Mexican Chicken Burrito Bowl

Mexican Chicken Burrito Bowl

This Mexican chicken burrito bowl starts with delicious cilantro lime rice topped with our sticky Mexican chicken and then pile on all the toppings! I’m here for allllll the toppings — corn, peppers, onions, tomatoes, avocado, cheese and avocado cilantro lime dressing! Drooling!

For some reason, I’m bowl obsessed. There’s something about all the flavors and textures that makes me all giddy. It just feels so exciting to me! It’s also a family-friendly, affordable, healthy and easy weeknight meal.

What is a Burrito Bowl?

It seems like Chipotle was the restaurant to make the burrito bowl popular, but now you can find them almost everywhere. A burrito bowl is basically the filling of a burrito put into a bowl instead of wrapped in a tortilla. They are lower in carbs without the tortilla making them quite popular and also gluten free. And they are so versatile, you can make them exactly how you want them.

Ingredients for a Chicken Burrito Bowl

This recipe is a little different than our usual recipes because you start with three of our other favorite recipes to assemble a whole bowl. I will briefly describe each of those recipes (head to those individual posts for the full recipes). and then finish off with the ingredients to make these burrito bowls.

Cilantro Lime Rice

• Ingredients: rice, water, unsalted butter, chicken bouillon, garlic, cilantro, lime, and green chiles
• Time: 25 minutes
• PRO TIP: This is a copycat recipe for the rice served at Cafe Rio. It’s so easy to make at home!

Sticky Mexican Chicken

• Ingredients: chicken breasts, taco seasoning, olive oil, green onions, honey, and lime juice
• Time: 10 minutes
• PRO TIP: You only need 6 ingredients for this simple recipe, and the flavor is phenomenal!

Avocado Cilantro Lime Dressing

• Ingredients: avocado, cilantro, lime juice, jalapeno, tomatillo, garlic, apple cider vinegar, honey, coriander, olive oil, Kosher salt, and water
• Time: 5 minutes
• PRO TIP: Can be made up to a day ahead of time. The flavor actually gets better if it sits for a few hours before serving.

Toppings

• Greens: feel free to choose whatever is your favorite — mixed greens, all romaine lettuce or green leaf
• Corn: fresh corn on the cob with the kernels sliced off is best, but you can also use frozen corn if needed, adds sweetness and crunch
• Red and Orange Bell Peppers: seeds removed and diced, adds flavor, color and texture
• Red Onion: adds flavor, color and texture
• Jalapeno: adds heat and flavor
• Avocado: adds a creaminess and healthy fat
• Cherry Tomatoes: adds brightness, color and juiciness
• Queso Fresco: Cotija cheese can also be used and both will be found in the cheese section of the grocery store
• This Little Goat Mexican Salad Topper: from Walmart or other local store, adds crunch
• Toasted Pepitas: these can be made at home with smoked paprika and used instead of the salad topper if you can’t find it

The measurements for all the ingredients to assemble the bowl can be found in the recipe card below.

Possible Variations

One of the beauties of burrito bowls is that they are so versatile and can really be individualized by each person. There is so much room for changing things up, so here are some ideas:

• Protein: If you’re not in the mood for chicken, try our sweet pork recipe, steak fajitas marinade, carnitas, or honey lime chicken.
  • Make the burrito bowl vegetarian by skipping the meat completely.
• Grain: I mentioned above that you would swap the cilantro lime rice for a lower carb option like cilantro lime cauliflower rice or cilantro lime quinoa. You could also use our Spanish rice recipe as another option.
  • Omit the grains altogether to make the burrito bowl even lower in carbs.
• Toppings: You can omit any of the toppings we’ve suggested or add to it. Other topping ideas could be black beans, pinto beans, black olives, crunchy tortilla strips, chopped cilantro, etc.

Why You Will Love This Recipe

I’m biased when it comes to these burrito rice bowls, but there are a million reasons to love this recipe. Here are just a few:

• Flavor: Charring the corn, peppers, onions and jalapeno add the most delicious smoky to the vegetables used. Those combined with all the other components, and every bite is exploding with bold flavors.
• Healthy: All of the ingredients are clean, lean and wholesome with no added sugar.
• Texture: Pick a texture and you will find it in these mexi bowls. We have creamy in the avocado and dressing, crunchy in the salad topping and veggies, and chewy in the rice and chicken.
• One Bowl: You have your whole meal in one bowl!
• Customizable: Each bowl can be completely individualized for whoever is assembling the bowl.
• Any Meal: I absolutely love meal prepping these bowls for lunch because we all know that lunch is the worst meal of the day! And of course, these always make a great weeknight.

What to Serve with a Burrito Bowl

Nothing! No seriously, this is a complete meal all in one bowl! You have protein, grains, and loads vegetables all in a single bite. Another reason it’s such a winning recipe!

Storing and Reheating Tips

This bowls will store much more successfully if the ingredients are stored separately. I like to store the rice, chicken and charred veggies together so they can be reheated at the same time. The other cold toppings should be store separately and added just before serving.

I prefer to reheat these rice bowls on the stove top. Add a little butter or oil to a skillet over medium heat and then add the rice, chicken and veggies. Just heat long enough to warm through and then add the cold toppings.

I invite you all to join me in my bowl obsession! I have no doubt that one bite of this Mexican chicken burrito bowl and you’ll be just as obsessed as I am!

More Bowl Meals:

• Teriyaki Salmon Rice Bowl
• Grilled Steak Burrito Bowl
• Sweet Pork Taco Bowl
• Ground Beef Burrito Bowl
• Teriyaki Veggie Bowl
• Honey Mustard Chicken Rice Bowl

READ: Mexican Chicken Burrito Bowl