Feeding a hungry young athlete doesn’t have to mean spending hours in the kitchen.
This easy butter chicken for young athletes uses a roast chicken, store-bought butter chicken sauce, microwave rice and vegetables to create a filling meal with 28g of protein and 47g of carbohydrates per serve.
Even better? It’s simple enough for teenagers to make themselves.
For busy families juggling school, homework, football training, gym sessions and weekend sport, meals like this can make young athlete nutrition much easier to manage.
Why is this a good meal for a young athlete?
Young athletes have a lot going on nutritionally.
Their bodies need energy and nutrients not only for sport, but also for normal growth and development.
This means regularly eating balanced meals containing carbohydrates, protein, healthy fats, fruit and vegetables is particularly important.
This simple butter chicken ticks several of those boxes.
1. Chicken provides 28g of protein per serve
Protein is particularly important for young athletes because it provides amino acids that the body uses to build and repair tissues.
This recipe provides approximately 28g of protein per serving, largely from the chicken.
Rather than concentrating all their protein into one meal, young athletes can benefit from eating protein-containing foods regularly throughout the day.
Chicken, eggs, yoghurt, milk, cheese, fish, lean meat, tofu, beans and legumes can all help contribute to a young athlete's daily protein intake.
2. Rice provides carbohydrates for active bodies
Carbohydrates sometimes get a bad reputation, but for young athletes they are an important source of fuel.
During higher-intensity exercise such as football, netball, basketball, athletics and hockey, the body relies heavily on carbohydrate for energy.
The microwave rice makes this recipe incredibly easy while contributing to the approximately 47g of carbohydrates per serve.
That makes this a useful meal option around demanding training days.
If your teenager has a particularly heavy training load or a match the following day, you can increase the rice portion or add another carbohydrate source according to their appetite and individual needs.
3. It includes vegetables without making dinner complicated
Capsicum and peas add colour, fibre and a range of vitamins and minerals.
One serving provides approximately 6g of fibre.
Young athletes still need the same foundations of a nutritious diet as everyone else — and adding vegetables to familiar meals is one of the easiest ways to improve the overall nutritional quality of dinner.
Frozen peas are particularly handy because you can keep them in the freezer and throw them straight into meals.
4. It's perfect for busy training nights
One of the biggest challenges with feeding young athletes isn't knowing that nutritious food is important.
It's finding the time to prepare it.
Training might finish at 7pm. Someone needs picking up from football. Another child has homework. Everyone is hungry.
Convenience foods can absolutely have a place in a balanced diet.
Using roast chicken, microwave rice and a jarred sauce means you can have this meal on the table quickly without relying on takeaway.
When choosing a butter chicken sauce, simply compare a few labels and choose an option that works for your family.
5. Teenagers can make it themselves
There is another benefit to this recipe that has nothing to do with macros.
Your teenager can cook it.
Learning how to prepare a few simple, balanced meals is a fantastic skill for young athletes.
As they get older, they'll increasingly be responsible for fuelling themselves around school, training, competitions and eventually work or university.
A teenager doesn't need to be able to cook an elaborate meal from scratch.
Knowing how to combine a convenient protein source, carbohydrates and vegetables into a decent meal is a great place to start.
Teenage Butter Chicken Recipe
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 1 roast chicken
- 1 jar store-bought butter chicken sauce
- 1 capsicum, sliced
- 1 cup green peas
- 1 sachet microwaveable rice
Method
- Microwave the rice according to the packet instructions, usually around 90 seconds to 2 minutes.
- Pour the butter chicken sauce into a saucepan and heat over medium heat. Add the sliced capsicum and cook for approximately 5–7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the peas towards the end of cooking and heat through.
- Meanwhile, remove the meat from the roast chicken and shred it into bite-sized pieces.
- Add the shredded chicken to the saucepan and stir until completely coated in the sauce.
- Simmer for approximately 5 minutes or until the chicken is piping hot.
- Fluff the rice and divide between four plates. Spoon the butter chicken mixture over the top.
Nutrition per serve
Approximately:
426 calories
28g protein
47g carbohydrates
22g fat
6g fibre
Nutrition will vary depending on the roast chicken, sauce and rice brands used.
Is butter chicken good before sports training?
It can be.
A meal containing carbohydrates and protein can work well several hours before training, particularly when the athlete already knows that the meal sits comfortably in their stomach.
The rice provides carbohydrate for energy, while the chicken provides protein.
However, butter chicken sauces can vary considerably in their fat content. Higher-fat meals can take longer to digest, so this may be better eaten a few hours before exercise rather than immediately before training.
Every athlete is different, so it's worth paying attention to which meals make your young athlete feel energised and comfortable during sport.
Is this a good post-training meal?
Yes. The combination of protein and carbohydrates makes this an easy option after training.
After exercise, carbohydrates help replenish fuel stores while protein provides amino acids needed for muscle repair and recovery.
For a teenager coming home hungry after football, basketball, netball or another sport, having a substantial meal ready can also make it easier to meet their overall energy requirements.
Young athlete nutrition doesn't need to be perfect
Parents can feel enormous pressure to feed young athletes the "perfect" diet.
But sports nutrition doesn't have to involve complicated recipes, expensive ingredients or spending Sunday afternoon meal prepping 20 containers.
Sometimes a roast chicken, microwave rice, vegetables and a jar of sauce is exactly what a busy sporting family needs.
The bigger goal is helping young athletes develop habits they can maintain: eating enough food, including carbohydrates for energy, getting protein regularly throughout the day, eating a variety of nutritious foods and staying well hydrated.
And if they can learn to cook some of those meals themselves?
Even better.