Street Corn Chicken Rice Bowls
Street corn chicken rice bowls are exactly the kind of weeknight dinner you’ll want on repeat. Creamy chicken, sweet corn and zucchini, fluffy rice, all piled up in a bowl situation. These bowls are balanced, feel good food and riduculously easy thanks to a few clever shortcuts!
- 1 Erica’s Thoughts
- 2 What You’ll Need to Make Street Corn Chicken Rice Bowls
- 3 How to Make this Street Corn Chicken Rice Bowl
- 4 Variation Ideas
- 5 FAQs
- 6 Previous dinners in this series:
- 7 If you like these street corn chicken rice bowls, you’ll love these other incredible bowls:
- 8 Street Corn Chicken Rice Bowls Recipe
Erica’s Thoughts
Are y’all loving this series as much as I am!? If you’re new here, hi hello, I’m Erica and I’ve made it my mission to help you answer the omni-present question of ‘what’s for dinner?’ I asked y’all a month or so ago what types of recipes you are most interested in and the overwhelming answer was easy dinners.
But also healthy. Balanced. Flavorful. Kid-friendly. High-ish protein. Absolutely delicious.
Okay okay, challenge accepted.
So I thought about what really helps me when I’m in a dinner pickle and the answer was… Costco 😂
Not like grab-a-hot-dog-from-Costco, more like utilize-nutritious-shortcuts-from-Costco. And remember, you can usually find all of these shortcuts at a regular grocery store as well.
Today’s shortcuts include: rotisserie chicken, pre-cooked packets of cilantro lime rice, the street corn dip (ermegerd), zucchini, and frozen corn to make a delicious meal that screams summer. Lean protein, healthy fats and energizing carbs make this dietitian’s hungry belly happy. 😉
We eat a family dinner every night and this is pretty kid-friendly! If you have a particular eater (like me), you can serve this deconstructed. For my girls, I served the rice, zucchini/corn mixture, and avocado separately and then snuck some chicken mixture into a quesadilla. They enjoyed everything, hooray! I served this bowl-style on night one and utilized the leftover chicken and veggie mixture to make burritos the next night. A cook once eat twice sitch at its finest.
What You’ll Need to Make Street Corn Chicken Rice Bowls
Zucchini: Diced small so it cooks quickly and blends with the corn.
Frozen corn: Or fresh corn if you want! I love the ease and versatility of frozen corn. I like the kind from Costco or the charred corn kernels from Trader Joe’s.
Seasonings: Salt, pepper and taco seasoning. I’ve always balked at the huge taco seasoning from Costco but finally got it – it really is the best price and not spicy at all. Another option is to use the elote seasoning from TJs.
Feta cheese or queso fresco: Both of these cheeses have a similar flavor profile. I always use feta over queso fresco simply because I use it regularly in my cooking and don’t want to buy yet another type of cheese.
Cooked chicken: Use rotisserie, seasoned chicken breasts, or any leftovers you have on hand.
Mexican street corn dip: I use Rojo’s from Costco, but see my recipe note for how to make this without a premade dip. You’ll need a dollop of sour cream or Greek yogurt and mayo!
Cilantro lime rice: Pre-made packets from the grocery store keep it fast, or cook your favorite grain.
Fresh toppings: Sliced avocado, romaine lettuce (you should have leftover from chicken caesar lettuce wraps!), fresh herbs like green onions or cilantro, tortilla chips, limes and a must for me, hot sauce!
How to Make this Street Corn Chicken Rice Bowl
Heat a swish of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add diced zucchini and ¾ cup frozen corn. Sauté for about 2 minutes until they’re just starting to soften. Season with 2 teaspoons taco seasoning and ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper. Crumble in the feta or queso fresco and give it a quick stir. Remove the mixture to a medium bowl.
Wipe out the skillet with a paper towel and return it to the stove. Turn the heat to low and add cubed chicken, the remaining ½ cup frozen corn, ¾ cup street corn dip, and 1 teaspoon taco seasoning. Stir gently until everything is heated through and creamy.
Warm the cilantro lime rice according to package directions (or prepare your grain of choice). Layer in the fluffy rice base, zesty street corn topping, zucchini and corn, avocado slices, and shredded romaine into bowls. Top with fresh cilantro, extra crumbled cheese or street corn dip, crushed tortilla chips, hot sauce, and a squeeze of lime.
Variation Ideas
- Grains: Use brown rice, jasmine rice, quinoa or any type of rice you enjoy. For a low-carb bowl, use cauliflower rice.
- Protein: For a vegetarian option, use black beans instead of chicken. Other proteins that would work well would be pork carnitas, shredded beef or shrimp.
- Veggies: Add cherry tomatoes, red onion, bell pepper, roasted sweet potatoes, cauliflower or any other veggies that sound good to you.
- Spice level: This recipe is very mild, but might vary slightly depending on the heat level from your taco seasoning. For more kick add minced jalapeño peppers or a pinch of red pepper flakes to the veggie mixture.
- Burrito baybay: I wrapped all of our leftover bowl components in tortillas for burritos the following evening – YUM.
FAQs
It’s a creamy dip inspired by Mexican elote (grilled street corn). Typically, it has mayo, sour cream, cotija cheese, lime juice, spices, and sweet corn.
Absolutely, see my recipe notes for how to make the creamy chicken without the premade dip.
To make 1 tablespoon taco seasoning combine: 1 ½ teaspoons chili powder, ½ teaspoon each smoked paprika and cumin and ¼ teaspoon each garlic powder, oregano, salt and pepper.
Not spicy at all, but it may vary based on the taco seasoning you use. I love adding hot sauce on top for an extra kick.
I usually assemble each ‘bowl’ – rice, chicken, veggies in an airtight container. When I’m ready to eat, I reheat in the microwave and then top with avocado, tortilla chips, hot sauce, lime juice and any other fresh things like lettuce or green onions. Leftovers stay good in the fridge for up to 4 days.
I rolled the chicken mixture, cilantro lime rice, zucchini and corn, hot sauce and grated cheddar cheese in a tortilla, toasted it in a pan on all sides and served it with smashed avocado and salsa. AMAZING.
Previous dinners in this series:
If you like these street corn chicken rice bowls, you’ll love these other incredible bowls:
Beef burrito bowl with easy queso
What a delicious way to enjoy a balanced meal, happy cooking!
If you try and like this recipe please don’t forget to leave a comment and star rating down below! If you love more lifestyle, behind the scenes and ‘eating in real life’ type of content come find me over on Instagram, @itsaflavorfullife, I love connecting with you all there!
Print
Street Corn Chicken Rice Bowls Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Mexican
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Packed with creamy chicken, sweet corn, fresh veggies, and zesty cilantro-lime rice, these street corn chicken rice bowls are an epic weeknight dinner situation.
Ingredients
- swish of olive oil
- 2 zucchini, diced
- 1 1/4 cup frozen corn, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon each kosher salt and black pepper
- 1 tablespoon taco seasoning, divided
- 2oz feta cheese or queso fresco, plus more for topping
- 3 cups cooked chicken, cubed
- 3/4 cup mexican street corn dip* (see note)
- 2–3 packets cilantro lime rice OR 2-3 cups cooked rice or grain of choice
- 1 avocado, sliced
- 1 lime
- for serving: thinly sliced romaine lettuce, green onions and/or cilantro, tortilla chips, feta or queso fresco, lime wedges, hot sauce, more street corn dip
Instructions
- Veggies: In a large skillet, heat a swish of olive oil over medium heat. Add the zucchini and ¾ cup corn, sautéing until just beginning to soften, 2 minutes. Season with 2 teaspoons taco seasoning and ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper. Crumble in the feta or queso fresco and stir. Place the veggie mixture in a bowl. The zucchini will continue to cook even after it is removed from the heat, so take care not to overcook it.
- Chicken: Wipe out the skillet with a paper towel and return it to the stove. Reduce the heat to low and add the chicken, remaining ½ cup frozen corn, ¾ cup street corn dip and remaining 1 teaspoon taco seasoning. Stir and heat gently until the entire mixture is hot. Add a big squeeze of fresh lime juice.
- Bowls: Heat the cilantro lime rice per package directions or cook grain of choice. Layer rice, creamy street corn chicken, zucchini and corn, avocado slices and lettuce into a bowl. Top with green onions, extra cheese or corn dip, crushed tortilla chips, hot sauce and a big squeeze of lime.
DIG IN. So good.
Notes
Street corn dip: I’m using the Rojo’s Mexican street corn dip in this recipe. You can find some type of elote or street corn dip similar to this in the deli section of most grocery stores. If you don’t have dip use ½ cup sour cream, 3 tablespoons mayo, 2 teaspoons taco seasoning (or elote seasoning from Trader Joe’s if you have it!), ½ teaspoon salt and a big squeeze of lime for the chicken and corn mixture.
Cilantro lime rice: I bought the cilantro lime rice packets from Costco, but I’m sure they’re sold other places too. If you want to make it from scratch you can follow my recipe in this post.
Chicken: my go-to meal prep chicken, rotisserie chicken or any kind of leftover chicken works great.
Leftovers: the day following this dinner I rolled the chicken mixture, cilantro lime rice, zucchini and corn, hot sauce and grated cheddar cheese in a tortilla, toasted it in a pan on all sides and served it with smashed avocado and salsa. AMAZING.
Refer to the above blog post for ingredient information and answers to frequently asked questions.
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Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bowl (2/3 cup rice + 1 cup chicken + 1 cup veggies + 1/4 avocado)
- Calories: 540
- Sugar: 5.1 g
- Sodium: 534.2 mg
- Fat: 26.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 40.2 g
- Fiber: 5.3 g
- Protein: 36.5 g
- Cholesterol: 97.6 mg
This meal came in clutch in the email lineup this week! Had some last minute changes during my day and had to get dinner done and ready quick, with a 15 month old in tow lol. This was fast and easily accomplished without sending my toddler into a fit. I used one zucchini and one yellow squash as it was what I had on hand at the time. The meal was really delicious! I’ll make again.
Woohoo!! So happy to hear this Mallory! Thanks for taking the time to review!
I made this for supper and my husband mentioned a couple of times how good it was. When we finished, he said “Make sure to keep this recipe.” I plan to make a big batch of this for one our extended family taco bars. This was his idea he says they will love it. Thank you, Erica, for sharing your easy but delicious creations!
Woot woot!! I always love when it’s husband approved haha! Thanks for your review 🙂
Just as easy as you said it was! So yummy!
yaaaasss, thank you Anna!
This was really delicious and easy, and the leftovers were excellent!
This was easy to make and delicious. I added some peppers and beans to the mix and skipped the sauce, and still it came out delicious. So nutritious too:)