This bowl has it all! The crunch of the tomato cucumber salad, the thin slips of bitey red onion, the golden crisped air fryer chicken cut into tender little strips, a big pile of perfectly chewy Banza, and a dollop of tangy calabrian chile sauce on top.
Banza Chicken Bowls with Calabrian Chili Sauce
Featured comment
INSANE! One of the best and the sauce is to die for!
Denise
I Honestly Wake Up In The Morning Thinking About These Chicken Bowls.
Yep, still here, still talking about that air fryer chicken but this time it’s in bowl form and there’s a new sauce in town.
Tonight we had these chicken bowls for dinner, and Bjork smothered his still-warm, juicy, golden chicken strips with that spicy tangy Calabrian chile sauce and declared it the best chicken he’s ever had. And as soon as I open my eyes in the morning, one of my first waking thoughts is: “YES I get to eat that bowl again for lunch today.”
This bowl is like a little symphony – the crunch of the tomato cucumber salad, the thin slips of bitey red onion, the golden crisped air fryer chicken cut into tender little strips, a big pile of perfectly chewy Banza, and a heavy pour of tangy Calabrian chile sauce on top. I am drooling.
If you need to scale it back and make it easier with fewer elements, just go for the chicken with the sauce and the salad. Or the chicken with the sauce and the Banza.
Or, really, just the chicken with the sauce. That Calabrian chile sauce is at the heart of it all.
January is long, but this bowl, for me, has been one of those super happy meals where I’m excited to eat it AND I feel good about the actual nutrition in it. Like, one of those meals that I look forward to and it becomes the highlight of my day. Belly full, tastebuds so exceptionally happy. Hope you like it!
Make These Chicken Bowls with Me
1
Make a tomato cucumber salad.
Toys are on the counter. Kids are hovering. It’s fine. This is just cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion (extra thin slices please!) plus a bit of vinegar, olive oil, and salt.
2
Make your calabrian chile sauce.
This magic will last you for several days and give you several rounds of bowls. Or salads. Or wraps. It’s SO incredibly good.
3
Make your chicken.
Sauce is done, salad is done. Now for the air fryer chicken. Takes about 15 minutes. (If you’re vegetarian or vegan, this Air Fryer Tofu is also delicious!)
4
Get some Banza in there.
Get your Banza base in there, or whatever you like for a carb. This is the tomato chipotle Banza which doesn’t make any sense with these flavors but somehow is very delicious.
5
You’re Done! Yum!
Pile it all on there. Segment some out for kids as needed with ketchup or ranch. AND NOW GET INTO IT!
Watch How To Make These Chicken Bowls
Banza Chicken Bowls with Calabrian Chili Sauce
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: makes enough sauce and salad for at least 4 bowls
Description
This bowl has it all! The crunch of the tomato cucumber salad, the thin slips of bitey red onion, the golden crisped air fryer chicken cut into tender little strips, a big pile of perfectly chewy Banza, and a dollop of tangy calabrian chile sauce on top.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Tomato Cucumber Salad
- 1 English cucumber, cut into chunks (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, cut into halves (about 1 1/2 cups)
- a small chunk of red onion, thinly sliced on a mandoline
- a small bundle of parsley, chopped (about 1/4 cup)
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Calabrian Chile Sauce
- 1/4 cup mayo
- 1/4 cup Greek yogurt
- 2–3 individual Calabrian chiles, stems discarded, smashed / minced (I use a jarred variety)
- 1 clove garlic, grated
- a splash of castelvetrano olive brine (optional, see notes)
- salt to taste
The Rest
- For protein, I use a batch of this ridiculously good Air Fryer Chicken(For a vegetarian alternative, this Air Fryer Tofu works beautifully too!)
- For a carb, I love the Banza Rice Mix for this – it doesn’t really make sense but I enjoyed the tomato chipotle variety!
Instructions
- Tomato Salad: Toss the tomato cucumber salad ingredients together. Taste and adjust! (If you wanted to prep ahead, save the chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, and red onion in separate containers in the fridge with no liquids added until just before serving.)
- Sauce: Stir up the sauce ingredients. Taste and adjust! This keeps super well in the fridge for several days.
- Chicken and Banza: Make the chicken and the banza (or whatever carb you like).
- You’re Done! Yum! Assemble and serve! Gah! So good.
Notes
Olive Brine: This adds a salty, buttery effect to the sauce. It’s delightful. If you don’t have it, don’t run out to the store just for this. You can skip it and you’ll be fine. I’ve also subbed pickle brine and it’s fine, but a bit brighter since the pickle brine is tangier than the olive brine.
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Air Fryer
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: chicken bowls, Banza, Banza rice, air fryer chicken
Three More Delicious Chicken Bowls
Filed Under: Air Fryer All Recipes Bowls Dinner Gluten-Free Healthy Meat and Chicken Quick and Easy Recipes Rice
January 25, 2024
Nice to meet you!
I’m Lindsay and I ♡ FOOD. I used to be a teacher, and now making food and writing about it online is my full-time job. I love talking with people about food, and I'm so glad you're here.
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Wow! Gotta say, that hits the spot! Will definitely add it to my dinner rotation
Absolutely delicious! I couldn’t find banza rice so I made yellow rice instead but this was so good! Definitely worth going to multiple stores to find the chiles. I’ll be making this regularly.
Your comments about that sauce were no exaggeration — absolutely delicious. The time I took to go to a grocery store across town just to get Calabrian chilis and Castelvetrano olives was well worth it.
We don’t have banza here, but I made some pearl couscous and everybody loved the meal. Definitely going in the rotation. Thank you.
Just found you in my reels! I am recently diagnosed with alpha gal syndrome, which means no dairy or meat. Your recipes are going into my meal prep rotation because I can sub out most ingredients to make them AGS friendly. Still searching for a great yogurt substitute that isn’t overly processed or time consuming to make.
Hi. Really wanted to make the chicken bowl bu tv the instructions are not clear. G F or example all it says is “Make the air fryer chicken””. What do I season it with, how does it get crispy, howling and on what temperature do I cook it?
There are other things as well. Would you kindly provide more details.
I keep coming back to this recipe! It’s a favorite in our household. We have cravings now for this combination of flavors! It’s so good.
Made it. Loved it. I used jasmine rice. Currently don’t have a kitchen and making it work with air fryer and rice maker so this worked perfect! Came together quickly and we loved it all! My teenagers too
This was absolutely delicious! A dish we will make again and again
Absolutely delicious! The sauce was so perfect. I just baked my chicken (no air fryer) and everything came together perfectly!
Oh my heck! Made this ahead of time, brought all the components to a day of baseball, made them for dinner, and WOW. So dang good. I didn’t have Banza rice on hand, but the seeds of change rice worked great in a pinch. The sauce really is as good as lindsay says! Thank you!!!
This really hits my protein goals and so delicious. Thanks for suggestion of Banza rice. Great gluten free option and tasted good!
I ate this for three days straight! Delicious! And the air fryer chicken is so tasty and turns out perfectly every time!
I can’t do dairy…so you have a different suggestion for the Greek yogurt? Do you think an alternative dairy yogurt would substitute ok in this recipe for the sauce?
Hi there, I can only find chopped Calabrian chilies so many tsp/tbsp would that be?
I used 2 teaspoons of chopped calabrian chilies and it was great.
Great recipe! I used a brown rice, quinoa and red rice blend instead of the Banza because it wasn’t available at my store. And I added some shredded romaine lettuce, which added a nice extra element! Yum!
Absolutely outstanding!!
4 out of my 4 family members LOVED this. A rare occurrence for sure! Do not skip the sauce!
This recipe was amazing! The chicken is ridiculously good (just like the title) and the sauce was delicious! This recipe will go on repeat at our house!
Okay WHAT. this is insanely good. My boyfriend inhaled it! I was interested in the sauce and by itself it was pretty good but combined with all the other ingredients including the air fryer chicken… mind blown 🤯
This is sooo tasty! Didn’t change a thing, and I even made the air fryer chicken. The Banza rice tasted great too!
Delicious! Used steak for protein and added some crumbled feta as well. The sauce has become a favorite that I’ve also used for sandwiches and dipping potatoes in.
Just finished eating this meal. It was delicious! I couldn’t find the chilli’s so I substituted for sambal oelek and it worked very well. I was a little confused by ‘white vinegar’ if that meant white WINE vinegar or not. I used this anyway and it tasted great.
If you buy already sliced chicken (like I did) maybe make extra of the seasoning. Otherwise it was a winner!
These Banza Chicken Bowls with Calabrian Chili Sauce sound absolutely delightful. Your detailed recipe and joyful approach to cooking never fail to inspire.
Thank you for sharing such a scrumptious culinary experience!
This recipe is SO good. We will be making this again for sure!!! I have been loving the air fryer chicken and this is just perfect. I added a little avocado and this bowl was soo yummy. Thank you for the recipe!
I made this…it was delicious.
Reminded me of my fav Mediterranean chicken kabob recipe from Flower Child. I did double the sauce recipe (b/c, who doesn’t want enough sauce) . I also could not find calabrian chilies, so I just roasted a couple of jalapeño chiles. I also added ground tumeric to the sauce.
Also used quinoa for the grain. SO GOOD!