Lunchtime hits and you’re starving. Sure, you could pop over to your favorite Mexican fast-food restaurant when you have a hankering for a chicken burrito bowl. Or you make your own in less time it takes you to get in the car, drive over, and drive back home.
By meal prepping some staple time-saving ingredients ahead of time, like pre-cooked brown rice and chicken, you can have a quick, healthy, and balanced lunch or dinner ready to go any night of the week.
This chicken burrito bowl recipe has a whopping 35 grams of protein per serving, thanks to the combination of brown rice, pinto beans, chicken, and Monterey jack cheese. That, thanks also to the 10 grams of fiber, makes this dish super filling in all the right ways, without weighing you down. And it’s excellent fuel to help you build muscle when you’re training hard!
It’s also packs in some veggies, like fresh tomato salsa, chopped romaine lettuce, and sliced avocado (which is technically a fruit, but we digress). And while you can use any salsa, we love topping our chicken burrito bowls with fresh, chunky salsa (look for the pico de gallo type rather than the saucier, jarred type).
While the ingredients in this bowl don’t veer far from the mainstream, fast-food versions, you get to control each and every addition to reduce any excess salt and oil used to season and cook the rice, chicken, and beans. Plus, when you make burrito bowls at home, you can load up on extra veggies and you may be less tempted to go overboard with the guac, queso, and sour cream. And if you’re looking for a healthier sour cream alternative fix, try plain Greek yogurt! It’ll add roughly eight calories and three grams of protein per tablespoon for the non-fat version.
Ready to get cookin’? Read on for our quick and healthy chicken burrito bowl recipe.
Healthy Chicken Burrito Bowl
Ingredients
- 1⅓ cups cooked brown rice warm
- 2 Tbsp. fresh cilantro finely chopped
- 1 Tbsp. lime juice fresh
- 8 cups romaine lettuce chopped
- 1⅓ cups canned pinto beans drained, rinsed, warm
- 12 oz. cooked chicken breast shredded, warm
- 2 cups tomato salsa fresh
- ¼ cup Monterey jack cheese shredded (1 oz.)
- ½ medium avocado sliced
Instructions
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Combine rice, cilantro, and lime juice in a medium bowl; mix well.
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Evenly divide lettuce between four medium serving bowls.
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Top evenly with rice mixture, beans, chicken, salsa, cheese, and avocado; serve immediately.
Recipe Notes
The Nutrition Facts box below provides estimated nutritional information for this recipe.
Openfit Blocks:
1½ Fruit & Vegetable
1 Protein
1 Fat
2 Other Carbohydrates
Photography by Anguel Dimov, AB Creative
About Nicole McDermott
After graduating from Syracuse where Nicole studied magazine journalism and nutrition, she moved to New York City to write for the health and fitness site Greatist. She currently edits full time for Ghergich & Co. Nicole's work has appeared on TIME Healthland, Shape, USA Today, Men's Fitness, The Huffington Post, Refinery29 and Lifehacker, among others.
