One-Pan Chicken Burrito Bowls

by Melissa

This recipe for One-Pan Chicken Burrito Bowls is one of my new favorites. It’s packed with flavor and so easy to make. I combined boneless, skinless chicken breast, Mexican rice, black beans, and tomatoes with Mexican spices. It’s so delicious and the best part is, everything cooks in just one pan, even the rice. This one-pot meal was a huge hit with my family and it’s faster than driving to get takeout! You can see even more on my one-pot meals here.

Find the slow cooker version of this recipe here!

Initially, I was working on developing a one-pan Mexican casserole with rice. When I mentioned my idea to my husband, he said, “Sounds great, like everything you would put in a chicken burrito.” So I thought that was a much better name and described the dish even better! We served ours in bowls, but this dish would be amazing wrapped in a tortilla. A quick way to make homemade chicken burritos!

Start by sautéing onions in olive oil, then browning the chicken. The chicken doesn’t need to cook through completely at this point, it will continue cooking later. Once the chicken has browned, push the chicken over to one side of the pan and add another tablespoon of olive oil. Saute the uncooked rice in olive oil until slightly toasted, just a minute or two. Sautéing the uncooked rice is a key step in making homemade Mexican rice, so make sure not to skip this step. It prevents the rice from being too starchy and sticky.

Add chicken broth, drained canned tomatoes, and drained and rinsed black beans to the pan along with seasonings. Bring to a simmer, then cover and reduce heat to low. Cook covered for about twenty minutes, or until rice is tender.

Once you remove the lid, you have this delicious mixture of rice and bean goodness. The rice will really soak up the seasoning, so make sure to taste at this point and adjust seasoning as needed.

Remove pan from heat and sprinkle with cheese. Recover and let dish stand for a few minutes until cheese melts. Garnish with fresh tomatoes and green onions. Finish with fresh guacamole and sour cream.

I had a million ideas for this dish, and I had a hard time narrowing down the combination of ingredients. Everything sounded good to me, but I ended up with a combination I thought would be the most kid-friendly for our family. In the recipe, I’ve listed possible variations just to mix things up!

One-Pot Chicken Burrito Bowls

Rating: 51

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Yield: 4-5

Ingredients

  • 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced into bite sized pieces
  • 3 tablespoon of olive oil
  • 1/4 cup of diced yellow onion
  • 1 cup of uncooked extra-long grain rice
  • 1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes, drained
  • 1 15oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon of chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon of cumin
  • 2 1/2 cups of low-sodium chicken broth
  • 2 cups of colby jack, monterey jack or cheddar cheese
  • kosher salt and pepper
  • freshly diced tomatoes
  • diced green onions
  • sour cream
  • guacamole

Instructions

  1. Start by sautéing onions in 2 tablespoon of olive oil until they start to soften.
  2. Season diced chicken with 1 teaspoon of kosher salt and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper.
  3. Add chicken to pan and cook over medium high heat until chicken has started to brown.
  4. Move chicken to one side of pan, in the other side of the pan add an additional tablespoon of olive oil and sauté uncooked rice for about 2 minutes or just until some grains start to turn golden brown.
  5. Stir in black beans, canned tomatoes, chicken broth, garlic powder, chili powder and cumin.
  6. Bring to a simmer, cover and reduce heat to low.
  7. Cook about 20 minutes or until rice is tender.
  8. Season with additional salt and pepper as needed.
  9. Sprinkle with cheese, recover and let set for 2-3 off heat to melt cheese.
  10. Garnish with fresh tomatoes, green onions, sour cream and guacamole.

Notes

Recipe variations: Try sautéing diced bell peppers or jalapeños along with onions. Mix in frozen corn in the last 5 minutes of cooking. Substitute ground beef or ground turkey for chicken. Skip the cheese for a lighter version.

3.0

If you like this recipe, you may also like some of my recent favorites:

Skillet Lasagna

One-Pan Chicken Alfredo