These Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bowls are filled with corn salsa, pico de gallo, marinated chicken and sautéed veggies – extra guac included!
Ingredients and substitutions
- Cooked rice – use any variety of white or brown rice that you like.
- Bell peppers – choose any or all bell pepper colours of your choice.
- Red onion – white onion or yellow onion can be used instead of red onion.
- Jalapeño peppers – try using serrano peppers or leave these out if you don’t like spice.
- Chicken breasts – use chicken thighs in place of chicken breast. It may even be a juicier cut of meat.
- Adobo sauce – you can usually find this in the grocery store with canned chipotle peppers. You can also try using minced pickled jalapeno with smoky BBQ sauce but the flavours will be different.
- Chipotle peppers – use fresh or canned chipotle peppers.
- Paprika – cayenne pepper or chili powder can be used instead of paprika.
- Garlic – use fresh or jarred minced garlic. Garlic powder or garlic salt will work in a pinch.
- Lime juice – use fresh or bottled lime juice. Lemon juice will also work if you don’t have lime juice on hand.
- Salt & pepper – to taste.
- Plum tomatoes – any other tomato can be used here.
- Cilantro – if you’re not a fan of cilantro, use parsley or basil instead.
- Lime juice – use fresh or bottled lime juice. In a pinch, lemon juice will also work.
- Yellow onion – red onion, white onion or sweet onions can be used if you don’t have yellow onions.
- Corn kernels – use fresh or canned corn kernels.
How to make Chipotle chicken burrito bowls
Step 1: Marinate the chicken then cook it.
Toss the chicken with seasonings and let it marinate. Cook it on the BBQ or in the oven.
Step 2: Cook the rice.
Make the rice in a rice cooker or a pot on the stovetop.
Step 3: Make the salsa.
Make the corn salsa by mixing together the corn kernels, lime juice, cilantro and salt. If you're not using store-bought pico de gallo, you can make your own by combining the diced tomatoes, diced yellow onion, cilantro, lime juice and salt.
Step 4: Make the guacamole.
Mash the avocados then mix in the lime juice, herbamare, diced red onion and black pepper.
Step 5: Stir fry the veggies.
Stir fry the bell peppers and red onions until crisp and tender.
Step 6: Assemble your bowls and dig in!
Variations of this burrito bowl
You can customize this Chipotle bowl recipe to be your own! Here are some different options:
- Protein: Swap out the chicken breasts for chicken thighs or steak.
- Rice: Use brown rice, quinoa, cauliflower rice or cilantro lime rice. You could also leave off the rice entirely and serve the chicken over lettuce.
- Veggies: Add in more veggies like lettuce, corn, tomatoes, black beans or brown beans.
Frequently Asked Questions
This burrito bowl is pretty much an entire meal on its own, but if you want to serve something on the side, you can't go wrong with tortilla chips! Street corn or refried beans would also be good.
You can definitely try making this recipe with boneless skinless chicken thighs or steak instead of chicken breasts. Just make sure you adjust the cooking time based on the kind of protein you use.
I like topping my burrito bowl with sautéed peppers and onions, sliced jalapenos, pico de gallo, corn salsa and guacamole – but the sky's the limit when it comes to the toppings! Add on whatever you're craving or happen to have on hand like lettuce, tomatoes, corn and beans.
You should marinate the chicken for a minimum of 15 minutes or up to 2 hours. I wouldn't recommend much longer than that because the marinade contains acid (the lemon juice).
You can eat your Chipotle chicken burrito bowl hot or cold! If you're meal prepping this recipe and want to reheat the bowls before eating, make sure you store the salsa, pico de gallo and guac separate from the chicken and rice, as they won't reheat well.
Storing and reheating
These burrito bowls will last in the fridge for up to 4 days, making them a great meal prep idea for lunch and dinner!
They taste great eaten cold, but if you want a hot meal, make sure you store the salsa, pico de gallo and guacamole separately from the chicken and rice. To reheat, sprinkle some water over top of the chicken and rice so they don’t dry out and microwave for 1-2 minutes. Add on your fresh toppings and voila – a fresh Chipotle chicken burrito bowl!
I recommend making your guacamole fresh, but you can put a thin layer of lemon or lime juice over top to prevent any air from getting in and turning the guac brown.
Freezing this recipe
If you have leftover chicken from this Chipotle bowl recipe, freeze it! You can either freeze any extra chicken raw and marinated or cooked.
For cooked chicken: Keep frozen for up to 4 months. Thaw overnight and then microwave it or bake it in the oven until warmed.
For raw chicken: Freeze the marinated chicken in a freezer bag or an airtight container for up 4 months. When ready to enjoy, move from the freezer to the fridge overnight and then follow cooking instructions in the recipe card.
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Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bowls {Oven + BBQ}
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked rice
- 3 bell peppers sliced, any colour
- 1 medium-sized red onion sliced
- 2 jalapeño peppers sliced
Chipotle Chicken
- 1 lb chicken breasts
- 2 tbsp adobo sauce
- 1 tbsp finely diced chipotle peppers
- 2 tsp paprika
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tsp lime juice
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
Pico de gallo
- 2 plum tomatoes diced
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- 1/2 tsp salt
Corn salsa
- 1 cup corn kernels
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 tsp salt
Guacamole
- 2 avocados
- 2 tsp lime juice more if you want
- 3/4 tsp herbamare or salt
- 1 small red onion diced
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven or BBQ to 425 F (I highly recommend BBQ). Toss chicken with seasonings and let marinate for 15 min.
- Meanwhile, cook rice according to package directions (should be 1 cup rice and 1 1/2 cups water) and prepare vegetables, make salsas and guacamole.
- Throw the chicken on the BBQ or in the oven for 20-25 min until cooked to 165 F internally, flipping once halfway through.
- Meanwhile, stir fry bell peppers and red onion over high heat in a large skillet.
- Add all desired ingredients to each bowl once everything has finished cooking and enjoy!
Comments & Reviews
Chris David says
Great recipe and really a nice one. Will surely try this
Damian Woolf says
Delicious
Aubrey says
So yummy! Everyone loved this! It even makes a healthy lunch for work the next day. I made a few changes 1. I added tomatoes & serranos to the Guac. Also topped it with Feta cheese! 2. For the corn salsa, I put the corn on the BBQ, grilled it with some bbq butter, and then cut it off to put in the corn salsa.
So yummy! Thanks for the recipe!
Patricia says
Hey Taylor,
What a great little recipe we have here! Although I am not surprised you always seem to come out with some of the most delicious stuff! I will definitely be trying to make my own version of a burrito bowl some time in the near future!
Also congrats on making some new contacts in the industry you are slowly growing your business into something special!
Patricia xo
Taylor Stinson says
Thanks girl!!!! They’re so fun! 🙂 Speaking of contacts and connecting we need to go for a coffee date soon – or you can show me some more foodie hotspots in Hamilton. It’s been too long! <3
Karly says
Uh, wow. I think I would eat this for dinner every night if I could! Looks sooooo flavorful and pretty healthy, too!
Taylor Stinson says
Thank you so much Karly! This is literally my version of Chipotle at home haha