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Mediterranean Chicken Meal Prep Bowls

Mediterranean chicken meal prep bowls are a tasty way to stay on track and eat a nutritious, flavorful lunch. A few minutes of planning ahead and you will have a week’s worth of lunches ready for the work week.

I’ll give you variations and substitutions where I can, plus helpful tips and tricks for success. Read on for this info as well as the recipe. If you’d like to skip straight to the recipe, use the jump to recipe button at the top of the post.

You may also be interested in my Moroccan chicken bowl and my chicken fajita bowl recipes. For ease of browsing, you can find all of my meal prep recipes in one place.

Mediterranean chicken meal prep bowls with tahini dressing in black containers.

Dedicating a few extra minutes on weekends to set up your meals for the week is time well spent. Whether it be lunches, dinners or both – chicken with Mediterranean vegetables is a healthy and nutritious choice.

Why you should make this recipe

  • Make ahead – This recipe is designed to be made ahead, giving you easy lunches for the week.
  • Fast & Easy – A bit of light chopping, cooking a handful of chicken breasts and blending up a tasty dressing is all that is required to assemble these meal prep bowls.
  • Versatile – You can easily swap out ingredients, increase or decrease quantities to suit your needs and preferences.

Chicken meal prep ideas

You probably had chicken for dinner at least one night this week, right? So, why not cook extra and make a few Mediterranean lunch recipes to set yourself up for the week ahead.

Focused on lean protein, leafy greens and vegetables, this is a tasty lunch that is also good for you.

Meal prep bowls lined up on the counter.

Vegetarians can leave out the chicken and make a chickpea lunch bowl and still get protein, vegetables and greens.

No matter what you substitute, as long as you are keeping it in the Mediterranean diet lane, you’re in for a nutrient-dense and delicious lunch.

Ingredients

  • Baby spinach – Swap out for any green that you prefer
  • Grape tomatoes – I like to use these tiny tomatoes so I can either leave them whole or cut them in half.
  • English cucumber – This cucumber is long and thin, the skin is thinner than a regular cucumber and it is sweeter.
  • Feta cheese – Buy a block of cheese and crumble it yourself, it tastes better.
  • Kalamata olives – Look for pitted olives that you can toss right into your chicken meal prep bowl.
  • Bell peppers – Any color will do, I don’t care for green peppers, so I opt for red, yellow or orange.
  • Grilled chicken – Make as much or as little as you need for 5 servings.
Tahini dressing and Mediterranean chicken meal prep bowl.

How to make

  1. Toss chickpeas with olive oil, salt and pepper, then roast in the oven.
  2. While the chickpeas are in the oven, make the tahini dressing and portion into cups.
  3. Add spinach, chicken, cheese, vegetables, and cooled chickpeas to the containers.
  4. Secure the lids and refrigerate.

Mediterranean Meal Prep

Stocking up on fresh vegetables and staples like chickpeas and lean proteins make meal prep a breeze.

As long as your meal prep lunches are focused on leafy greens, lean proteins, fresh vegetables and a whole grain, you can’t go wrong. This Mediterranean bowl recipe has a scoop of quinoa, which bumps up the protein in this healthy meal.

If you aren’t a fan of feta, substitute it for something you like. Ricotta salata is a crumbly cheese similar to feta but milder in flavor. Not an olive lover? Leave them off.

Roasted chickpeas are crunchy and delicious when they are warm. After they’ve cooled, they are chewy and nutty which gives great texture to this salad.

Chicken meal prep bowls with dressing cups.

Chicken meal prep Q&A

Why is my tahini bitter?

Many store brands of tahini can be bitter. This brand of tahini is not bitter and it is one that I recommend.
If you have a different brand of tahini and you find it to be bitter, add a tablespoon of agave or honey to your dressing.
Another option is to omit the lemon juice if you find the dressing too tart.

Can I use rotisserie chicken?

Absolutely. To make this even easier and quicker, use store-bought rotisserie chicken and add it to your bowls.

What are the main foods in a Mediterranean diet?

In general, lots of fruits, vegetables, legumes and nuts. Lean proteins like chicken and fish are favored over red meat. Whole grains like quinoa and brown rice are also a part of a healthy eating plan.

Meal prep lunch ideas

Mediterranean recipes are focused on leafy greens, lean proteins and whole grains.

With a little planning and a little time spent prepping, you can stay on track and weekday meals become one less thing to worry about. Personally, I can attest to this. When I don’t have a plan, I stand in front of the fridge and scrounge for whatever I can find. 

Chicken meal prep bowl with tahini dressing.

Finding a way to work these foods into your routine is the key to eating nutrient-dense meals, at least most of the time. Because, let’s face it, none of us are perfect and life can get hectic.

By having a stash of fresh vegetables and lean proteins in the fridge, you are already ahead of the game.

Variations and substitutions

  • Swap out the grilled chicken for chicken meatballs. Make a double batch to make meal prep easier and freeze what you don’t need for next time.
  • Trade chicken for lamb – these Mediterranean meal prep lamb meatballs are a favorite in our house.
  • Swap feta cheese for another crumbly cheese, like ricotta salata, if you prefer.
Mediterranean lunch ideas.

If you are looking for a few Mediterranean lunch recipes to help get you through the work week, this link has everything from fish to salads to grains and everything in between. There are lots of delicious and healthy weekday lunches to help keep you on track.

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Yield: 5

Mediterranean Chicken Meal Prep Bowls

chicken meal prep bowls with dressing cups

Weekday meals are a snap with Mediterranean chicken meal prep bowls

Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients

For the Bowls

  • 10 cups baby spinach
  • 2 1/2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
  • 1 cup English cucumber, diced
  • 5 ounces Feta cheese, crumbled
  • 1/2 cup Kalamata olives
  • 1/2 cup yellow/red bell peppers, diced
  • 20 ounces grilled chicken, thinly sliced
  • Roasted chickpeas (recipe below)

Tahini Dressing

  • 4 tbsp. tahini
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
  • 3 tbsp. olive oil
  • 5 tbsp. water, more or less to achieve desired consistency
  • salt and pepper to taste

Roasted Chickpeas

  • 15 oz. can chickpeas, drained, rinsed and dried
  • 2 Tbsp. olive oil
  • salt and pepper

Instructions

Make Roasted Chickpeas

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Toss chickpeas with olive oil, salt and pepper. Lay chickpeas in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast for 20 - 30 minutes, until crunchy. Set aside to cool.

Make Tahini Dressing

  1. Combine all ingredients for dressing and whisk until smooth. You may want to add more or less water depending on how thick you'd like the dressing. Portion dressing into cups and set aside.

Assemble Bowls

  1. Place a handful of spinach in each of the 5 containers. Top with 4 - 5 tomatoes, diced cucumber, 1 ounce feta, 1/4 cup roasted chickpeas, 4 olives, approximately 5 ounces of grilled chicken and some bell pepper.
  2. Add a dressing cup to each container, put the lid on and refrigerate.
  3. Lunches are DONE!

Notes

For the tahini dressing

Some brands of tahini can be bitter. I've provided links to the brands that I use.

If the flavor of raw garlic is too sharp for you, consider using roasted garlic instead, or sauté the garlic for a few minutes just to take the bite out of it.

If you need a little sweetness with your dressing, add a tablespoon of honey.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

5

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 468Total Fat: 30gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 20gCholesterol: 145mgSodium: 968mgCarbohydrates: 31gFiber: 9gSugar: 8gProtein: 47g

This data was provided and calculated by Nutritionix on 8/6/2019

Did you make this recipe?

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Thanks for stopping by! Have a delicious day 🙂

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14 Comments

    1. Hi Vicki, there is a link to the containers at the bottom of the post. I believe they are about 28 oz. to allow room for a dressing cup in the corner.

  1. Not only are these so convenient but they are also delicious. I love that I already have lunch ready to go… which reduces my chance of making a bad choice for a meal!!!

  2. Everything came out great except for the dressing. I added the water to thin it out and it separated. I also have a very bitter flavor that I can’t seem to get rid of. Any suggestions?

    1. Hi Danielle, the dressing should come back together with a little whisking. I make this all the time and I’ve never had it separate on me, so I’m not sure what happened. As to the bitter taste, it could be a few things – maybe the lemon juice is too much for you? You can try reducing the amount. Also, all tahini is a little bitter, some more than others. It could very well be the brand of tahini that you have. Check the date on the tahini as well. If it has been sitting for awhile, that could also be the culprit. Finally, if all else fails, try adding a bit of honey to the dressing to balance the bitterness.

    2. I ad this exact same problem. Possibly the brand of Tahini? (Trader Joes). I rectified this by adding more acidity (lemon/lime juice) and then adding honey to taste. It’s not as healthy but certainly helped with the bitter taste. I also think the level of garlic in this contributed to the sharpness of the dressing. Bitter with a lot of garlic wasn’t doing it for me. The extra acidity and the sweetness helped. I think I’ll try less garlic next time even though I’m a huge garlic fan!

      1. It could very well be the brand of tahini making your dressing bitter. The dressing only calls for one clove of garlic, so that isn’t a large amount. Try using roasted garlic if raw is too sharp for you. This is the brand I use and it is not bitter. https://amzn.to/3iP5361

  3. Thank you for this easy, delicious meal prep idea. I’m new to the Mediterranean diet life style and this will get me on the right path.

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