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These Copycat Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bowls are the perfect easy dinner or meal prep option! They’re made with Mexican spiced cauliflower rice or Mexican rice, topped with juicy chipotle chicken, pico de gallo, fajita veggies, and a homemade chipotle crema.
This recipe is low-carb, grain-free, dairy-free, whole30-compliant, and makes for the best meal prep. A protein-packed meal, loaded into one mouthwatering rice bowl!
Easy Chicken Burrito Bowl Recipe
These Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bowls are one of my favorite meals to make when I’m short on time, yet want tons of variety for meal prep options throughout the week ahead.
These burrito bowls start with delicious Mexican cauliflower rice or Mexican rice, topped off with homemade pico de gallo, perfectly seasoned grilled chicken, an amazing chipotle crema! Plus, topped with all your favorite fix-ins, like avocado, cilantro, etc.
Why I Just Really Love Burrito Bowls:
Burrito bowls are a great way to hit all food groups—carbs, healthy fats, veggies, and protein. Plus, they’re packed with tons of wonderful flavor thanks to the spices and condiments. They’re the perfect well-rounded and delicious meal, that makes for versatile meal prep throughout the week.
Ingredients Needed
This recipe has a few different components, but don’t be overwhelmed by the ingredients list. Each component comes together with very little prep. Scroll down for the full recipe.
- Wet Rub: We’re seasoning the chicken with a delicious spicy and smoky blend of olive oil, chili powder, cayenne pepper, paprika, and garlic powder.
- Chicken Breast: You’ll need 1 pound of boneless, skinless chicken breast.
- Pico de Gallo: Our homemade, fresh pico is made with jalapeño, red onion, tomato, cilantro, and lime juice.
- Veggies: We’re using the classic fajita veggie combination of bell pepper and onion.
- Mexican Cauliflower Rice: The homemade Mexican cauliflower rice is made with cauliflower rice, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, tomato paste, cumin, paprika, cayenne, and scallions. Feel free to grab a bag of riced cauliflower from the store or make your own. Alternatively, make some classic Mexican Rice if you don’t want cauliflower rice!
- Chipotle Crema: The Chipotle Crema is a simple recipe consisting of mayo, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, cumin, salt, pepper, and lime juice.
Variations
- Use another meat. You can swap the chicken out for turkey or try your burrito bowl with carne asada instead.
- Make it vegetarian. Feel free to make a vegetarian chipotle burrito bowl by simply omitting the chicken. Additionally, adding black or pinto beans makes for a great vegetarian protein option.
- Add other toppings. Load your burrito bowl up with any of your favorite toppings. Try avocado, cilantro, beans, scallions, cheese, sour cream, corn salsa or quick restaurant-style salsa, fresh lime, you name it.
- Use rice. Feel free to swap the cauliflower rice out for regular homemade Mexican rice.
How to Make Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bowls
These chicken burrito bowls are an easy recipe to whip up for a quick dinner, but they can also easily be prepared ahead of time for meal prep!
Here’s a quick summary of the recipe:
- Cook the Chicken: Pat the chicken dry, then season with salt and pepper. Place it into a bowl along with all of the wet rub ingredients, then mix until fully coated. Grill for 5-6 minutes on each side or until cooked through.
- Make the Cauliflower Rice or Mexican Rice: Heat olive oil in a skillet, then add the cauliflower rice and spices. Sauté until the cauliflower is cooked, remove from the heat, and set aside. Want to make regular Mexican rice? Follow my guide on making it!
- Sauté the Veggies: In another skillet, heat olive oil, then add in the peppers and onions. Sauté until caramelized and softened.
- Make the Condiments… Pico and Chiptole Crema: In one bowl, combine all of the pico de gallo ingredients. In another bowl, whisk together all of the chipotle crema ingredients.
- Assemble and Serve: Start your bowl with a scoop of the prepared rice, then top it with grilled chicken, veggies, black beans, pico, scallions, and the chipotle crema.
Tips and Notes for Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bowls
- Pat the chicken dry. Patting the chicken gets rid of any excess moisture that can compromise its final texture.
- Grill vs. grill pan. You can totally use an outdoor grill to cook your chicken, but if you’re prepping your chicken indoors, a grill pan will work, too. If you do use a grill pan, make sure you cover the chicken while it cooks so that it cooks all the way through.
- No grill or grill pan? Try my baked chipotle chicken instead.
- Check the chicken temperature. To ensure that your chicken is cooked through, use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature. It should be 165ºF.
- Let it rest. Once the chicken is cooked, give it a few minutes to rest before slicing into it to allow the juices and flavor time to settle.
Serving Suggestions
These chicken burrito bowls are a complete meal as they are, so you definitely don’t need to serve them with anything. However, you can absolutely enjoy them with any of your favorite side dishes! Here are a few ideas:
- Chips and Salsa or Guacamole
- Mexican Street Corn Salad
- Black Bean Soup (hot or cold!)
- 3-Ingredient Taco Slaw, Chipotle Slaw, or my Healthy Coleslaw Recipe
How to Store Everything:
A fully assembled chipotle chicken burrito bowl can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. To reheat, simply warm on the stove on low or in the microwave until heated through.
If you’re storing the burrito bowl components separately, the instructions will vary:
- Chicken: Chicken can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days or in the freezer for 2-3 months. Thaw in the fridge before reheating if frozen.
- Pico de Gallo: Homemade pico de gallo will last in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Peppers and Onions: Store leftover cooked veggies in the fridge for 3-5 days.
- Cauliflower Rice: Leftover cooked cauliflower rice will last in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Chipotle Crema: The chipotle crema will last in a jar or airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
More Meal Prep Bowls You’ll Love
- Thai Turkey Bowl
- Greek Veggie Bowls
- Chicken Buddha Bowl with Spicy Mango Sauce
- Korean Ground Beef Bowls
- Greek Cauliflower Rice Pilaf Bowls
Watch the Video Here:
Copycat Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bowls
Ingredients
Wet Rub:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast
Pico De Gallo:
- 1 small red onion diced
- 3 small-medium ripe tomatos diced
- 2 tablespoons cilantro roughly chopped
- 1 small jalapeño diced (remove seeds for less spice or omit)
- 1 lime juiced
Sautéed Peppers and Onions:
- 1 tablespoon Oil of choice
- 1 bell pepper sliced
- 1 onion sliced
Mexican Cauliflower Rice: (see post for regular Mexican rice recipe)
- 1 12- ounce bag cauliflower rice or one head cauliflower
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper more to taste
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder
- Scallions sliced for garnish
Chipotle Crema:
- 1/3 cup mayo
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon sea Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 lime squeezed more to taste
Additional Topping Ideas:
- Avocado
- Cilantro
- Black Beans
- Scallions
- Shredded Cheese
- Fresh Lime
Instructions
- Pat chicken dry and season generously with salt and pepper. Place chicken in a bowl and add the rest of the wet rub ingredients. Mix until chicken is well coated in the spice rub.
- Grill chicken for about 5-6 minutes on each side, or until chicken is opaque and fully cooked through. If using a grill pan, cover the pan during the cooking process to make sure the chicken cooks through.
- While chicken is on the grill, prepare the cauliflower rice. Heat a medium skillet with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add in cauliflower rice and the rest of the ingredients and sautè for 5-8 minutes, until the cauliflower is cooked through. Take off heat and set aside. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
- Once chicken is cooked through (reads 165ºF on a meat thermometer), let cool, dice or slice, and set aside until ready to eat.
- In a separate medium skillet, heat olive oil. Add in sliced onions and peppers. Sautè over medium heat until onions begin to caramelize and peppers soften, about 8-10 minutes. Take off heat and set aside.
- Add pico de gallo ingredients to a medium mixing bowl and stir until well combined. Set aside until ready to eat.
- Add chipotle crema ingredients to a small mixing bowl and whisk until well combined.
- Assemble bowls: Place cauliflower rice or rice on the bottom, top with grilled chicken, sauteèd onions and peppers, black beans if adding, pico de gallo, scallions, and a drizzle of chipotle crema.
- Storing: A fully assembled chipotle chicken burrito bowl can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. To reheat, simply warm on the stove on low or in the microwave until heated through.If you're storing the burrito bowl components separately, the instructions will vary. See above in the post for details!
Notes
- Meal Prep: Prep all of the ingredients the day before, and then simple assemble the bowl when ready to eat.
- Omit beans and cheese for whole30.
- Pat the chicken dry. Patting the chicken gets rid of any excess moisture that can compromise its final texture.
- Grill vs. grill pan. You can totally use an outdoor grill to cook your chicken, but if you’re prepping your chicken indoors, a grill pan will work, too. If you do use a grill pan, make sure you cover the chicken while it cooks so that it cooks all the way through.
- No grill or grill pan? Try my baked chipotle chicken instead.
- Check the chicken temperature. To ensure that your chicken is cooked through, use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature. It should be 165ºF.
- Let it rest. Once the chicken is cooked, give it a few minutes to rest before slicing into it to allow the juices and flavor time to settle.
My husband has become a little more picky about food lately, so finding new recipes that he will like can be a challenge. I made this for dinner and he really enjoyed it! It was easy to prepare, and the flavors are excellent. I added more garlic, as we measure garlic in this house, by love! haha
I actually enjoyed the cauliflower rice option more than the rice.
It was easy to make and I saved the left overs as components for meal prep! Thank you, Lexi!
Serving size is 4g?
There’s no ingredient list
We are fixing this right now. So sorry, and thank you for your patience.
Fixed!
Hi! Can you greek yogurt for the mayo in the crema sauce? Thanks!
Defintely!
If I meal prep this ahead, do I eat everything cold or reheat the rice, chicken and beans?