Can we be honest for a minute? I make a boat load of food on a weekly basis. Most of it is pretty because I want to instagram it and show all of you gorgeous food. However, sometimes it’s weird looking, and not beautiful. But often times those are the best creations.
Like these Quinoa Burrito Bowls. I tried to make them as pretty as possible for you, but let’s be real, about 10 seconds after I snapped these pics, I took my spoon, tossed everything together (I mean, there absolutely has to be equal guacamole and salsa distribution in every bite), and chowed down. So then it was just a big bowl of messiness but it was freaking tasty. So good. Big deal kinda good. I may or may not have licked the bowl and then had seconds. Sorry, I’m not sorry.
Quinoa Burrito Bowls are a way of life in our house.
We probably have them for dinner at least twice a week. They are beyond easy to throw together and it’s a medley of my favorite flavors.
It all starts with some kind of base. We go back and forth between quinoa and farro, but quinoa won today. So let’s go with it. Quinoa Burrito Bowls – ready set go!
Quinoa on the bottom.
Black beans on top.
Shredded Chicken goes on top of that!
And then we get to pile on whatever we want. I’m partial to some shredded monterey jack cheese, guacamole, salsa, chives and some crema! And voila…. dinner is ready.
Annnnd. Lunch is ready for the next day too because these are bomb for leftovers. Just be sure to make a fresh batch of guac if you’re eating it the next day… no one likes a slightly brown guacamole. That’s weird.
I hope you all have an absolutely fantastic looooong weekend filled with lots of good eats, fun memories and some sunshine.

Quinoa Burrito Bowls
Ingredients
For the Quinoa Burrito Bowls
- 2 cups cooked quinoa
- 2 cups quick refried black beans recipe below
- 2 cups shredded mexican chicken
- Tomatoes
- Shredded cheese
- 1 recipe chipotle guacamole
- 1 cup chipotle salsa
- Chives
- Cilantro
- Crema
For the Quick Refried Black Beans
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup onion finely chopped
- 2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 15 ounces canned black beans
- 1/3 cup water
Instructions
For the Quinoa Burrito Bowls
- Layer 4 bowls each with 1/2 cup of cooked quinoa.
- Spoon 1/2 cup of the refried black beans on top of each portion of quinoa, followed by equal amounts of the shredded mexican chicken.
- Add toppings to the quinoa burrito bowls and serve immediately.
For the Quick Refried Black Beans
- In a large skillet add the olive oil over medium high heat. Saute the onions along with the red pepper flakes, paprika and cayenne pepper for about 5 minutes.
- Add in the drained beans and water and let the beans cook for about 5-10 minutes until they become soft.
- Using a mashing device, mash the beans until they are a little smooth and a little chunky.
- Taste and adjust salt if needed. Use as needed.
Wow, you read my mind! I’m having friends over for lunch this weekend and I was going to make a Mexican themed lunch party! I’ve added this to the list of food 🙂
Burrito Bowls are awesome! Love that you used quinoa!
these look delicious and quintessential California Fresh!!
We eat quinoa burrito bowls for dinner all of the time. One of our favorites!
Mmmm yummy!! I love making burrito bowls at home!
Lunch, dinner, lunch, dinner, lunch, dinner. You read my mind! I could eat this every day!
these look amazing – some foods that don’t look good are always the best!!
Oh, yum! What a fab idea for a fast, protein-packed lunch!
Love, love, LOVE that you used quinoa in these! So much better than rice. Love it! 🙂
Simply gorgeous! I love mixing everything together and eating it too… best way to do it! A million bursts of yummy flavours!
This reminds me of Chipotle Grill but so much better!
I made these last night, they were SO good! I had some smoked cheese in the fridge to use up and it really worked well, especially as I used basic tomato salsa and bought guacamole, ran out of time to make fresh.
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The beans were so spicy 🙁
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I’m sitting at my desk eating this for lunch and I’m so happy!! This chicken is everything!
I used your chipotle salsa recipe and I was informed by my BF that I need to make it weekly … it’s SO good and full of flavor! I agree with one of the other comments about the beans – I LOVE spicy food and these were really up there. I actually squeezed 2 limes into it and added cilantro to calm it down a bit. I wonder if the measurement is off slightly? Either way, totally fixable and worth it … this is DELISH. It will go on the weekly rotation for awhile I’m sure. Thank you Gaby! We love your recipes and I LOVE that there are 47,000 other bowl recipes that I have yet to try!