Nourishing Chicken & Bone Broth Rice Bowls

Name: Nourishing Chicken & Bone Broth Rice Bowls
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Asian
Ingredients: 500 ml chicken bone broth; 2 cloves garlic, finely grated or minced; 1 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger; 1–2 teaspoons soy sauce, to taste; 1 teaspoon sesame oil; 250–300 g cooked chicken, sliced or shredded; 2 cups cooked rice; 1 bunch broccolini, trimmed, or 1½ cups broccoli cut into small florets; 2 eggs; 2 spring onions, finely sliced; Sesame seeds, to serve, optional; Chilli crisp or chilli oil, to serve, optional

Tender chicken, steamed rice and broccolini are served in a warm ginger and garlic chicken bone broth with a soft boiled egg. Made with leftover roast chicken or rotisserie chicken, it is an easy, nourishing lunch or light dinner.

A bowl of chicken, rice and broccolini in ginger bone broth with a halved soft boiled egg.

A warm bowl of chicken, rice and broth has a way of making everything feel a little more settled. The rice catches the savoury ginger and garlic broth underneath, while tender chicken, broccolini and a soft boiled egg make it substantial enough for a proper meal.

I especially love this bowl when there is roast chicken already in the fridge. It gives those leftovers somewhere worthwhile to go, without feeling like you are simply eating yesterday's dinner again. Leftover peri peri chicken is the version I keep coming back to, because the spice loosens into the broth as it warms and turns a gentle bowl into something with real backbone. A supermarket rotisserie chicken works beautifully too, and when there is no cooked chicken at all, a couple of chicken breasts can be poached gently in the broth itself.

Simple ingredients, very little preparation, and a warm bowl that leaves you properly fed.

Prep: 10 min · Cook: 15 min · Serves: 2 · Cuisine: Asian · Category: Lunch

Ingredients

Chicken & Bone Broth Rice Bowls

500 ml chicken bone broth
2 cloves garlic, finely grated or minced
1 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger
1–2 teaspoons soy sauce, to taste
1 teaspoon sesame oil
250–300 g cooked chicken, sliced or shredded
2 cups cooked rice
1 bunch broccolini, trimmed, or 1½ cups broccoli cut into small florets
2 eggs
2 spring onions, finely sliced
Sesame seeds, to serve, optional
Chilli crisp or chilli oil, to serve, optional

Method

Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil. Carefully lower in the eggs and cook for 7 minutes for a soft, jammy centre. Transfer immediately to cold water, then peel and halve.
Add the chicken bone broth, garlic and ginger to a medium saucepan. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat and cook for 4–5 minutes to allow the broth to take on the garlic and ginger.
Stir through 1 teaspoon of soy sauce and the sesame oil. Taste and add the remaining soy sauce if needed.
Add the broccolini to the simmering broth and cook for 2–3 minutes, until bright green and just tender. Small broccoli florets take the same time.
Add the cooked chicken and warm gently for 1–2 minutes. Avoid boiling the chicken so it remains tender.
Divide the warm rice between two deep bowls. Arrange the chicken and broccolini over the rice and ladle the hot broth generously around and over each bowl.
Finish each bowl with a halved egg and sliced spring onion. Add sesame seeds and chilli crisp or chilli oil, if using, and serve immediately.

Serving Suggestion

Leftovers are what make this bowl work. A tray of Portuguese Peri Peri Butterflied Chicken (Juicy Roast Method) on the weekend gives you more than enough for two bowls midweek, and if all you have is plain chicken, a spoonful of Peri Peri Oil stirred into the broth carries the same heat. The Grace Table Roast Chicken Method (Golden, Juicy & Extra Crispy Skin) is the gentler starting point. If you want more greens on the table alongside, Garlic Chilli Lemon Broccolini uses the rest of the bunch.

Storage Notes

Store the rice, chicken and broth separately in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat the broth until steaming, then use it to gently warm the chicken and broccolini before serving over hot rice.

Notes

Leftover roast chicken breast is ideal here, but meat from a supermarket rotisserie chicken works equally well. Both breast and thigh meat can be used.

Bone broths vary considerably in seasoning. Add the soy sauce gradually and taste the broth before adding more.

The quantity here gives a bowl where the rice sits in the broth rather than swims. For a soupier bowl, take the broth up to 750 ml and lift the soy sauce to taste.

Keep the broth at a gentle simmer once the cooked chicken is added. It only needs to warm through, and prolonged cooking can dry out chicken breast.

With no cooked chicken on hand, poach 2 small chicken breasts in the seasoned broth until the thickest part reaches 74°C. Rest for 5 minutes before slicing, then continue with the broccolini.

Jasmine rice is particularly lovely with the ginger and sesame broth, although any cooked white rice you already have on hand will work.

The Grace Table Tip

Leftover peri peri chicken changes this bowl entirely. The spice and oil loosen into the broth as the chicken warms through, so hold back on the soy sauce until you have tasted it and leave the chilli crisp out. The broth will deepen in colour as it goes, which is exactly what you want.

Reheat refrigerated rice until piping hot before it goes into the bowl rather than relying on the broth to warm it. Cold rice pulls the heat straight out of the broth and the bowl never quite recovers.