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?
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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