It’s been a minute since I shared a super easy one pan meal with all of you, and today I’ve got a brand new one that will have your taste buds buzzing.
These one pan gochujang chicken bowls take just 30 minutes to make and are seriously packing the flavor. All you have to do is whisk up that sweet and spicy gochujang sauce, stir fry your veggies and ground chicken, and simmer it all together until it’s nice and saucy and delicious.
A few mix-ins and garnishes like fresh basil and cashews take this meal to the next level. I love serving it with fluffy rice, but I included tons of options below. Get ready for this to be your new weeknight staple!
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What is gochujang?
If you’ve never cooked with gochujang before, get excited because it’s SUCH an amazing flavor add-in. Gochujang is a Korean red chili paste that’s sweet, spicy, and savory all at the same time. It’s perfect for sauces, marinades, and more!
Everything you’ll need to make these gochujang chicken bowls
Get ready for a lick-the-plate delicious, sweet and spicy gochujang sauce, protein-packed chicken, stir fried veggies, and plenty of beautiful garnishes. Here’s what you’ll need to make these chicken bowls:
- For the sauce: you’ll whisk together water, low sodium soy sauce, gochujang, toasted sesame oil, rice vinegar, brown sugar (or coconut sugar), freshly grated ginger and garlic, and a little arrowroot starch or cornstarch to help the sauce thicken up.
- Veggies: we’re adding garlic, green onion, and bell pepper for a boost of veggies.
- Chicken: you’ll need some lean ground chicken in this recipe. See below for even more options!
- Mix-ins: I love mixing in roasted cashews and fresh basil for extra texture and flavor.
- To garnish: top your bowl with toasted sesame seeds, reserved scallions (the green part from your green onion!) and extra fresh basil.
Make these chicken bowls your own
These sweet and spicy basil chicken bowls are great for customizing to your taste preferences (and using what you have on hand):
- Pick your protein: feel free to use ground turkey in this recipe, or add in some cooked, cubed chicken instead of ground chicken. Simply cube your chicken, then cook in sesame oil over medium heat and season with salt and pepper. Transfer the cooked chicken to a bowl and keep the heat in the skillet to cook your veggies. Add the chicken back to your skillet with the cooked veggies before you add the sauce!
- Choose veggies: I think broccoli, green beans, snow peas, or even spinach would be great in this dish.
- Add a kick of heat: if you love extra spice like I do, use 3 tablespoons of gochujang instead of 2!
Can I make it vegan or vegetarian?
Sure! Simply swap the ground chicken for a can of rinsed, drained chickpeas, or crumble extra firm tofu and cook it the same way you do with the ground chicken.
Keep it paleo-friendly
These gochujang chicken bowls are also paleo-friendly! Simply use coconut sugar and arrowroot starch, and serve with cauliflower rice or extra veggies instead of regular rice or noodles.
Our favorite ways to serve these basil chicken bowls
Feel free to serve these chicken bowls with:
- White or brown rice
- My famous coconut rice
- Fluffy quinoa
- Cauliflower rice
- Rice or ramen noodles
Storing & freezing tips
- To store: store any leftover gochujang chicken and vegetables in an airtight glass container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days.
- To freeze & reheat: let the chicken and veggies cool completely, then transfer it to an airtight glass container or reusable silicone bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to enjoy, thaw the meal in the fridge and then reheat everything on the stovetop. I recommend waiting to cook your rice (if using) until you’re ready to eat the chicken bowls!
More one pan meals you’ll love
- Sheet Pan Herby Lemon Garlic Chicken and Potatoes
- One Pot Butternut Squash Yellow Curry
- One Pan Sazon Skillet Chicken
- 30-Minute Sesame Chicken Green Bean Stir Fry
- Sheet Pan Moroccan-Spiced Chicken with Sweet Potatoes & Cauliflower
Get all of my one pan meals here!
I hope you love these sweet and spicy gochujang chicken bowls! If you make them be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked them. Enjoy, xo!
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Sweet and Spicy Gochujang Chicken Bowls
Ingredients
- For the sauce:
- ½ cup filtered water
- ¼ cup low sodium soy sauce
- 2 to 3 tablespoons gochujang
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar (or coconut sugar)
- 1 tablespoon grated ginger
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 teaspoons arrowroot starch or cornstarch
- For the chicken:
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 6 scallions, thinly sliced (white and green parts divided)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 large red bell pepper, chopped
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 pound lean ground chicken (or turkey)
- ⅓ cup roasted or toasted cashews
- ½ cup fresh Thai basil or sweet basil, torn
- To garnish:
- Toasted sesame seeds
- Reserved scallions (green part only)
- Extra fresh torn basil
- For serving:
- Cooked white or brown rice
Instructions
- Prepare the sauce: In a medium bowl, whisk together the water, soy sauce, gochujang, sesame oil, rice vinegar, brown sugar, ginger, garlic and arrowroot starch (or cornstarch). Set aside.
- Cook the chicken and vegetables: Add 1 tablespoon sesame oil to a large skillet and place over medium heat. Once oil is hot, add in scallion (white part only), peppers and garlic and season with ½ teaspoon kosher salt and a few grinds of freshly ground black pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 to 3 minutes, then move peppers to the sides of the pan and add in the ground chicken. Quickly begin to break up the meat and cook, until it is no longer pink, stirring occasionally, about 5 to 6 minutes.
- Stir in sauce: Once meat is cooked, turn heat to low and add in the roasted cashews and the sauce. Cook, stirring occasionally, 2 to 4 minutes more to allow flavors to develop and sauce to thicken up. Remove from heat and stir in basil, or reserve the basil for garnishing (up to you!)
- Garnish and serve: Serve warm in shallow bowls over rice of choice and garnish with sesame seeds, sliced green onion (green part only) and a little extra torn basil.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
139 comments
Tried this the other night. Absolutely DEE-lish! I only had peanuts, not cashews, but followed it exactly other than that. Super quick and very flavorful. Perfect for a week night and I feel you could sub in other veggies with whatever you had on hand. I am keeping this in the regular rotation. Thanks for a great recipe thats easy and quick!
Amazing! So glad you loved it!
Fantastic like always! My husband and I both loved it and thought it was very flavorful 🙂
So happy to hear that!
Love this recipe! I made mine on the spicier side (3 hefty tablespoons of gochujang) and didn’t skimp on the thai basil. It did take a little longer than anticipated to pull it all together.
So glad you enjoyed! Noted on the timing here, too – was it the cook time that was longer? Or prep?
A rave all around! A great weeknight, quick dish that is full of fantastic flavor. Definitely adding this to the rotation!
Love that! Our new fav dinner, too 🙂
I made this recipe as directed but had to use ground turkey because i couldn’t find ground chicken. I used 2 TBSP of the gochujang paste and felt like it was a mild spice, which is what i wanted. It came out delicious and I’ll definitely make it again but maybe try 2 1/2 Tbsp of the paste. Loved that it was tasty with no one flavor overwhelming the dish. I appreciate that so much of the prep work can be done ahead of time.
Perfect! Yes, feel free to bump up the heat with extra gochujang 🙂
This is so amazing! Great flavors and so easy to put together. Perfect weeknight meal!
Absolutely! Glad you loved it!
I made this for dinner last night and WOW was it good. I’d never even heard of gochujang before. It was a big hit with my husband too. I did add some broccoli and green beans to the dish for some added nutrition. This will definitely be in my recipe rotation. Thanks for another hit Monique.
Amazing! So happy you gave this one a try!
Oh my. Review was a must for this delicious dish. I made it with ground turkey, rice noodles and a small bunch of lacinato kale (cooked quickly with the peppers and then I removed it all to cook the ground turkey). I used 2 cloves when the recipe called for 3 (both times), and only 2 tablespoons of gochujang. Thanks for the inspiration to use gochujang – I love learning new ingredients that bring culture and flavor to my table! Truly outstanding!
Amazing! So glad you enjoyed!
Just as good as Chinese takeout – you have to make these!!!
Amazing – better than takeout, great macros, tasty and flavourful. Perfect meal prep for the week!
So good!!
This recipe is so easy and delicious! It is such a fun way to add different flavors to your weekly meals!
#AKRecipeoftheMonth
Absolutely! Glad you enjoyed!
My husband and I LOVED this recipe. The sauce is unbelievable and once the prep was fine, everything came together quickly. We served with a microwaveable pouch of brown rice for convenience. Will definitely be part of our rotation of tried & true meals! #AKRecipeoftheMonth
So easy and delish! Glad you both enjoyed!
I had almost all of the ingredients on hand for this so it made a great, easy, last minute weeknight dinner. I added extra cashews for the crunch and some chickpeas for extra fiber/protein. #AKRecipeoftheMonth
Love that! Perfect dinner!
So good, easy and saucy!! Will be on repeat loved it #AKRecipeoftheMonth
Amazing! Happy to hear that 🙂
The perfect weeknight dinner! Subbed turkey for chicken and can’t wait to eat leftovers tomorrow! #AKRecipeofthemonth
Perfect! So glad you loved this one!
I’m on a gochujang kick and this recipe ticked Al the boxes! Saucy, healthy, colorful — with a bit of crunch. I did half the gochujang though since I’m a newb to the spice, and it can be a lot 😉
I’m definitely on a gochujang kick, too! Glad you gave this one a try!
These bowls were a HIT in my house. This was my first time cooking with Gochujang and the flavor of this sauce was amazing!! I made the bowl with rice and I’m going to try it with GF ramen noodles next 😋 #AKRecipeoftheMonth
Love it!! Glad they were a hit 🙂
Really liked this. I could not find the Gochujang sauce so substituted 2 tbsp Thai red curry sauce and a couple of squirts of Siracha . No complaints that is for sure. The cashews really are a great addition. Definitely will make this again. Maybe try some broccoli as an addition.
Thank you!
Perfect! Glad the flavor was still delicious 🙂
This was delicious! I subbed in crumbled tofu as per the suggestion and it turned out great! We like spice so I used the larger amount of gochujang it it was just right. I totally forgot to add the cashews, though. I didn’t even notice until later, it was still so good. I’m sure they would have taken it over the top! I served it over rice with some kimchi and everything was was so tasty and filling. I’ll definitely make this again!
#AKRecipeoftheMonth
Perfect! Kimchi sounds delicious with this, too, and I’m so glad the tofu worked out well 🙂
#AKRecipeoftheMonth,
I made this one with cubed chicken breast, although I think ground poultry would have been a better choice to soak up the sauce. Sprinkled toasted cashews when serving instead of mixing in to preserve the crunch factor. I also added some cauli-rice into the sauce which made for a yummy side! New to Korean cuisine and it’s flavors recently purchased gochugaru and gochujang so excited to try recipes that use these seasonings.
Perfect! Glad you enjoyed!
Was a little skeptical just because I had no clue what gochujang was and its flavor, but this was SO GOOD. Like…. So good guys. I made it with pad Thai noodles and stirred them in and cabbage instead of red peppers (had some leftover), and it was seriously delish!! Would completely recommend and will be eating again!!
Love this with noodles! Glad you gave it a try!
Delicious and comes together really easily! I used 3 tablespoons of gochujang and it was perfectly spicy. I love how you can use the veggies and protein you have on hand. We used ground turkey and bell peppers but I look forward to trying it with ground chicken and other vegetables next time. #AKRecipeoftheMonth
Love it!!
This was absolutely delicious! It is a little prep work but worth it. It goes quick once you have sauces made! I will def make this again! Next time lettuce cups! I tried this time with rice and it’s amazing!!
Absolutely! Great idea to add it to lettuce cups!
Ended up using chicken thighs instead of ground chicken, because it’s what I had. The taste was fantastic. They weren’t very photogenic, so I can’t post a picture, but it was gf/DF (a household requirement) with lovely spices and full of protein and vegetables. gojuchang is my new favorite ingredient, thanks for teaching me how to use it!
Perfect! Glad these were a hit!
This was my first time using gochujang and it was delicious!! I will definitely make this again! #AKRecipeoftheMonth
So happy to hear that! It’s such a great condiment to have on hand.
Made this for dinner last night and it was delicious! It came together very quickly. I used green beans and broccoli instead of red pepper and it was great! The sauce was amazing! #AKRecipeoftheMonth
Amazing! This one’s great for customizing with your fav veggies 🙂
This was good but not my favorite. The recipe was easy and flavorful, but it just wasn’t that satisfying to me. If I made it again, I would definitely opt for chicken breast instead of ground chicken, and I would add more veggies. Broccoli would be great!
Glad you found it easy and flavorful! There are tons of ways to customize it, too – check out the full post for ideas (broccoli would be great in here!)
Super yummy! I made this after a long day at work and it was absolutely delicious! I ended up using ground turkey and added some sliced white mushrooms as an extra veggie. It also makes for a solid meal prep recipe! I’ve been eating the leftovers for the last few nights, and the food has stayed nice and flavorful. Will definitely make again! #AKRecipeoftheMonth
Love this one for meal prep! Great idea to add mushrooms 🙂
Absolutely DELICIOUS!!! I added broccoli for some extra veg and used ground turkey (that’s all the store had!). It will definitely be added to the rotation. #AKRecipeOfTheMonth
Love it! So glad you enjoyed.
#AKRecipeoftheMonth This recipe was delicious as usual. I really appreciate that it actually was a 30 minute meal for a busy week night. I didn’t have roasted cashews but added some broccoli with the peppers.
So easy and delicious! Great idea to add some extra veggies.
My husband and I really enjoy this recipe!! I doubled the recipe to have for lunches. I used a pound of turkey and a pound of chicken and xtra bell pepper. The sauce is soooo flavorful wow!! I think next time I will use less of the gochujong sauce since my kids said the dish was a little too spicy.. delicious and hearty!
So happy to hear that! Yes, feel free to reduce the gochujang for kiddos 🙂
My family loved this meal! Rave reviews. I made it with 1.5lbs of ground chicken and 2 tablespoons of gochujang. I added broccoli. I also added rice noodles at the end like I saw on the Instagram post, which was perfect.
Love it! Glad everyone enjoyed!
This recipe was so yummy and quick and easy to make. I will make it again for sure!
#AKRecipeoftheMonth
So glad you enjoyed!
Delish! Followed the recipe exactly with the exception of the cashews and basil. Added some kale because I had it in my fridge and it added nice color. Used 3 tbsps of gochujang and it has a nice kick! #recipeofthemonth
Love it! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
So delicious! 😋 I loved the cashews! Will definitely become a part of our regular rotation. #AKRecipeoftheMonth
Danielle
danisanford2902@gmail.com
The crunch is the best! Glad you enjoyed!
Made this last night and it was SO good! Easy after a busy weekend and super tasty. We made it with the noodles like in the Instagram video!
Absolutely! Perfect weeknight dinner.
Love love love this recipe! This is perfect for a quick flavorful dinner! I made it with wide egg noodles and ground chicken. I love spice but have a low tolerance and 2.5 spoons of Ghajung sauce gave it the perfect kick! #AKRecipeoftheMonth
So good! Glad you loved it!
I’ve been on a gochujang kick and was excited to try this #AKRecipeoftheMonth (!!). I added snap peas for some more color, and it was all delish. Next time I’d make a little more saucy since I like things saucy 😉
Love it! This one’s great for customizing with extra veggies 🙂
This was a very easy recipe and my 5 and 7 year old boys gobbled it up. I added celery and matchstick carrots to increase the veggies and used ground turkey since I had it on hand. So flavorful!
#AKRecipeoftheMonth
Love that! Glad it was a hit!
Just made this for dinner and it was amazing! Flavors were out of this world. Will definitely make again.#AKRecipeoftheMonth
So happy to hear that!
I made this last night with red pepper and snap peas, 3 T of gochujang and served with jasmine rice for an easy weekday meal. I didn’t have basil but it still turned out tasty. I make another gochujang dish that’s spicier and has dairy so this is a nice twist to add into the dinner rotation. Thanks! #AKRecipeoftheMonth
Love it! Glad it was a hit!
This will be a weeknight staple! I had never heard of go hun any before this. I subbed broccoli for the red pepper because that’s what I had. It was great, but I’ll try red pepper next time to mix it up. #AKRecipeoftheMonth
Amazing! Glad you enjoyed!
Delicious! This could easily become a weeknight favorite with my family. I loved the ease of the recipe and the Thai basil. The sauce builds on familiar flavors. We were out of cashews – next time I’ll make sure those are on hand. And I think I’d like some crunchy carrots, radishes, or cucumber on top too. Thanks for sharing!
#AKRecipeoftheMonth
Absolutely! Glad it was a hit 🙂 Those toppings sound perfect, too.
Absolutely loved this, so easy to make, packed with flavour. I did a generous 3 tablespoons of the Gochujang, next time I will do a more conservative 2 to 2.5 tablespoons. Will be making this on a regular basis! #AKRecipeoftheMonth
So glad it was a hit!!
#AKRecipeofthemonth
So yummy, quick and easy. Made the coconut rice to go with it. Wow! Better and healthier than a restaurant
Love that! Perfect dinner 🙂
This was so tasty!! I used ground dark meat turkey instead of chicken and served it over brown rice.
Perfect! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
This was delicious and relatively quick to make. I appreciate when the main dish has veggies mixed in and it’s kind of a one bowl meal! I added broccoli in addition to the peppers.
My biggest complaint is that it was hard to find gojuchang at my grocery store!
#AKRecipeofTheMonth
So happy to hear that! If it’s hard to find, I’d suggest stocking up online (they have many brands on Amazon!)
Loved this one! Not sure why it took me so long to try. And I finally had an excuse to use the Trader Joe’s Gochuchang sauce! Added more on top! #akrecipeofthemonth #AKGIVEAWAY
Perfect! So glad you enjoyed 🙂
What a great recipe! Love all the flavors and textures and how versatile this is! I added some zucchini and asparagus that was hanging out in the fridge and used the ground chicken option. Super flavorful and the leftovers were delicious as well. Another keeper!
#AKRecipeoftheMonth
Perfect! So glad you enjoyed!
So yummy and quick to make. Perfect for lunch or meal prep because it holds up well in the fridge.
#AKRecipeoftheMonth
Absolutely! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
Supergood flavor. Go lighter on the gochujang if you don’t want too much heat – I used 2 Tbsp, and that was plenty for me. Add whatever veggies you want, and suggest a squeeze of lime on top. A keeper for us!!
Perfect! Glad it was a hit!
This #AKRecipeoftheMonth blew me away. I made a few modifications, using ground impossible sausage and harissa instead of gochujang. I know I might be the only person on earth who doesn’t love gochujang, but it doesn’t sit well with me for some reason, and harissa was a perfect substitute. The sauce was such a perfect consistency and I especially love how it soaked into a bed of rice. I will make this again for sure!
Great idea to use harissa! Glad you enjoyed!
This was a weekday day dinner hit! I added asparagus (tis the season!) and served over ramen noodles since that is the latest toddler obsession, #AKRecipeoftheMonth
Perfect! Glad it was a hit!
I thought the flavor of this was nice, and while I appreciated how easy and quick it was to throw together and cook, I felt it was overly simple. For me, if I were to make it again I would add a bunch more veggies to add more variety in texture and nutrition. #AKRecipeoftheMonth
This one’s great for customizing with a variety of veggies (check out the full post for all of my ideas!) Glad you liked the flavor!
Delicious! After one bite, my husband said, “yep, you can make this one again!” We went for 3 tbsp of the Gochujang from Trader Joe’s and thought it was the perfect amount of spice and served over cauliflower rice. #AKRecipeoftheMonth
Delicious!! After one bite my husband said,”yup you can make this one again!” I love how it’s one pan and fairly quick to pull together. We opted for 3 tablespoons of Gochujang from Trader Joe’s and served over cauliflower rice. Just the right amount of sweet and spice! #AKRecipeoftheMonth
Love that! Perfect dinner 🙂
This meal was so easy to make. I loved how quick it came together and used minimal ingredients. I added some spinach and carrots for an additional boost of veggies! #AKRecipeoftheMonth
Love it! Glad you enjoyed!
This is just so delicious! It comes together quick, so is the perfect meal for during the week. I made this twice this month (forgot to take a pic the first time), once with ground turkey and over rice and the second time with shrimp and brown rice noodles. Both were amazing! We like things SPICY, so we added extra gochujang and our homemade crushed ghost pepper. So good!
Forgot the hashtag! #AKRecipeoftheMonth
Amazing! Love the idea of adding shrimp (and YES to the ghost pepper!)
The chicken bowls were phenomenal! The spiciness from the gochujang sauce was balanced so well with the soy sauce that it really had such great flavor. I will be adding this to the weekly meal plan rotation #AKRecipeOfTheMonth
So happy to hear that!!
Made exactly as written, except for adding a blanched broccoli rabe. The dishes self was wonderful. The rabe was a bit bigtter and I will do broccoli next time to amp up veggies. This is a winner!
Perfect! Glad you enjoyed!
Made this just as written and used 2 T. gochujang. The next time I make it I will do the ingredient prep earlier in the day so I can just throw it all together at dinnertime. It was DELICIOUS!!
Great idea! Glad you enjoyed!
Absolutely delish! I wish I had doubled the recipe! Everyone wanted seconds (including my teenagers!). I added broccoli and it was perfect. Also, I was happy to find that Trader Joe’s had everything I needed for this recipe:)
Love that! Perfect dinner for the whole family 🙂
So good with that small kick of spice and the leftovers were almost even better!
Absolutely! One of our fav dinners 🙂
Seriously great sauce. I added vegetables (broccoli and mushrooms) to make it more of a one dish meal and I only had regular onion, but it turned out GREAT. So quick and easy too.
Perfect! Glad you enjoyed!
Excellent. Delicious. My 13 year olds eyes popped out of her head at first taste. I used ground turkey.
So good!! Glad you both enjoyed 🙂
I have made this recipe multiple times and figured I was due for a review! This is an absolute favorite for me — It is easy, quick, absolutely delicious, makes great leftovers, and is easy to bring to work for lunch. I pair this with the AK coconut rice and it tastes like something I would order from a restaurant. I can’t decide if I like this or the Sweet & Spicy Sesame Chicken Meatballs more!
Love that! Both of those recipes are a staple in our house, too 🙂
Make this!! Absolutely delicious. My family loved it. Wish I would have doubled the recipe. I normally tweak recipes, but not this one! Excellent!
Love that! Great idea to double it next time 🙂
Very yummy sauce. I made this tonight, added broccoli that needed to be used, and added red curry paste in lieu of gochujang and it turned out great. This recipe will be saved to be used again!
Perfect! This one’s great for customizing 🙂