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Quinoa Chicken Bowls with a Mango Salsa

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A bed of quinoa with marinated and grilled chicken breast topped with a fresh and healthy mango salsa.

A bed of quinoa with marinated and grilled chicken breast topped with a fresh and healthy mango salsa. So my husband and I both graduated college together. In fact we got to walk together which was a really fun experience.

The funny thing is, the husband keeps getting emails from a high school English class. These emails range from homework assignments to extra credit opportunities to grade updates.
Apparently someone missed the memo that not only did he graduate high school, he also completed two degrees at college.

At first, the husband was worried someone was missing out on these emails and he was being mistaken for a student in the class. He sent email after email that he was not registered for the class. He even spammed the emails after continuing to receive them.

But they keep coming. And the teacher is convinced he is indeed in the class. Regardless of all that he says otherwise to her.A bed of quinoa with marinated and grilled chicken breast topped with a fresh and healthy mango salsa.

We recently decided that if this winter does not in fact turn to Spring and continues to limit our weekend activities, that perhaps doing a few extra credit assignments wouldn’t hurt.

You know, maybe we could still learn a thing or two and can pretend we didn’t in fact graduate.

Like the good old times – sitting on the couch doing homework together. Except for the fact that I wouldn’t necessarily consider those the good old times… Homework was rarely considered a fun activity in my mind. Important, yes? Fun, no – not really.

But the more we’ve discussed it, the funnier it gets – the idea of doing one of the assignments and submitting it. Don’t worry, I’ll keep you updated on our grades in 11th grade English. Wish us luck!

A bed of quinoa with marinated and grilled chicken breast topped with a fresh and healthy mango salsa.

But let’s move on and talk about these quinoa chicken bowls with a mango salsa. I’m pretty obsessed with them. They are pretty dang delicious and the perfect Spring slash Summer meal. (If it can’t be warm outside, I’ll pretend it is in the food I’m cooking.)

Anyways, these are pretty simple to put together. I marinated the chicken in a simple marinade overnight. Then the chicken gets grilled while the quinoa cooks.

The mango salsa is a simple chopping up and adding ingredients together. Putting it together – the quinoa goes first, next the chicken, and finally, the mango salsa to top it all off!

And now, it’s time for me to help the husband on some extra credit. We are really wanting to impress his 11th grade English teacher… 😉

A bed of quinoa with marinated and grilled chicken breast topped with a fresh and healthy mango salsa.

Helpful Visual Guide: check out how to cut a mango

5 from 1 vote
A bed of quinoa with marinated and grilled chicken breast topped with a fresh and healthy mango salsa.
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Quinoa Chicken Bowls with a Mango Salsa
Prep Time
20 mins
Total Time
20 mins
 
Servings: 4
Author: Chelsea
Ingredients
Chicken
  • 2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 3/4 cup Sprite
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lime
  • 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • Optional: but DELICIOUS! Peri-peri sauce*
Quinoa
  • 1 cup quinoa
  • 2 cups water or chicken broth
Mango Salsa
  • 1/2 cup corn drained and rinsed
  • 1/2 cup black beans drained and rinsed
  • 1/4 cup red onion finely chopped
  • 1 mango peeled and chopped
  • 1/4 cup red pepper seeded and chopped
  • 3 tablespoons cilantro finely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
  • 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • Optional toppings: extra cilantro, an avocado, squeeze of fresh lime, 1 fresh jalapeno pepper (finely chopped and added to the salsa)
Instructions
  1. Combine the Sprite, olive oil, soy sauce, lime juice, garlic powder, honey, and salt. Stir together. Submerge two large boneless skinless chicken breasts (fat removed) into the marinade and let sit covered in the fridge for at least 1 hour and preferably overnight or 8-10 hours.
  2. Remove from the marinade, pound to an even thickness, and then grill until completely cooked through.
  3. Meanwhile rinse and then cook the quinoa according to package directions.
  4. For the mango salsa, prepare all of the ingredients by draining, rinsing, and chopping them as explained in the ingredient list.
  5. Stir all the ingredients together. Cover and allow to sit in the fridge and marinate for 20-30 minutes.
  6. Prepare four plates by placing one cup of quinoa on each plate. Top with 1/2 cooked chicken breast. Divide the salsa evenly among the four plates.
  7. Optionally garnish with cilantro and sliced avocado. Squeeze a wedge of fresh lime over the dish.
  8. Enjoy immediately.
Recipe Notes

*We tried Nando's peri-peri sauce while living in Australia and it is honestly the best sauce I've ever had (it's pretty famous there). We brush it on the last bit of grilling and then pour some on top of the grilled chicken and it is UNREAL with this salsa. Highly, highly recommended! (It's extremely spicy, so stick with mild if you are worried about spice!) Here's a link if you want to check it out online!

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A bed of quinoa with marinated and grilled chicken breast topped with a fresh and healthy mango salsa.
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Reader Interactions

Comments

    • Thanks Rochelle! So I used soda in the marinade because the citric acid in the soda really tenderizes the meat! I usually use soda in all my meat marinades and love the results!

      Reply

  4. What a funny story! That is my husband’s reoccurring nightmare though. He dreams that they take away his college degree because he forgot to go something in high school.

    Sprite in the marinade, how fun! Mexican flavored foods are my family’s favorite. Yum!

    Reply

    • Oh man I totally still have nightmares I didn’t finish school or forgot to submit a project! Thanks Jamie 🙂

      Reply

  6. Oh yum! I love mangoes in pretty much anything and this salsa has my name written all over it!! This would be one delicious lunch or dinner… can’t wait to make it.

    Oh, and good luck on going back to school, ha! I have no doubt that that teacher lady will be impressed 🙂

    Reply

  8. These look gorgeous, delicious and healthy! I actually have all these ingredients at home, so guess what’s for dinner tomorrow. Good luck with your homework assignments. Submitting something to the teacher ought to really confuse her. Have fun!

    Reply

  9. Quinoa, chicken, and mango salsa! What a summery dish. And it’s so pretty with all those colors! That is hilarious that a teacher is still emailing your husband, haha! Y’all should totally do an assignment and send it in. Then let us know what grade you got. 🙂

    Reply

  10. Haha – that is too funny! Why won’t they stop emailing him?! I am loving these quinoa bowls! Mangoes were on sale at Whole Foods the other day, so I have like 6 in my fridge. Definitely going to whip this up for dinner!!

    Reply

    • Oh so jealous you found mangoes on sale!! I need to find a good sale and stock up! Thanks Cate 🙂

      Reply

  15. Haha, too funny on the e-mails – good luck with the extra credit 🙂 These pretty quinoa bowls would surely get you an awesome grade – I love anything with mango 🙂 Everything looks so fresh and colorful – yum!

    Reply

  20. Bowls like this are my favorite! I love how you can get a little bit of everything in one bite. This looks delicious!

    Reply

  21. Haha! You two can submit one just for funsies! 😛

    This looks amazing! I would love to try a bowl of this. Mango salsa would definitely complete this bowl.

    Reply

    • Haha definitely would be fun to see! Thanks so much Lisa! 🙂 hope you’ve had a wonderful weekend!

      Reply

  23. Hi!! I ran across this on Healthy Eating Planner and it looks wonderful!! I love the idea of the salsa and have always wanted to make one, however, I am not a fan of mango. What else would you recommend in place of it? Pineapple?

    Reply

  24. I made this for dinner earlier this week, and it became an instant favorite with my family. The flavor of the chicken was amazing, and the salsa was fresh and delicious. We loved it so much, we are having again tonight! Thanks for sharing this fantastic recipe!

    Reply

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