Chipotle Burrito Bowl (2024)

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Tonight, stay in and build your own Chipotle Burrito Bowl with the copycat recipes you know and love. Fluffy rice, black beans, tender chicken, sweet corn salsa, tomato salsa, and lots of guacamole. It’s great for lunch or dinner when you want fresh food fast.

This is a Greatest Hits type of recipe which takes you through the basic steps of making some of your favorite components of Chipotle’s burrito bowl. I’ve broken everything down so you can make what you want right at home, for less money.

In the recipe card at the bottom of the post, I’ve manually scaled all the recipes to make enough for 4 Chipotle Burrito Bowls.

They will taste just as good, but probably even better than the restaurant.

Bowl ingredients:

Ingredient notes:

• Adobo sauce: You can drain off some adobo sauce from those small cans of Chipotle peppers in adobo, or you can purchase a jar of just adobo paste (La Costeña makes one). To make adobo sauce, mix together about 3 parts adobo paste + 1 part water.
• Oregano: You can use either Italian or Mexican oregano if you’re lucky to find it. They have slightly different flavors (Mexican oregano tastes more like marjoram) but both taste great in this recipe. Feel free to use whatever you have.
• Canned black beans: Canned black beans are the biggest shortcut here, but you can definitely make your own Chipotle black beans (or pinto beans) if you have time.

Step-by-step instructions:

This is a quick walkthrough of how to make my favorite burrito bowl ingredients. Each ingredient has its own linked post, where I go more in-depth with cooking techniques and substitutions. If you’re curious, click on over.

For making the Chipotle chicken:

1. Make the marinade in a food processor by blending together the red onion, garlic, adobo sauce, ancho chili powder, olive oil, cumin, and oregano. Add a little water to the marinade, then pour it into a zipper-top plastic bag with the boneless chicken thighs. (Boneless, skinless chicken breasts are okay, too.) Let marinate for 30 minutes or up to overnight.
   
2. When ready, cook the chicken in a skillet over medium-high heat, using a little olive oil. Sear the chicken on one side, then the other, until it registers an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Take the chicken out of the pan and chop into bite-sized pieces.

For making the cilantro lime rice:

1. Cook the basmati rice in a pot of water, using a 4:1 water to rice ratio. Bring the water to a boil, then add the rice, a little salt, and a bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then cook for 10 to 12 minutes until tender.
   
2. Drain off the excess water, rinse the rice with hot water in a fine-mesh sieve, and dump the rice in a bowl. Stir in the lemon and lime juices, and the chopped cilantro, then season with salt.
   

For making the corn salsa:

1. Frozen corn works great here, so cook it using the package’s instructions, then spread it out on a baking sheet to let it cool.
   
2. Then toss it together with the chopped roasted poblano pepper, red onion, cilantro, lemon juice, lime juice, and chopped jalapeño peppers. Give it a little bit of salt, too.
   

For making the tomato salsa:

1. Aka pico de gallo, this raw salsa is all about the chopping. Chop up raw tomatoes, jalapeño peppers, red onion, and cilantro. Then combine all the ingredients in a bowl with lemon juice, lime juice, and some salt.

For making the guacamole:

1. The best for last! Plan on about ½ avocado for each person. Scoop out the flesh of the avocados, and mash it together with the lemon and lime juice.
   
2. Then stir in the chopped onion, cilantro, jalapeño, and a pinch of salt.
   

For building the bowl:

1. To build the bowl, just set everything out and pretend you’re at the Chipotle counter. Grab your biggest bowl.
2. Start with the rice, then the beans, then the chicken. A little salsa, some corn, then a whole lotta guac. (No upcharge here!)
3. Add some cheese, lettuce, and all that’s left to do is grab a fork and enjoy all your (not so) hard work.

Recipe tips and variations:

• Yield: The recipe card below is scaled down to make enough for 4 bowls.
• Make ahead: Marinate the chicken the night before. Chop up the pico de gallo the day before you plan to eat. Try making slow cooker black beans so they’re ready by the time you’re hungry.
• Leftovers: Save the leftovers for more bowls, or make a sheet tray of nachos in the oven and dig in.
• Pick out some other Chipotle recipes:Maybe next time, you want to switch it up? No problem. All the Chipotle recipes are here so you can make them at home.

The meats/proteins:

• Barbacoa. Braised or slow-cooked shredded beef.
• Steak. Juicy grilled steak is hard to resist.
• Chicken. So good baked, in the skillet, or grilled.
• Carnitas. Slow roasted pork shoulder that tastes exactly like the real thing, thanks to one ingredient.
• Sofritas. Pressed, fried tofu is a great vegan option, and you’ll never miss the meat.

The beans and rice:

• Black beans. A vegetarian protein made with chipotle peppers.
• Pinto beans. Savory and delicious, this recipe is vegetarian, too.
• Cilantro lime rice. Fluffy, bright, and delicious, works with white or brown rice.

The salsas (in order of spiciness, from mild to hot):

• Fresh tomato salsa (mild). A raw chunky tomato salsa.
• Roasted chili-corn salsa (medium). Sweet and a little spicy.
• Tomatillo-green chili salsa (medium). Getting up there in the spice department, so good!
• Red chili salsa (hot). One of my favorites, made with whole chilies.

The extras:

• Guacamole. The best. Just the best.
• Chipotle honey vinaigrette. Turn that bowl into a low-carb salad by skipping the rice and beans and adding lettuce. Then use this Chipotle salad dressing.
• Fajita veggies.Did you think I forgot these? Nope. They’re good on everything. A medley of peppers and onions.
• Homemade tortilla chips. Because chips are great!

More fun dinner ideas:

• Shrimp Fajitas
• One-Pot Puerto Rican Rice
• Grilled Fish Tacos with Cabbage Slaw
• Taco Stuffed Tomatoes

More From Culinary Hill

• Cowboy Caviar Dip
• Buffalo Chicken Dip With Canned Chicken
• Lemon Bundt Cake With Pudding