of the following vegetables to make your stir fry. Mix and match your favorites or just use the vegetables you happen to have in your refrigerator!
- Onion
- Sweet bell peppers
- Mushrooms
- Celery
- Carrots
- Zucchini
- Yellow squash
- Broccoli
- Green or Savoy Cabbage
In preparing the vegetables, chop them small so they stir fry/steam in 1-3 minutes. As the stir-fried chicken is almost finished (slightly pink), add the vegetables that take longest to cook: onion, peppers, mushrooms, celery, chopped carrots (if shredded, add later). Cook for 1-2 minutes or until the onions are starting to be tender. Add the second group of vegetables to the fry pan: shredded carrots, zucchini, yellow squash, broccoli, and thinly cut cabbage. Let fry/steam for 1 minute, or until the broccoli darkens in color.
The Garnish:
- Fresh pineapple
- Green onions
- Shredded coconut
- Toasted sesame seeds
- Siracha sauce: If you are wanting a little more spicy heat!
Create the bowl in this order:
- Add coconut rice to bottom of the bowl.
- Add stir fry chicken and veggies.
- Generously drizzle with Teriyaki sauce.
- Garnish with pineapple, shredded coconut, green onions, toasted sesame seeds, and Siracha (optional).
Enjoy this quick dinner with an Asian flair!
–Kim
Sweet Teriyaki Chicken Rice Bowl
Ingredients
Coconut Rice:
- 2 cups uncooked white rice
- 2 cups water
- 1 can (14 oz) coconut milk
- ½ Tablespoon sugar
Sweet-Spicy Teriyaki Sauce
- 1 cup water
- 5 Tablespoons packed brown sugar
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 1-2 Tablespoons honey
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
- 2 teaspoons Asian chili garlic sauce optional – see recipe notes
- 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry
- 1-2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken cut into small cubes
- 2 Tablespoons coconut oil
Any combination of the following vegetables:
- 1 small onion sliced long and thin
- 2 sweet bell peppers cubed
- 4-5 small mushrooms sliced thin or cubed
- 3 celery stalks sliced
- 4 large carrots peeled and grated
- 1 zucchini cubed
- 1 yellow squash cubed
- 1 ½ cups broccoli chopped small
- ½-1 cup green or savoy cabbage sliced thin or shredded
Garnish:
- 1 cup fresh pineapple cut small
- 1-2 stalks green onion sliced thin
- shredded coconut
- toasted sesame seeds
- Siracha Sauce for more spicy heat
Instructions
Coconut Rice:
- Add 2 cups rice to Instant Pot bowl. Rinse rice until the water runs clear. Add 2 cups water.
- Place lid on instant pot and press RICE setting for 12 minutes.
- Quick release when complete.
- To the rice add: coconut milk and sugar. Stir to combine well with the rice.
- Return lid to Instant Pot and let warm until ready to serve.
Teriyaki Sauce:
- While rice is cooking make the following sauce:
- In a medium saucepan, combine 1 cup water, brown sugar, soy sauce, honey, garlic, ginger, chili garlic sauce, and cornstarch. Whisk on medium-high heat until dissolved and thickened to your desired thickness. If the sauce becomes too thick, add more water to thin it out.
- Remove from heat and let sit until stir fry is complete.
Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry:
- Prepare chicken and vegetables for stir fry: Cut chicken into small cubes, set aside. Slice onion long and thin, peel and grate carrots, cube or chop all other vegetables so they are in small portions for faster cooking. Set veggies aside.
- Add chicken to large fry pan with coconut oil. Stir fry on high heat until chicken is slightly pink, about 4-5 minutes.
- Add vegetables that take longer to cook: onion, peppers, celery, mushrooms and continue to stir fry for 2 minutes or until onion is tender.
- Add other vegetables: shredded carrots, zucchini, summer squash, broccoli, cabbage. Stir fry until broccoli has darkened and still a little crunchy, 1-2 minutes.
- Remove from heat.
Create the bowl in this order:
- Add coconut rice to bottom of the bowl.
- Add stir fry chicken and veggies.
- Generously drizzle with Teriyaki sauce.
- Garnish with pineapple, green onions, shredded coconut, toasted sesame seeds, and Siracha (optional for more spicy heat)
Notes
