
Banh mi rice bowls with ground chicken
Caramelized garlic and fish sauce chicken over rice with quick-pickled carrots, cool cucumber, jalapeño and sriracha mayo, a banh mi in a bowl.
- 35 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 4
- About $2.66 a serving
- 610 calories
- Good the next day
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free

Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1½ cups jasmine rice
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp sriracha
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1 cucumber, thinly sliced
- 1 jalapeño, thinly sliced
- ½ cup cilantro, leaves
From your pantry
- 2 cups water
- ¾ tsp salt, divided
- ⅓ cup rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1½ tbsp brown sugar
- ½ tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 610 calories, 27 g protein, 73 g carbs and 24 g fat, and costs about $2.66 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No jasmine rice? Long-grain white rice or basmati rice works.
- No shredded carrots? Carrots work.
- No sriracha? Hot sauce works.
- No ground chicken? Ground turkey works.
- No limes? Lemons work.
- No cucumbers? English cucumbers or mini cucumbers work.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the rice, then bring it in a with the water and ¼ teaspoon of the salt.
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
High heat
once, cover, turn the heat to low and cook 15 minutes.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Low heatTimer: 15 min
the vinegar, sugar and remaining ½ teaspoon salt in a bowl until dissolved, add the carrots, and let them pickle while you cook.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Dolly’s tip: Even 15 minutes turns them tangy and crisp. They keep a week in the fridge.the mayo and sriracha together in a small bowl.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Heat the oil in a large over medium-high. Add the chicken, let it sit 2 minutes to , then break it up and cook 5 minutes more, until no pink remains.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Brown. Browning means cooking until the outside turns brown, which is where a lot of savory flavor comes from. Give food room and time without stirring, or it steams and stays gray.
How you’ll know: The food looks brown rather than gray, and the kitchen smells toasty and savory.
Medium-high heatTimer: 7 min
Food safety: Ground turkey and ground chicken are done at 165°F, with no pink left anywhere in the pan.
Add the garlic and stir 30 seconds, then add the fish sauce, brown sugar and pepper and cook 2 to 3 minutes, , until sticky and . Squeeze in the lime juice.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Caramelize. Caramelizing means cooking slowly until the natural sugars turn deep golden brown. It turns sharp onions soft, jammy and sweet, and it often takes 30 minutes or more.
How you’ll know: They’re soft, sticky and amber brown, and they taste sweet rather than sharp.
Medium-high heat
Dolly’s tip: Fish sauce smells strong in the bottle but turns savory and mellow in the pan. Trust it.Build bowls with rice, chicken, pickled carrots, cucumber, jalapeño and cilantro, and the sriracha mayo over the top.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
Drizzle. Drizzling means pouring a thin, slow stream over the top of something. A thin stream spreads a little flavor a long way.
How you’ll know: You see thin lines across the food, not a puddle collecting underneath.

Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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