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This colorful Chili Crisp Chicken Mango Cucumber Rice Bowl is full of Thai flavors and so simple. Made with flavorful Thai curry paste and doused in a chili crisp butter sauce. The chicken is cooked until caramelized around the edges then added to bowls of rice. A fresh, bright mango herb salad is spooned overtop for a balance of spicy, sweet, and savory flavor. Altogether, it’s so delicious.
Come late spring, I find the most inspiration from fresh herbs and flowers. The perkiness of their leaves and their bright colors give me so many ideas. Their inspiration is a welcomed change of pace after a very white and cozy winter.
Where we live in Colorado, it’s just barely starting to get green. There’s still a fair chance we’ll get a sprinkling of snow. We had a snowstorm on June 18th a couple of years ago. I’ve even seen it snow after a beautiful warm day on the night of July 4th…you just never know around here. But even the slight glimpse of growth and warmer days has brought me new ideas.
Whole Foods was filled with fresh herbs last week and I snatched up every last one. I had an abundance of fresh basil, cilantro, and mint, and plenty of sweet mangos. So this recipe kind of just built itself.
It turned out to be everything I had pictured in my head and the flavor was better than I’d imagined. Plus, these bowls are the easiest to make. Lots of chopping I guess, but otherwise, simple.
All this to say, I love today’s recipe!
Details – start with that mango herb salad
This is my thing, my favorite! Lots of ripe fresh mango, so many fresh herbs, refreshing cucumber, toasted seeds, a little spice from a serrano pepper, and a simple lime dressing.
Just toss everything together in a bowl, no fancy steps.
The chicken
It’s a little crispy, a little spicy, but simple. Toss it up with some arrowroot or cornstarch to help with the crispiness. Then cook it up with Thai red curry paste and a splash of fish sauce.
You can certainly use tamari or soy sauce too, but I love fish sauce.
And the chili crisp butter, make sure it’s a high-quality grass feed butter for best flavor. I love Straus Organic European butter. Then just cook the garlic and chili flakes in the butter until golden and crisp.
Finish it up
Lots of rice, then the chicken. Spoon the butter over the chicken, then top each bowl with the mango salad.
Enjoy immediately…and that’s it! This takes less than an hour to make and it’s not only delicious but fun! All those fresh herbs really make a difference.
Looking for other quick weeknight dinners? Here are some favorites:
Coconut Popcorn Chicken with Sweet Thai Chili Lime Sauce
30 Minute Sticky Thai Meatballs with Sesame Noodles
Better Than Takeout Sweet Thai Basil Chicken
Lastly, if you make this Chili Crisp Chicken Mango Cucumber Rice Bowl, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Chili Crisp Chicken Mango Cucumber Rice Bowl
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 531 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
Mango Salad
- 1 mango, diced
- 2 Persian cucumbers, chopped
- 1 Serrano or jalapeño pepper, seeded and sliced
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro chopped
- 3 tablespoons fresh mint or basil, torn
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 3 tablespoons mixed sesame and/or sunflower seeds
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 avocado, cubed
Chicken
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs, thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch or arrowroot powder
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup Thai red curry paste
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce, tamari sauce, or soy sauce
- 6 tablespoons salted butter
- 3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
- chili flakes
- 3-4 cups cooked rice
Instructions
- 1. To make the salad. Combine the mango, cucumbers, serrano pepper, cilantro, basil, and green onions in a bowl. Toss with olive oil, vinegar, and lime juice, and season with salt. Add the avocado and toss lightly. Sprinkle the sesame and/or sunflower seeds overtop.2. In a bowl, toss together the chicken and cornstarch (or arrowroot powder). 3. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the Thai red curry paste and cook 1-2 minutes, until fragrant. Add the chicken and toss to coat in the curry paste. Cook until the chicken becomes crispy, about 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the fish sauce or tamari/soy sauce.4. Meanwhile, in a small skillet melt together the butter, garlic, and a pinch of chili flakes. Cook until the butter is browning and the garlic crisps.5. Spoon the chicken over the bowls of rice. Pour the garlic chili butter over the chicken. Top with the mango salad. Enjoy!
So delicious! Super simple and quick. My whole family devoured this, even my extremely picky 5 year old. I almost skipped the garlic butter drizzle, but so glad I didn’t.
Hey Mandi,
Happy Friday!! I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it!! ☀️xxT
This recipe is great as is but hear me out, I used the leftover chicken and mango salad and made tacos on corn tortillas and it was incredible. Can’t lose either way!
Hey Alyssa,
Happy Friday!! I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it!! ☀️xxT
Made this last night and it was delish!! I didn’t use the butter topping and even without it, it tasted great. Can’t wait to make it again 🙂
Hey Megan,
Happy Friday!! I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it!! ☀️xxT
I absolutely ADORED this recipe. I LOVED the flavor combo and this was super quick to pull together. Loved adding the fish sauce to the chicken at the end (man, such a great flavor!) Loved everything about the mango salad – I’d actually eat it all by itself! We equally adored the butter garlic drizzle to finish it off. HOME RUN recipe, AS ALWAYS!
Hey Stacey,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try and sharing your feedback! I love to hear that it was a hit! xTieghan
This was a big hit in my house. It’s a great combo of flavors and textures, with a perfect balance of light and refreshing while also filling. A perfect spring time dish, thank you!
Hey Kyle,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try and sharing your feedback! I love to hear that it was a hit! xTieghan
So good! Instead of the curry paste I subbed for gochujang. Also made some turmeric rice to go with. Will make again!
Hey there,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try and sharing your feedback! I love to hear that it was a hit! xTieghan
A few comments: cook the chicken in a wok otherwise it will steam not crisp. Second, the whole garlic butter process is unnecessary. First you’re adding 6 tbsp butter to the meal (calories ++) second we couldn’t even taste the garlic bits and third, it distracted from the fresh mango salad and chili chicken.
Everyone really loved it the second time around.
Hey Antonia,
Wonderful, thanks for sharing your feedback!! Thanks a bunch for trying this recipe out, I am so glad to hear that it was enjoyed!! ?xxT
Absolutely delicious! This is the second recipe I’ve tried from this website and I’m very impressed. I’ve cooked 2 different rice bowls. Very fresh, surprisingly didn’t take me forever and the combination of flavors was damn good! Excited to try more!
Hey there,
Thanks so much for your comment and sharing your feedback! I love to hear that this recipe was a hit and thanks for making it! xTieghan
I made this for dinner tonight!!! Wow what a wonderful flavor combination. My husband kept saying how lucky he is to be with someone who enjoys cooking. He couldn’t stop raving about how good it was. Thank you for fun recipes to try.
Hey Valena,
Wonderful!! Thanks a bunch for trying this recipe out, I am so glad to hear that it was enjoyed!! ?xxT
This is excellent. A wonderfully balanced dish. It’s so great I’ve made it twice in the last week! Thanks for another winner!
Hi Aimee,
Thanks so much for your comment and sharing your feedback! I love to hear that this recipe was a hit and thanks for making it! xTieghan
I loved the idea of this, and the way it looked in the picture. Crispy chicken and all of those fresh ingredients – what’s not to love, right? The balance of the cool variety in the salad was a great balance. Regarding flavor: it was good, but I’m not 100% sure it was good enough to justify the amount of chopping/prep work etc. It took me a solid hour to do everything – wasn’t prepared for that amount of time after work. I threw the seeds in at the end since I couldn’t see where they were supposed to be added. Gotta try everything at least once! Thanks!
Hey Teresa,
Thanks for giving the recipe a try, sorry to hear you didn’t love it! The seeds are part of the mango salad, so they should be added in step 1. xTieghan
Making this right now! Can’t seem to find the instruction for when to add the seeds? This looks so yummy. Thank you!
Ha! Too funny – I just added a comment about the seeds. I’ll be curious to hear your outcome.
Hey Dee,
You are going to add the seeds in step 1. Please let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love the recipe! xx
Looks delicious! Is there a way to make this vegetarian?
replace the chicken with fried tofu! delicious 🙂
Great idea!!
Hi Dani,
Sure, cauliflower would be great to use in place of the chicken. Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xx
Hi! Thinking of making this tonight. I haven’t used red curry paste before. Is it really hot?
The red curry paste I bought was not hot at all 🙂
Hey Brooks,
Yes, red curry paste does have a nice kick. Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xx
Awesome dish! Love the mango, cucumber, avocado situation.
After reading all the comments re: the chicken not crisping, I fried the chicken about 3/4 of the way first, moved it to the edges of my pan, added the curry paste to the center of the pan where I fried it to bloom the flavors then combined with the chicken and finished. Nice and crispy, flavourful.
Hey there,
Awesome!! Thanks for making this recipe, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! Have a great week:) xTieghan
Yum yum yum! I read the concerns about the chicken crisping so I decided to grill them and it was perfect! I coated the thighs in the curry paste, fish sauce and oil first, then grilled them until they were super crispy. My mango was subpar and the salad was still awesome but I think it would be just as good with pineapple or peach. This is definitely going into heavy rotation.
Hey Sarah,
Awesome!! Thanks for making this recipe, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! Have a great week:) xTieghan