If you’ve been a big fan of the Chipotle Burrito Bowl for as long as you can remember, here’s how to make it at home!
The Chipotle Burrito Bowl
We’ve always been big fans of Chipotle in my family. We would stop at various locations in junior tennis days between matches! That continued through college, where I ate at Chipotle on a regular basis because it was a fast option, and there was guacamole. These days, I still want all the goodness of a Chipotle Burrito Bowl, but I’d rather make it at home!
So I’m whipping up my version of a DIY Chipotle Burrito Bowl so we can all enjoy these little bowls of heaven on a regular basis. I know you’ll also love that these bowls are ready and on the table in 30 minutes, so that means they are the perfect meal for a busy weeknight, and you can always count on them being a crowdpleaser.
Chipotle Burrito Bowl Ingredients:
Ever wonder what is in a burrito bowl at Chipotle? Well here you go!
For the Chicken
- Vegetable oil
- Chipotle Peppers
- Garlic Powder
- Ground Cumin
- Dried Oregano
- Black Pepper
- Kosher Salt
- Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs
For the Rice
- Vegetable oil
- White Basmati Rice
- Water
- Lime
- Chopped Cilantro
- Kosher Salt
For the toppings
- Pinto Beans
- Frozen Charred Corn
- Guacamole
- Pico de Gallo
- Monterey Jack Cheese
Tips & Tricks:
Chicken Pro Tips
Let’s talk about the chicken in this chipotle burrito bowl recipe, which is bananas. It’s THAT good. The secret to how it’s so flavorful is the marinade. I recommend letting the chicken marinate for at least an hour, but you can also prep the chicken the night before or the morning of when you plan on cooking it by placing the chicken with all the marinade ingredients in a zip top bag and letting it marinate in the fridge until you’re ready to cook it. Seriously don’t skip this step. It makes a world of difference.
Then when you’re ready to cook it, throw it on the grill or on a cast iron skillet to get a nice sear on it. After it’s finished cooking, let it rest for 10 minutes to lock in the juices before cutting it up into small bite sized pieces.
Rice Pro Tips
Next up is the rice. This is the base of our bowl, so we’re adding a little bit of pizazz to some basmati rice with a garnish of cilantro and a squeeze of fresh lime juice to take it to the next level. This cilantro lime rice is the key to building all the flavor and where all the magic happens. I promise once you try it, you’ll never go back to plain rice.
The Toppings
For toppings, we’ve got all our favorites on deck pinto beans, charred corn, guac, pico, and shredded cheese, but feel free to throw in whatever you’ve got on hand into the mix. And just a suggestion, you might want to make a double batch of guac because can you ever have too much guac?
Everything combined into one big bowl makes the perfect quick and easy meal during the week for lunch or dinner.
Variations and Substitutions
If you’re cooking for a group that has different dietary restrictions or for picky eaters, these copycat chipotle chicken burrito bowls are going to be your best friend. You can serve the chicken, rice, and all toppings separately and let everyone assemble their bowls with whatever they like. They are truly the perfect family meal that allows everyone to recreate their go-to chipotle burrito bowl order from home!
FAQ’s
What is in a burrito bowl at Chipotle?
Cilantro lime rice, pinto beans, grilled chicken, charred corn, pico de gallo, guacamole, and shredded cheese.
Would the marinade work for steak too?
Absolutely yes!
Does this recipe call for two cans of Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce?
Each can of chipotle peppers has about a dozen or so peppers in it – so the measurement just means 2 individual peppers. You’ll have some leftover so you can pop them in a container and keep them in the fridge.
More Easy Dinner Ideas
- 50 Easy Dinner Ideas
- Chicken Fajita Bowls with Guacamole
- Easy White Chicken Chili
- Ginger Scallion Chicken Bowls
If you are looking for the copycat chipotle burrito bowl calories and chipotle burrito bowl nutrition information, check out the recipe card below.
Tools used to make this
What you’ll need:
DIY Chipotle Burrito Bowl
Ingredients
For the Chicken
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 chipotle peppers in adobo finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 boneless skinless chicken thighs (or 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts)
For the Rice
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
- 1 cup white basmati rice
- 2 cups water
- 1 lime
- 2 tablespoons freshly chopped cilantro
- kosher salt to taste
For the toppings
- 1 cup pinto beans warmed
- 1 cup frozen charred corn warmed
- 1 cup guacamole
- 1 cup pico de gallo
- 1/2 – 3/4 cup finely shredded monterey jack cheese
Instructions
For the Chicken
- Combine the vegetable oil, chopped chipotle peppers in adobo, garlic powder, cumin, dried oregano, and black pepper in a small bowl and stir to combine.
- Place the chicken in a large zip top plastic bag and add the marinade. Zip the bag and mix the chicken into the marinade. Place it into the fridge and let it marinate for at least 1 hour.
- Heat an indoor or outdoor grill to about 400 degrees F (medium high heat). Remove the chicken from the marinade and season with salt and pepper. Place the chicken onto the grill and grill 5 to 6 minutes per side, until the chicken is cooked. Remove the chicken from the grill and let rest for 10 minutes. Chop the chicken into small bite sized pieces and use as needed.
For the Rice
- In a heavy saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Once hot, add the white rice and lime juice and sauté for 60 seconds to toast the rice.
- Add the water and bring the rice to a boil. Cover and reduce the heat to low and cook until the rice is tender and all the water is absorbed.
- Add in the cilantro and fluff rice with a fork.
To assemble
- Arrange equal parts of the white rice and chopped grilled chicken in 4 bowls. Top with equal parts of the pinto beans, corn, guacamole, pico and cheese. Season with salt and pepper as needed and serve immediately.
Notes
- Let the chicken marinate for at least an hour, don’t skip this step. It makes a world of difference.
- You can also prep the chicken the night before or the morning of when you plan on cooking it by placing the chicken with all the marinade ingredients in a zip top bag and letting it marinate in the fridge until you’re ready to cook it.
Nutrition Information
Photo by Matt Armendariz / Food Styling by Adam Pearson / Recipe from What’s Gaby Cooking
Oh my favorite thing to order at Chipotle!! Fun DIY!!
Love burrito bowls and this one looks great!
Totally love that you are showing people how to do this themselves. No need for chipotle all the time! Homemade is the way to go! Thanks for sharing, Gaby! Looks SO fresh!
Wow, this is almost exactly what I order at Chipotle 😉 Looks awesome!
Usually I’ll add some red tomatillo salsa to my bowl as well. That stuff is HOT.
Love this nearly as much as I love Chipotle. I can’t wait to try it.
I love me my Chipotle! Now I can make at home 🙂
Burrito bowls are always a good idea!
Another must try as soon as possible, even if I have to leave the chicken out as I’ve given up meat for Lent!
We love burrito bowls. This is a must try soon!
Oh man! This is a meal I love!This will be on the menu at least once a week!!
I NEED this chipotle burrito bowl in my life! yum!!
my absolute fav!!! i crave chipotle on a weekly basis!!
Chipotle makes me so insanely happy!! I need to recreate it at home more often.
I’m so down with this! Homemade–way better than Chipotle!
For the love of Chipotle! I cannot get enough.
This is a bandwagon i need to jump on!! Holy goodness – these look good. and I’d rather make it at home any day!
Is this for 3-4 servings?
correct!!
Gabby
I cannot tolerate spicy foods. Is there a less spicy alternative?
just leave out the chipotle peppers in adobo!
dont add pepper???? pretty straightforward :/
this recipe is amazing. it tastes the same as chipotle’s burrito bowl
this was to DIE for. such easy steps to follow and almost no EFFORT needed. made a lil bowl myself tonight. Thought it was just SO fun. A++ recipe. Keep on doing you, gaby.
Okay im going to try this like right now, And I will tell you guys how much I love it I do believe this will be a completely awesome meal !
Made this for my two teen boys (who are addicted to Chipolte) and they LOVED it! Bravo and thanks, will make this often.
Am I supposed to include the adobo sauce in the marinade? Or am I just using the peppers and discarding the sauce?
sauce too!!!
This recipe was great & easy to follow, I substituted a few of the ingredients and still came out with a delicious meal that my guests & I enjoyed. Thanks for posting!
Hi. Stupid question here.
“2 chipotle peppers in adobo, finely chopped”
Does this mean two cans of Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce?
I’m struggling with the measurement as my marinade is coming out more of a meal.
Thanks!
Each can of chipotle peppers has about a dozen or so peppers in it – so the measurement just means 2 individual peppers. You’ll have some leftover so you can pop them in a container and keep them in the fridge.
Thanks Gaby!!!!!!!! Now I can make my own chipotle without going to the place and buying it. This is really helpful, even my family likes it
And also, unlike Chipotle, your Burrito Bowl is guaranteed to not contain any food poisoning bugs!
my name is amy and i loooooove chipotle
This recipe is fantastic! Thanks!
I wish I can post aftermath photos of what I made from this recipe ,
xox thanks so much !
-Olga
yay!! so glad you loved it!
This is great! The marinade is so amazingly aromatic that I almost couldn’t wait the full hour lol
yay!! happy to hear it 🙂
what is the name of the green sauce that is good but spicey and hot? ill by it at the store. what does it say on the jar.? not the salsa with the tomatoes in the jar. the one that looks sorta greenish.
thank you.
Yum!!! I just made this for lunch and it turned out GREAT! Thank you for sharing this awesome recipe xox
I moved to Okinawa about four months ago and have been dreaming (literally) of Chipotle burritos. Apparently one of the things you crave most during pregnancy has something you can’t get, but thanks to you I can!!! Thank you so much! (From me AND the baby lol)
This is my favorite meal to cook at home. While I was pregnant I craved chipolte and it got expensive, so I googled a copy cat recipe… This is 10 x better!!! I highly recommend this recipe!!!
LOVE hearing that!! Thanks Brandy!!
Do you have an estimated calorie count for one serving of this? Thanks for the delicious recipe!!
I don’t Lora, I’m sorry!
Just assume close to 1000. 1000 delicious, sinful calories. 😉
You can always adjust this homemade recipe to be more healthy and have less calories! Just track everything and divide it into equal parts. You can use myfitnesspal for example. 🙂
I made this recipe with one minor alteration. Before I go any further…it was amazing!
I am a hypocrite because I hate when people review stuff after they’ve made like a billion changes to the recipe–and I did just that. I did not have peppers in adobo sauce on hand, but I found a substitute for it on another page (https://www.pepperscale.com/chipotle-in-adobo-sauce-substitute/):
Mix 1 tablespoon tomato paste (or if you must – ketchup), 1 tablespoon cider vinegar, 1 teaspoon chipotle powder (or smoked paprika/cayenne powder mix), 1/2 teaspoon cumin, a pinch of oregano, a pinch of garlic powder, and a pinch of salt.
This bowl is absolutely delicious! I will definitely be making this again when I have a craving for Chipotle. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
YES! Chipotle All Day!! I’m going to make these for my Chipotle Hound kids 🙂
Love making favorites like this at home!!
Pass me a big bowl and a fork! And extra-guac for me, too!
Always a winner!
Love a chipotle burrito bowl (especially how this one actually contains chipotles!)
My husband would devour this! His love for all things burritos is out of control! And I love the bowl idea, super fun!
I’m ALL about this!!!
This is the perfect go to!!
Love thissss it’s sooo good !!
Made this for lunch today! Followed recipe as is, except I baked the chicken at 400 degrees for 23 minutes. It was DELICIOUS!!!! Will definitely make this again
love hearing that!! xx
How many does this recipe serve?
4-6!
The key is to use Jasmine rice! (like Chipotle does)
I made this dish yesterday! We loved it!!!! Thanks for the recipe!!!!
Just made this for dinner except we had beef instead of chicken! Spot on! Literally a godsend for those of us living on a continent where’re no Chipotles, thank you 🙂
I made this almost exactly how it said & it was literally BETTER THAN CHIPOTLE! I didn’t have vegetable oil, I used olive oil! Still great! I’m going to be making this all the time . Way cheaper than chipotle and so healthy and filling!
OMG SO HAPPY