I love an Asian-style chicken and rice bowl and for this one we’re whipping up spicy sesame scallion meatballs and baking them on a sheet pan with lots of veggies. It all gets topped with an easy creamy, tangy, spicy dressing for a saucy, comforting sheet pan dinner!
Ingredient highlight
Chicken! Chicken is a great way to get in high quality protein that’s also packed with selenium, choline, niacin (vitamin B3), and vitamin B6, and B12.
Servings 4
Prep Time 15 minutes 
Cook Time 25 minutes Ingredients
- 1-2 cups rice of choice
- 1 tbsp coconut sugar
- 1 tbsp soy sauce or tamari
- 1 tbsp gochujang (or use sriracha)
- 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 2 cloves garlic, grated or pressed
- 1 lb ground chicken or turkey
- 1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced, divided
- 1 tsp kosher salt divided
- 6 cups chopped veggies*
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Sesame seeds, for topping
For the dressing:
- 3 tbsp tahini
- 3 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp soy sauce or tamari
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 tsp gochujang (or use sriracha or skip)
- *Any veggies work, just chop them small so they cook faster. I used cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, and cabbage.
- Note: ~ save time and just use boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts in place of the meatballs. Just cut them into bite-sized pieces, add it to the baking sheet with the veggies and toss everything together in the oil and salt.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425F convection or 450F regular bake. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Cook the rice (instructions here).
- To a medium bowl, add sugar, soy, gochujang, sesame oil, and garlic. Mix with a fork to combine. Add the chicken, 1 cup scallions (save the rest for topping), and ½ teaspoon salt. Use your hands to mix until thoroughly combined. Form into 8 large meatballs (I like to divide the meat in the bowl into quarters, then each quarter becomes 2 meatballs to give you 8).
- To the baking sheet, add the veggies, olive oil, and remaining ½ teaspoon salt. Toss to coat, then spread out into an even layer. Nestle the meatballs into the veggies. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until the veggies are charred and meatballs are cooked through and browned on top.
- To a jar with a lid, add the sauce ingredients and shake vigorously until combined (it should be very runny). If too thick, add a bit more water and shake again. If too thin, add a bit more tahini and shake again.
- Serve the meatballs/veg over warm rice. Drizzle the sauce all over and top with the remaining scallions and sesame seeds. Cut up your meatballs and dig in!
Items you can prep ahead (optional)
- Cook the 1-2 cups rice or grain of choice
- Chop 1 bunch scallions
- Mix/form the meatballs
- Chop 6 cups veggies
- Make the sauce
Substitutions:
- To make vegetarian, use tofu in place of the chicken. Mix together everything but the scallions and toss cubed tofu in that mixture. Add it to the baking sheet and bake!
- Skip the gochujang or sriracha if you don’t want it spicy.
- Use any nut butter in place of the tahini.
Storage:
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer:
- Meatballs/veg: up to 4 days in the fridge
- Rice: up to 6 days in the fridge or freeze for up to 2 months
Leftovers + Repurposing:
- To reheat the rice, cover it with a dripping wet paper towel and microwave for 2 minutes. Fluff the rice with a fork to see if it’s heated/steamed through and keep reheating if it needs more time.
- Warm up leftover veg/meatballs in the microwave until warmed through (you can put it on top of the already warm rice. It helps to cut up the meatballs so they heat through evenly.
- You can thin out leftover sauce with a bit of water or stretch it by adding more soy sauce, vinegar, and tahini.
- Top leftovers with a squeeze of lime, plenty of sauce, scallions, etc…
- Add a fried egg!
- Turn it into fried rice.
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