These chicken burrito bowls combine tender marinated chicken, cilantro cauliflower rice, corn salsa, black beans and romaine lettuce all topped with a delicious tomatillo avocado dressing. Perfect for meal prep.
I’m all about a good bowl recipe! Throw grains, protein and veggies into a bowl, add a delicious sauce or dressing and voila! My favorite meal. And this chicken burrito bowl might just be my favorite bowl recipe to date.
It’s packed with tons of flavor, has cauliflower rice as the base for a low-carb option and is topped with a delicious tomatillo avocado dressing. It’s seriously so good and is bound to become a new staple dinner recipe in your home!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Super easy to meal prep in advance for quick assembly during the week.
Packed full of flavor from the chicken, rice, corn salsa, and dressing.
It’s completely customizable. Feel free to make this recipe your own!
Ingredients Needed
chicken – the perfect protein for a burrito bowl. I prefer to use chicken thighs for the best flavor, but I’ve tested this recipe with chicken breasts and it turned out great!
chicken marinade – we’re marinating the chicken before cooking in a sauce, which adds a ton of flavor! The marinade combines avocado or olive oil, lime juice, garlic, chipotle peppers + adobo sauce and a blend of spices (chili powder, oregano, cumin, salt and pepper).
romaine lettuce – I like to start my burrito bowls with a base of greens! I use romaine lettuce because I love the crunch.
corn salsa – a combination of corn, red onion, jalapeño, cilantro and lime juice. You can also use cooked corn for a shortcut!
black beans – I use canned black beans for ease. Make sure you drain and rinse them well before using!
Mexican cheese – you can skip the cheese if you need this bowl to be dairy-free.
guacamole – you can make your own (I love my traditional guacamole or green pea guacamole that’s made with frozen peas) or use store-bought. It’s not a burrito bowl without guac is it?!
pico de gallo orsalsa – I love topping my bowl with fresh salsa or pico de gallo. Any kind works!
sour cream – or Greek yogurt, for topping.
tomatillo avocado dressing – my tomatillo avocado dressing is what takes this burrito bowl to the next level. It adds so much flavor!
additional toppings – hot sauce and fresh cilantro are also great toppings.
Customize Your Burrito Bowl
The best thing about bowl dinners is that they are completely customizable! Here are some ideas:
Grain – feel free to swap the cauliflower rice for any grain of choice. This bowl would be delicious with brown rice or quinoa! You can also use frozen rice for a shortcut!
Protein – I love using chicken as the protein in this burrito bowl, but it would also be delicious with ground turkey or ground beef. Shredded chicken seasoned with taco seasoning would also be a great alternative. You could even make this slow cooker chicken in advance for quick assembly.
Vegan – want to make this bowl vegan? Marinate tofu or tempeh in the same mixture or make these tofu sofritas for a plant-based protein option.
Greens – I like using romaine lettuce for the crunch factor, but feel free to use your favorite green.
Cheese – use a different type of cheese (cheddar cheese or pepper jack cheese would both be delicious) or skip it altogether if you need this recipe to be dairy-free.
Corn salsa – skip the corn salsa and use cooked corn for a shortcut!
Salsa – use diced cherry or grape tomatoes instead of salsa or pico de gallo.
Guacamole – add avocado slices instead of guacamole.
Dressing – I love this tomatillo avocado dressing but you can switch it up or skip it altogether! This bowl would also be delicious with my cilantro lime dressing.
How to Prep in Advance
If you want the real deal but don’t have time to make everything for these chicken burrito bowls in one night, you can prep all of the components in advance for faster assembly. Here’s what I would prep in advance:
Chicken – you can either make the marinade the night before you want to make these burrito bowls and let the chicken sit overnight and then cook the chicken when you’re ready to make dinner. Or you can cook the chicken 1-3 days prior for quick assembly on the night of.
Cilantro rice – this rice is hands-off once it’s cooking but it still takes a little prep. Make a batch at the beginning of the week and use all week long!
Corn salsa – so simple to whip this up in advance!
Tomatillo avocado dressing – another simple component to prep in advance!
How to Store Leftovers
These chicken burrito bowls are great because they store so well! I recommend storing each component in separate containers. Everything should last 5 days in the refrigerator. When you’re ready to enjoy, heat up the warm components over the stovetop or in the microwave and assemble your burrito bowl!
These chicken burrito bowls combine tender marinated chicken, cilantro cauliflower rice, corn salsa, black beans and romaine lettuce all topped with a delicious tomatillo avocado dressing. Perfect for meal prep.
Combine chicken marinade ingredients in a bowl or blend in a food processor or blender. Add to a large ziplock bag or airtight container with chicken thighs and marinate for at least 1 hour, but up to 24 hours.
If you haven't done so already prep corn salsa and tomatillo avocado dressing. Set aside. This can be done in advance.
Make cilantro lime cauliflower rice.
Once chicken is ready, remove chicken from marinade and cook. Discard marinade. To cook, add a little oil to a pan and warm on medium heat. Once hot, add chicken and cook for 7-8 minutes on each side or until cooked through. Once cooked, transfer chicken to a cutting board and cut into bite-size pieces.
To make bowls, add a base of cauliflower rice and top with a portion of cooked chicken, black beans and corn salsa. Then top with mexican cheese, guacamole, pico de gallo, sour cream, lettuce and fresh cilantro. Sprinkle on hot sauce and/or drizzle tomatillo avocado dressing over bowl, if using and serve. Serve with tortilla chips on the side, if desired.
This was sooo tasty! From the tomatillo sauce for drizzling overtop to that marinated chipotle chicken this recipe had me wanting to stuff my face more and more! I prepped this for a busy week of work and it satisfied my taste buds as well as nutrition needs. It held me for my 12 hour shift and the whole family loved it!
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This was sooo tasty! From the tomatillo sauce for drizzling overtop to that marinated chipotle chicken this recipe had me wanting to stuff my face more and more! I prepped this for a busy week of work and it satisfied my taste buds as well as nutrition needs. It held me for my 12 hour shift and the whole family loved it!
Yay! I’m SO happy this recipe was a hit for you, Kori! Thank you so much for sharing, it means so much to me!
Looks delicious, will must try
Thanks! Let me know how it turns out for you, Shubham!