Chicken, rice and broccoli come together in a healthy and delicious lunch or supper meal prep! This healthy meal prep is perfect for the week ahead, with juicy chicken breasts, fluffy basmati rice and fresh broccoli. Delicious, naturally gluten-free and easy to make. A fantastic and healthy meal prep option!

Four meal prep containers with chicken, rice and broccoli meal prep.

This healthy chicken, rice and broccoli meal prep recipe is really perfect anytime you need a lunch that's healthy and filling!

Which, you know, is like always?

This meal prep chicken and rice recipe was inspired by my Sheet Pan Maple Dijon Chicken and Broccoli Bake, which is delicious and great for a healthy supper.

Plus, if you're into gluten-free meal prep and you like chicken like I do🐔, then check out this Starbucks Chicken and Vegetables Protein Box Copycat recipe while you're at it.

It's so delicious😋

Jump to:

📝Ingredients for this meal prep recipe:
🙋‍♀️Is chicken, rice and broccoli healthy?
Make ahead tips
🔪Equipment
🥡Storage and Freezing
✅Top tips
😋More Recipes with Chicken and Rice
📖 Recipe
💬 Comments

📝Ingredients for this meal prep recipe:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Basmati rice (or your rice of choice)
Low-sodium chicken broth
Broccoli
Dijon mustard
Liquid honey
Olive oil
Garlic
Salt
Lemon

See recipe card for quantities and full instructions.

A chicken breast in a container with broccoli and rice. — I added some dried parsley on top of the chicken breasts after it was done cooking

🙋‍♀️Is chicken, rice and broccoli healthy?

Absolutely! This healthy and complete meal gives you loads of nutrition. The chicken breast is packed with protein and provides you with other vitamins and minerals like magnesium, potassium and phosphorous and vitamin A.

The basmati rice is a great source of healthy carbohydrates that will fuel you up and keep you satisfied.

Basmati rice is also a good source of vitamin B1 (thiamine) which is key for optimal brain health.

And the powerhouse broccoli that rounds out this healthy meal prep is just that: a true powerhouse of nutrition!

This green nutritional giant packs anti-inflammatory and detoxification properties.

Broccoli is a very good source of vitamin K, vitamin C and chromium.

It also delivers a source of chromium, folate, copper, potassium, vitamin B6, vitamin E and vitamin E. Talk about a superpower, nutritionally speaking!🥦

But beware! Overcooking the broccoli will have you saying buh-bye to all that nutrition. Lightly steam your broccoli and don't over do it for optimal nutrition.

You're making a healthy chicken, broccoli and rice recipe...so keep it healthy and don't dump all that nutrition down the drain!

What's the perfect time for steaming broccoli? 7 - 10 minutes, especially when you'll be re-heating this meal come lunchtime.

Two containers of chicken breast meal prep recipe with broccoli and rice.

Make ahead tips

There are a few things you can do to make this meal prep come together with less hands-on work the day you want to make it:

Marinade the chicken the night before

If you want to make this for the next day, then you can marinade the chicken overnight for maximum flavour. Just whisk up the marinade ingredients (see recipe card for details) and coat the chicken breasts completely.

Store in a large freezer bag or sealed container in the fridge for 8 hours.

Then cook as per instructions below.

No time to marinade the chicken? No problem.

I've made this many times with just letting the chicken sit in the marinade for only 5 minutes and it's still juicy and delicious.

Make the rice ahead of time

You can also make the rice the day before. I like using my Instant Pot to make the basmati rice for this recipe because it's easy, hands-off and turns out perfectly every time.

I use 2 cups of basmati rice for 3 cups of low sodium chicken broth
Put that into my Instant Pot, give it a stir and seal it up
Select the "Rice" setting and "Keep Warm" once it's done

Then I can go about my day and whenever I'm ready to get the rice out, I'll carefully take the lid off, fluff it up and put the rice into a large container with a lid for the next day.

Then when I'm ready to divide the chicken, rice and broccoli between the containers, I just take the rice out of the fridge and add it in!

Chicken breast, rice and broccoli meal prep for lunch in a container.

Cut and wash the broccoli ahead of time

Another make ahead tip is to prep the broccoli ahead of time. So I'll cut it into bite-sized pieces and wash it.

After it strains in a colander for a few minutes, I'll pop it into a produce bag or container with a lid and keep it in the fridge for the next day.

Don't actually cook the broccoli ahead of time though.

Because this meal prep will last for 3 days, you don't want to start that day counter before you've even got the whole meal together!

Not a lover of broccoli? No sweat. You can swap out the broccoli for something else green and healthy😄

Think of this as a healthy chicken, rice and vegetables meal prep: you pick the veggie.

Peas, green beans or brussel sprouts would totally work too!

🔪Equipment

For this recipe, I like to just cook the chicken on a cookie sheet or baking pan.

Because you'll butterfly the chicken breasts, they don't take too long to cook.

You could also use a cast iron skillet to cook the chicken breast - sear the chicken breasts first on the stove top in the cast iron pan and then pop the whole thing into the oven to finish it off.

Check out one of my most loved recipe on the site, Cast Iron Skillet Chicken Breast and give it a go!

A container with chicken breast, rice and broccoli meal prep. — See how the chicken breast is "butterflied" in this picture? By making the chicken breast thinner and more even, they cook better too!

🥡Storage and Freezing

You can store this complete meal prep in the fridge for up to 3 days, in a container that seals up nice and tight.

It's totally fine if the chicken, rice and broccoli touch. You don't need the "bento-box" style containers for this recipe. But use them if that's what you have.

I like putting the rice down first, then the chicken on top, then the broccoli to fill in gaps😄

These ingredients don't stand up well to freezing so I wouldn't recommend it.

✅Top tips

Butterfly the chicken breasts

How to "butterfly" chicken breasts: this is just fancy term that means you're making the whole chicken an even thickness.

This helps with cooking because then the thinner end of the chicken breast won't get overcooked while you're trying to cook the thickest part of the chicken breast.

To butterfly them, simply place the chicken breast on it's side on a cutting board and carefully cut into the thickest part of the breast, which will allow the breast to fall open and - surprise - kinda look like a butter fly when it's splayed out.

Don't over cook the broccoli!

Ok first, like ever never do that because ewww for over-cooked broccoli but also, because you're making this meal prep for a future meal.

And, you'll want to re-heat this meal so better to slightly undercook the broccoli if anything.

The perfect broccoli steaming time is 7 - 10 minutes for this recipe.

Then, when you re-heat this, you don't have to worry about things getting mushy.

Keep it fresh and bright - with lemon🍋

Once you have everything cooked and cooled and into the containers, add a wedge of lemon to each of the containers.

Totally optional but it does add a nice hit of moisture and flavour.

When you're re-heating this meal, take the lemon wedge out of the container. Then re-heat the meal in the microwave and squeeze the lemon overtop of everything - the chicken, rice and broccoli!

It brightens everything up and gives it a pop of flavour.

Hope you love this healthy meal prep recipe like we do🙋‍♀️

~April

PS Still got a whole whack of broccoli, rice and chicken to use up?

Make this Healthy Chicken Stir Fry for dinner! It's easy delicious😋

😋More Recipes with Chicken and Rice

📖 Recipe