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Naked Chicken Burrito Bowls

Naked Chicken Burrito Bowls

Build your own healthy Tex-Mex meal with deconstructed chicken burritos in bowls. 

Build your own healthy Tex-Mex meal with deconstructed chicken burritos in bowls. Recipe at Teaspoonofspice.com

A healthy yet tasty dinner that can please every family member? These Naked Chicken Burrito Bowls are pretty darn close to fitting this challenging criteria.

This Tex-Mex dinner delight comes from Debbi over at Debbi Does Dinner Healthy & Low Calorie, who I was assigned to this month for the Secret Recipe Club.

What I like about Debbi’s blog and her recipes is there’s no fuss involved AND they all clock in at around 500 calories – something this dietitian can get behind.

Build your own healthy Tex-Mex meal with deconstructed chicken burritos in bowls. Recipe at Teaspoonofspice.com

I also like how she made her own taco seasoning vs. buying the prepackaged stuff for this recipe. And the 3-ingredient cilantro lime rice is a great side dish to make anytime. These days, I’m loving both basmati brown rice and jasmine brown rice. (I get them at Trader Joe’s.) Both are terrific options if you want to try to eat more whole grains but regular brown rice just doesn’t do it for you. (You could also do half white rice and half brown rice at first to slowly up your whole grain intake.)

Healthy Tex Mex meal to please everyone: Naked Chicken Burrito Bowls @tspbasil Click To Tweet

Build your own healthy Tex-Mex meal with deconstructed chicken burritos in bowls. Recipe at Teaspoonofspice.com

Besides the healthy ingredients, I love that this is basically a customized dinner recipe. Vegetarians can add more beans; or you could cook up some shrimp or tilapia to make seafood burrito bowls instead. The variations are almost endless. I served it with corn tortillas one night and ate it over romaine lettuce the next day as a salad. 

Build your own healthy Tex-Mex meal with deconstructed chicken burritos in bowls. Recipe at Teaspoonofspice.com

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Build your own healthy Tex-Mex meal with deconstructed chicken burritos in bowls. Recipe at Teaspoonofspice.com

Naked Chicken Burrito Bowls


  • Author: by Deanna Segrave-Daly, RD
  • Yield: 6 - 8 servings 1x

Description

Build your own healthy Tex-Mex meal with deconstructed chicken burritos in bowls. 


Ingredients

Scale

For the chicken:

  • 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1/4-inch strips
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 tablespoon canola oil

For the rice:

  • 3 cups water
  • 1 1/2 cups brown basmati rice or brown jasmine rice, rinsed
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • Juice of one large lime

For the beans:

  • 2 teaspoons canola oil
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1 (15 ounce) can pinto beans or black beans, drained and rinsed well

For the toppings:

  • 1 1/2 cups shredded Cabot Light Cheddar or Cabot Pepper Jack
  • 1 avocado, peeled, pitted and sliced
  • Shredded romaine lettuce
  • Diced onions
  • Fresh Salsa
  • Cilantro
  • Corn tortillas

Instructions

  1. For the chicken, place chicken in a large resealable plastic bag. Add chili powder, smoked paprika, cumin, oregano, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper and 1 tablespoon canola oil. Seal bag and massage together until chicken is well coated. Marinate in refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
  2. To cook chicken, coat a large skillet with cooking spray and place over medium heat. Add chicken with marinade and saute for 7 -8 minutes until chicken is cooked through, stirring every minute or so. Remove from pan.
  3. For the rice, bring water to a boil in a large sauce pan. Add rice, reduce heat to medium-low and cover. Cook for 35-40 minutes (or follow instructions on package.) Fluff rice with a fork and mix in cilantro and lime juice.
  4. For the beans, heat 2 teaspoons canola oil in a medium skillet. Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Add beans and cook until warm, about 1 – 2 minutes.
  5. Serve chicken, rice, beans and all other toppings in serving bowls and let everyone fix their own burrito bowl.

Notes

Adapted from Debbi Does Dinner Healthy & Low Calorie’s Naked Chicken Burrito Bowls

Seriously, double this recipe when making it because the leftovers could be made into a new lunch/dinner combo each consecutive day (until they are gone!)

Build your own healthy Tex-Mex meal with deconstructed chicken burritos in bowls. Recipe at Teaspoonofspice.com

Do you like Tex-Mex food? Do you cook it at home often?

Paola

Tuesday 8th of March 2016

Hi Can this be frozen?

Deanna Segrave-Daly

Tuesday 8th of March 2016

Yes I would think it could be frozen. I would freeze the rice, chicken and beans separately and then get fresh topping for when you reheat as the toppings wouldn't freeze well.

KJ

Tuesday 18th of November 2014

would it be okay for me to put the chicken ingredient part into a crockpot for about 7 hrs?

Deanna Segrave-Daly

Wednesday 19th of November 2014

yes! Great way to make it a slow cooker meal :)

Cheese with Noodles

Saturday 25th of January 2014

This looks really good, and I like that it uses brown rice! For some reason it hadn't occurred to me that there would be jasmine brown rice, and basmati brown rice, and undoubtedly every other variety of brown rice as well. In my mind, there was always just... brown rice!

One little thing- I read the post about 3 times and couldn't find anything about how to cook the chicken, am I missing it? Guessing you're supposed to just toss it in a big skillet and saute away :)

Deanna Segrave-Daly

Saturday 25th of January 2014

Oh my gosh, thank you for this catch! That step was deleted from the recipe before I posted it for some reason! But you are right, just saute in a big skillet for about 8 minutes until chicken is cooked through. And definitely look for the the basmati or jasmine brown rice - so so good - I get them at Trader Joe's.

Naked Chicken Burrito Bowls: Teaspoon of Spice | The Secret Recipe Club

Friday 24th of January 2014

[…] Check out the recipe for Naked Chicken Burrito Bowls. […]

Margaret

Wednesday 22nd of January 2014

What an interesting idea. And a great way to please everyone with just one meal!!!

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