Chipotle chicken burrito bowl meal prep
50 min · 49 g protein · 470 cals / serving
Smoky chipotle-lime chicken over cilantro-lime rice stretched with cauliflower rice, with black beans, charred peppers and onions, salsa, crisp lettuce and a lime yogurt crema. Five lunches from one session of cooking.
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 lb chicken breast
Chipotle marinade
- 2 peppers + 1 tbsp sauce chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, minced
- 4 tbsp lime juice, from about 2 limes, divided
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp olive oil, divided
- 1 tsp salt, divided
Cilantro-lime rice
- 2/3 cup uncooked white rice
- 4 cups cauliflower rice, fresh or frozen
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 large red bell pepper, sliced
- 1 large bell pepper, green, sliced
- 1 onion, sliced
To serve
- 3/4 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
- 1 1/4 cups red salsa
- 4 cups romaine lettuce, shredded
Steps
- Pound the thick end of each chicken breast to an even 3/4 inch so it cooks evenly. Mix the chipotle, half the lime juice, the garlic, cumin, oregano, 1 teaspoon of the oil and most of the salt. Coat the chicken and leave it 20 minutes, or up to a day in the fridge.
- Cook the rice as the packet says. Cook the cauliflower rice in the microwave or a dry pan until tender, then squeeze out its water in a towel. Fold it into the hot rice with the cilantro, 1 tablespoon of the lime juice and a pinch of salt.
- Warm the black beans in a small pan with a splash of water and a pinch of salt.
- Heat the rest of the oil in a large skillet over high heat and cook the peppers and onion, stirring only now and then, until charred at the edges but still crisp, 6–8 minutes. Tip them out.
- Cook the chicken in the same pan over medium-high heat, in two batches so it browns rather than steams, or on a grill or grill pan, 5–6 minutes a side, until it reaches 165°F in the thickest part. The adobo browns quickly, so turn the heat down a notch if it starts to scorch. Rest 5 minutes, then slice.
- Stir the rest of the lime juice into the yogurt to make a crema. Divide the rice, beans, peppers and chicken between five containers. Pack the lettuce, salsa and crema separately, or in small pots on top, so the lettuce stays crisp.
Good to know
How long do the bowls keep?
Four days in the fridge. Reheat the chicken, rice, beans and peppers, then add the lettuce, salsa and crema cold.
Why half cauliflower rice?
It more than doubles the volume of the rice for very few calories and soaks up the lime and cilantro just as well. Use all white rice if you prefer; the score drops to about 65 instead of 73 and the bowl is still a strong lunch.
Alternative
Per
- Calories
- 86
- Protein
- (44%)
- 9 g
- Fat
- (17%)
- 2 g
- Carbohydrates
- (39%)
- 9 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 2 g
- Sodium
- 221 mg
More meals
Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 2352 kcal goes into the pot and 2939 g of ingredients comes out as about 2750 g of food: 86 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.