Buddha bowls are extremely trendy! On Instagram it seems as if everyone is eating a bowl of quinoa with sweet potatoes, kale, and other veggies and seeds. I myself am a fan of a good bowl meal, I mean, they’re hard to resist! I’m also a HUGE fan of Caribbean flavors. I’ve always loved jerk chicken, grilled pineapple, fried plantains, etc.

So, I’ve decided to combine the two into one of the best lunches I’ve ever made: Caribbean Buddha bowls. Wild brown and black rice, jerk chicken, fresh mango salsa, and sweet grilled pineapple. What’s not to love?

Before we get started on the instructions, as always, here are my tips for making these:

You can make the chicken marinade and mango salsa ahead of time! I say the chicken can sit in the marinade in the fridge for a minimum of 30-40 minutes, but if you’re into an extra flavorful chicken (who isn’t?) you can let it marinate overnight! Same with the mango salsa. Once you make it, if you want to store the leftovers in an airtight container, you can. It’ll keep for a few days!
Make sure the chicken is cooked through! Because the marinade is darker, it can be hard to see if it’s fully cooked or not from the outside. When in doubt, check the internal temperature.

Here’s the recipe! Start by putting the rice on to cook. Then, move on to making the marinade.

Making the marinade/marinating the chicken in a ziplock bag is part of what makes this recipe so easy! You won’t dirty any extra bowls, or waste any of the seasonings on the side of the mixing bowl or spatula!

I always add the liquids first, then the powdered spices. Then, close the bag while making sure there’s air in it, and shake. This will combine all the spices and make one homogeneous marinade.

Then add the chicken to the marinade in bag, close and let it sit in the fridge.

While making the mango salsa, I like to make sure all of the vegetables are the same size, except the onion. No one likes biting into a chunk of white onion, so I like to really finely dice it to get the flavor in there, but to ensure nobody’s eating huge pieces of onion.

You can see from the bowl it’s in, the onion pieces are really small compared to the mango, avocado, tomato, and cucumber.

If you don’t know how to cut a pineapple into slices, i recommend watching this video HERE before you start. You’ll need a large knife, and it’s always better to be safe than sorry. Before you start cutting, make sure you know what you’re doing.

Cut out the rings in the middle with cookie cutters. It’s so much safer than trying to angle the knife in some crazy way to make a circle.

Then, grill and make your bowls!!

Happy cooking! I hope you love these Jerk Chicken and Grilled Pineapple Buddha Bowls as much as I do!!

Caribbean Buddha Bowls

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe

Prep Time 40

Cook Time 10

Servings 4 bowls

Ingredients

For the Chicken

1.5 lbs chicken breasts
1 tbsp jerk seasoning
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp dried jalapenos
2 tbsp coconut aminos or gluten free soy sauce
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp salt

For the Mango Salsa

1 avocado (cubed)
1/2 cup chopped cherry tomatoes
1 large mango (cubed)
2 mini cucumbers (cubed)
1/4 small onion (finely diced)
2 tbsp lime juice
1/2 tsp smoked sea salt

Grilled Pineapple

1 large pineapple

Wild Rice

3 cups cooked rice (you can use whatever kind you like, but to add more complex carbs I used a wild brown rice mix)

Instructions

Make the Rice

Cook the rice according to the directions on the packaging. For the black and brown rice mix that I used for these bowls, I needed to cook it for over 45 minutes in my rice cooker. Because rice always takes a while to cook, make sure this is the first thing you do.

Marinating the Chicken

Cube your chicken breasts into 1 inch cubes and set aside.
In a large ziplock bag, add the coconut aminos, lime juice, jerk seasoning, cayenne pepper, dried jalapenos, and salt. Mix around within the bag until combined.
Add the cubed chicken to the bag, seal with minimum air inside, and store in the fridge for 30-40 minutes.

Grilling the Pineapple and Making the Salsa

Cut your pineapple into thin slices, removing the outside. Then, taking a small or medium sized circle cookie cutter, remove the core from the slices, turning them into rings. Grill on medium heat for 3-5 minutes on each side until the grill marks are visible and pineapple is softer.
Now, cut all of your ingredients for the mango salsa. They should all be equal sized cubes, with the exception of the onion being significantly smaller than everything else.
In a large bowl, mix the cucumber, avocado, mango, tomato, and onion well until evenly dispersed throughout each other.
Now, add the lime juice and smoked salt, and toss until salt and lime are evenly coating each cube of fruit.
Cover and let sit for 10 minutes while you cook the chicken.

Cook the Chicken

Add 1 tbsp of olive oil to a large pan on medium heat. Once the oil heats up, dump all of the contents of the ziplock bag with the chicken into the pan.
Make sure there are no pieces of chicken on top of one another. This can cause an uneven cook: some of your chicken can be overcooked while some of it will be undercooked.
Let sit for 5 minutes to develop a crust, then stir with a wooden spoon or spatula to cook the other side.
After another 5 or so minutes, when the internal temperature of the largest piece of chicken is 165 degrees, remove the chicken from the pan and transfer it to a large serving plate.

Making the Bowl

When I make these, I like to start with an even layer of rice on the bottom of the bowl.
Then, add some chicken to one of the sides of the bowl.
Next to the chicken, add a heavy spoonful of mango salsa (I like to add a lot).
Finally, add 2 slices of grilled pineapple to the empty area of the bowl.
Serve and enjoy!

Jerk Chicken and Grilled Pineapple Buddha Bowls with Mango Salsa