Quick and Easy Ratatouille Chicken Bowls

I created these Ratatouille Chicken Bowls as part of a sponsored post for Wish-Bone and Tyson. All thoughts and opinions are my own, as is the recipe for this one-bowl wonder.

As a mom, I am always looking for easy ways to pull together healthy meals that my kids will want to eat. I have found that Buddha Bowls work well for a quick and easy dinner or a simple lunch on the go.

What is a Buddha Bowl?  It is a bowl that is packed so full of food that it has a rounded “belly” appearance on the top much like the belly of a Buddha. Only I don't want my family to acquire bellies eating these easy one-bowl wonders, so I make sure that vegetables make up at least half of the contents of my Buddha bowls.

My youngest son is a pretty picky eater, but I have found that I can get him to try more vegetables if he is actively involved in picking them out with me at the grocery store and helping me prepare them at home. Our local Smith's Food & Drug has an amazing produce section and he has lots of fun helping me find and choose the vegetables that I need for our meals.

Picking the veggies may inspire my son to try them, especially if he helped me wash them and cut them up, but he needs a little more incentive to eat them in any sizeable quantity. It turns out that Wish-Bone EVOO Garlic and Basil Dressing is a pretty effective incentive! My entire family loves the flavor of this dressing, so I cooked the vegetables for the Ratatouille Buddha Bowls in it to make them extra flavorful. I discovered this dressing beside the classic Wish-Bone Italian salad dressing in my grocery store.

While I might like to load my kids up with veggies, my boys definitely want some meat in their Buddha Bowls! I keep Tyson Grilled Chicken Breast Strips on hand for busy nights. You can find them in the freezer section of your Kroger store. The chicken strips are already cooked, so all you have to do is thaw what you need, and add them to a dish. You can thaw the chicken strips in the microwave, but I like to thaw them in a skillet. To add extra flavor to my Ratatouille Chicken Bowls, I cooked the Tyson Grilled Chicken Strips in a skillet with a couple of tablespoons of Wish-Bone EVOO Garlic and Basil Dressing.

Ratatouille Chicken Bowls Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup diced red onion
• 1/4 cup + 3 tablespoons Wish-Bone EVOO Garlic and Basil Dressing, divided
• 1/2 cup diced bell pepper
• 1 small Japanese eggplant, diced
• 1 small zucchini, diced
• 1 small yellow squash, diced
• 2 Roma tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 cup baby portabella mushrooms, diced
• 11 ounces Frozen Tyson Grilled Chicken Breast Strips (approximately half of the 22-ounce bag)
• 3 cups cooked brown rice
• 1/4 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Add diced onion and 1 tablespoon Wish-Bone EVOO Garlic and Basil Dressing to a skillet. Saute until the onion is tender, approximately 3 minutes. 
2. Add the bell pepper, eggplant, zucchini, squash, mushrooms, and tomatoes to the skillet. Drizzle 1/4 cup of Wish-Bone EVOO Garlic and Basil Dressing over the vegetables. Cook over a medium flame until fork tender, approximately 10 minutes. 
3. Remove the vegetables from the skillet and set aside.
4. Add the frozen chicken and 2 tablespoons Wish-Bone EVOO Garlic and Basil Dressing to the skillet (Don't rinse the skillet first. The flavors from the vegetables and dressing will flavor the chicken). Cook over a medium flame until the chicken strips are heated through, approximately 5 minutes. 

How to Serve Ratatouille Chicken Bowls:

1. Place 1/2 cup of cooked brown rice in the bowl.
2. Layer with 1 cup of ratatouille.
3. Top with chicken slices.
4. Sprinkle cheese over the top of each Ratatouille Chicken Bowl.

If you double this recipe, you can make 4 – 6 lunches in addition to dinner for your family! That is either a week of lunches for one person or a day of lunches for everyone in your family. However you choose to divide the bowls, it is an easy way to create make-ahead lunches.

How To Make Ratatouille Chicken Bowl Lunches to Go:

You will need lidded containers or wide mouth jars that will hold 2 cups of food.

1. Place 1/2 cup of rice in each container.
2. Top with 1/3 cup of chicken.
3. Spoon 1 cup of the cooked Ratatouille over the chicken strips.
4. Sprinkle cheese over the top.
5. Seal the containers and refrigerate.
6. To serve, remove the lid. Place a paper towel over the top. Heat for 1 minute in a microwave. Handle the container with care as it may be hot.

Printable Recipe for Ratatouille Chicken Bowls

Quick and Easy Ratatouille Chicken Bowls

 

Print

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

10 mins

Total time

20 mins

 

Chicken Strips and Ratatouille layered over rice and seasoned with Garlic and Basil Salad Dressing

Author: Alea

Recipe type: Main

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• ½ cup diced red onion
• ¼ cup + 3 tablespoons Wish-Bone EVOO Garlic and Basil Dressing, divided
• ½ cup diced bell pepper
• 1 small Japanese eggplant, diced
• 1 small zucchini, diced
• 1 small yellow squash, diced
• 2 Roma tomatoes, diced
• ½ cup baby portabella mushrooms, diced
• 11 ounces Frozen Tyson Grilled Chicken Breast Strips (approximately half of the 22-ounce bag)
• 3 cups cooked brown rice
• ¼ cup shredded Mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. Add diced onion and 1 tablespoon Wish-Bone EVOO Garlic and Basil Dressing to a skillet. Saute until the onion is tender, approximately 3 minutes.
2. Add the bell pepper, eggplant, zucchini, squash, mushrooms, and tomatoes to the skillet. Drizzle ¼ cup of Wish-Bone EVOO Garlic and Basil Dressing over the vegetables. Cook over a medium flame until fork tender, approximately 10 minutes.
3. Remove the vegetables from the skillet and set aside.
4. Add the frozen chicken and 2 tablespoons Wish-Bone EVOO Garlic and Basil Dressing to the skillet (Don't rinse the skillet first. The flavors from the vegetables and dressing will flavor the chicken). Cook over a medium flame until the chicken strips are heated through, approximately 5 minutes.

How to Serve Ratatouille Chicken Bowls:

1. Place ½ cup of cooked brown rice in the bowl.
2. Layer with 1 cup of ratatouille.
3. Top with chicken slices.
4. Sprinkle cheese over the top of each Ratatouille Chicken Bowl.

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There are a variety of flavors of Tyson Grilled Chicken Breast Strips as wells as several flavors of Wish-Bone EVOO dressing, allowing you to easily create a wide variety of One-Bowl Wonders for your family! Let me know what Chicken Bowl you create for your family.