Hot honey is, well, hot right now and these Hot Honey Chicken Tender Bowls? They’re nothing short of incredible! With juicy seasoned and baked chicken tenderloins, tender roasted sweet potatoes, fluffy quinoa and a creamy and flavoursome slaw, all drizzled in hot honey sauce, what could be better?
This easy recipe makes plenty, leaving enough leftovers for lunches. Meal prep these hot honey chicken bowls in advance for days of healthy lunches or enjoy for a delicious dinner, or both!
What’s to Love About Hot Honey Chicken Tender Bowls
- allergy friendly – this recipe is gluten-free, dairy-optional, egg free and nut free, so suitable for anyone with those allergies or intolerances.
- easy to make – enjoy this recipe as a fuss free dinner or made-in-advance lunches.
- delicious – drizzle these bowls with hot honey for anyone who like a little spice or leave off the honey for a no-spice version (perfect for kids!).
Ingredients Notes & Substitutions
To make this recipe you will need a handful of simple ingredients, all of which I found at my local supermarket. Below is a list of everything you will need, including any ingredients notes and possible substitutions. Please see the recipe card at the bottom of this post for the full recipe and ingredient quantities.
- chicken tenderloins – you can also use chicken breasts if you can’t find tenderloins. For this recipe I have lightly floured the chicken tenderloins. If you would like to make this recipe with crumbed chicken tenders then check out my Gluten Free Chicken Tenders Recipe.
- spices – I’ve used a mixture of sweet paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, sea salt flakes and cracked black pepper. If you are wanting to up the spice level you can always add 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper or chilli powder.
- cornstarch – also known as cornflour, this is a gluten free flour and is used to coat the chicken, helping all of those spices to stick to the chicken.
- sweet potato – sweet potato can be swapped for another root veggies like carrots or parsnip or swap for pumpkin or butternut squash.
- quinoa – feel free to swap the quinoa for white rice or brown rice.
- extra virgin olive oil – this is my preferred oil for cooking, however you can use avocado oil if preferred.
- hot honey – to serve. This is completely optional and can be switched for hot sauce if preferred.
Slaw Ingredients
The coleslaw is absolutely delicious and a recipe that you could serve on it’s own. The dressing is so incredibly flavourful, you will want to make it over and over again. For the slaw you will need:
- red cabbage – also known as purple cabbage. If you can’t get purple cabbage you can substitute for more green cabbage.
- green cabbage – also known as white cabbage. As above, if you can’t find white cabbage then substitute for more red cabbage.
- carrot – I love adding grated carrot to a slaw for added colour and freshness.
- Greek yoghurt – I have actually used unsweetened natural coconut yoghurt as a dairy free alternative for Greek yoghurt.
- mayonnaise – use a good quality mayonnaise. If you’re wanting to reduce the calories then switch for more yoghurt.
- wholegrain mustard – also known as seeded mustard.
- Dijon mustard
- apple cider vinegar – you can swap apple cider vinegar for lemon juice.
How to Make Hot Honey Chicken Tender Bowls
This recipe takes about 25 minutes prep time and 35 minutes cooking time, with a total time of 1 hour.
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Preheat your oven, line your baking tray and let’s cook!
Start by adding the cubed sweet potato to the parchment paper lined baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss to coat evenly and then place into the oven to roast.
Rinse the quinoa under cold water to remove excess saponins and then add to a large saucepan. Top with 1 1/4 cups water and bring to a boil. Once most of the water has been absorbed, turn the heat to low and place the lid on. When the water stops bubbling through the quinoa, turn the heat off and leave to steam with the lid on the pan.
Meanwhile, add the cornstarch and spices to a large mixing bowl. Whisk to combine and then add the chicken tenderloins. Toss the chicken in the flour to coat evenly. Once the sweet potato has been in the oven for 20 minutes, remove the tray from the oven. Push all of the sweet potato to one half of the tray and line the second half of the tray with the chicken, leaving a little space between each piece. Place back into the oven to roast for another 15 minutes.
Tip: depending on how big your baking tray is, you may need another baking tray for the chicken.
While the chicken is cooking start on the slaw. Add the yoghurt, mayonnaise, mustards, apple cider vinegar and salt to a large mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Add the shredded cabbages and grated carrot and then toss in the salad dressing until well combined.
To serve, divide the quinoa between four bowls, top with the slaw, roasted sweet potatoes and chicken tenders. Drizzle with hot honey and serve.
Storage
To meal prep, divide all of the components between four airtight containers and store in the fridge for up to 3-4 days.
Hot Honey Chicken Tender Bowls
Equipment
- Sharp knife
- Chopping Board
- Large saucepan
- Box grater
Ingredients
- 1 kg chicken tenderloins
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon sea salt flakes
- ¼ teaspoon cracked black pepper
- 1 cup white quinoa
- 800 grams sweet potato, peeled and cut into 2 cm cubes
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Slaw
- ¼ head red cabbage, shredded
- ¼ head white cabbage, shredded
- 2 large carrots, coarsely grated
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup Greek yoghurt
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons wholegrain mustard
To serve
- Hot honey
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C fan forced. Line a large baking tray with baking paper and set aside.
- Add the sweet potato, ½ teaspoon sea salt flakes and 2 tablespoons olive oil to the prepared baking tray and toss to coat evenly. Spread the sweet potato out evenly over the tray. Place into the oven and roast for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, add the quinoa to a large saucepan and top with water. Use your hand to swish the quinoa around to wash it. Strain through a fine mesh sieve and then return to the saucepan. Repeat another 2 times. Return to the saucepan and top with 1 ¼ cups water. Bring to a boil and boil until most of the water has been absorbed. Turn the heat to low and once there is no more water bubbling through the quinoa, turn the heat off. Place the lid onto the saucepan, allowing the quinoa to steam.
- To a large bowl add the cornstarch, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, sea salt flakes and pepper. Stir to combine. Add the chicken pieces to the bowl and toss to coat in the flour mix. Once the sweet potato has roasted for 20 minutes, remove from the oven and use a spatula to move the roasted sweet potatoes so that they take up half of the tray. Add the chicken pieces to the other half of the baking tray, separated by a few centimetres. Spray the coated chicken tenders with olive oil spray and place into the oven to bake for a further 15-20 minutes, or until cooked through. Once the chicken and sweet potatoes are golden brown and cooked through, remove from the oven.
- While the chicken and sweet potatoes are cooking, make the slaw. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, Greek yoghurt, apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard and wholegrain mustard. Add the shredded white and purple cabbage as well as the grated carrots to the dressing and toss until well combined.
- To assemble the bowls, divide the quinoa between four bowls. Top with some slaw, chicken tenders, roasted sweet potato and drizzle with the hot honey.
Notes
Make dairy-free
- swap Greek yoghurt for unsweetened natural coconut yoghurt.
Make vegetarian
- swap the chicken tenders for crispy salt & pepper tofu
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