A homemade chicken Burrito Bowl is filling, hearty, and full of deliciously nutritious fridge and pantry staples that easily come together in a matter of minutes to create a well-balanced make-ahead meal or one-dish dinner.
This simple copycat Chipolte recipe can be customized with your favorite fillings that provide long-lasting fuel that nourishes and satisfy your body; it’s naturally gluten-free, and a healthier, more economical option than traditional take-out.
Chicken Burrito Bowl–Chipotle Copycat
Push away the plate because one-bowl meals are today’s trendiest must-make, from this delicious Burrito Bowl, to poke bowls, buddha bowls, macro bowls, or grain bowls, it’s no wonder why bowls aren’t just for soup or breakfast cereal.
This Burrito Bowl recipe is healthy, hearty and filled with good-for-you ingredients, like chicken, rice, beans, veggies, or your other favorite fillings. With its creamy, juicy, crunchy textures and smoky, spicy, tangy tastes and fresh flavors, this recipe may be a copycat version of Chipotle or Qdoba, but it’s so much better because you can save time and money by making meals at home.
This Burrito Bowl recipe is a well-balanced, healthy, easy-to-make meal that has the perfect ratio of complex-carbs, protein, healthy fats, and veggies to keep you fueled and full for hours.
If you love this Burrito Bowl recipe, make sure to check out my Baked Burritos and Breakfast Burritos recipes.
Why We Love This Burrito Bowl Recipe
- Quick and easy to make.
- Uses simple fridge and pantry staples.
- Customizable so you can include all of your favorite fixings.
- Delicious, nutritious filling meal in one bowl.
- Family-favorite restaurant copycat dish to make at home.
- Naturally gluten-free, easily made vegetarian/vegan, healthier and more economical than takeout.
- Perfect for meal-prep for packable, portable lunches or easy dinners.
Ingredients
- Boneless-skinless chicken breasts
- White rice: I used a 14 ounce box of Success 10 minute boil-in-bag brand.
- Black beans
- Whole kernel yellow corn
- Avocado
- Roma tomatoes
- White onion
- Fresh jalapeno
- Cilantro
- Lime juice
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Chili powder
- Smoked paprika
- Cumin
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
Substitutions and Additions
- Greater Grains: Instead of using white rice, which is a refined grain, you can add a boost of nutrition to your bowl with whole grains, like brown rice, quinoa, noodles, or sorghum.
- Black Beans: Feel free to substitute the black beans with red beans, chick peas, or refried beans.
- Vegetarian Version: You can make your burrito bowls vegetarian by swapping the chicken for roasted veggies.
- Pick Your Protein: While this recipe uses chicken as its protein source, you can swap it for diced cooked shrimp, steak, or even shredded pork.
- Additional Add-Ins: For additional tastes and textures, you can add shredded cheese, romaine or iceberg lettuce, guacamole, mango or pineapple, salsa, or tortilla chips to your burrito bowl.
- Lower Carb Creation: For a lower-carb bowl, replace the white rice with cauliflower rice or serve your fillings on a bed of shredded lettuce.
- Burrito Bowl Bar: Set-up a burrito bowl bar and let your guest build their own bowls.
Recommended Tools
- Mixing bowls
- Measuring tools
- Shallow dish
- Grill pan or outdoor grill
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How to Make the Homemade Burrito Bowls
This Burrito Bowl recipe is quick and easy to make using chicken, rice, beans, veggies, or your other favorite fillings, all served in of a bowl instead of a shell. Perfect for meal prep, it’s a delicious gluten-free, lower-carb creation than a traditional burrito and my favorite way to eat a takeout copycat dish at home.
- Prepare your pico de gallo by combining the tomatoes, onion, jalapeno, cilantro, lime juice, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon black pepper in a bowl and placing it into the refrigerator to chill.
Pro Tip: This is a basic pico de gallo recipe. If you have your own pico de gallo recipe, you can use that instead.
- Combine the remaining salt, black pepper, chili powder, smoked paprika, cumin, garlic powder and onion powder in a separate bowl.
- Place chicken in a shallow dish and evenly coat with the oil and spice mixture.
- Grill the seasoned chicken in a grill pan or outdoor grill on medium high heat for 10-12 minutes (5-6 minutes per side) or until cooked through and no pink remains.
Pro Tip: If your chicken cutlets are on the thick side then they may take slightly longer to cook all the way through. - Chop grilled chicken into small bite sized pieces.
- Assemble your burrito bowls by placing cooked rice into one side of the bowl (so that the other ingredients will fit around it), then adding chopped chicken, black beans, corn, pico de gallo, and finally placing avocado into the center of the bowl.
- Garnish with cilantro and a wedge of lime.
- Enjoy!
Tips
- I used the boil-in-bag white rice for convenience and as a time saver but you can prepare rice in a traditional manner as well. Brown rice would be a great substitution for the white rice if desired. I suggest you boil your rice while your chicken is grilling. It can be made ahead and sit on the counter until you are ready to assemble your burrito bowls.
- You can substitute chicken thighs for the boneless-skinless chicken breast if you prefer dark meat. Just make sure that your cutlets are on the thinner side. If you can only find the thicker chicken breasts then just cut them in half lengthwise before seasoning and grilling.
- This recipe can very easily be doubled if you want more than just 4 servings. The only thing you will not need to double is the pico de gallo (tomatoes, onion, jalapeno, cilantro and lime juice). This recipe makes plenty.
- You can store the extra pico de gallo in a sealed container, in the refrigerator, for up to a week. It is great topped on tacos, grilled fish or any number of other dishes.
Storage Tips
- To Store: You can store the ingredients for this burrito bowl recipe in individual containers, covered and in the refrigerator, for up to 3 days.
Frequently Asked Questions
A burrito bowl is similar to a burrito, comprised of all of your favorites, but made without the tortilla. It is usually served over a bowl of rice.
You can easily turn your burrito bowl into a traditional burrito by wrapping the filling in tortillas, turn the filling into a wrap by wrapping it in your favorite flavored wrap or turn it into a salad by swapping the rice for lettuce.
Yes, burrito bowls can be very healthy. They are packed with complex carbs, protein, healthy fats, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. You can make your burrito bowls even more nutritious by substituting the white rice for brown rice, quinoa, or cauliflower rice and using chicken breasts as recommend,ed and not swapping it for chicken thighs.
Yes, this recipe is great for meal prep. You can store the ingredients for this burrito bowl recipe in individual containers, covered and in the refrigerator, for up to 3 days. You can either make all four servings immediately or you can make a bowl as needed. These are great for make-ahead meals.
Burrito Bowl
Ingredients
- 1½ pounds boneless-skinless chicken breasts cut into thin cutlets
- 4 cups cooked white rice (We used a 14 ounce box of Success 10 minute boil-in-bag brand ~ you will use 2 of the 4 bags included to yield a total of 4 cups cooked rice)
- 15 ounce can seasoned black beans liquids drained
- 15.25 ounce can whole kernel yellow corn liquids drained
- 1 avocado seeded and small diced
- 2 cups Roma tomatoes diced
- ½ cup white onion small diced
- 1 tbsp fresh jalapeno seeded and very small diced
- 2 tbsp chopped cilantro plus additional for garnish
- 2 tbsp lime juice plus additional wedges of lime for garnish
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp salt divided
- ½ tsp black pepper divided
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp cumin
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp onion powder
Instructions
- In a medium bowl add the roma tomatoes, onion, jalapeno, cilantro, lime juice, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Stir to combine and place it into the refrigerator to chill while preparing the rest of the recipe. This is a basic pico de gallo recipe.
- In a small bowl combine the remaining ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, chili powder, smoked paprika, cumin, garlic powder and onion powder.
- In a large shallow dish add the thin boneless-skinless chicken breast cutlets along with the olive oil and spice mixture. Evenly coat the chicken with the oil and spices.
- Heat a stove top grill pan, or outdoor grill, to medium high heat. Grill your seasoned chicken cutlets for 10-12 minutes (5-6 minutes per side) or until cooked through and no pink remains. If your chicken cutlets are on the thick side then they may take slightly longer to cook all the way through.
- Once your chicken is cooked through, chop it into small bite sized pieces. It should yield about 3 cups of chopped chicken.
- To assemble your burrito bowls you will put 1 cup cooked rice into the bowl, slightly offset to one side so that the other ingredients will fit around it. You will then add ¾ cup chopped chicken, ¼ cup black beans, ¼ cup yellow corn, ¼ cup pico de gallo and a small spoonful of diced avocado that can be placed into the center of the bowl. You can add a garnish of cilantro and a wedge of lime.
Jenn’s Notes
- I used the boil-in-bag white rice for convenience and as a time saver but you can prepare rice in a traditional manner as well. Brown rice would be a great substitution for the white rice if desired. I suggest you boil your rice while your chicken is grilling. It can be made ahead and sit on the counter until you are ready to assemble your burrito bowls.
- You can substitute chicken thighs for the boneless-skinless chicken breast if you prefer dark meat. Just make sure that your cutlets are on the thinner side. If you can only find the thicker chicken breasts then just cut them in half lengthwise before seasoning and grilling.
- This recipe can very easily be doubled if you want more than just 4 servings. The only thing you will not need to double is the pico de gallo (tomatoes, onion, jalapeno, cilantro and lime juice). This recipe makes plenty.
- You can store the extra pico de gallo in a sealed container, in the refrigerator, for up to a week. It is great topped on tacos, grilled fish or any number of other dishes.
Might be a silly question, but do you warm the black beans and corn or serve at room temp?
Hi Amy – You can do whichever you like! I prefer mine warmed up, but room temp works too!