This Garlic Herb Chicken and Asparagus Meal Prep is easy to make and can be done in under 30 minutes!
This is another super easy sheet pan version of meal prep, like the Sheet Pan Fajita Meal Prep from a few weeks back. I love the concept of keeping meal prep ultra simple. Just placing a few ingredients placed on a sheet pan, and baked into golden brown deliciousness. Today’s recipe celebrates the fact spring is finally here, and summer is on it’s lovely way.
Asparagus is probably my favorite vegetable. And since Tyler is crazy about it too, it makes lots of sense to use it in meal prep. Neither one of us ever gets tired of it, and it’s really one of the best things about spring finally arriving.
Riced Vegetables Tip: To easily make most any vegetable into a ‘rice’, cut it up into pieces under 2″ big. Then place all the pieces into a large food processor, and process just until a rice like texture appears.
Using this technique you can make all sorts of veggie rices to use in this recipe. My favorite one to sub in for the cauliflower rice is to use a potato rice. Sweet potatoes are really nice too. But since they’re on their way out of season, Yukon gold or red potatoes are a good choice.
How to make this Garlic Herb Chicken and Asparagus Sheet Pan Meal Prep:
The first thing you do in this recipe, is to whip up a garlic herb oil mixture that makes the chicken and asparagus really shine.
Then the sauce is drizzled over the chicken and veggies on a sheet pan, and baked.
While the chicken and veggies cook, you make your choice of veggie rice and season it as well.
Then once everything has been cooked and slightly cooled, you portion it out into containers. I love these rectangular glass containers pictures because they stack so well in the refrigerator. I bought mine at TJ Maxx at a discount, so you might try looking there to see if you can find a deal.
And one final thing about this recipe – it makes 4 bowls which is just short of a 5 day work week. But I personally don’t like to keep these types of recipes more than 4 days in the fridge to be on the safe side. So my recommendation for the 5th day of the week is to pack leftovers from dinner, or make a quick mason salad jar for the next day.
The other tip I like for meal prepping is to make a couple different recipes so you don’t eat the same thing every day. If you make this recipe plus my Sheet Pan Fajita Meal Prep, you’ll have 8 lunches. We do this often so we can rotate every other day for something different, and it’s the perfect amount for us for the week.
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Garlic Herb Chicken and Asparagus Meal Prep
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Total Time: 45 mins
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
This simple meal prep keeps lunches or dinners interesting and tasty all week long!
Ingredients
Garlic Herb Chicken and Asparagus:
- 2 Teaspoons onion powder
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 Teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1/2 Teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
- 1/2 Teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs, about 4
- 1 1/2 pounds trimmed asparagus, (woody ends removed)
Cauliflower Rice:
- 1 1/2 pounds cauliflower rice, see notes
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 Teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
- 1/2 Teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 Teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 Teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 large lemon, cut into 4 wedges
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450ºF and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. For the Garlic Herb Chicken and Asparagus, mix together the onion powder, garlic, Italian seasoning, sea salt, pepper, and olive oil until combined.
- Place the chicken thighs on one end of the baking sheet. Then arrange the trimmed asparagus spears on the other end.
- Next divide the garlic herb oil mixture evenly over the two, and bake until the chicken is done, about 25 minutes. If you have thin asparagus, add it to the pan during the last 10 minutes of cooking time so it doesn’t overcook.
- Meanwhile, toss the cauliflower rice together with the olive oil, sea salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and pepper. Spread it evenly on the prepared baking sheet.
- When the chicken and asparagus are done, remove them from the oven to cool slightly. Then bake the cauliflower rice just until tender, 10-15 minutes.
- When the cauliflower rice has been cooked and cooled on a baking rack for about 10 minutes, portion out the chicken, asparagus, and cauliflower rice into containers with lids. Add a lemon wedge to each container, and store in the refrigeratorfor 3-4 days.
Notes
You’ll need about 2 – 2 1/2 pounds cauliflower, (1-2 depending on size) to yield 1 1/2 pounds. This is about 7 cups cauliflower rice. To make rice out of a whole head of cauliflower, trim away the outer leaves. Then cut the florets from the core. Break up any large pieces, (over 2″) and place the florets into a large processor. You’ll probably need to do this in 2 batches. Then process the florets into a rice like texture to use in this recipe.
- Category: Meal Prep
- Method: Oven Roasting
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: Meal Prep Chicken and Veggies, Meal Prep Chicken and Vegetables, Meal Prep Chicken, Cauliflower Rice, Chicken and Vegetables
Can u substitute chicken breast for the thighs?
You can sub in chicken breasts, although they will need to cook a bit longer.
I absolutely love this recipe as I am just starting to meal prep! However, do you have nutritional information for your recipes?
★★★★★
I’ve just started the process of adding in nutritional information this year, but I have over 550 recipes to do! Luckily this one was near the top of my list, so I went ahead and got it done, so you should be able to see it now. I’m so glad to hear you’ve enjoyed it, and I’ll leave you a link below to my 2 meal prepping sections in case they might be helpful as well!
https://getinspiredeveryday.com/food/meal-prep/
https://getinspiredeveryday.com/lifestyle/meal-prepping/