A quick and easy way to a perfectly balanced dinner!
Sure, it’s easy to recognize a balanced meal when you see one. For example, this one. This Skinny Chicken and Roasted Potato Bowl is a perfectly balanced meal complete with meat, carbs, and veggies.
For some reason, however, actually putting together a balanced meal on your own is much more daunting. For someone who had a balanced, home cooked dinner every night as a kid, I felt inexplicably lost when it was finally my turn to start cooking my own meals.
In the earliest chapter of my adulthood, I was more than content to live off coffee, dry cereal, and popcorn. Unfortunately, the fulfillment of that childhood “I can eat whatever I want” fantasy wears off pretty quick. Eventually, I got tired of my apartment always smelling like popcorn and started to miss the comforting stability of real meals.
And that doesn’t include takeout.
How hard could it be right? My working mother came home every night and put together a delicious, balanced dinner for us. Surely I could do the same, right?
Wrong. Turns out, cooking a single meal really ends up meaning you’re cooking at least three things. My mother’s formula was simple: one part meat, one part starch or grain, one part veggie.
Really? You want me to cook three different things? Every night?
If you’re anything like me, this seemingly simple task is incredibly daunting. Not only do you have to cook three separate foods, but first you have to think of three separate foods to cook!
To make my meal planning efforts just a little more manageable, I started looking for full, three part meals in one recipe. This skinny chicken and roasted potato bowl puts all three items you need for a balanced meal into one recipe, and even overlaps the cooking process.
Complete with lean chicken in a savory barbecue sauce, roasted broccoli and potatoes, this skinny chicken and roasted potato bowl recipe is an easy way to a balanced, clean meal on even your busiest weeknights.
To start, simply toss together the potatoes, onions, olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, and chili powder. Spread in an even layer on a baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes.
One you remove your potatoes from the oven, just push them to one half of the sheet to make room for the broccoli. Toss the broccoli in olive oil (to save time, you can do this while the potatoes are in the oven) then just spread them on the other side of the pan, and pop the whole thing back into the oven and roast for another ten minutes.
Next, cook the chicken in a skillet on high with some olive oil. When done, drain any excess liquid and add the barbecue sauce, bringing to a simmer.
Serve equal portions of chicken, broccoli, and potatoes. It’s as easy as that: one perfectly balanced meal without any awkward timing issues or oven shuffling.
Simple, clean, and delicious, this meal is your cheatsheet to eating like an adult. Enjoy!
Skinny Chicken and Roasted Potato Bowl
Ingredients
- 8 red potatoes medium, skin on and cut into quarters
- 1 yellow onion small, cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 head broccoli cut into medium florets
- 24 ounces boneless and skinless chicken breasts cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1/2 cup BBQ sauce no sugar added
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, toss together the potatoes, onions, salt, pepper,1 tablespoon of the olive oil, garlic powder, paprika, and chili powder. Spread in an even layer on a baking sheet and roast for 20-30 minutes, or until fork-tender.
- Remove the potatoes from the oven and toss the broccoli with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Move the potatoes to only take up 1/2 of the baking sheet and spread the broccoli on to the second half of the baking sheet next to the potatoes. Return to the oven and roast for another 10 minutes.
- Heat one tablespoon of the olive oil in a large skillet on high heat. Once hot, add the chicken and cook until firm and no pink remains. Drain off any excess liquid. Stir in the BBQ sauce and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat.
- Remove the potatoes from the oven and spoon the potatoes into 1/3 of a serving bowl. Spoon the broccoli into a second 1/3, and finally, fill the remaining space with the chicken. Serve and enjoy!
Nutrition Information
Have you made this recipe?
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So just a tip once you add the broccoli to the potatoes you should cook for longer than 10 minutes potatoes were still raw in areas I added 15 minutes and they turned out fine
It will depend on how small the potatoes are. I added, or until fork tender. Thanks for the feedback.
What’s brand of BBQ sauce do you use?
Any brand with no-sugar added.
Looks Amazing 👏!!
This was good and easy to make! Next time I would spray the baking pan with oil as the potatoes stuck. I made sure to cut the potatoes smaller than stated above and everything was done at the same time. Everyone enjoyed this meal, so I will be making it again!