Meal-prep chicken, rice and roasted vegetable boxes
55 min · 57 g protein · 495 cals / serving
The classic Sunday prep, done properly: smoky paprika-garlic chicken roasted until juicy, sheet pans of charred broccoli, peppers, zucchini, red onion and blistered cherry tomatoes, a pot of rice, and a tangy lemon-herb yogurt sauce in a little pot so nothing goes soggy. Cook once in an hour, and lunch is done for five days.
Ingredients
- 2 lb chicken breast
Chicken
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 1/2 tsp paprika, smoked
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Vegetables
- 1 2/3 lb (3 heads) broccoli, in florets
- 2 red bell peppers, in chunks
- 2 medium zucchini, in half-moons
- 1 large red onion, in wedges
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes, whole
- 2 tsp olive oil
Rice
- 1/2 cup brown rice
Lemon-herb sauce
- 1 2/3 cups nonfat Greek yogurt
- 4 tsp lemon juice
- 1 small clove garlic, grated
- 3 tbsp chopped fresh dill
- 3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Steps
- Heat the oven to 425°F. Pound the thick end of each chicken breast so they are even, then toss with the oil, lemon juice, paprika, garlic powder, oregano, salt and pepper. Leave it while you prepare the vegetables.
- Toss the broccoli, peppers, zucchini, onion and cherry tomatoes with the oil and a big pinch of salt and spread over two sheet pans so nothing is crowded.
- Cook the rice: in an electric pressure cooker with 2/3 cup water at HIGH pressure for 22 minutes with a 10-minute natural release, or in a pot according to the package.
- Lay the chicken on a third pan (or nestle it on the less crowded vegetable pan) and roast everything 20–25 minutes, swapping the pans halfway, until the vegetables are charred at the edges and the chicken reads 165°F. Rest the chicken 5 minutes, then slice.
- Stir together the yogurt, lemon juice, garlic, dill, parsley and a pinch of salt.
- Cool everything for 20 minutes (no longer than an hour), then divide the rice, vegetables and chicken among five containers, with the sauce in small separate pots.
Good to know
How long do they keep?
4 days in the fridge, so freeze the fifth box (without the sauce) and move it to the fridge the night before. Reheat a box loosely covered with a teaspoon of water sprinkled over the rice, 2–3 minutes until steaming all the way through, and add the cold sauce after.
Slow cooker chicken instead?
Put the seasoned chicken in the slow cooker with 1/2 cup broth on LOW 3–4 hours, then shred it into its juices. It stays very moist in the boxes; roast the vegetables in the oven as above.
Will the vegetables go soggy?
Not if they roast in a single layer until charred and cool uncovered before the lids go on; steam trapped while they are hot is what softens them.
Per
- Calories
- 87
- Protein
- (48%)
- 10 g
- Fat
- (20%)
- 2 g
- Carbohydrates
- (32%)
- 7 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 120 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 2476 kcal goes into the pot and 3388 g of ingredients comes out as about 2860 g of food: 87 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.