Easy & Healthy Burrito Bowl Recipe (Chicken or Beef)

This easy and healthy burrito bowl recipe combines your favorite tender and juicy proteins such as chicken or ground beef, beans, rice, fresh veggies, and more to create a delicious meal your whole family will enjoy. It’s easily customizable to each individual’s taste and is EXCELLENT for meal prep too. Cook once and eat for days! 

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Easy & Healthy Burrito Bowl Recipe (Chicken or Beef)

I’ll admit, I love a good takeout meal on a busy night, but this easy and healthy burrito bowl tastes even better than everyone’s favorite fast casual takeout option and is easy enough to make on a busy day.

If you love a great burrito bowl but want to customize it to your heart’s content with fresh and high quality ingredients, you’re going to want to make this ASAP. 

It takes a lot for a recipe to make it to the “wall of fame” at my house, which is the little note pad I have on the fridge with a list of meals my whole family will actually eat. Drumroll… this recipe is one of them!

This is the notepad I keep on my fridge, and it just makes me so happy.

We like to make our bowls fajita style with lots of bell pepper and onions along with rice, beans, shredded lettuce, pico de gallo, corn and more. However, you can truly customize this in SO many ways. I’ve used shredded cabbage, sauteed zucchini, and SO much more in these bowls and you truly can’t go wrong.

WHY THIS HEALTHY BURRITO BOWL RECIPE WORKS

If you’re like me and feeding a crew with differing preferences, a meal like this burrito bowl is a GREAT option. 

Here’s why…

Easily Customizable: Each individual component of the bowl is served separately and it’s a “build your own” situation, allowing each person in the family to customize their bowl to their liking.

In my family, one kid loves chicken and hates beans. The other loves beans and hates chicken. They both love guacamole and sour cream. One likes rice, one doesn’t. You get the point.

Everyone is happy on burrito bowl night and that makes “chef Mom” happy too! 

Perfect for Meal Prep: Some recipes are just perfect to eat as leftovers and this is one of them. Cook once and eat multiple times? Sign me up. I can eat these for days without getting tired of them. It’s especially nice because you can change up your sauces and toppings throughout the week to get a variety of flavors even with keeping the majority of the ingredients the same.

Great for Weeknights: This recipe takes minimal effort and can be made even easier by using convenience items such as rotisserie chicken, pre-chopped veggies, and frozen rice. 

Well-Balanced: This meal has it all! Protein, veggies, complex carbohydrates, and healthy fats. (Oh, and don’t forget ALL the flavor!)

Budget Friendly: You always hear budget gurus talking about eating rice and beans for good reason! They’re great affordable staples to incorporate into your meals. In addition to these affordable ingredients, shop seasonal and sale vegetables and use whatever proteins you have on hand to create your delicious bowls.

INGREDIENTS IN MY HEALTHY CHICKEN BURRITO BOWL RECIPE:

• Fajita/Taco Seasoning: My quick and easy homemade fajita and taco seasoning is made with spices you likely already have on hand. Don’t want to make your own? Trust me, I won’t judge. Buy your favorite store bought seasoning instead. 
• 1.5 lbs chicken (can also use steak, ground beef, pork, or shrimp): You can use any protein your heart desires. This meal is a GREAT way to use up leftover proteins or snag a rotisserie chicken from the store on your way home to save even more time. 
• 2 bell peppers (any color): Bell peppers are a great way to sneak in some extra veggies and the flavor is perfect for this dish!
• 1 large onion: I like red onion for this dish!
• 2 T avocado oil: for sauteeing the meat and veggies.
• Rice (Spanish or plain): To save time, consider buying frozen rice and heating it up in the microwave. I also love using the microwavable Spanish rice for extra flavor. 
• Black Beans: I like black beans in burrito bowls but you can use pinto beans or refried beans as well. Be sure to drain and rinse your beans!
• Frozen Corn: Fresh corn is great, but we always keep a bag of frozen corn on hand to add to dishes like this one. Canned is fine too but the texture and taste is way better with frozen! 
• Toppings of choice: You can use sour cream or greek yogurt, salsa (definitely check out my easy salsa roja recipe), cilantro, pico de gallo, avocado, guacamole, cheese,  fresh lime juice, or whatever your heart desires!

HOW TO COOK EASY HEALTHY BURRITO BOWLS AT HOME:

1. Add 1 T avocado oil to a pan over medium to medium high heat. 
2. Slice chicken breast (or other protein) to thin strips.
3. Slice bell peppers and onion into strips.
4. Add chicken to oiled pan top with ½ of your fajita seasoning and cook until cooked through and lightly browned.
5. Remove from pan and add additional 1 T avocado oil to pan along with bell pepper, onion, and remaining seasoning.
6. Cook until soft and lightly browned
7. Return chicken (or other protein) to skillet and warm through
8. In a bowl add rice, corn, black beans, and fajita mixture. Top with any preferred toppings and enjoy.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS

The beauty of these burrito bowls are that they can be served exactly as is. However, you can also change it up and use the ingredients as the toppings for nachos or salads, as the filling for burritos or quesadillas, or even mix them with some broth and additional seasonings and serve them as a soup! 

HOW TO MEAL PREP HEALTHY BURRITO BOWLS

If you want to prepare these burrito bowls in advance, prepare the chicken, veggies, beans, and rice. Add them to a bowl, cool and store in the refrigerator until you are ready to reheat. Store cold toppings like shredded lettuce, salsa, and sour cream separately and add to the dish after heating. 

STORAGE

These healthy burrito bowls store beautifully! They should last up to five days in the refrigerator. When you’re ready to eat them, simply warm up the bowl in the microwave or on the stove then assemble the bowl with its toppings. 

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