High-Protein Chicken Chickpea Bowl with Lemony Yogurt Sauce (Gluten-Free)

A fresh, high-protein chicken-and-chickpea bowl with crunchy veggies and a lemony yogurt sauce. Gluten-free, fast, and great for meal prep. This bowl started as a “clean out the fridge before groceries” situation. You know that moment where you have cooked chicken, half a cucumber, some sad tomatoes, and a can of chickpeas staring at you from the pantry like, “Figure it out”? I wanted something that felt light but not like a side salad, more like a “bowl that accidentally happens to be healthy.” So I leaned on what usually saves dinner at my place: a good sauce.

High-protein chicken chickpea bowl (ingredients in grams)

For the bowl:

• Cooked chicken breast, chopped, 220 g
• Canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed, 240 g
• Cucumber, diced, 180 g
• Cherry tomatoes, halved, 180 g
• Red onion, thinly sliced, 40 g
• Fresh parsley, chopped, 15 g
• Mixed salad greens or spinach, 80 g

For the lemony yogurt sauce:

• Greek yogurt, plain, 180 g
• Lemon juice, 25 g
• Olive oil, 15 g
• Dijon mustard, 10 g
• Garlic, grated, 6 g
• Salt, 4 g
• Black pepper, 1 g

How I actually made it

I started with the sauce because I’ve learned that if I make the sauce first, everything else feels easier. In a small bowl, I whisked together the yogurt, lemon juice, olive oil, Dijon, garlic, salt, and pepper until it turned into something creamy and pourable. I tasted it, and it was a tiny bit sharper than I wanted, so I added just a drizzle more olive oil. Fixed. In a big bowl, I threw in the chopped chicken and chickpeas, then spooned in about half of the sauce and mixed it around. This makes the “protein base” actually taste seasoned instead of just tossing sauce on top at the table. Then came the vegetables: cucumber, tomatoes, onion, and parsley. I mixed everything gently so the tomatoes didn’t completely fall apart. It already looked like something you’d pay for in a lunch shop. I lined a couple of bowls with a handful of greens and piled the chicken-chickpea mixture on top, then drizzled more of the yogurt sauce over the top like I knew what I was doing.

Why this recipe stuck with me

It hits that good balance: high-protein, lots of texture, and it doesn’t feel like punishment food. The chickpeas make it filling, the chicken makes it feel like a real meal, and the yogurt sauce makes it taste more intentional than the sum of its parts. It’s also very forgiving. You can swap vegetables based on what’s sad in your fridge, and it still works.

What it tasted like

Bright, creamy, a little tangy from the lemon and yogurt, and really satisfying in that “I’m full but not weighed down” way. The chickpeas give you that hearty bite, so it doesn’t feel like a side salad pretending to be dinner, and the garlic in the sauce makes everything taste like it was meant to be.

How I serve it / leftovers

I like it cold or at room temperature, which makes it an easy lunch the next day. For meal prep, I keep the greens separate, so they don’t get soggy, and then assemble just before eating. Sometimes I scoop the lot of planning, it uses normal ingredients, and it somehow manages to feel like both real food and a tiny, everyday reset at the same time.