Sweetgreen Crispy Rice Bowl

I keep hearing that this Sweetgreen Crispy Rice Bowl is all the rage! This make-at-home version has a recipe for the blackened chicken, spicy cashew dressing, and all the other fun and delicious components of the salad. This is the fifth Sweetgreen salad dupe I’ve made this summer, and I can’t get enough.

Components and Substitutions

The Salad

• The salad components include arugula, persian cucumbers, red cabbage, carrots, and cilantro.

Wild Rice

• A combination of different red and black rices, quinoa, and grains, the wild rice I use is just the multigrain rice I get from the asian store. You can cook this in a rice cooker or on the stovetop.

Crispy Rice & Crunchies

• The crispy rice is just rice cereal toasted in sesame oil and lightly seasoned with salt and soy sauce. This adds a fun and delicious texture to the bowl. You can also add some roasted chopped almonds for some additional crunch.

Blackened Chicken

• A super flavorful, juicy, and delicious chicken – this marinade is one of my favorites! I roast this in the oven as a quick and hands off approach, but you could also sear this in a cast iron or air fryer if you prefer.

Spicy Cashew Dressing

• A nutty, creamy, spicy dressing made with cilantro, cashews, lemon juice, sriracha, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, garlic, and ginger.

step by step instructions – For the Crispy rice Bowl

1. In a small pot, add the 3/4 cup of wild rice, 1.25 cups of water, and pinch of kosher salt. Bring up to a boil, then stir and reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 20 minutes, then turn off the heat and let sit, covered, for 10 minutes.

2. Preheat the oven to 425F. 

3. Marinate the chicken thighs. Combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl, then place the chicken into an even layer on a baking sheet. Once the oven is preheated, roast for 15 minutes. After the chicken has been roasting for 15 minutes, remove this from the oven. If you’d like more of a char, you can broil this for an additional minute. Once the chicken is ready, cut the chicken into 1” pieces.

4. While the chicken is roasting, prep the remaining produce – cut the cucumbers, carrots, and red cabbage if you did not already get the pre-shredded versions.

For the spicy cashew Dressing & CrisPy Rice

6. Make the dressing by combining all the ingredients in a food processor. If you want to make an extra smooth dressing, you can soak the cashews for 10 minutes before adding them to the food processor, or you can use a vitamix if you have one. Blend everything until smooth, taste, adjust seasoning, then pour into an airtight container or jar.

7. Make the crispy rice – heat a small pan on medium high heat and add a tablespoon of sesame oil. Add the rice cereal and a pinch of salt and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add a teaspoon of soy sauce, and stir to coat the toasted rice. Remove from the heat and let cool. 

8. Assemble the salad by adding the arugula, wild rice, chicken, and chopped veggies in a mixing bowl. Add ¼ cup of the dressing, then toss together and taste and adjust more dressing as desired. Top with the chopped roast almonds and crispy rice, and serve. If you’re meal prepping this, leave the dressing to assemble until the end, and keep the crispy rice and almonds stored separately to keep this crisp!

FAQ

• How many servings do you make, and how long does this store for? 
  • I like to prep 3 days worth on meals to ensure freshness. I also use the forth serving for dinner one evening. Since my office days are Tuesday – Thursday, I like to make this recipe Monday evening. 
• What’s the best way to store the ingredients?
  • Store the greens in a plastic ziplock bag with a paper towel to absorb moisture. If you purchased a pre-washed bag of greens, you can add a paper towel directly into the container to help with freshness.
  • Cut the cucumbers fresh each morning as you pack together the vegetable components.
  • Store the shredded cabbage and carrots in their own container.
  • Store the wild rice and roast chicken it its own smaller containers. Additionally, I like to freeze these to keep them fresh (even for 3 days), defrost the night before, and heat it slightly before adding to the salad.
  • Keep the crispy rice in an individual airtight container to keep it crispy.
  • Keep the dressing in a airtight jar or bottle and this will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.
• How to cook wild rice?
  • You can cook the wild rice according to package directions – I prefer the stovetop method but this can also be done in the rice cooker.

Video Tutorial Here: Sweetgreen Crispy Rice Bowl

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Recommendations for Reheating and Storing

To store and reheat this for meal prep, here are a few tips to follow:

1. Store the chicken and wild rice in the same small container so this can be easily reheated together. This is optional, I just prefer not to eat cold chicken and rice. You can also freeze these individual portions of the chicken and rice, defrost the night before, and heat in the microwave for ~ minute before tossing with the salad.
2. Store the vegetables in an airtight container. To keep cut vegetables fresh, you want to maintain a moisture balance moisture (too much causes bacteria thrive, but you also don’t want soggy, soft veggies that have lost their water content). I like to add a piece of paper towel into the airtight container. 

My other Sweetgreen copycat recipes: