I’m just going to say it… nothing beats a good chicken burrito bowl! Packed with seasoned chicken, savory Spanish rice, beans, cheese, salsa, and all the fresh toppings your heart desires. Not only do these chicken burrito bowls taste incredible, but you can also freeze them into portion sizes so you can have a single meal ready to go whenever you are. Perfect for work lunches!
These little make-ahead chicken burrito bowls are the perfect combination of healthy ingredients, super flavorful taste, they are fast to reheat and the best part of all? I get full from eating them!
These chicken burrito bowls are a super versatile quick & easy meal, and you can customize them as you prefer.
- Work at the Office? Treat your frozen bowl like an ice pack for your toppings, then by lunchtime your bowl will have partially thawed. Microwave and enjoy.
- After school kids saying “I’m hungry?” Heat up a chicken burrito bowl.
- Lunch at home for one? Put away that pb&j today and toss one of these in the microwave.
- Want a fun dinner for the family? Individual bowls for everyone!
- College kid? Make ahead a bunch of these for lunches or dinners as a thrifty meal.
- Eating Keto? Just replace the rice and beans with a keto friendly Spanish cauliflower rice.
- Picky eater? Customize them any way you like.
Just look at all that chicken burrito bowl goodness!
Ingredients
- Rice: In my opinion, this recipe is the BEST using the homemade Spanish rice recipe in my cookbook Seriously Good Freezer Meals on page 296. It totally just makes the whole chicken burrito bowl just go POW! But if you don’t have my cookbook you can use a store bought package mix of Spanish rice, or head to your nearest Mexican restaurant and order yourself a family size portion of Spanish rice. Hey, no judging here guys! We are all about saving time here, right? You do what you gotta do to survive, man… to survive…
- Chicken: I used boneless and skinless chicken breast filets, but you can also use boneless chicken thighs or turkey breasts.
- Seasoning: A blend of spices such as chili powder, cumin, used to season the chicken, giving it a robust and authentic Mexican flavor.
- Black beans: A nutritious and hearty ingredient, it adds to the bowl extra protein and fiber. You can also substitute with kidney beans, pinto beans, or skip the beans altogether.
- Salsa: Salsa is optional, but it’s a zesty addition that can be spooned over the bowl to add moisture and a spicy or tangy kick, depending on your preference.
- Cheese: You can use cheddar cheese or for a fun kick use Pepper jack cheese because it’s a slightly spicy and creamy. Plus it’s cheese that melts beautifully, adding a rich and tangy flavor to complement the other ingredients.
- Other toppings: These can include a variety of options like diced tomatoes, sliced avocado, chopped cilantro, lime wedges, and sour cream, allowing each person to customize their bowl to their taste.
Storage solutions
As for containers to use, you can use any microwave safe bowls or containers, and a lot of stores carry them. My favorites are these 4-cup Pyrex glass bowls with lids, they are the perfect sized lunch containers. If you want to buy some disposable containers in bulk consider checking out your local restaurant supply store like URM or Cash n Carry.
But if you can’t find microwave safe disposable paper or glass bowls at your local store, go to the aisle that has all of the disposable aluminum pans and grab the aluminum bowls. They obviously aren’t microwave safe but they are the perfect size and handle freezing well.
To reheat, just dump all of the contents of the chicken burrito bowl onto a plate and heat up that way. After it’s heated, add desired toppings. I personally love to add lettuce, sour cream, and sliced avocados. Yum!
Recipe FAQs
You can store the chicken burrito bowls in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Replace the chicken with a plant-based protein like tofu or quinoa, or simply increase the amount of beans and vegetables.
Add jalapeños, increase the amount of spicy salsa, or include additional chili powder in the seasoning.
Chicken Burrito Bowls
Ingredients
- 8 single serve bowls or containers
- 6 cups cooked Spanish rice (for best flavor use recipe in my cookbook “Seriously Good Freezer Meals” pg. 296)
- 1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast filets
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp pepper
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 15 oz. cans black beans
- 1 cup cheddar or pepper jack cheese, shredded
- 1/2 cup salsa, optional
Optional Toppings for Serving
- lettuce, sour cream, cilantro, avocado
Instructions
- Cook your Spanish rice according to package directions, then let it cool.
- Trim the fat from the chicken filets and then cut them in half, length-wise.
- In a small bowl mix together the chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper. Season the chicken on both sides by sprinkling spice mixture. Use up the whole spice mixture.
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat add olive oil and chicken. Cook the chicken until tender, around 4-5 minutes each side, until chicken is no longer pink inside. Remove from the pan and place on a cutting board to rest for about 5 minutes. Then slice into thin strips.
- Using a fine mesh strainer, drain and rinse black beans until rinse water runs clear. Set aside and allow to drip until mostly dry.
- Place all 8 bowls individually on your surface.
- Equally divide Spanish rice into each bowl.
- If using salsa, spread about 1 tbsp (15 mL) salsa over the rice.
- Top rice with 2 tbsp (30 mL) shredded cheese.
- Evenly divide cooked sliced chicken into all bowls; about 1/4 cup (60 mL) chicken to each bowl.
- Add about 1/4 cup (60 mL) black beans over chicken, dividing beans equally among bowls.
- Cover each bowl with air-tight lid or cover with a square of plastic wrap, pressing down, making sure to remove as much air as possible, then cover with foil or lid. Label and freeze. Or keep in the fridge for up to one week.
REHEATING
- From fridge: Remove foil and plastic wrap. Place into microwave safe bowl or plate if necessary. Microwave on high covered with plastic wrap, for 1 minute. Stir. Continue cooking on high for an additional 30 seconds to 1 minute until heated through. Top with desired toppings and serve.
- From freezer: Remove frozen bowl from freezer. Remove foil and plastic wrap. Place onto microwave-safe bowl or plate if necessary. Microwave on high covered with plastic wrap, for 1 minute 30 seconds. Stir. Continue cooking on high for an additional 1 minute 30 seconds or until heated through. Top with desired toppings and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Loved this recipe?
Make sure to follow on Instagram @happymoneysaver and on Pinterest @happymoneysaver for more money savin’ recipes!
I hope you all love this recipe as much as I do! Making a bunch of these chicken burrito bowls up ahead of time sure makes me happy every time I pull one out at lunchtime.
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SEE MORE OF MY BEST FREEZER MEAL RECIPES:
Creamy Cheesy Cilantro Chicken Taquitos (Make Ahead & Freeze)
Healthy Homemade Hot Pockets (Make Ahead & Freeze)
Best frozen Mozzarella sticks recipe
Breakfast Bowls (Make-Ahead & Freeze)
Freezer Friendly Stuffed Jalapeno Poppers
About Karrie
Food is my love language. But so is saving money. So I like to combine the two a lot and make thrifty make ahead and freeze meals to save time. Because life is busy, and freezer meals can come to the rescue for all of us. And yes, they actually CAN taste good. Read more...
Comments & Reviews
Lisa says
Very good..I roasted some vegetables and put on top as well
Laurie says
Hi there! I made this last month and it was DELICIOUS! Worked really well freezing it too. I’ve come back to the recipe to make it again and it looks like it no longer has taco seasoning in it? Am I going insane or did it have taco seasoning before? (I have half a packet of taco seasoning left from last time! And I can see another commenter asked when the taco seasoning goes in and you replied that it goes in Step 4….so confused!). Can you please share the original version of the recipe? I really loved it!
Karrie says
Hi Laurie! Yes, I’ve updated this recipe and made the chicken more flavorful with the seasonings recently. However if you want the old version of cooking the chicken here’s what you do.
Cooking the Chicken
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp taco seasoning
1/2 cup water
Slice your chicken into strips against the grain.
Heat skillet over medium-high, add olive oil and add sliced chicken and saute till cooked through. Then add taco seasoning and water, bring to boil and slow boil chicken until most of liquid is cooked off, about 10 minutes.
The rest of the recipe is the same! Enjoy!
victoria says
amazing job we loved it.
Laura Harrison says
Can beef be substituted for chicken? For freezing?
Happy-Money-Saver says
Sure thing!!
Kelsey says
Can you share some new links for the disposable freezeable containers? Thank you!!
Happy-Money-Saver says
I am working on this!!
Kathryn says
If we were going to make these in foil pans, how long would you have to heat them up in the oven? I couldn’t find any microwave safe containers
Samantha says
Could you reheat these in the oven?
Karrie says
Yes if you had an oven safe dish, but never take a frozen glass dish and place it in a hot oven! It can shatter.
Terri McCullers says
I didn’t ultimately make these as a freezer meal but I cooked the chicken ahead but just ended up just making them as a weeknight meal. They were soooo tasty. I added fresh avocado and fresh cilantro. Even my teen who doesn’t normally like Mexican food ate it! We will definitely make these again.
Karrie says
So great to hear that you loved them Terri, thanks for your feedback!!!
Laura Bruce says
Why do you say only freeze for up to a week? Can they not be frozen longer?
Karrie says
They can be frozen for 3-4 months, but the recipe says to keep in the fridge for up to a week. So if you didn’t want to freeze them, you could keep them in the fridge for a week.
Zoila says
When do you add the taco seasoning?
Karrie says
Hi, it’s in step 4 when you add the water.
Misty Hunter says
I was thinking of a way to make this into a casserole for a family. do you think that would work and how well would it actually warm it up in the oven instead of microwave?
Karrie says
I think that would work for sure! Just cover and bake until heated through!
Anne says
Karrie! Your site is such a find. I’ve recently gone back to work at the hospital and even at the best of times I’m not the hugest fan of grocery shopping and cooking – so shift work has made it all the harder! I decided to buckle down today and do some ahead of time prep and I came across your site. I now have chicken strips, burrito bowls and orange chicken in my freezer ready for my next work days!
Thanks for easy to follow recipes and good writing 🙂
Karrie says
So happy you are saving time!!!