Y’all know I love my bowl meals! Everything you need in one easy to eat (and transport) bowl, no need to worry about what side dishes go with what. Plus, they’re easy for you to customize if you have special dietary needs. Today’s BBQ Chicken Burrito Bowls is even more awesome because it’s actually quite delicious either hot or cold. So, all of you who don’t have access to a microwave at work, this one is for you!
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Chicken Options
I bought a rotisserie chicken this week and am using one of the breasts for all four bowls. If you don’t have a rotisserie chicken, you can cook up a boneless, skinless breast quickly in something like a George Foreman Grill, chop it up, then mix it with the BBQ sauce as I did with mine. Or, my favorite, make a batch of my Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken. Or you could even swap out the chicken for something like Slow Cooker Pulled Pork.
Vegetarian Options
Not into chicken? Roasted sweet potato cubes would make an awesome addition to this dish and a nice filling alternative to the chicken. Tempeh also makes an awesome addition to burrito bowls because it has a great texture, tons of protein, and is filling. Or, you could give some tofu the BBQ treatment, like I did in these BBQ Tofu Sliders and add that to the bowl.
Topping Ideas
Here are some other fun add-ins that go along with the BBQ theme if you don’t like one of the other ingredients I used: pineapple, diced red bell pepper, jalapeño, red onion, corn chips or tortilla strips. As I always say, check what’s in your fridge and pantry and add whatever you’ve got to use up your leftovers instead of letting them go to waste!
BBQ Chicken Burrito Bowls
Servings 4Ingredients
- 1 cooked chicken breast* ($1.50)
- 1/2 cup BBQ sauce ($0.53)
- 4 cups cooked rice ($0.88)
- 1 15oz. can black beans ($1.00)
- 1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed ($0.44)
- 1 small zucchini ($0.58)
- 4 oz. pepper jack cheese ($1.00)
- 2 green onions ($0.20)
- 1 small avocado ($1.00)
Instructions
- Chop or shred the chicken breast and mix with 2-3 tablespoons of BBQ sauce until the meat is well coated.
- Drain and rinse the black beans. Cut the zucchini into small cubes (1/4-1/2″), shred the pepper jack, slice the green onions, and pit and slice the avocado.
- To build the bowls, place 1 cup cooked rice in the bottom of each bowl. Divide the chicken, beans, corn, zucchini, shredded cheese, green onions, and avocado slices equally among all four bowls. Drizzle one more tablespoon of BBQ sauce over top and serve, or refrigerate until ready to eat.
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Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!How to Make BBQ Chicken Burrito Bowls – Step by Step Photos
Prepare 4 cups of cooked rice, if you don’t already have it on hand (FYI extra rice freezes really well, so you can always have cooked rice on hand).
Chop or shred the chicken breast. Rinse and drain the black beans, cut the zucchini into small cubes, slice the green onion, shred the pepper jack, and pit and slice the avocado.
Add 2-3 Tbsp BBQ sauce to the chicken and stir until it’s well coated in sauce.
Then just build your bowls! Place 1 cup of the cooked rice in the bottom of each bowl and then divide the remaining ingredients equally among each bowl. Drizzle about 1 Tbsp more BBQ sauce over top. (I didn’t say it, but ranch will also go really well with this bowl).
I packed mine into resealable containers to keep in the fridge for easy lunches the rest of the week (the messy looking one on the bottom right is the one that was in the bowl in the photos above. :P)
Nommers! ❤️ BBQ Chicken Burrito Bowls ❤️
I’m a bbq sauce addict. Wonderfull meal !
My Wednesday night Bible study group is going to use this next week. Thank you! Looks healthier than our usual pizza and more fun!
This is one of my absolute favorite weekly go to dinners. You can vary the toppings as you desire. I don’t typically include zucchini. This is also equally as good leftover.
I thought the zucchini would be weird but it was a good mix of textures. Also PSA, Sweet Baby Ray’s makes a no sugar added BBQ sauce that tastes just like the original.
Hi,
Really loving your recipes.
How long can we store these ?
Thank you
I usually do 3-4 days on these, but your milage may vary depending on the conditions in your refrigerator and the freshness of your ingredients. :)
Can I rate this 10 stars please? It was so delicious! Everything tasted so good together! I used fresh sweet corn and cooked my zucchini. Can’t wait to make this one again, perfect summer dinner!
This one is a keeper! I made it vegan by using Butler’s Soy Curls and deleting the cheese. Although I wondered if the amounts of beans and vegetables listed would really stretch to make four bowls, they were exactly right. The bowls were equally good warm and freshly made and cold for lunches the next day. I’m planning to put this one in the rotation and make it a lot!
Beth, you make magic happen.
Is there another bean that can be substituted for the black bean? Thank you!
Pinto beans would probably work well.
Very tasty! I grilled up the zucchini and corn in the skillet and it was spot on! I also subbed cheddar for pepper jack since that’s what I had on hand. It was delicious! Keep the recipes coming :)
This recipe was a lifesaver when I had quesadillas on the menu only to find out that I hadn’t bought half the ingredients needed for them, most importantly tortillas. I scrounged the freezer and fridge and came out with the bottom of a bag of frozen corn, a sweet potato, a zucchini, rotisserie chicken, cheddar cheese, leftover BBQ sauce, and some frozen brown rice. I roasted the sweet potato with chili powder and cooked the zucchini and corn in a skillet (raw zucchini would not fly around here). They were delicious! Bonus, I used up some odds and ends that we’re hanging around in the fridge and freezer. Thanks!
Hey Beth! If I were to cook a raw boneless skinless chicken breast for this salad, what method of cooking would you recommend for the chicken?
I think the easiest method would be to dice it up, season with a little salt and pepper, then just cook it in a skillet with some oil until the pieces are lightly browned on the outside and cooked through in the center. If you cut the pieces small enough, this will be very quick. :)
I am making this today. I had already cooked the chicken breasts in a crockpot, in BBQ sauce for about 3 hours. They shredded perfectly.
How well would this freeze? I’m guessing not well, but I’ve certainly been wrong about this before.
The only ingredients that wouldn’t freeze well for this one are the fresh zucchini and green onions. The zucchini will get mush and the green onions limp. Other than that it should be fine, though. :)
Do you heat these up or just eat them cold normally?
I like to warm them in the microwave, but they can be eaten cold as well. :)
This might be my new favorite meal! I added red bell peppers and roasted sweet potatoes as you suggested and omitted the chicken and cheese to make this vegan. I also used roasted corn because that’s what I had hanging out in my freezer and did a quick marinade of olive oil, fresh lemon juice, cumin, and salt on my avocados. Thanks to the smoky BBQ sauce, my husband even got halfway through his meal before realizing there was no meat. 😂
Holy smokes! Why didn’t I ever think of this recipe?! I guess that’s why we have you, Beth!
I have loved everything I’ve tried from your blog and cookbook. I ate this for dinner last night and have 3 meals ready for lunches this week. Thank you so much for publishing recipes I know will taste delicious. I can’t say the same for other blogs with pretty pictures. :) PS–I tossed the Avocado in a little lemon juice and it stayed nice and green.
I forgot to put in the zucchini and I substituted the green onions for fresh cilantro. It delicious and super healthy. Very pleased with this recipe. Ideal for a summer lunch. Thank you!
This looks great! I have some left over pulled pork in the fridge, so I’m going to use that instead of chicken, and eat it over brown rice!
I’m starting a new job where I need to take my lunch so these bowls are a godsend. I used to make the spicy tuna guac bowls, but this will be a nice change. Looking forward to enjoying them!
Beth, I threw this over greens instead of rice and it was sooooo good. Another winner!
My family had this for dinner tonight and we loved it! Easy peasy to make, affordable, and the left overs will make great lunches for work tomorrow; winning!
Thank you for sharing! :)
Gorgeous presentation. I will betraying this recipe.
Is this good to meal prep with? Looking to mix it up. 4 meals for $7? (I didn’t read the whole article, forgive me)
PS. Very good looking site! – web designer.
Take Care!
Noah
So this is made with RAW zucchini? I’ve never had raw before…. LOVE your blog and your recipes!
Yep! I get raw zucchini and squash all the time from salad bars and they also great when cut into sticks for vegetable trays. :)
hi, will the avocado turn brown when u put in the box like this for a few days,
It turns a little grey on the edges, but tastes exactly the same. It doesn’t turn totally black like mashed up avocado (guacamole) does.
what is the carbohydrate count in this ? it looks awesome :)
How do you keep your avocado slices from not getting gross by the time you get to the 4th container?
I am curious about this as well. I know that a sliced onion in a container with avocado will help stop it from turning into the brown/grey mess that it usually does so maybe the green onion has that effect in these bowls?
It turns a little grey on the edges, but it tastes exactly the same. :) It doesn’t turn completely black the way mashed up avocado or guacamole does.
I would love to see a list of your best brown-bag lunches (no microwave). I’m trying to bring my lunch to work everyday and now that the weather is nice, I’ll eat outside so I need some cold meals. Thanks!
PS Love your blog and I more or less use your recipes daily!
Surprisingly, I don’t have that many! Coming up with cold items or things that don’t need to be reheated has been difficult for me. :P
Ok, I ordered something that I thought would taste like this from Wendy’s and it was disgusting!! And although I’m experiencing a serious case of shredded chicken envy, I’m putting this down as dinner tonight. Starving!!!
Throw it over lettuce instead of rice and add a creamy dressing (especially ranch or cilantro based) and it’s a perfect BBQ salad! I think I’ll have to make this soon :)
This looks so good! May try it with quinoa instead of rice, as it’s much more filling for me
My opinion is !!! Using quinoa instead of rice is not that tasty. I have tried that.
Nice! You should make a category for “made out of a rotisserie chicken.”
I agree. :)
Looks great. I’ve had such great success trying your recipes. I’m wondering how you keep the avocado looking and tasting fresh? Are you covering it with the other ingredients or did you do anything special with the slices before putting them in the containers? Thanks!
I don’t do anything special. :) They get a little grey on the edges but taste exactly the same.
I haven’t tried this yet, but I read that you can brush the avocado lightly with olive oil. It prevents the air from getting to the avocado and darkening it.
Ranch isn’t necessarily healthy, but a good alternative would be a little ranch seasoning sprinkled on the top. Nom nom.
This looks great!
I might stir-fry some chickpeas or diced tempeh in BBQ sauce for this, but I like the sweet potato idea as well.
Thanks for sharing!