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One of my favorite recipes, I’ve probably made it at least 10 times! I meal prep it and eat it for lunches as well and its really tasty cold too
Samantha Rushing
Let’s be honest here.
I am sitting at the studio looking at this gorgeous memory of a meal from last week, pretending like I have myself put together and that I’m going to write a nice, thoughtful post about how much I love these kale and chicken quinoa bowls with marinated kale WHICH I DO LOVE SO VERY MUCH.
But.
Considering the following:
- that I returned home late last night from an epic weekend getaway with my girlfriend squad (pictures to come! you know I cannot resist)
- that said trip took place in the always-perfect weather of Arizona
- that I am returning to the sub zero arctic of Minnesota where I live which feels pretty much 😭😭😭 right now
- that my mind is a blob of crushed end-of-vacation feelings
- that my whole self looks like I walked straight from a pool straight onto a plane straight into bed and straight into work, BECAUSE I ACTUALLY DID THAT,
… I think I might be better of just coming clean with you and just admitting that today is all about playing email catch up, sipping on an extra coffee, getting my lion’s mane of hair officially untangled, and finding my way back into easy + delicious + clean post-weekend-trip food.
I mean, if I could just eat A SINGLE VEGETABLE today and maybe wear something semi-clean, I’d be winning.
You’re feeling Monday too? In the not-best-possible way? Come with me, friends. I want you alllll aboard this yummy train.
This bowl is everything clean eating should be: nutritious, full of flavor, multi-textured, satisfying, colorful, and all-around happy. That’s because it’s loaded with seasoned quinoa, lemony chicken, and the magical thing known as marinated kale which is actually, um, just like it sounds. Marinated Kale. Mind blown, right? Also – you know there’s gotta be an avocado half on that bowl because VEGETABLES, and don’t think for a second that we are going sauceless. Load it up with that sun dried tomato sauce, guys. Just load it up.
It comes together quickly, it’s really pretty to look at, and it’s flexible to whatever ingredients you have on hand –> I just got a flash vision of grilled asparagus on top of this which is not at all seasonal in this hungry minute, but maybe someone will happen to find this in the summer someday and be able to use that glimmer of a good idea – it’s like a recipe message in a bottle for someone in a happier summertime place.
Dinner tonight! I’m thinking this rainbow bowl + you, me, Ben, and all the right reasons. I didn’t just say that tho.
Power to the Monday!
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Marinated Kale and Chicken Bowls with Sun Dried Tomato Sauce
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
Marinated Kale and Chicken Quinoa Bowl with Sun Dried Tomato Sauce! This recipe is clean, simple, and nutritious!
Ingredients
Marinade:
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- a few good squeezes of lemon juice (totaling about 3 tablespoons)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
For the Bowls
- 2 cups uncooked quinoa
- 1 bunch kale
- 1 avocado
- 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts
- sesame seeds or crushed red pepper flakes for topping
For the Sun Dried Tomato Sauce:
- 1 16 ounce jar sun dried tomatoes, drained
- 1–2 cloves garlic
- ½ teaspoon salt (more to taste – I prefer more like 1 teaspoon)
- juice of one lemon
- ½ cup olive oil
- ½ cup almonds
Instructions
- MARINATE: Whisk the marinade ingredients together. Cut the kale. Marinate the chicken and the kale (separate bags, please!) in the marinade sauce in the fridge. In terms of timing, your best bet is to let the kale go overnight, but the chicken doesn’t need quite as long – the lemon juice starts to mess with the texture after a while, so if you can, try for 30 minutes to 2 hours of marinating with the chicken.
- COOK CHICKEN: Place a nonstick pan over medium high heat. Add the chicken and saute until golden brown on both sides and cooked through. Let stand a few minutes before cutting.
- QUINOA: Cook the quinoa according to package directions. When the quinoa is done, stir 1/2 cup of the sauce throughout to distribute.
- SUN DRIED TOMATO SAUCE: While the quinoa cooks, make the tomato sauce by pulsing everything together in a food processor (add almonds last to preserve a little bit of crunchiness).
- SERVING: To serve, fill bowls with quinoa, kale, chicken, avocado, and sun dried tomato sauce. Top with sesame seeds, red pepper flakes, olive oil, or anything else you want because it’s a free country and food is delicious!
Notes
In the pictures I’m using baby kale but I really prefer this with regular kale – baby kale starts to go soggy pretty fast with the marinade. Nutrition label does not include sauce, as amount will vary based on how your build your bowl.
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: Mediterranean
Keywords: marinated kale and chicken bowls, sun dried tomato sauce, chicken bowl recipe
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our best healthy chicken recipes page. Check it out!
This sounds delicious and a great way to use up all the kale from my garden. But after it marinates, do I saute it with the chicken or just serve it as is?
Serve it as-is! Almost like a salad.
Wow we had this for dinner tonight and it was absolutely incredible! Loved the sundried tomato sauce. I skipped the olive oil but instead used the small amount of oil from the sundried tomato jar, then topped up with water to save calories. It was SO yummy, definitely a keeper in our house!
Simple and delicious!
I added pickled red onions, which I thought added a lot, and if you’re feeling lazy, Trader Joe’s Salsa de Cacahuate is also a very good substitute for the sun-dried tomato sauce. (But the sun-dried tomato sauce is excellent, so that’s not a knock on the original.)
I’m not one to sacrifice flavor for a “health food” bowl, and this recipe does not ask you to do that. Great healthy weeknight option. Thanks, Lindsay!
How long can you store it in the fridge for?
Hi, Kinzie! We’d suggest storing leftovers for 3-4 days.
This has become a standout favourite in our home! So much so that my husband – whose typically not a quinoa or kale fan – says that it’s wrong for it to taste so good! The crunch of the almonds is such a good touch to the sundried tomato sauce.
We’ve even found other uses for the marinated kale on sandwiches!
This is a knock out of the park home run recipe!!
That sun-dried tomato sauce completely kills me. So, so good!
Not one to generally leave reviews, however this one needs. Absolutely amazing. So flavorful and healthy. My husband just told me he went back for kale 3 times 🤯. The man does not eat kale.
Glad to hear that, Aline!
Made this last night and it was delicious! I made the mistake of using only 8 oz. of sundried tomatoes so the sauce turned out more like a paste. But it was still yummy and I spread it on my toast this morning! Might use the rest to try your vodka sauce recipe 🙂
Putting this sauce on toast sounds like such a yummy idea!
This is by far my favorite lunch to pack. The sun dried tomato sauce is out of this world ! Thanks Lindsay
Perfect for lunches! Glad you enjoyed this, Maitha!
My sun dried tomato sauce turned out more like a paste. Would you suggest adding more olive oil or lemon juice? Can this sauce be made ahead and left out of fridge?
Just made this. Delicious, as always. I seriously think you are my food soulmate. 😂
This recipe was great! Perfect combination of healthy ingredients and winter flavors. However,this makes a LOT of sauce and sun dried tomatoes are fairly expensive. Next time I will definitely scale back the tomatoes and make a thinner sauce. Additionally, the scale option is very cool, but it looks like some items may need to be tweaked in order to reflect the scale, eg the lemon juice does not convert when the multiplier is selected. Thank you for all if your hard work, delicious recipes and sweet commentary!
One of my favorite recipes, I’ve probably made it at least 10 times! I meal prep it and eat it for lunches as well and its really tasty cold too
Is there something I could use other than almonds in this recipe. My husband has a tree nut allergy. Perhaps pinenuts might work?
Yes, pine nuts would be lovely!
WOW! Soooo good! This Sun-dried tomato sauce is out of this world good and so is the marinated kale. I am an avocado lover but didn’t think it was a necessary addition to this recipe. Next time I’ll probably leave it out and add extra kale to my bowl. Definitely making it again! Thanks!
The amount above for the marinade is split between kale and chicken or use that amount for each bag? Thanks
Split between!
I made this tonight and it was delicious! You’ve been hitting it out of the park lately! I do have a question. What’s the point of draining the sun-dried tomatoes and then adding more oil? Seems like a better idea to keep them in the yummy quality oil they came in.
I dumped the whole jar of Sun-dried tomatoes including the oil in along with other ingredients minus olive oil. I turned on the processor and added olive oil as needed to get the consistency I liked. Turned out perfect!
Looks delicious. Do you saute the kale?
Is a serving really over a thousand calories or is that a typo?
Thanks for catching that, Jessica! Just updated it.
Looks so good, but I randomly cannot stand the smell/taste of sun dried tomatoes! Any other ideas of a different ingredient that might be good? Thanks!
This was so delicious an dis definitely going to be in regular rotation! I have lots of leftover sun-dried tomato sauce. Do you think it would freeze OK, maybe with a layer of olive oil on top?
Yum! My family loves this recipe so much. We just made this and have extra sundried tomato sauce. Can I freeze the sundried tomato sauce to save it for later?
Yes, it should freeze just fine!
this dish looks delicious thanks for sharing its recipe i will try making this dish
This sounds amazing! Is there a substitute you could recommend for the almonds in the sauce? I’m currently unable to eat them but want to try this recipe so bad!
I’d just omit them!
Sorry if I missed it, but any chance you have the nutrition info associated? So excited to try this tonight!