BBQ Chicken Bowls + Sweet Potatoes
Crispy air fried sweet potatoes + shredded BBQ chicken- loaded with fresh crunchy veggies + Sriracha BBQ Sauce
Creator: Leslie Stokes
I love a good bowl for meal prep- they are quick + easy and you can customize them with whatever you want.
It’s summer time here and a million degrees out so I am doing most of my cooking in the crockpot and air fryer these days so that I’m not heating up the house.
I usually make my shredded chicken in the instant pot, but this time I did a double batch and put it in the crockpot. I saved half to make some bbq chicken sliders for the fam for dinner that night. I highly suggest doing that so you don’t have to cook dinner after meal prepping!!
Ingredients:
You can customize this bowl however you want by switching out the protein or veggies, but this is what I put in mine. It is super refreshing for summer and still pretty light, but filling!
- shredded chicken- you can make your own in the crockpot/instant pot or you could also subsitute for rotisserie chicken or leftover grilled chicken
- bbq sauce
- sweet potatoes– cubed into 1 inch chunks
- salt
- pepper
- garlic powder
- olive oil
- coleslaw mix/shredded cabbage
- black beans- drained and rinse
- tomatoes
- cilantro
- red onions
- jalapeño- optional for a little spice
My preferred way to cook sweet potatoes is in the air fryer to get the nice and crispy, but you can definitely use the oven.
If I am usuing the oven I will cook them at 425 for about 20-30 minutes.
If I am using the air fryer, I will cook them at 400 for 10-15 minutes, depending on the size of the batch.
The Prep:
In a slow cooker or instant pot add in the chicken breast, season with ranch, top with the bbq sauce and water.
corckpot: on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4 hours
instant pot: meat/stew option for 20 minutes (slow release)
- Cube the sweet potatoes into 1 inch cubes- season with salt, pepper + garlic to taste and toss in 1-2 tbsp of oil. I like to start with 1 tbsp and then I usually spray them with olive oil spray on the top before placing into the oven/air fryer.
- Lay the sweet potatoes flat on a baking/air fryer tray and roast at 425° for about 15-20 minutes.
- When the chicken is done, chop or shred it, set aside.
- While the potaotes are cooking, chop the tomatoes, jalapeño + cilantro and drain the juice from the black beans.
- When the sweet potatoes are done, let them cool down before making the bowls.
- In each meal prep container add:
– 3/4 cup of sweet potatoes
– 4 oz of shredded chicken
– ½ cup coleslaw
– ¼ cup of black beans
– ¼ cup of tomatoes
– red onions
– cilantro
– Jalapeño
- Mix together ½ cup of bbq sauce + 1 tbsp sriracha sauce to top the chicken with later on.
- When ready to serve you can heat this up or eat it cold. I like to top mine with the sriracha bbq and a little ranch dressing.
Tips for this Meal Prep:
I paired this meal with the Savory Zucchini Panakes + Pico De Gallo. The total prep for both of these meal took me about 1 hour + 15 minutes. Here are a few of my tips to get it done fast and efficiently:
- start by chopping the sweet potatoes and get them in the air fryer while you start chopping all of the tomatoes, cilantro and Jalapeño for both meals.
- Have a small bowl to add in the tomatoes, cilantro, red onion and chopped Jalapeño for the pico de gallo.
- after everything is chopped, start shredding the zucchini and add to a bowl to make the pancake mixture.
- When the potatoes are done, set those aside and fry up the pancakes and make the scrambled eggs.
- once everything is cooled down assemble each meal and get them into the fridge so you can start cleaning up!
BBQ Chicken + Sweet Potato Bowls
Equipment
- slow cooker or instant pot
Ingredients
- 3 chicken breast
- 1 tbsp ranch seasoning
- ½ cup bbq sauce
- ½ cup water
For the Bowls:
- 2-3 large sweet potatoes
- salt + pepper + garlic powder to taste
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 cups shredded cabbage/coleslaw mix
- 1 cup black beans
- ½ cup diced red onion
- 1 Jalapeño sliced
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- ½ cup bbq sauce
- 1 tbsp sriracha
Let's Make It
- In a slow cooker or instant pot add in the chicken breast, season with ranch, top with the bbq sauce and water.corckpot: on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4 hoursinstant pot: meat/stew option for 20 minutes (slow release)
- Cube the sweet potatoes into 1 inch cubes- season with salt, pepper + garlic to taste and toss in 1-2 tbsp of oil. I like to start with 1 tbsp and then I usually spray them with olive oil spray on the top before placing into the oven/air fryer.
- Lay the sweet potatoes flat on a baking/air fryer tray and roast at 425° for about 15-20 minutes.
- When the chicken is done, chop or shred it, set aside.
- While the potaotes are cooking, chop the tomatoes, jalapeño + cilantro and drain the juice from the black beans.
- When the sweet potatoes are done, let them cool down before making the bowls.
- In each meal prep container add:- ¾ cup of sweet potatoes- 4 oz of shredded chicken- ½ cup coleslaw- ¼ cup of black beans- ¼ cup of tomatoes- red onions- cilantro- Jalapeño
- Mix together ½ cup of bbq sauce + 1 tbsp sriracha sauce to top the chicken with later on.
- When ready to serve you can heat this up or eat it cold. I like to top mine with the sriracha bbq and a little ranch dressing.
Nutrition Facts
Meal Prep in 1 Hour
You can use any two of the meals in this series to get your meal prep done in just about and hour, give or take!
Having your breakfast and lunch ready for the week helps you stay on track with your nutriton, saves you time and money! I truly beleive that meal prep does not need to be over complicated, take too much time or be boring!
I always get asked- “do you ever get tired of eating the same thing all week?” and the answer is, no! Not when the food taste good! I give plenty of variety in these preps and keep it simple!
As always, thanks for being here and remember, don’t over complicate the process! Take a deep breath, you got this!
