Chicken Burrito Bowls are a deconstructed burrito, full of your favorite ingredients like seasoned chicken, cilantro rice, black beans, corn, tomatoes, avocado and more.
At first, I never got the hype of "bowls". For the most part, they are a salad with cooked ingredients. I like salad and I eat it quite frequently but Tom hates them so it never seemed like a recipe worth making. Until I came across an image on Pinterest of a burrito bowl that wasn't 90% salad and thought "Tom might eat that". Of course, I had to try it for myself first and enjoyed it for lunch for a few days.
WHAT ARE BURRITO BOWLS?
Honestly, a burrito bowl is whatever you make it. In this case, it includes the ingredients you would typically fill a burrito wrapper with, but serves it in a bowl instead. You can choose to add more veggies; like romaine lettuce or bell peppers. The protein can be easily changed up too, using beef, turkey or even pork!
ARE BURRITO BOWLS MAKE-AHEAD AND FREEZER FRIENDLY?
Absolutely! My lunch is made for the week and I mixed together all of the ingredients except for the tomato, avocado and sour cream and stored them in microwave safe bowls. The veggies were kept in a separate bowl and I heated the chicken/rice/corn/bean mixture up, then added in the veggie when it was time to eat.
In the same regard, a chicken burrito bowl can be frozen without the veggies as well. If you used canned tomatoes instead of a fresh one, you could easily mix that into the ingredients before freezing. Let thaw, then heat through, either by microwaving or warming in a saucepan on the stove. Then add your veggies on top and enjoy!
CHICKEN BURRITO BOWL INGREDIENTS
- 1 lb chicken seasoned with taco seasoning
- 2 cups cooked rice
- 1 cup cooked corn
- 1 can black beans, cooked
- tomatoes
- avocado slices
- shredded cheese
- sour cream
- lime juice
- cilantro
HOW TO MAKE CHICKEN BURRITO BOWLS
Making chicken burrito bowls is so easy! You can prep all of the ingredients on the weekend and reheat for a super quick weeknight meal, but the recipe is easy enough to make for dinner after working all day too!
- Season the chicken with the taco seasoning and cook in a skillet until cooked through.
- In a bowl, add the rice, chicken, black beans and corn. Sprinkle cheese on top.
- Top with diced tomatoes, avocado slices and sour cream. Drizzle lime juice and chopped cilantro on top.
CHICKEN BURRITO BOWL SUBSTITUTIONS
Are you following the Paleo, Whole30 or Keto lifestyle? This recipe can be adjusted to fit your needs. Here are some substitution options:
- replace the rice with cauliflower rice or romaine lettuce
- skip the cheese and sour cream
- add in sauteed bell peppers and onions for more veggies
- replace the chicken with beef, pork, turkey, shrimp or tofu
The main reason why I finally got around to sharing this recipe is because the challenge ingredients for March's Improv Cooking Challenge were rice and beans.
The #ImprovCookingChallenge is a monthly blogging event where two ingredients are assigned to a month. Bloggers can make any recipe they like as long as it features the two ingredients. If you are a blogger and would like to join us, please visit our Facebook page. You can also read more about the event on our our home page. If you’d like to see previous creations, check out our Pinterest board.
March Improv Cooking Challenge
Beans and Rice
Chicken Burrito Bowls by Cookaholic Wife
Southern Style Red Beans and Brown Rice by Pandemonium Noshery
Taco Rice by Making Miracles
Southwest Chicken and Rice Soup by Palatable Pastime
Rajma Chawal (Indian Style Bean Curry with Steamed Rice) by Sizzling Tastebuds
Greek Cauliflower Rice and Chickpeas by Kate’s Recipe Box
Menestra de Porotos by A Day in the Life on the Farm
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Recipe
Chicken Burrito Bowls
Ingredients
For the Chicken:
- 1 lb chicken breasts cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 packet taco seasoning
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
For the burrito bowls:
- 2 cups brown rice cooked
- 1 cup corn cooked
- 1 can black beans rinsed drained and heated through
- 1-2 Roma tomatoes diced
- 1 avocado sliced
- 1 cup shredded taco cheese
- ¼ cup sour cream
- optional: lime juice chopped cilantro
Instructions
- In a bowl, toss the chicken pieces with the taco seasoning until coated.
- Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat.
- Add the chicken and cook for 7-10 minutes, stirring frequently, until chicken is cooked through.
- Assemble the bowls by adding a layer of rice on the bottom, followed by the corn, black beans and then chicken.
- Add the tomatoes, avocado slices, shredded cheese and sour cream.
- Season to taste with the lime juice and chopped cilantro.
Wendy Klik
Sounds delicious Nichole. All the flavors I love in one bowl, Perfect.
Kalyani
Hey Nichole. I am loving the idea of subbing the chicken with veg options, incl probably soya or cottage cheese. Am also slowly warming up to the concept of bowls, and wouldn't mind making something similar for myself !