Chicken Burrito Bowl Meal Prep
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Think of this as healthier (and cheaper!) Chipotle bowls that you can have all week long. Save time and calories here!!!
Simply think of this as a Chipolte bowl on-the-go. Except. You won’t be clocking in a 1000-calorie dinner disaster. (Seriously, their typical order comes in at 1,070 calories!)
But this bowl has all of the best flavors of Mexican food transformed into one convenient meal prep bowl with a healthy balance of nutrients, cutting out the worst nutritional offenders!
- The brown rice gives you a solid dose of healthy carbs and fiber. You can also use quinoa, white rice, amaranth or couscous as an alternative grain.
- I use chicken as the protein as it is low in fat and lean. However, you could also use ground beef, ground turkey or even ground tofu if you wanted to. Honestly, with the amazing mix of spices and herbs we use in this recipe, any of the proteins will taste incredible!
- The black beans also provide a high protein and fiber content along with several other key vitamins and minerals to maintain healthy bones, lower blood pressure, and manage diabetes.
- The corn is high in fiber, packed with vitamins and provides many antioxidants.
- The secret to this bowl is obviously the chipotle cream sauce. I use greek yogurt instead of sour cream as a healthier base. Add in to that the chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, fresh lime juice and garlic. This sauce is so good, my friends make a huge batch and use it on all their meals!
Chicken Burrito Bowl Meal Prep
Think of this as healthier (and cheaper!) Chipotle bowls that you can have all week long. Save time and calories here!!!
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown rice
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 ½ pounds ground chicken
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 15.25-ounces can whole kernel corn, drained
- ½ cup pico de gallo, homemade or store-bought
For the chipotle cream sauce
- ½ cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- 1 Chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, minced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
Instructions
- To make the chipotle cream sauce, whisk together Greek yogurt, chipotle pepper, garlic and lime juice; set aside.
- In a large saucepan of 2 cups water, cook rice according to package instructions; set aside.
- Heat olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add ground chicken, chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, oregano, onion powder and paprika; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Cook until chicken has browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the chicken as it cooks; drain excess fat.
- Divide rice into meal prep containers. Top with ground chicken mixture, black beans, corn and pico de gallo, drizzled with chipotle cream sauce.
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
Ya know, on a normal basis I mix all these ingredients up as one as a “taco bowl” and we like it. I tried it this way, as everything separate in a bowl, AND HOLY COW IT IS SO MUCH BETTER! Seriously – Mind blown LOL! Thank you for sharing!
What is a chipotle pepper and where do you buy them?
It’s a canned product. On the same aisle as the canned beans, most likely.
So easy and really delicious! Dinner is ready in minutes!
Love this! I did a rough calorie count based on the ingredients I used (reduced sodium black beans, rotisserie chicken, etc) and it was under 500 calories. Excellent meal!
Just made this and it’s Amazballs definitely making it again as well as the bbq chicken bowl.
It was really good. But now I need to figure out how to double up this recipe.
This is a great take to work meal!!!
Turned out really good! I used ground turkey instead. Really filling lunch for work
This was really good. I’m adding it to my rotation. Thank you.
Does anyone have the nutritional facts on this????
Over 700 I’d cut out the rice or the beans to lower cals to around 500 depending on your goals
no way this is a 700 calorie meal
It’s about 540 calories
I separated it all out and calculated it, and I even used 2 cups of rice across the 4 bowls instead of 1. At those calculations, it came out to 490ish. It was crazy flavorful and the rice + the beans makes it pretty filling! if you use the 1/4 cup of cooked rice per bowl, it is not that many extra calories! 🙂
Hi! Do you recommend freezing or just keeping in the fridge the extras? And for how long? Thanks!
Taste just like Chipotle’s. Easy to prepare.
Simple and delicious recipe. I combined the corn with the pico the second time I made it, and I liked that better.
where is the nutritional information for these?
I made this recipe tonight for 5 people and just tripled it so we would have leftovers. It was delicious! The chipotle sauce was great too! I made some homemade guacamole too. The whole family loved it!!! Thank you!
I thought this was pretty good. I would say I liked it, but didn’t love it. I followed the recipe exactly, using black beans, brown rice, homemade pico and corn. It WAS incredibly easy and fast. The chicken was good although I would have liked more seasoning. I liked the chipotle cream sauce, and made it two different ways…one with yogurt and the other with sour cream. I personally preferred the sour cream, but they are similar.
Just wondering if anyone has substituted the black beans with anything else? I want to make this recipe but don’t have the black beans!
Kidney or pinto beans would be great too!
My review is for the chipotle cream sauce alone, as I built my bow a bit differently with spicy marinated chicken breast, but I just had to come and say that this low fat sauce is THE BEST addition to a burrito bowl that you could possibly have! So tasty and full of flavour. I’m making it for the second time in two weeks tonight!
Best recipe I’ve found in years. Easy to prepare, everybody loves it, and it’s very healthy. It is hard to find Tex-Mex dishes that don’t contain cheese.
I love this recipe. We almost always use ground beef instead of chicken. Sometimes we make our own pics, sometimes we get the store bought. Sometimes we add salsa, sometimes not. This is a great base for you to determine the level of spice and what you want to add to it to make it your own.
I’m confused it says 1 Cup , so does that mean 1/4 cup per bowl ?
This recipe is outstanding! Make it as is and you’ll love it. I crave this recipe. It’s one of my favorite dishes to eat.
How many servings does this make and do you have the nutitional values?
Hi Christina! This recipe yields 4 servings. Nutritional information is provided only for select recipes at this time. However, if it is not available for a specific recipe, we recommend using free online resources at your discretion (you can Google “nutritional calculator”). Hope that helps!
Wonderful Recipe. Can I use packaged seasoning for the chicken, or beef, or other meats I use. Or would it be better to stick to the list of seasoning above for the meat?
Whichever you prefer, Aileene. We recommend using our seasoning to get the original taste of the dish, but you can of course change it to your liking. 🙂
Can you freeze these without compromising the quality of the ingredients?
Freezing sounds like an amazing idea but unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself. Please use your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
Does it call for the entire can of Chipotle in Adobe sauce? Or are we just using 1 pepper out of the can? What about the sauce?
The recipe is calling for one pepper out of the can.
I used 2-3 peppers to increase the spicy flavour and subdue the tart yogurt flavour.
You can include some sauce drippings from the can to add more flavour and end up with a thinner sauce too.
Be careful if your planning to keep it like 7 days
I just went to get one out and it’s only been 5 and all my food has mold in the containers
Did you add the sauce overtop your meal prep? I’m thinking to make it fresh the night before and preserve it in a dipping cup
How the $%*^ can you get mold in the container in 5 days?
Your fridge might need Freon. This happened to me once and it turned out to be the fridge
Great recipe. I made it last night. The sauce is so good, although I used sour cream instead of yogurt. Yum.
The sauce is so great! Thanks for sharing, Gary!
How many calories does this have?
Hi Arianna! Nutritional information is provided only for select recipes at this time. However, if it is not available for a specific recipe, we recommend using free online resources at your discretion (you can Google “nutritional calculator”). Hope that helps!
My family loved it. I did use shredded chicken and a lime cilantro rice. Thank you
Easy and Delicious! Wish this website added the nutritional facts though.
Nutritional information is provided only for select and new recipes at this time. But if it is not available for a specific recipe, you can always use free online resources at your discretion (you can Google “nutritional calculator”). Hope that helps, Erika!
can you use ground beef instead of ground chicken? keeping all seasonings the same?
Yes, of course!
Omg! I am so siked to try this recipe!! This looks delish! Thank you so much for this recipe!
The chicken you cook is delicious and attractive. very delicious with rice.
Nowhere does it say if it’s eaten cold or reheated….
You can choose to have it at room temp or you can reheat – it’s completely up to you.
1.5 pounds of ground chicken divided into 4 servings contains 31 grams protein each. There is also protein in rice, beans, corn, and Greek yogurt. The human body can assimilate only 30 grams of protein at a time. 44 grams of protein in one sitting means 14 will end up stored as fat. You might consider reducing the amount of chicken in this dish.
Hi Jennifer! You can always reduce the amount of chicken to your liking to suit your dietary needs. 🙂
Protein does not turn into fat. Google it.
Protein in excess definitely gets converted to fat. I remember this from Biochemistry in Nursing school. Yes, you can look it up. If you eat more calories than your body needs from protein sources, the excess is converted to fat, albeit in a roundabout way. Protein is first metabolized into amino acids and ammonia. The leftover carbon compound is converted into glucose, which your body uses for energy. If your cells have enough glucose, and there is no space left to store it as glycogen in your muscles or liver, the excess glucose is converted into fat and stored.
I have all the ingredients on hand except ground chicken. Do you think it would be ok with shredded chicken instead? I’m sure it would be fine, but I don’t know what the ratio would be (seasonings wise). Any thoughts?
Unfortunately Liza, we cannot answer that with certainty. Please use your best judgement when making modifications. Sorry I can’t be more helpful!
Do you do anything so the rice isn’t dry and hard by the time you are eating your 4th one?
I typically don’t have any issues with hard/dry rice by the 4th day (but this can vary by brand and type of rice) but you can always make fresh rice day of if you prefer!
Made this tonight, but added grilled peppers and onions. It was very good and I’m happy that I have leftovers for 2 lunches! Thanks for the healthy recipe.
Leftovers are the best 🙂 thanks for sharing!
Sorry, I know its off topic but I really like the design of the “Chicken Burrito Bowl Meal Prep” image at the top. Anyone know what the font is that they used for the word Burrito?
TRY LOOKING UP THE APP CALLED “WHAT THE FONT” IT MIGHT HELP YOU.
What kind of brown rice do you use? It looks much better than the brown rice I make!
I use Trader Joe’s brown rice.
Friendly tip on these bowls- I pack them in my lunch with tomatoes, corn, beans (I don’t mind them cold) in one container, and rice and meat in another, and sour cream or Greek yogurt or dressing in a third little container. Yes… it’s more dishes to wash, but I can then heat the rice and meat and then I dump the cold stuff on top. Also- I find the chipotle in cans in the ethnic food aisles- by the Mexican food. Thanks for the great recipe!!!
Made this today & it’s really good! Thanks for the recipe.
Just don’t do what I did & accidentally use vanilla yogurt instead of plain 🙂
how many meal prep containers does this fill?
4.
I decided to make this into lettuce wraps so I ditched the rice from the recipe and served on Bibb lettuce. (I brought to work for lunch) It was very flavorful – mostly due to the chipotle dressing but the meat was seasoned pretty well too. Overall it was very good. My only reco for myself next time is to roast the corn . Thanks for an easy, healthy recipe!
Do you need to do any prep for the beans and corn? Or just put them in cold?
You can put them in cold if you prefer.
How would you recommend cooking the corn and beans?
I typically don’t cook the corn and beans, unless the corn is frozen. Then I cook it according to package instructions.
How long do you think this would keep refrigerated?
As I am not an expert on food safety, I cannot really say with certainty – sorry, Leann! Methods for optimal food storage and shelf life should be based on good judgment and what you are personally comfortable with.
I can’t find chipotle pepper or adobo sauce. What’s a good alternative to make this kid friendly?
Have you tried Amazon.com?
Use just sour cream, I have found a canned chili in adobo sauce in where the canned chili’s are. For my son we just put sour cream on his and he loves it.
I guess this is probably a silly question… better to be safe than sorry! haha. So the only things you actually cook before assembling in containers is the protein & grain of choice. You do not actually have to cook beans, corn, etc before assembling? You can actually never cook them and eat beans/corn at room temp, correct?
These are the things that puzzle a newly moved out 25 year old hahah..
Thanks in advance! (:
Not a silly question! You are right, no need to cook the beans, corn etc.
For meal prep, would I heat this back up? I don’t really want warm tomatoes… Lol
You do not have to reheat.
The corn in the photo looks grilled. Did you cook it?
I used frozen roasted corn kernels from Trader Joe’s.
Did you cook the frozen corn before putting it in the bowl?
Yes.
Hi Chungah – thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I’ve been mad about bows lately and this one is definitely a big one!
Could their be frozen and reheated later?
Yes, of course!
Can you reheat this before eating? I was thinking of saving the sauce until I actually eat it.
Yes, of course.
Made it tonightl! Had a good taste but chicken was a little bland. Also i prefer the sour cream over thee yogurt, Brings the sauce out better. I chose southwestern corn also. Overall my family enjoyed it. Thank you
So I can eat it cold without warming it up? Sounds delish!!! Thx!
Where can I find the Chipotle pepper in adobo sauce?
Most grocery stores should carry them! They are in a small can.
Do you use the whole can of chipotles pepper?
The recipe calls for just one pepper.
You buy one can of the chipotle chilies, use what the recipe calls for (one) and can freeze the rest in a freezer bag for about 6 months. Be sure to label the bag, LOL!
They are in the mexican food section of most supermarkets. I was told very adamantly by a latino woman at Fresh Market that la Costena (in the red can) is the best one to use (the one that hispanics prefer). If you are afraid of the chili pepper itself you can spoon the adobo sauce from the can and its plenty spicy (and flavors the sauce nicely), to bring the heat down scrape the seeds out of the pepper first!
Love this idea for healthy pack and go lunches during the week. Looking forward to trying it
Just made it and smells delicious! So, silly question – can I freeze each of these bowls, including the rice?
Unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself – there were no leftovers left to freeze! Please use your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
Tasty and healthy!!! This dish’s gonna be in my menu this weekend!
Oooh, that chipotle cream sauce sounds divine! Love that it uses yogurt instead of sour cream 🙂
-Claire
tallgirlbigworld.com
these bowls looks absolutely delicious! perfect for a weekday dinner.
Thank you for sharing this with us!
i’m going to try to make them next week!
xx
charlie
https://charlieskitchenstories.wordpress.com
Made it tonight, was so easy and yet delicious and nutritious!
Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe with us. Now i have found something special to prepare for kids on our next trip. Awesome!!!
Super cool idea!
Where can I find the nutritional information for these bowls?
Nutritional information is provided only for select and new recipes at this time. However, if it is not available for a specific recipe, I recommend using free online resources at your discretion (you can Google “nutritional calculator”) to obtain such information. Hope that helps!
What’s the nutrition?
Nutritional information is provided only for select and new recipes at this time. However, if it is not available for a specific recipe, I recommend using free online resources at your discretion (you can Google “nutritional calculator”) to obtain such information. Hope that helps!
I put the recipe into myfitnesspal.com and the calories per serving is 727!
Thank you! I was wondering what the calorie count was.
Does that seem like a lot? And that’s per serving so 1/4 cup of rice?
It seems to actually be closer to 590 calories. I used myfitnesspal to import the recipe. It did say 727 but the ingredient for one of the spices was WAY off so it skewed the entire recipe’s nutrition facts. After I switched out that ingredient with the proper amount, it dropped it down to roughly 590 calories with 22 g of fat and 44 g of protein.
cronometer.com is my favorite site to use for nutritional info. Their database is super clean!!
You can edit the calories down, I got it to 383 calories per bowl
This looks awesome. Do u know calorie count by chance.
Nutritional information is provided only for select and new recipes at this time. However, if it is not available for a specific recipe, I recommend using free online resources at your discretion (you can Google “nutritional calculator”) to obtain such information. Hope that helps!
Oooooo very nice!!
What a great idea!