Copycat Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bowl Recipe to Make at Home
on Feb 01, 2024
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These Copycat Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bowls are one of our favorite delicious meals! It’s an easy meal with so much flavor, that you’ll want to have the components for this Chipotle burrito bowl recipe on hand for easy and healthful meals all the time.
Table of Contents
Copycat Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bowl Recipe to Make at Home
Chipotle chicken burrito bowls are easy to make – the perfect type of meal if you like to meal prep and if you’re a fan of Chipotle. We cook large batches of chicken, rice, and beans and keep leftover ingredients in the fridge.
Since we always have toppings like shredded cheese, lettuce, salsa, and flour tortillas on hand. anytime someone wants a quick meal, they can put something healthy and filling together in just a couple of minutes.
With a quick meal prep of only a few minutes, we think burrito bowls are the perfect meal and it’s one that my kids request all the time.
Pin this now to find it later
Pin ItThis copycat chipotle chicken burrito bowl is a complete meal that is dang delicious, and it is one of my family favorites – a great busy weeknight meal. because you can make one meal in so many different ways.
Ingredients for the perfect Copycat Chipotle Chicken
Read this section before changing anything in this chipotle chicken burrito bowl recipe. Then, scroll down to the recipe card for the instructions.
- Boneless skinless chicken breasts: Fully cooked marinated chicken breasts cut into thin strips. Leftover grilled chicken, boneless chicken thighs, or even rotisserie chicken work great too.
- Olive oil: get the good stuff and note that you will need to divide the oil
- Lime juice: is needed to tenderize the chicken
- Chili powder: mix with a pinch of smoked paprika and cayenne pepper for a chipotle chicken taste
- Smoked paprika: gives your chicken a delicious smokey flavor
- Cayenne pepper: for the extra spiciness – reduce if you don’t like as much spice
- Oregano: one of our favorite herbs that we add to almost all recipes
- Cumin
- Garlic powder
- Redmond’s REAL salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
Other Food You’ll Want for Homemade Burrito Bowls:
- Cilantro lime rice: Just mix your favorite white rice with lime juice, chopped cilantro, and salt
- Corn salsa: Toss frozen corn with diced red onion, diced jalapeno, lime, and chopped cilantro
- Tomato Salsa: our favorite homemade salsa is also canning safe!
- Chipotle Black beans: pinto beans are also delicious. Make sure to leave some of the juice for the bowls. We batch book dried beans in our instant pot. Learn how in our post!
- Shredded romaine lettuce
- Shredded Monterey Jack cheese: we also love to use sharp cheddar
- Chipotle guacamole: Avocados, lemon juice, lime juice, diced red onion, chopped cilantro, diced jalapeno, and salt
- Sour cream: adding a dollop of sour cream makes my kids happy
- Lime: Cut into wedges for serving.
- Warm tortillas: if you prefer to make a wrap instead of a bowl, we always have large tortillas on hand too.
Recipe variations
One thing we love about this latest recipe is that it is extremely versatile. There are so many ways you can customize this meal to your exact liking.
- Other chicken cuts: Feel free to use other cuts of chicken like chicken thighs or chicken legs.
- Different meat: Different proteins work great. Make it with turkey, pork, veal, or beef instead of chicken – like this Baked Pork Loin recipe. Repurposing pork loin leftovers into a burrito bowl is a delicious and creative way to not waste any leftovers!
- Marinade: For marinade ingredients, white vinegar or lemon juice would also work to tenderize the meat.
- More protein: Add more flavor and protein by tossing in some kidney beans, pinto beans, or chopped bacon.
- Make it vegan: You can use soy-based sour cream, vegan cheese, and tofu instead of chicken. It is also gluten-free.
Cooking Techniques for making Chipotle’s chicken from scratch
- Marinate: To begin, whisk half of the oil, lime juice, and spices in a small bowl. Then, pour it into a plastic baggie with the chicken and shake it around to cover. Refrigerate for one to eight hours.
- Cook: After, heat the remaining oil in a large cast iron skillet and add the chicken. Cook for four minutes without moving it. Then, flip and cook until brown on both sides. The internal temperature should be 165 degrees F.
- Rest and slice: Now, let the chicken rest for five minutes on the cutting board before cutting it into small cubes.
To serve:
- Divide: To assemble, divide the rice and lettuce between four bowls. Add meat and beans.
- Garnish: Now, garnish with tomato salsa, corn, guacamole, cheese, and sour cream.
- Serve: Last, serve with lime wedges on the side.
What are some good sauces for this chipotle chicken burrito bowl?
You can use any kind of sauce you like. Some of our favorites are adobo sauce, pico de Gallo, and sriracha as well as homemade salsa. You can also use dipping sauces like nacho cheese, sour cream with a little taco seasoning, guacamole, regular chipotle sauce, or even barbecue sauce.
What other rice can I use?
Instead of cilantro-lime rice, you can use long-grain white or brown rice, jasmine rice, basmati rice, short-grain rice, or even black rice. We use jasmine rice almost exclusively and it makes a delicious cilantro lime rice.
If you are on a low-carb diet, try using cauliflower rice. Sushi rice is another good choice. You can make it by mixing rice vinegar, white sugar (or honey), and salt.
How can I lower the carbs, calories, and fat?
Try using Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, light shredded cheese, and guacamole without all the extra vegetables.
Instead of adding more flavor with fat, add it with natural things like lime zest, garlic, green onions, and whatever else you like. It will still be delicious.
How to store leftovers?
We recommend storing components rather than an assembled burrito bowl; however, you can store leftovers if you want.
- Store: You can store your delicious leftover chipotle chicken burrito bowl in an airtight container for 3-5 days.
- Freeze: Freezing is not recommended for burrito bowls, but you can freeze the components. We love to use our Souper Cubes for freezing everything from cooked beans, to homemade chicken broth, and even to farm fresh eggs!
- Reheat: To reheat, put your burrito bowl in the microwave for 45 to 90 seconds. You could also heat it in the air fryer for one to two minutes. Make sure to add toppings like salsa and lettuce after it’s been reheated, and not before.
Recipe tips:
- To grill, preheat your grill pan to medium-high heat and spray it with a little olive oil or nonstick cooking spray. Then, turn it down to medium-low heat and cook for six to seven minutes on each side. You could also grill it in a large skillet.
- Make sure the internal temperature of the chicken is 165 F before serving. This is our favorite meat thermometer if you’re looking for a good one!
- The chicken can be marinated for up to eight hours ahead of time.
- Make all of the components made ahead of time. Make the rice before making the chicken and make the chicken before preparing the burrito bowl.
- This delicious recipe is low in saturated fat per serving size and has lots of protein, vitamins, and nutrients.
- Put your phone in cook mode. Prevent the screen from going dark while you are cooking.
More recipes you may like:
- Homemade Refried Beans
- Pineapple Salsa
- One Skillet Beef Burrito Bowl
- Quick & Easy Taco Dip
- How to Make Queso Dip with Real Cheese
Copycat Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bowl
These Copycat Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bowls are one of our favorite delicious meals! It's an easy meal with so much flavor, that you'll want to have the components for this Chipotle burrito bowl recipe on hand for easy and healthful meals all the time.Â
Ingredients
To make the Chipotle chicken:
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon Redmond's REAL salt
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Place the chicken on a cutting board, cover them with a sheet of plastic wrap and pound gently with the smooth side of a meat mallet to get them thinner, about ½-inch thick.
- In a small bowl whisk 2 tablespoons of olive oil with the lime juice, plus all the spices.
- Put the chicken to a medium sized bowl and pour the marinade over it. Make sure the marinade comes into contact with all of the chicken. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 8 hours or overnight.
- Heat remaining olive oil in a cast iron grill pan over medium-high heat.
- Add the chicken and cook for 4-5 minutes, on one side, to get those nice grill marks on it. Flip it and cook for 3 to 4 minutes more, or until well browned. Make sure the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F.
- Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and let it rest for 5 minutes. Then, cut it into bite-sized pieces, just like those you see at Chipotle.
- To assemble the bowl: Add some rice to individual bowls, add the chicken, salsa, black beans, cheese, sour cream, lettuce, guacamole, and cheese. Serve and enjoy!
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1/2 cupAmount Per Serving: Calories: 230Total Fat: 16gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 51mgSodium: 381mgCarbohydrates: 3gFiber: 1gSugar: 0gProtein: 19g
Nutritional data is not always correct.
