This spicy Korean BBQ chicken rice bowl is a tasty, easy-to-make, hot summer dinner that can be whipped up in no time! The chicken is bold in flavor, while the crisp veggies help balance the bowl and keep each bite refreshing.
In a large bowl, whisk together all of the ingredients for the marinade, except for the chicken. Taste the marinade to see if you'd like it sweeter, spicier, or more salted.
Once satisfied with the marinade flavor, add the chicken thighs and mix until the chicken is well coated with the marinade. Set aside until ready to cook.*The marinade can be made a week ahead of time and the chicken can be marinaded up to 3-4 days ahead of time, as long it's properly stored and refrigerated.*
In a large fry pan, add a couple Tablespoons of vegetable oil and heat over medium heat. Once the oil is hot and starts to shimmer, place the marinated chicken thighs in the pan piece by piece to give each piece a good char and sear. DO NOT overcrowd the pan! Let the marinated chicken cook on each side for about 2 to 3 minutes, or until the chicken pieces are cooked through (165°F). Remove the the cooked chicken, along with all the juices and repeat until all marinated chicken are cooked.*Cooking time for the chicken will vary depending on the size of each piece of chicken and how cold they are.*
To assemble the bowl:
Arrange the rice (or your preferred grain), romaine lettuce, carrots, cucumber, avocado, and cooked chicken in 4 bowls. Top each bowl with a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds and enjoy while the rice and chicken are hot!
Notes
*This Spicy Korean BBQ chicken rice bowl is super customizable. You can switch out almost all of the vegetable choices for your preferred ones, or whatever you have in your fridge! Although, we do recommend some crisp, refreshing vegetables as the main bulk of the bowl, because the chicken is very flavorful and slightly spicy.Also, do feel free to swap the white rice for any grain of your choice! We normally serve ours with white rice, but occasionally we like to eat it with Korean purple rice and Korean multigrain rice (japgokbap).If you want to read more about our vegetarian version, with tofu, check out our post above!