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    Pan Grilled BBQ Chicken for Cold BBQ Salad Bowls

    February 14, 2019 by Alyssia Sheikh 10 Comments

    Grilled BBQ Chicken Meal Prep Bowl, barbecue chicken breast, side dishes for bbq chicken, how long to grill chicken tenders, grilled chicken tenders recipes, bbq chicken lunch ideas, healthy lunches for work, cold lunch ideas, cheap easy meals
    Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe

    Easy Cold Lunch Ideas for Work: Grilled BBQ Chicken Tenders with Healthy Potato Salad & Cold Asparagus Salad

    Nix the greens and redefine ‘salad’ with these cold BBQ salad bowls! A deliciously simple combo of grilled BBQ chicken tenders, healthy potato salad, and asparagus salad that can all be enjoyed cold—or warm, if you prefer!

    I hear from SO many people looking for healthy lunches for work, who are craving something—anything—other than salads… But, there are loads of cold lunch ideas (beyond just leafy salads) that you can enjoy without reheating. These grilled BBQ chicken bowls are just one option, and just one of the many ways that you can rethink boring old salads!

    I love that I can fit a healthy balance of protein, carbs, and veggies all in the same bowl, in a meal that I really enjoy eating. And, it’s such an EASY healthy meal prep lunch to throw together, made with super affordable ingredients! Very minimal cooking is involved, and you’ve got meals ready for the week once the prep work is done.

    Healthy Aldi Meal Prep for the Week & Haul!

    For Endless Meal Prep Lunch Ideas, Follow Your Taste Buds

    If, like me, you are NOT a fan of eating salads with leafy greens, that’s okay. You can either train your taste buds to tolerate greens more, or you can seek out other healthy foods that your taste buds really enjoy! Ultimately, a ‘salad’ is just a big mish-mash of different ingredients on the same plate. So, use that freedom to craft the kinds of ‘salads’ that YOU like!

    You can opt for a cold vegetable salad that’s totally leafy-green-free, like the cold asparagus salad in these BBQ bowls. Or, go a heartier route with a protein-packed tuna salad, or a carbohydrate-rich salad like my healthy potato salad with egg. Then, put together a mish-mash of healthy components that you like to create simple, healthy meals.

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    Grilled BBQ Chicken Tenders, how to grill chicken tenders in a skillet, pan grilled chicken, barbecue chicken breast, side dishes for bbq chicken, bbq chicken bowl, bbq chicken lunch ideas, lunch meal prep recipes, healthy lunches for work

    Which is exactly what I did in crafting these BBQ plates: combined a few salads that I like, paired with grilled BBQ chicken tenders for an easy protein option, and BOOM! Deliciously nutritious cold lunches, designed for MY taste buds. So, feel free to change up the components here and get creative crafting YOUR ultimate BBQ plates!

    Swap out the asparagus salad and/or potato salad if you’ve got other healthy side dishes that you love. Use this grilled BBQ chicken tenders recipe to make grilled BBQ chicken breast. Or, swap out the chicken entirely and grill strips of steak, or even tofu, instead! Bottom line: you’ve got endless options to make these BBQ bowls your own.

    How to Make Grilled Chicken Tenders the EASY Way

    Full disclosure: I am neither a barbecue expert nor an experienced griller. BUT, I do have an indoor grill pan that I love to use! It’s such a quick, easy cooking method that locks the flavors into my proteins, and I am a huge fan of those gorgeous grill marks. So, these are technically pan grilled BBQ chicken tenders, a.k.a. grilled the EASY way!

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    First, heat your grill pan over medium-high heat and brush with a high smoke point oil, like avocado oil. Make sure your grill pan is HOT, then place your chicken tenders onto the pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Now, if you want those great grill marks, it’s best to place your chicken tenderloin strips down and LEAVE THEM alone until you flip!

    Let those tenders grill for about 5 minutes, then brush the tops with oil before flipping and cook another 5 minutes or so. If you want your grilled chicken tenders a bit more done/charred, you may want to grill them for a bit longer! But, just be warned: that added doneness will make for a tougher, less tender texture.

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    Once they’ve cooked on the both sides, that’s pretty much it! Remove from your grill pan and allow those tasty grilled chicken tenders to cool. You can serve them as full tenders if you like, or slice into bite-sized strips like I did for these BBQ chicken meal prep bowls!

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    Putting the BBQ in your Grilled BBQ Chicken Tenders

    It’s not just the pan grilling that makes these grilled chicken tenders so easy—it’s also the flavoring. No need to marinate your chicken tenders, no complicated blend of spices or a spice rub necessary. Because, in my opinion, healthy meals have to be nutritious, tasty, AND convenient if we’re going to stick with a healthy lifestyle.

    One of the easiest ways to pack in flavor with minimal effort is with sauces. Luckily, there are tons of BBQ sauces that you can choose from! Sweet, savory, or even spicy—choose the sauce that suits your taste buds. Plus, to add variety, you can always split your plain meat into portions and make some grilled BBQ chicken and flavor some with another sauce!

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    But, I do recommend READING the nutrition label and ingredients lists before choosing a BBQ sauce brand. Many sauces (BBQ sauces in particular) are hiding tons of sneaky added sugars. So, be vigilant, choose wisely, and look for options with 6-7g of sugar or less.

    Of course, you could always make your own low sugar BBQ sauce at home, but let’s be real: I don’t always have time for that… If you’re unsure of how to cook chicken tenderloins, I HIGHLY recommend giving these easy grilled BBQ chicken tenders a try!

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    Grilled BBQ Chicken Tenders, easy bbq chicken recipe, grilled barbecue chicken, how to cook chicken tenderloins, chicken breast tenderloin recipes, healthy bbq chicken meal prep ideas, meal prep lunch ideas, lunch meal prep for the week, cheap meal prep

    Pan Grilled BBQ Chicken Tenders


    ★★★★★

    5 from 4 reviews

    • Author: Alyssia Sheikh
    • Prep Time: 10 minutes
    • Cook Time: 10 minutes
    • Total Time: 20 minutes
    • Yield: 8 servings
    Print Recipe
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    Description

    A deliciously simple protein option for healthy BBQ lunch bowls, served with healthy potato salad and cold asparagus salad!

    Entire BBQ Bowl Lunches Meal Prep:

    • Prep Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
    • Cook Time: 25 minutes
    • Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes

    Pan Grilled BBQ Chicken Tenders:


    Ingredients

    Grilled BBQ Chicken:

    ~½ cup BBQ sauce of choice, to taste
    1 lb chicken breast tenders
    drizzle of avocado oil
    salt & pepper, to taste


    Instructions

    • Heat grill pan over medium-high heat and brush with avocado oil.
    • Place chicken tenders onto hot grill pan and season with salt and pepper. (Once you’ve placed your tenders, I recommend leaving them alone and not moving them until you flip. This will make for the best grill marks!)
    • Grill tenders for about 5 minutes on each side, brushing tops with oil before flipping.
    • Remove from grill pan, allow to cool slightly, and slice into strips.
    • Toss with BBQ sauce of choice.
    • Serve as desired immediately, or portion and store for later!

    Notes

    Nutrition per BBQ Bowl

    With 2 oz grilled BBQ chicken, ~1 cup healthy potato salad, & ~⅔ - ¾ cup cold asparagus salad:

    437 calories | 29g fat | 26g carbs | 4g fiber | 6g sugars | 22g protein

    Grilled BBQ Chicken Tenders Nutrition

    Provided below, per 2-oz serving grilled chicken tossed with Chris’ & Pitts’ Original BBQ Sauce:

    Nutrition

    • Serving Size: 2 ounces
    • Calories: 90
    • Sugar: 3g
    • Fat: 3g
    • Carbohydrates: 4g
    • Fiber: 0g
    • Protein: 13g

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Candelaria

      September 14, 2019 at 1:59 am

      Hi! I know this is kind of off topic but I was wondering which blog platform are you
      using for this website? I'm getting tired of WordPress
      because I've had issues with hackers and I'm looking at options for
      another platform. I would be awesome if you could point me in the direction of a good platform.

      ★★★★★

      Reply
      • Nadia Sheikh

        October 18, 2019 at 12:29 pm

        We use WordPress! 🙂

        Reply
    2. kristie

      August 20, 2019 at 5:53 pm

      Good post.

      ★★★★★

      Reply
      • Nadia Sheikh

        September 11, 2019 at 9:57 am

        🙂 🙂

        Reply
    3. trudy

      June 27, 2019 at 2:57 pm

      Excellent blog right here!

      ★★★★★

      Reply
      • Nadia Sheikh

        July 18, 2019 at 11:37 am

        Thank you! 🙂

        Reply
    4. allie

      June 09, 2019 at 3:57 pm

      Keep up the great works guys!

      ★★★★★

      Reply
      • Nadia Sheikh

        July 18, 2019 at 11:47 am

        Thanks! 🙂

        Reply
    5. Taren

      March 09, 2019 at 7:16 am

      I think this is one of the most vital information for me. And i am glad reading your article. But wanna remark on some general things, The website style is ideal, the articles is really great : D. Good job, cheers

      Reply
      • Nadia Sheikh

        April 26, 2019 at 8:08 am

        thank you!

        Reply

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