Sweet Chili Chicken Rice Bowls
with Chicken Thighs, Sesame Slaw & Quick Pickled Cucumber
- Fish
- Soy
- Wheat
- Sesame
- Eggs
Forget take-out: The path to sweet-hot dinner bliss is only 30 minutes away! You’ll marinate and lightly batter juicy, flavorful chicken thighs morsels, pan-fry to golden perfection, then toss with sweet Thai chili sauce. The chicken is nestled atop a bowl of fluffy rice alongside a creamy cabbage slaw with sweet pears and tangy ponzu sauce, plus crisp and tangy pickled cucumber. Garnish your bowls with crackly sesame seeds for a symphony of flavors and textures.
Ingredients
6 milliliters
Ponzu Sauce
(Contains: Fish, Soy, Wheat)
2 tablespoon
Cornstarch
5 teaspoon
Rice Wine Vinegar
1 ounce
Sweet Thai Chili Sauce
10 ounce
Diced Skinless Dark Meat Chicken
½ cup
Jasmine Rice
2 tablespoon
Soy Sauce
(Contains: Soy, Wheat)
1 unit
Pear
1 unit
Mini Cucumber
1 tablespoon
Sesame Seeds
(Contains: Sesame)
2 tablespoon
Mayonnaise
(Contains: Eggs)
4 ounce
Coleslaw Mix
Not included in your delivery
4 teaspoon (tsp)
Salt
1 teaspoon (tsp)
Sugar
1 tablespoon (tbsp)
Cooking Oil
teaspoon (tsp)
Black Pepper
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• Pat diced chicken thighs* dry with paper towels. In a medium bowl, combine chicken and soy sauce; set aside to marinate.
• Wash and dry produce. • Trim and thinly slice cucumber into rounds. Halve, core, and slice pear lengthwise into ¼-inch-thick planks. Cut planks lengthwise to create ¼-inch-thick matchsticks. • In a small pot, combine rice, ¾ cup water (1½ cups for 4 servings), and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to low. Cook until rice is tender, 15-18 minutes. Keep covered off heat until ready to serve.
• In a small bowl, combine vinegar, 1 tsp sugar, and 1 tsp salt (2 tsp sugar and 2 tsp salt for 4 servings); stir until dissolved. Add cucumber and just enough water to cover (we used ¼ cup; 1⁄3 cup for 4); stir to coat. Set aside to pickle, stirring occasionally.
• In a second medium bowl (large bowl for 4 servings), combine mayonnaise and ponzu. • Add pear, coleslaw mix, and half the sesame seeds; toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in splashes of cucumber pickling liquid to taste.
• To bowl with marinated chicken, add cornstarch and mix until chicken is coated. • Heat a large drizzle of oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. • Once oil is hot, add coated chicken in a single layer. (Be careful—the oil may splatter!) Cook, undisturbed, until browned and crispy on one side, 2-3 minutes. Flip chicken (the pieces will stick together, so you can turn the chicken easily). Cook, separating chicken into pieces, until cooked through, 2-3 minutes more. TIP: Depending on the size of your pan, you may need to work in batches.
• Wash and dry bowl bowl used for chicken. When chicken is done, transfer to clean bowl. Add chili sauce and toss to coat.
• Fluff rice with a fork and divide between shallow bowls. • Top rice with sweet chili chicken, slaw, and pickled cucumber (draining first) in separate sections. Sprinkle everything with remaining sesame seeds and serve.
Chicken is fully cooked when internal temperature reaches 165°.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Dec 2025- Flavor: Many loved the combination of sweet, sour, and spicy flavors, though some found it bland or too salty.
- Ease of prep: Quick and easy to make for most, though some felt there were too many steps and dishes involved.
- Suggestions: Consider adding ginger, garlic, or scallions to boost flavor; reduce salt in pickled cucumbers 🥒.
- Leftovers: Several mentioned it reheated well, while others felt the textures didn't hold up as leftovers.
- Portions: Many wished for more rice and chicken; slaw portion was often too large in comparison.
- Texture: Crispy chicken was praised, but some found it gummy or slimy when sauce was added.
Reviews from our home cooks
Thank you for creating a chicken thigh recipe (so much better, IMO, than chicken breast which is often dried out no matter how careful I try to be to not overcook it). This was DELICIOUS! Hubby even liked it without adding hot sauce! Love the combination of the chicken and rice with the pickled cucumber and the pear cole slaw. Delish. Please keep this one!
Loved the chicken thighs in this recipe. Using the cornstarch with the soy marinade made the coating crispy when cooking - so good! The mix of textures and flavors was sublime.
An excellent combination of textures and flavors, also providing the slaw and chicken thighs all prepared for cooking made this meal extremely enjoyable to cook!
Chicken thighs tasty and tender. Baby pickled cuc perked up combo flavors. Seasonings delightfully appealing to 72 yr old husband--yea!
It would have been a 4 but the chicken thighs were horrible and not the fault of the cook. There were chunks of pure white fat in the bag of "chicken" and the serving size is already small. Otherwise, we really enjoyed the flavors and thought it was delicious. Loved the cold crunch of the coleslaw and cucumber with the hot chicken and rice. Please work on the chicken parts or just send breasts I can cut myself.
This recipe was very simple and we enjoyed the marinated cucumbers and Cole slaw made with pears. Refreshing addition to the sweet chili chicken!
The boys really like the sweet chili chicken. The rice is never really enough for us. I wish I had an option to double the portion of rice.
Delicious! More of the sweet chili sauce would be nice, still an awesome meal!
Fantastic. The chicken was excellent! (Although, mine was not diced in the packaging..it said diced but was not. I diced it) I loved the combination of slaw, dressing, and cucumbers. Loved this dish!!
Interesting flavors that meshed well together. The sweet chili sauce was amazing.
