High-Protein Rice Bowls: 6 Meal Prep Bowls with 30–45 g Protein

A rice bowl is the easiest high-protein meal prep there is: one base, one protein, vegetables and a sauce. Cook once on Sunday, mix and match all week, and lunch at your desk stops being a sandwich and a hope.

Written by Velion Physique. I have done nutrition coaching since 2019, alongside working as a personal trainer with five trainer licences.

The bowl formula

• Base (1 fist): rice, brown rice or a rice-and-lentil mix
• Protein (1–2 palms, ~30–40 g protein): chicken, lean beef mince, salmon, tuna, tofu, eggs or beans plus Greek yogurt sauce
• Vegetables (2 fists): anything you like – raw, roasted or frozen
• Sauce (1–2 tbsp): soy-ginger, yogurt-garlic, salsa, peanut-lime

Follow the formula and almost every bowl lands at 30–45 g protein.

6 high-protein rice bowls

Bowl	What goes in	Roughly
1. Teriyaki chicken bowl	150 g chicken breast, rice, broccoli, edamame, soy-ginger sauce	~45 g protein
2. Burrito bowl	125 g lean beef or turkey mince, rice, black beans, corn, salsa, Greek yogurt	~42 g
3. Salmon poke-style bowl	120 g cooked salmon, rice, cucumber, carrot, edamame, sesame	~35 g
4. Tuna egg bowl	1 can tuna, 1 boiled egg, rice, sweetcorn, spinach, lemon-yogurt dressing	~38 g
5. Tofu peanut bowl	200 g firm tofu, rice, red cabbage, peppers, peanut-lime sauce	~30 g
6. Chickpea shawarma bowl	1 can chickpeas, rice, tomato, cucumber, 150 g Greek yogurt-garlic sauce	~32 g

Numbers are rough and depend on the products and portions you use.

Meal prep in 60 minutes

1. Cook a big pot of rice and cool it quickly (spread it on a tray, then into the fridge within an hour).
2. Bake two proteins at once on one tray – for example chicken and tofu.
3. Roast one tray of vegetables, chop one bowl of raw vegetables.
4. Mix two sauces in jars.
5. Pack 4 containers, keep sauces separate so nothing goes soggy.

Food safety: cooked rice should be cooled fast, kept in the fridge and eaten within about 1–2 days, or frozen. Reheat until steaming hot all the way through and only once. Cooked meat and fish keep about 3 days in the fridge.

If you have a food allergy, kidney disease, diabetes or follow a medically prescribed diet, check portions and ingredients with your doctor or a dietitian. This is general nutrition information, not medical or dietetic advice.

No microwave at work?

Bowls 3, 4 and 6 taste good cold. Make the rice into a salad with a vinegar-based dressing and pack it in an insulated container. More ideas: high-protein lunch for work without a microwave and high-protein tuna recipes.

Common questions

Is rice bad for building muscle or losing fat?

No. Rice is an easy carbohydrate that fuels training. Portion size decides fat loss, not the food itself – see carbs and muscle growth.

How much should my bowl contain?

The free Macro Calculator gives you daily calories, protein, carbs and fat. Divide by your meals and build the bowl around it. For protein only, use the Protein Calculator.

The short version

Base, protein, vegetables, sauce. Cook once, mix all week, and every lunch hits 30–45 g protein without thinking about it.

More meal prep: 5 high-protein meal prep ideas and high-protein chicken recipes. If you want complete meals already planned, see the High-Protein Cookbook.

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