This chicken burrito recipe is like a Mucho Burrito copy cat, with delicious Mexican-style pulled chicken, pinto beans, salsa & sauteed peppers!
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What goes in a burrito?
Chicken burritos are such a great way to enjoy Mexican-inspired cuisine and you can make them very easily at home! Here's what you need on hand for my version, which is very similar to Canada restaurant chain Mucho Burrito. Full ingredient amounts are listed in the recipe card.
Pulled chicken
- chicken breasts
- yellow onion
- garlic minced
- chicken broth
- salsa
- taco seasoning
- lime juice
Guacamole
- avocados
- red onion finely chopped
- lime juice, garlic, salt & pepper
Sauteed veggies
- red onion
- red & green bell peppers
Other burrito ingredients
- flour tortillas
- pinto beans
- any other toppings such as pico de gallo, sour cream, cheese, cilantro, etc.
How to make a chicken burrito
There are more steps to this recipe than my usual recipes but this is the best way to make your restaurant faves healthier at home! You can always make the chicken and guacamole ahead of time to ensure quicker prep and a shorter cooking time.
Here's how to make this recipe:
- Boil chicken in hot water for 15 minutes, then remove and shred.
- Saute onion & garlic for a couple minutes, then add shredded chicken, broth, and all other ingredients for the pulled chicken. Simmer for 5 minutes until most of the liquid has absorbed into chicken.
- After that, cook bell peppers and onion on high heat until vegetables are sizzling, about 2 minutes and stirring often.
- Meanwhile, mix all ingredients for guacamole together and prepare other ingredients such as pinto beans, cheese, pico de gallo, etc.
- Set up a station where everyone can go and get their favourite toppings. Add a small amount of chicken, veggies, beans, cheese and other desired toppings to each flour tortilla, placing all ingredients in the middle of each tortilla. Fold up each side of your tortilla and then roll to form a wrap.
- Optional step: fry the burrito on all sides in a pan that's placed on med-high heat. This will toast the burrito a bit so that it doesn't get soggy. Cut in half with a very sharp knife and enjoy!
Making the shredded chicken in a slow cooker
Using a slow cooker to cook chicken is great for people who need to be away from the kitchen. Because the crockpot does all of the work, you’ll just put the chicken in and head out to do whatever you need to do.
You can get the full recipe instructions in my 2-ingredient salsa chicken post. You'll mainly just be cooking the chicken with the seasonings on low for 8 hours.
Making the chicken in the Instant Pot
If you own an Instant Pot, you will be able to save SO much time making this recipe! For chicken breasts that are thawed, you can cook Instant Pot shredded chicken in less than 15 minutes.
Of course, you will also need to allow for 10-15 minutes of natural pressure release but the cooking time is hands off when using your Instant Pot.
You can also freeze the chicken after cooking it, making it easy to meal prep a large batch to have on hand for creating recipes all week long.
Are burritos healthy for you?
Like nearly every other meal, burritos are only as healthy as the ingredients you use to make them.
To keep this chicken burrito recipe healthy, make it with good quality chicken and fresh produce. Also, use portion control with heavy sauces and toppings that are higher in fat and calories. To keep the calorie count lower, leave out the cheese and guacamole and focus on chicken, veggies and salsas.
How many calories are in a chicken burrito?
For this chicken burrito recipe, each burrito has 432 calories, if prepared per the recipe below.
To cut the calories a bit, you can make a few ingredient substitutions.
Ingredient substitutions
- Sour cream – Using light sour cream will cut about 25 calories per serving. For even less calories, you can use fat-free sour cream.
- Guacamole – Avocados are full of healthy fats, but calories come along with them. Watch your portion size and you’ll be able to enjoy the health benefits without the excessive calories.
- Pinto beans – On their own, pinto beans are high in fiber and protein. Be sure to read the label to ensure that you’re buying beans without any additional chemicals or hidden fats. 1/4 cup of pinto beans has about 61 calories. To cut another 10 calories or so, you can use black beans.
- Salsa – Make your salsa at home and you can save a lot of calories. This is because many brands of store-bought salsa have sugar added to them.
- Cheese – Let’s face it; everything tastes better with cheese! The problem is, the calories in cheese add up very quickly. Using low-fat cheddar cheese will reduce the overall calories in your chicken burrito. To keep the calorie count even lower, skip the cheese altogether.
More burrito filling ideas
To turn the chicken burrito recipe into a heartier meal, considering adding some of these fillings:
- Rice – White, brown, or even Spanish rice would be delicious options
- Diced tomatoes
- Diced chile peppers or jalapeno slices
- Shredded lettuce
- Refried beans
Storing and reheating
After assembling them, it can be tricky to reheat burritos, especially if you use a mixture of hot and cold ingredients. For this reason, it’s best to keep the ingredients separate. Let everyone assemble their burrito at the table.
Not only will it be easier for storage purposes, but it also allows everyone to customize the fillings in their burrito.
Store individual ingredients in covered containers in the refrigerator and use them up within 5 days.
Can you freeze burritos?
For the same reasons listed above, it’s difficult to freeze an assembled burrito. However, you can definitely freeze the shredded chicken for up to 3 months.
More Mexican-inspired recipes
If you're looking for more Mexican-inspired dinner ideas take a look at some of my favourites below!
- BBQ CHIPOTLE CHICKEN BURRITO BOWLS
- KALBI BEEF TACOS WITH CITRUS SLAW
- SEARED SCALLOP TACOS WITH PINEAPPLE SALSA
- HEALTHY DOUBLE-STACKED TURKEY TACOS
- EASY BANG BANG SHRIMP TACOS
Tools to make this recipe
- These are my fave flour tortillas!
- Get your square glass meal prep bowls here to store your leftovers.
- And of course I get all my free-range chicken breasts from Butcher Box!
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Pulled Chicken Burrito Recipe
Ingredients
Pulled Chicken
- 1 lb chicken breasts
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1/3 cup salsa
- 2 tbsp taco seasoning
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- salt & pepper, to taste
Guacamole: Mash avocado & mix all ingredients together
- 2 avocados mashed
- 1 small red onion finely chopped
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp each salt & pepper
Sauteed veggies
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 red pepper sliced
- 1 green pepper sliced
- 1 red onion sliced
- Salt & pepper, to taste
Burritos
- 6 flour tortillas
- 1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 cup shredded cheese of your choice
- pico de gallo or salsa
- cilantro chopped
- sour cream
Instructions
Pulled chicken
- Boil chicken in hot water for 15 minutes or until almost fully cooked and easily shreddable. Shred chicken once cooled slightly.
- Heat olive oil in a large pan on medium heat. Add onion & garlic, sauteeing for 2 minutes until fragrant. Add shredded chicken, broth, and all other ingredients for the pulled chicken as listed. Bring to a boil, then down to a slow simmer and cook for 5 minutes until most of the liquid has absorbed into chicken.
Sauteed veggies
- Heat oil in large pan on high heat until it starts to smoke. Add peppers and onion, then season with salt and pepper. Saute until vegetables are sizzling, about 2 minutes stirring often, then remove from heat and set aside.
Assembling the burritos
- Meanwhile, heat drained pinto beans in a saucepan (or add to burrito cold) and mix all ingredients for guacamole together.
- Everything should be finished cooking right about now, so set up a station where everyone can go and get their favourite toppings. Add a small amount of chicken, veggies, beans, cheese and other desired toppings to each flour tortilla, placing all ingredients in the middle of each tortilla.
- Fold up each side of your tortilla and then roll to form a wrap.
- Optional step: fry the burrito on all sides in a pan that's placed on med-high heat. This will toast the burrito a bit so that it doesn't get soggy. Cut in half with a very sharp knife and enjoy!
Video
Nutrition
Trev says
Okay, so lemme tell you how this went down:
I’m in love with chicken, our relationship is real and deep. When someone had enough wherewithal to ‘mex’ it up, I cried a little. Then my husband and kids were subject to these most gorgeous burritos.
Ladies, top shelf. Well done, I applaud you.
These were fantastic, I followed everything to the letter, except the peppers and onions, not because I don’t like them (I love them), I was just feelin’ lazy. Everything was great. The guac was great, the salsa was great, the chicken and beans turned out great, and now I have leftovers for lunch (yay me).
The kids can be picky, they weren’t impressed, but what do they know? They still managed clean plates and I didn’t have to threaten the appearance of dessert once, so I say: ‘winner winner chicken dinner’.
So, thanks. You two are my new food/blog/recipe/bffs, text me every five minutes.
Trev
Taylor Stinson says
Aww Trev you are too sweet!! So glad these burritos worked out well for you! They are definitely a staple in our household, pretty much anything Mexican food related! Hope you stop by again soon, or definitely email us if you ever need anything!! <3
Brittany says
This is an amazing burrito recipe. I love mucho burrito and this was bang on! The only thing I added was a little burrito sauce from a copy cat mucho recipe.
Thanks for this recipe!!
Taylor Stinson says
Yay!!! So glad it turned out well for you Brittany – this is an old favourite of mine. Burrito nights are the best aren’t they?! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out!!! 🙂
Mitchel says
Living in So Cal I get to experience a lot of great burritos. No idea about Mucho but this recipe is off the charts awesome. I switched Jalapeno for Green Bell and added some straight Habanero sauce instead of rooster and whatever else, that stuff is for breakfast eggs. Thanks, going into the rotation!
Taylor Stinson says
I’m so happy you liked the recipe Mitchel!!! 🙂 I am so flattered, thanks for the kind words! This is definitely my go-to burrito recipe!
Betty says
I’m not as big of a Mexican food fan as my partner. However, I do like ‘fresh’ Tex Mex and a decent taco and burrito on occasion. Not familiar with Mucho burrito. I surfed the net looking at over 150+ burrito recipes. There are a lot out there. Viola! I saw the pulled chicken and decided to make it. I modified a few things. I consider myself a gourmet cook so I take liberties with recipes. I have my own guacamole recipe. Didn’t make the salsa as we had some…but will try this recipe. The burrito came out amazing! One thing we noted is it resembled fajitas, which I do love. The bell peppers make the recipe. Used to get them at Chevy’s. I cooked my veggies in a very hot iron skillet. The flavors were off the hook. I cut back a little on the chicken broth and the hot spices. I love spicey but was concerned it might be too spicey. Next time, I’ll go all the way. I could have used a little more kick?
Thank you so much for this recipe. I will definitely make these again……with margaritas!
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Betty – thank you so much for your thoughts on this recipe!!! 🙂 It’s certainly one of my favourites and I do agree that the peppers make it! I’m so happy to hear that it turned out great for you – and yes, the more spice the better!!! You can always add it in after tasting too. So glad that you’re going to make them again! Please invite me for margaritas next time? 😉
Terry says
So happy I found your recipe!!! I served the chicken on top of brown jasmine rice and topped it with avocado and the salsa. It was delicious. Sooooo gooood. Thank you for sharing. Big Hug.
Taylor Stinson says
Yay!!!! I’m SO happy to hear that Terry, thanks so much for reporting back! 🙂 This is definitely one of my favourite burrito recipes even if it’s fairly involved haha. I’m so glad you enjoyed it xo
Jim says
Well, what I got was chicken soup. It took an extra hour and a half to cook it down. Otherwise pretty good.
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Jim! Thanks for the feedback – I’m sorry that the chicken turned out more watery than expected for you! I’m not sure why that would have happened. I’ve made this recipe a few times and so have a few readers without this problem so maybe the heat wasn’t initially high enough? I know there’s a range in the heat level of different appliances. I’m happy the recipe ultimately turned out for you and again I appreciate your feedback 🙂
Jesse says
Taylor, I made the chicken burritos from your recipe and it was fantastic, and so good!!. I did not have the red peppers this time around and improvised with some fresh cabbage. Your recipe is great and the best chicken burrito I have made from someone else’s recipe.👌 This is now my favorite for chicken burritos, and I will certainly try your other recipes too.
Thank you! 😊
Taylor Stinson says
Aww thank you so much Jesse that makes me so happy to hear!!! 🙂 This was one of the first ever recipes I posted to the blog (can you tell by the pictures?! Hah!) and it’s still my go-to when I want to make a DIY burrito bar. I should revisit it over the holidays, it’s been a while. Thanks so much again for your kind words and so glad you liked it!
Cameron J Bonner says
Soooo good. Thank you! A new meal in my arsenal. My wife felt the chicken was a little salty, could be the broth i used? I will add some water to the broth next time. I also added sour cream to the guacamole. I can’t imagine guacamole without sour cream. The peppers gave the gauc a great texture. Superb!
Taylor Stinson says
So happy you guys enjoyed Cameron! Different people have different tastes when it comes to seasoning and salt so you can definitely scale back on the salt or do half broth half water. That should help!
Marilee says
Love this recipe but before didn’t it list specifics for the taco seasoning (chili powder, cumin, and paprika)? If so what were the amounts? Thanks!
Taylor Stinson says
Hi Marilee – this 5 year old post just got an upgrade a few days ago 🙂 If you don’t have taco seasoning on hand at home you can use 1 tbsp chili powder, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp paprika and 1 tsp coriander. Hope that helps!