The week is better when you meal prep this Smoked Chicken & Mango Bowl dish. FACT! Slightly smokey, wood-fire flavored chicken lightly mixed with spicy BBQ sauce is the only way to go. Pair this smoked chicken with roasted sweet potatoes, crisp kickin’ coleslaw and fresh sweet mango and you have yourself a flavor packed meal. The combinations of textures and flavors make each bite more exciting than the last. It’s all about mixing soft with crunchy and sweet with savory for the perfect bite and this Smoked Chicken & Mango Bowl does just that.
Three simple spices to season for smoking.
It may seem daunting to low-and-slow cook chicken for 60-70 minutes to get it to the perfect smoked doneness BUT I swear you’ll thank yourself bite after bite. Whenever we turn the Traeger Grill on to smoke chicken (or a Brisket like this Traeger Grills Smoked Brisket) it’s best to keep the seasonings SIMPLE:
The holy trinity of spices in this house. This holy trinity of spices allow the smoke flavor to shine through on your selected meat without overpowering. There is time and place for a more robust seasoning blend comprised of bold smoked paprika, onion powder, mustard powder, etc. the list goes on but sometimes, simple is best. This simple spice mix allows the freedom to spice things up with any kind of BBQ sauce you like without mixing too many flavors.
Five steps to smoke & shred chicken.
There are many methods to result in perfectly smoked chicken. This one here, is a go-to. House favorite pellet flavors are Hickory, Cherry and Traeger Signature blend.
- Set the Traeger Grill to 225°F. This temperature allows time for the smoke to penetrate the chicken and leave a subtle, yet full, smokey flavor in the meat.
- Using the holy trinity of spices (salt, black pepper and garlic powder), season the chicken liberally on all sides.
- Place the chicken directly on the grill grates and smoke for 60-70 minutes until the internal temperature reaches 165°F.
- It’s time to shred! Remove the chicken from the grill and place it into the bowl of a stand mixer. Set the mixer on low, using the paddle attachment to mix until the chicken is shredded. Add the BBQ to the chicken and continue to mix until lightly sauced.
- Increase the temperature of the Traeger Grill to 375°F. Place the shredded chicken to a sheet pan, drizzle with the remaining BBQ sauce and cook for an additional 5-7 minutes at 375°F.
Can you customize your bowl?
ABSOLUTELY! The best part about this dish, you can customize it to what you have on hand, what best fits your dietary needs and what flavors suit your family. We’ve made these bowls with a base of cooked Coconut White Rice (from my Feeding the Fraser’s Fan Favorite Recipes eBook!) and with roasted sweet potatoes. I’m not quite sure which I like best, they were both SO good.
Once you’ve selected your base, it’s all about layering the flavors and textures. Add a heaping scoop of shredded smoked chicken and crisp kickin’ coleslaw. Top it all off with fresh mango chucks, green onions and cilantro. If you don’t have mango accessible, try pineapple. Add chunks of avocado if you have those on hand for some extra healthy fats. It’s your kitchen, you get to be the boss and however your customize, these bowls are full of flavor!
How to store your Smoked Chicken & Mango Bowl.
This recipe is ideal for meal-prep. My rule of thumb is if I’m going to turn on the smoker and cook something for 60-70 minutes, I’m going to make a large batch and use the time to my advantage. For a meal like this, it’s best stored separately. Since this meal has both hot and cold components, it’s best to store those components together. When building your meal prep containers, add a layer of your base ingredient (either cooked white rice or roasted sweet potatoes) and top it with your shredded smoked chicken. In a separate container, add the coleslaw, mango, green onions and cilantro. Storing these separately will allow you to reheat your base and top it with fresh crisp coleslaw and mango when you’re ready to eat!
Can I make this meal without a smoker?
The answer is yes! You will simply have shredded BBQ chicken and will not get that smokey flavor BUT the recipe can be adapted. Since cooking the chicken on the smoker at a low temperature is to impart the smokey flavor into the chicken, you’ll want to increase the temperature of your oven. When cooking chicken in the oven, set the oven temperature to 375°F. Season the chicken as instructed and place the chicken on a sheet pan. Cook the chicken for 20-25 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165°F.
Remember, cooking times for meat is a suggestion. The time varies greatly depending on the size and thickness of your cut of meat. The golden rule is to cook to TEMPERATURE not time. Take the guesswork out of cooking and invest in a meat thermometer. It’s a real game-changer in the adventures of cooking! Once you learn the basics temperatures, it’s hard to ever under/over cook anything. Here are a few guides to help learn the basics:
Internal Temperature Guide Magnet
Looking for more meal-prep ideas?
Here are a few to try:
Lastly, if you make this Smoked Chicken & Mango Bowl recipe, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a comment! Above all, I love to hear from ya’ll and do my best to respond to every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to snap a pic and tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of your dayyyummm good recreations is my favorite!
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Ingredients
-
- 2 pounds ButcherBox chicken breast
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1/2 cup Traeger Texas Spicy BBQ sauce
- Cooked white rice or roasted sweet potatoes, for serving
- 2 mangos, cubed for serving
- Green onions, sliced for serving
- Cilantro, for serving
Kickin’ Coleslaw
- 1 1/2 Cup shredded red cabbage
- 1 1/2 Cup shredded green cabbage
- 1/4 cup sweet onion, minced
- 1/4 cup shredded carrot
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 tablespoon buttermilk
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the Traeger Grill to 225°F.
- Season the chicken breast with salt, black pepper and garlic powder. Place the chicken directly on the grill grates and smoke for 60-70 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165°F.
- While the chicken is smoking prepare the coleslaw. In a large mixing bowl toss the reg cabbage, green cabbage, onion and carrots. In a separate bowl whisk the mayonnaise, dijon, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, buttermilk, cayenne, salt and black pepper.
- Add the dressing to the cabbage mixture, toss until fully coated. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
- When the chicken has reached temperature, remove it from the grill. Increase the grill temperature to 375°F.
- Add the chicken to the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, turn the mixer on low to break up the chicken breast. Mix for 3-5 minutes or until the chicken is shredded. Add 1/4 cup of BBQ sauce to the bowl and mix and additional minute.**
- Move the shredded chicken to a sheet pan. Drizzle with the remaining 1/4 cup of BBQ sauce and place the sheet pan into the heated grill. Cook for 5 minutes to crisp the ends and caramelize the BBQ sauce. Remove from the grill and assemble your bowl.
- Start with your base of cooked white rice or roasted sweet potatoes (or a combination of both!). Layer the shredded smoked chicken with extra drizzle of BBQ sauce to taste. Add crisp kicking' coleslaw, fresh cubed mango, green onions and cilantro.
Notes
** If you do not have a stand mixer, shred the chicken using two forks and a little bit of elbow grease 😉
Nutrition Information: Serves 4 / 677 cals / 21g F / 61g C / 57g P
Ingredients
-
- 2 pounds ButcherBox chicken breast
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1/2 cup Traeger Texas Spicy BBQ sauce
- Cooked white rice or roasted sweet potatoes, for serving
- 2 mangos, cubed for serving
- Green onions, sliced for serving
- Cilantro, for serving
Kickin’ Coleslaw
- 1 1/2 Cup shredded red cabbage
- 1 1/2 Cup shredded green cabbage
- 1/4 cup sweet onion, minced
- 1/4 cup shredded carrot
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 tablespoon buttermilk
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the Traeger Grill to 225°F.
- Season the chicken breast with salt, black pepper and garlic powder. Place the chicken directly on the grill grates and smoke for 60-70 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165°F.
- While the chicken is smoking prepare the coleslaw. In a large mixing bowl toss the reg cabbage, green cabbage, onion and carrots. In a separate bowl whisk the mayonnaise, dijon, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, buttermilk, cayenne, salt and black pepper.
- Add the dressing to the cabbage mixture, toss until fully coated. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
- When the chicken has reached temperature, remove it from the grill. Increase the grill temperature to 375°F.
- Add the chicken to the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, turn the mixer on low to break up the chicken breast. Mix for 3-5 minutes or until the chicken is shredded. Add 1/4 cup of BBQ sauce to the bowl and mix and additional minute.**
- Move the shredded chicken to a sheet pan. Drizzle with the remaining 1/4 cup of BBQ sauce and place the sheet pan into the heated grill. Cook for 5 minutes to crisp the ends and caramelize the BBQ sauce. Remove from the grill and assemble your bowl.
- Start with your base of cooked white rice or roasted sweet potatoes (or a combination of both!). Layer the shredded smoked chicken with extra drizzle of BBQ sauce to taste. Add crisp kicking' coleslaw, fresh cubed mango, green onions and cilantro.
Notes
** If you do not have a stand mixer, shred the chicken using two forks and a little bit of elbow grease 😉
Nutrition Information: Serves 4 / 677 cals / 21g F / 61g C / 57g P
14 comments
I made this last night, super fun making it and tasted even better. Thank you for the recipe, I have made a few of your recipes and all of them are amazing!!
Andrew, so glad you enjoyed this recipe! Can’t wait to see what else you whip up!
Is there a way to make this without a smoker?
Alexis, You bet!! There is a section in the post above that talks about making this without a smoker, you are covered!
Haha oops sorry! You think of everything! Can’t wait to try.
I gotchyouuuu!
Hi Sammy. I’ve made this one 3 times in 2 weeks. AMAZING!!! And so easy. I don’t have a smoker so cooked the seasoned chicken in an oven before pulling and marinating in Smokey BBQ sauce, then back in the oven to finish. Tastes so good the only problem is I never make enough!
Greg, that’s the best/worst news I’ve read all week! haha so glad to hear you’re enjoying it and hopefully you can nail the quantities next cook to ensure there are more leftovers!!
We loved this! Unfortunately we weren’t able to make a smoked chicken, but did a slow grill instead and doubled the chicken so we could use different types of sauces and have extras for nachos and lunches. We decided to eat it “Tennessee-style” with the chicken and coleslaw together on hamburger buns. Yum!
Pam, heck yes!! I love that you’re already planning different ways to use this one simple ingredient. Way to be the boss in your kitchen!
This turned out great. I used a broccoli slaw mix with olive oil/vinegar/honey. I also used a low calorie/zero sugar barbecue sauce.
Ok can we just take a moment to give credit to the coleslaw…. HOLY MOLY!!!! THE COLESLAW!!! Seriously the best cole slaw I have ever had in my entire life. We have meal prepped this for the past 3 weeks in a row, and I still crave this meal on a daily basis. I don’t think I will ever get sick of this. Wow!!! Great job Sammy! Great recipe!
Never thought to add mango. Looks very good. Looking forward to trying this new pork bowl with mango!
Hope you enjoy the combo! We love it! -Sammy