Chicken Burrito Bowl
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Published Apr 25, 2022, Updated May 18, 2024
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These chicken burrito bowls combine tender marinated chicken, cilantro cauliflower rice, corn salsa, black beans and romaine lettuce all topped with a delicious tomatillo avocado dressing. Perfect for meal prep.
I’m all about a good bowl recipe! Throw grains, protein and veggies into a bowl, add a delicious sauce or dressing and voila! My favorite meal. And this chicken burrito bowl might just be my favorite bowl recipe to date.
It’s packed with tons of flavor, has cauliflower rice as the base for a low-carb option and is topped with a delicious tomatillo avocado dressing. It’s seriously so good and is bound to become a new staple dinner recipe in your home!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Super easy to meal prep in advance for quick assembly during the week.
- Packed full of flavor from the chicken, rice, corn salsa, and dressing.
- It’s completely customizable. Feel free to make this recipe your own!
Ingredients Needed
- chicken – the perfect protein for a burrito bowl. I prefer to use chicken thighs for the best flavor, but I’ve tested this recipe with chicken breasts and it turned out great!
- chicken marinade – we’re marinating the chicken before cooking in a sauce, which adds a ton of flavor! The marinade combines avocado or olive oil, lime juice, garlic, chipotle peppers + adobo sauce and a blend of spices (chili powder, oregano, cumin, salt and pepper).
- romaine lettuce – I like to start my burrito bowls with a base of greens! I use romaine lettuce because I love the crunch.
- cilantro lime cauliflower rice – I love using my cilantro lime cauliflower rice for a low-carb option, but I also have a cilantro lime rice recipe using regular rice.
- corn salsa – a combination of corn, red onion, jalapeño, cilantro and lime juice. You can also use cooked corn for a shortcut!
- black beans – I use canned black beans for ease. Make sure you drain and rinse them well before using!
- Mexican cheese – you can skip the cheese if you need this bowl to be dairy-free.
- guacamole – you can make your own (I love my traditional guacamole or green pea guacamole that’s made with frozen peas) or use store-bought. It’s not a burrito bowl without guac is it?!
- pico de gallo or salsa – I love topping my bowl with fresh salsa or pico de gallo. Any kind works!
- sour cream – or Greek yogurt, for topping.
- tomatillo avocado dressing – my tomatillo avocado dressing is what takes this burrito bowl to the next level. It adds so much flavor!
- additional toppings – hot sauce and fresh cilantro are also great toppings.
Customize Your Burrito Bowl
The best thing about bowl dinners is that they are completely customizable! Here are some ideas:
- Grain – feel free to swap the cauliflower rice for any grain of choice. This bowl would be delicious with brown rice or quinoa! You can also use frozen rice for a shortcut!
- Protein – I love using chicken as the protein in this burrito bowl, but it would also be delicious with ground turkey or ground beef. Shredded chicken seasoned with taco seasoning would also be a great alternative. You could even make this slow cooker chicken in advance for quick assembly.
- Vegan – want to make this bowl vegan? Marinate tofu or tempeh in the same mixture or make these tofu sofritas for a plant-based protein option.
- Greens – I like using romaine lettuce for the crunch factor, but feel free to use your favorite green.
- Cheese – use a different type of cheese (cheddar cheese or pepper jack cheese would both be delicious) or skip it altogether if you need this recipe to be dairy-free.
- Corn salsa – skip the corn salsa and use cooked corn for a shortcut!
- Salsa – use diced cherry or grape tomatoes instead of salsa or pico de gallo.
- Guacamole – add avocado slices instead of guacamole.
- Dressing – I love this tomatillo avocado dressing but you can switch it up or skip it altogether! This bowl would also be delicious with my cilantro lime dressing.
How to Prep in Advance
If you want the real deal but don’t have time to make everything for these chicken burrito bowls in one night, you can prep all of the components in advance for faster assembly. Here’s what I would prep in advance:
- Chicken – you can either make the marinade the night before you want to make these burrito bowls and let the chicken sit overnight and then cook the chicken when you’re ready to make dinner. Or you can cook the chicken 1-3 days prior for quick assembly on the night of.
- Cilantro rice – this rice is hands-off once it’s cooking but it still takes a little prep. Make a batch at the beginning of the week and use all week long!
- Corn salsa – so simple to whip this up in advance!
- Tomatillo avocado dressing – another simple component to prep in advance!
How to Store Leftovers
These chicken burrito bowls are great because they store so well! I recommend storing each component in separate containers. Everything should last 5 days in the refrigerator. When you’re ready to enjoy, heat up the warm components over the stovetop or in the microwave and assemble your burrito bowl!
More Bowl Recipes
- Poke Bowl
- Vegan Power Bowl
- Coconut Curry SunButter Noodle Bowl
- Buddha Bowl
- Chicken Protein Bowl
- Egg Roll in a Bowl
- Caribbean Jerk Shrimp Bowls
- Falafel Bowls (Homemade Cava Bowls)
- Mediterranean Quinoa Bowl
- Mother Earth Bowl (Flower Child Copycat)
- Salmon Burrito Bowl
Popular Mexican Recipes to Try
- Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas
- Taco Salad
- Mexican Street Corn Kale Salad
- Mexican Quinoa Casserole
- Spaghetti Squash Taco Bake
- Chicken Enchiladas
- Vegan Burrito Bowl
- Copycat Chipotle Sofritas
- Red Chilaquiles
- Healthy Chicken Tacos
- Healthy Chicken Quesadillas
Be sure to check out all of the dinner recipes as the full collection of healthy Mexican recipes on EBF!
If you enjoyed this recipe, please consider leaving a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below.
Chicken Burrito Bowl
These chicken burrito bowls combine tender marinated chicken, cilantro cauliflower rice, corn salsa, black beans and romaine lettuce all topped with a delicious tomatillo avocado dressing. Perfect for meal prep.
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1 ½ lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs, or boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 2 Tablespoons avocado oil or olive oil, plus more for grilling or sauteing
- 2 Tablespoons lime juice
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, finely chopped + 1 Tablespoon adobo sauce
- 1 Tablespoon chili powder
- 2 teaspoons oregano
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 Tablespoons water
Burrito Bowls
- 1 cup shredded romaine lettuce, shredded
- 1 batch cilantro lime cauliflower rice
- 2 cups corn salsa, ½ cup per bowl
- 1 15 ounce can black beans
- 1 cup Mexican cheese, ¼ cup per bowl
- 1 cup guacamole, ¼ cup per bowl or sliced avocado
- 1 cup pico de gallo or salsa, ¼ cup per bowl
- 1 cup sour cream, I used Greek yogurt (¼ cup per bowl)
- Tomatillo avocado dressing, for topping
- fresh cilantro, for topping
- Hot sauce, for topping (optional)
Instructions
- Combine chicken marinade ingredients in a bowl or blend in a food processor or blender. Add to a large ziplock bag or airtight container with chicken thighs and marinate for at least 1 hour, but up to 24 hours.
- If you haven't done so already prep corn salsa and tomatillo avocado dressing. Set aside. This can be done in advance.
- Make cilantro lime cauliflower rice.
- Once chicken is ready, remove chicken from marinade and cook. Discard marinade. To cook, add a little oil to a pan and warm on medium heat. Once hot, add chicken and cook for 7-8 minutes on each side or until cooked through. Once cooked, transfer chicken to a cutting board and cut into bite-size pieces.
- To make bowls, add a base of cauliflower rice and top with a portion of cooked chicken, black beans and corn salsa. Then top with mexican cheese, guacamole, pico de gallo, sour cream, lettuce and fresh cilantro. Sprinkle on hot sauce and/or drizzle tomatillo avocado dressing over bowl, if using and serve. Serve with tortilla chips on the side, if desired.
Video
Notes
- Want to make this recipe vegan? Make this vegan burrito bowl instead!
- Want to try a different dressing? This bowl would also be delicious with my cilantro lime dressing.
Nutrition
Serving: 1bowl w/o dressing | Calories: 772kcal | Carbohydrates: 59g | Protein: 58g | Fat: 37g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 14g | Sodium: 2004mg | Potassium: 704mg | Fiber: 15g | Sugar: 9g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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This was super yummy! We used brown rice but will try the cilantro lime cauliflower when we make it again. The tomatillo dressing was perfect!
I’m so glad you loved this recipe, Meg. Thanks for making it and for coming back to leave a review. I so appreciate it!
What a flipping annoying website. Trying to just see the recipe and up pops a thing to subscribe then to get notification then a video then an add the the whole screen goes to a large subscribe for something I know this is your business but right now my whole screen is filled with crap I’m not looking for. Huge turn off and I’m not going to put in any more effort to look at a recipe. Can’t even see what I’m typing right now since that whole area is obscured.
Hey Sarah – Sorry to hear that you are having issues with the ads popping up. Is it not giving you an option to X out of them? Are you trying to view the recipes on your phone, tablet or computer? And what browser? I definitely don’t want the ads to be obstructing your ability to view the recipe so I’ll make sure to talk to my developer about that!
This was sooo tasty! From the tomatillo sauce for drizzling overtop to that marinated chipotle chicken this recipe had me wanting to stuff my face more and more! I prepped this for a busy week of work and it satisfied my taste buds as well as nutrition needs. It held me for my 12 hour shift and the whole family loved it!
Yay! I’m SO happy this recipe was a hit for you, Kori! Thank you so much for sharing, it means so much to me!
Looks delicious, will must try
Thanks! Let me know how it turns out for you, Shubham!