I love to make these chicken burritos on busy weeknights, especially when I've prepped and frozen the chicken ahead of time! These are inspired by Chipotle burritos, notably including cilanto lime rice. The simple, fresh ingredients allow the delicious marinated chicken flavor to shine through. These burritos are on a nearly weekly rotation in our house!
One of the best upgrades I've discovered for these is to use uncooked tortillas, which can be found at most major grocery stores in the US! They come uncooked, and you can quickly cook them in a skillet in just a few minutes. The result is a fresh tortilla that makes the burritos SO much better! (There are more details on the uncooked tortillas in the Key Tips section below!) I also like to use microwaveable cilantro lime rice on days that I'm short on time, since one bag is a great quantity to use in this recipe!
This recipe calls for my Marinated Chicken for Tacos & More, but it's also great with my Chicken Al Pastor, so head to those pages for the recipe!
How to Make Chicken Burritos:
- Prepare the marinated chicken. I typically use this Marinated Chicken for Tacos, which is boneless skinless chicken thighs marinated in a mixture of lime juice, olive oil, worcestershire sauce, salt, onion powder, paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, and black pepper. Marinate for at least 2 hours, or overnight. Cook the chicken on the grill or in an oven or smoker.
- Prepare the cilantro lime rice (make from scratch or grab a bag of premade cilantro lime rice for an easier/faster meal).
- Dice an onion.
- Warm up your tortillas. (Or make them from scratch, or use the uncooked tortillas that I highly recommend! There's more info on them later in this post.) I cook the uncooked flour tortillas over medium heat.
- Prepare the burritos. On the center of the tortilla, layer up the cilantro lime rice, marinated chicken, diced white onion, and shredded cheese. Then roll up the burrito. If you want to add something extra, here are a few burrito filling ideas: refried beans, black beans, sour cream, salsa, green chiles, bell peppers, pinto beans, spanish rice, green onions, minced garlic, or whatever you like.
- Press the burritos in a sandwich press or warm then in a pan over the stove. This melts the cheese, helps to seal the burrito, and get the outside of the burrito a little crispy.
- Serve with your favorite salsa and/or hot sauce! I love to serve these with avocado salsa and jalapeno hot sauce.
FAQ
Can you use corn tortillas?
I recommend flour tortilla for this recipe because they are easier to roll into burritos, but if you love corn totillas or are on a gluten-free diet, you can use those instead!
Are chicken burritos healthy?
Everyone has a different definition of what they consider healthy, and I think these burritios fall somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. You can make them healthier by adding some fresh veggies to them like green or red bell pepper, beans, and tomato. You can also make small subsitutions to make these healtheir like using brown rice instead of white rice.
Can you make chicken burritos with rotisserie chicken?
I recommend making these with marinated chicken thigh meat, but you can also use whatever you have on hand. You can use pre shredded chicken, you just want to make sure you do something to get the mexican chicken marinade flavor in there. You can marinate raw chicken breast and cook it up just like the thighs, or toss pre-cooked chicken in a little of the marinade then use it.
Can you meal prep these chicken burritos?
You can totally freeze or meal prep these burritos and reheat them as needed for quick meals, just make sure you store in them in an airtight container. I like to wrap freezer burritos in aluminum foil for easy reheating. I typially don't freeze these burritos that because I love how they taste fresh, and I meal prep the chicken filling instead. There's more info on meal prepping the chicken elsewhere in this article.
Key Tips - Chicken Burritos
Use premade cilantro lime rice for a quicker meal!
- If I have the time to spare, I'll make my own cilantro lime rice, and the recipe is included in this post! But if I'm trying to get these burritos done a little bit faster, I'll use a bag of microwaveable cilantro lime rice instead!
- The standard size microwaveable rice is a little bit less than 2 cups of cooked rice, so you can't use quite a half cup per burrito if you use it. Just divide the bag of rice into four even portions and it should still be a good amount!
- I've found the best price for microwaveable cilantro lime rice at Costco, but at my store it's not in stock all the time.
I strongly suggest trying uncooked tortillas!
- Uncooked tortillas are one of the best new products I've found in years! They are raw tortillas that come in the refrigerated section, and can be prepared in 1-2 minutes in a warm skillet. The result is an incredible, fresh tortilla that is SO much better than normal packaged tortillas. They aren't even really more expensive than regular tortillas, so its a great way to upgade these burritos!
- The quality of the tortilla has a huge impact on the quality of a burrito, so this has made a huge difference for my burritos at home. It's like getting a fresh homemade tortilla, with pretty much none of the work!
Press the burritos in a sandwich press.
- Cooking the completed chicken burritos in a skillet, or pressing them in a sandwich press, helps to seal them, which makes them easier to eat. It also warms up the whole burrito and melts the cheese, so I really don't recommend skipping this step.
- A sandwich press fitted with flat plates will make this process so easy, and that's how I prepare them. I have the Cuisinart Griddler, and I've been very happy with it!
Make a huge batch of chicken, then freeze it for these burritos.
- The way I usually make these burritos to prepare a large (~5 lb) batch of the Marinated Chicken for Tacos or Chicken Al Pastor on a weekend or whenever I have time. I freeze the cooked meat in small packs that can be defrosted to prepare these burritos (or chicken tacos)! This makes it so easy to quickly prepare these burritos on a busy weeknight.
- You can also freeze the chicken raw in the marinade, then defrost it and cook it fresh for this recipe. You can buy a bulk pack of chicken, seperate it into smaller portion bags, fill each one with some marinade, and freeze them all.
Make larger burritos if desired.
- I make these burritos in the size listed because that's the only size I can find for the uncooked tortillas that I love. That said, I really love the size of these because I think the ratio of filling to tortilla is great.
- If desired, you can make these burritos with more filling in a larger tortilla. If you want to make something similar in size to a Chipotle burrito, get an XL burrito tortilla and use about ½ a batch of the filling ingredients per burrito.
Dietary Restrictions - Chicken Burritos
Make this Dairy-Free:
- Skip the cheese or use a vegan cheese substitute.
Make this Gluten-Free:
- Use corn tortillas.
A Note On Serving Sizes
Serving sizes are a very personal thing, making it very difficult for me to select a serving size that suits everyone. I've listed the serving size for this recipe as one burrito. The chicken burritos from this recipe are somewhat small, please see the photos for a size reference (about half the size of a Chipotle burrito).
Chicken Burritos with Cilantro Lime Rice
Equipment
- sandwich press optional
Ingredients
For Chicken, Choose One:
- 12 oz prepared marinated chicken click for recipe, 12 oz cooked comes from about 1 lb raw chicken
- 12 oz prepared chicken al pastor click for recipe, 12 oz cooked comes from about 1 lb raw chicken
For Burritos:
- 4 8" diameter flour tortillas uncooked tortillas strongly suggested, see notes
- ½ medium-sized white onion finely diced
- 1 ½ cups shredded Oaxaca or low moisture mozzarella cheese
For Cilantro Lime Rice (or sub premade, see notes)
- 1 cup jasmine rice or similar
- 1 ½ cups water
- 1 lime zested and juiced
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup cilantro leaves roughly chopped, lightly packed
Instructions
Prepare the Cilantro Lime Rice:
- Rinse your rice until the water runs clear, then drain.1 cup jasmine rice, 1 ½ cups water
- Combine the water, rice, salt, and lime zest in a pot. Cover and set over medium heat, cook until the water level is even with the rice (about 5 minutes after coming to a boil), then reduce heat to low and cook for another 12 minutes.1 lime, ½ teaspoon salt
- Once the rice is ready, mix in the cilantro and 2 tablespoon of lime juice (per batch). Taste and add more lime juice and/or salt if desired. Set aside, covered, until ready to use.1 lime, ½ cup cilantro leaves
Prepare the Chicken Burritos:
- If using, begin warming up a sandwich press fitted with flat plates, I set mine to 400 F. Alternatively, you can use a skillet to warm the burritos.
- Begin with 12 oz of cooked, prepared chicken from the Marinated Chicken for Tacos recipe. I make this chicken in bulk, freeze the cooked chicken in 12 oz portions, and defrost to use in this recipe for a quick meal. Warm the defrosted chicken in a skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, as you prepare the rest of the meal (skip if chicken has been freshly prepared and is still warm). Add a splash of chicken stock or water to the meat if it seems a bit dry. You can also warm the chicken in the microwave if desired.12 oz prepared marinated chicken
- Assemble the burritos: Use about ½ cup of cilantro lime rice, and form it into a flat rectangle. Top the rice with the chicken, then onion, then cheese. Roll up the burrito as securely as possible. (If you're using pre-cooked tortillas, warm them up in a skillet or the microwave before rolling the burrito to make them more flexible)½ medium-sized white onion, 1 ½ cups shredded Oaxaca or low moisture mozzarella cheese, 4 8" diameter flour tortillas
- Place the burritos seem-side-down in a preheated sandwich press and cook, until slightly golden on the outside, about 2 minutes. Alternatively, use a skillet set over medium heat, turning as needed. Serve immediately, with your favorite salsa for dipping (I use avocado salsa).
Notes
Nutrition
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Anonymous says
These are fantastic, I used the microwave rice you suggested to make them a little easier!
Mia says
Really loved these, going to have to try them again with the tortillas you suggest!
Anonymous says
Zach says
So good, kinda like a chipotle burrito with the cilantro lime rice. I added some beans to bulk it out a little more.
R. says
These are so good! Using the microwave rice is a great idea, makes these so easy!
Andrew P says
Flavor is a lot like chipotle, but I like this smaller size. Better ratio.
Anonymous says
francisco says
10/10 this chicken is so good and its perfect in the burrito