Slow Cooker Chicken Burrito Bowls – ten minutes of prep work rewards you later with a delicious and hearty dinner. Just dish yourself a bowl and garnish to your liking.
What’s not to love with slow cooker meals? From the most amazing brisket recipe to honey bbq pulled pork and don’t forget pulled pork chile verde – all can be made simply in your slow cooker.
Slow Cooker Chicken Burrito Bowls Recipe
These slow cooker burrito bowls are pure comfort food. Every bite is packed with chile-spiced rice, beans and juicy morsels of shredded chicken. Since all the ingredients are cooked together in the same pot, it’s so easy to dish out a bowl when it’s time to eat.
Besides being so easy to make, one of the best parts of this crock pot burrito bowl recipe is how the all the flavors and ingredients come-together during the cooking process. The chicken is enriched with a tomato-rich, chile-spiked broth, that is later absorbed by the rice and each bite fragrant and well-seasoned.
Make sure to garnish each burrito bowl with a plethora of your favorite toppings!
Related: 40 Easy Weeknight Dinners
Ingredients for Slow Cooker Chicken Burrito Bowls
Fresh Ingredients
- boneless, skinless chicken breast – you can sub with chicken thighs, but you’ll want to remove any fat
- Colby-Jack cheese – already shredded or shred yourself
Pantry Ingredients
- salsa – jarred salsa is preferred here, as fresh salsa would be too watery – you choose the spiciness
- diced tomatoes – diced
- black beans – pour in the can, no need to rinse
- green chiles – if you want lots of heat you can use diced jalapenos
- chicken broth – low-sodium is preferred
- chipotle chile powder – you can sub with regular chili powder for less spice
- paprika – do not use sweet paprika
- ground oregano
- table salt
- black pepper – finely ground
- instant rice – this would be Minute Rice or another brand
Full, printable recipe can be found at the bottom of this post.
How To Make Slow Cooker Chicken Burrito Bowls
Step one: Place the chicken breasts in the bottom of the slow cooker.
Step two: Add the onion, salsa, black beans, diced tomatoes, diced green chiles, chicken broth, chipotle chile pepper powder, paprika, oregano, salt, and black pepper. Slow cook on low for 4 hours.
Step three: Remove the chicken and place in a large bowl. Use 2 forks or shredders to shred the chicken. (Keep the lid on the slow cooker while shredding the chicken to retain the heat.)
Step four: Place the shredded chicken back into the slow cooker and add the rice, stirring to combine.
Step five: Cook for another 45 minutes, or until the rice is tender. (Make sure to taste the rice here to check for tenderness.)
Step six: Top with shredded cheese and place the lid back on top of the slow cooker, cook for another 3-5 minutes, until the cheese has melted.
Step seven: Serve in a bowl with desired toppings.
What Substitutions Can I Make to Slow Cooked Burrito Bowls?
This recipe is very easy to adjust to your personal, desired heat levels. Add jalapenos or chipotle peppers in adobo sauce if your family prefers spicy.
If you’re craving a fajita bowl, add sliced bell peppers along with the onion.
Switching up the cheese is also an option and can spice things up. Feel free to add shredded jalapeno gouda instead of the Colby-Jack. There are lots of options when it comes to the cheese.
How Do I Store Slow Cooker Burrito Bowls
Store the chicken burrito bowls in an airtight container in the fridge for 5-7 days.
You can easily reheat individual portions in the microwave oven.
Can I Freeze Burrito Bowls?
Yes!
You can easily make a double batch of burrito bowls and freeze the leftovers.
Allow frozen leftovers to thaw and reheat on the stove or in the microwave or toss it back in the slow cooker for a few hours if you don’t need it until later, making sure there is enough liquid so it doesn’t completely dry out -add little more chicken broth if necessary.
Can I Start With Frozen Chicken?
While starting with frozen chicken might work, the USDA recommends thawing meat or poultry before placing it in a slow cooker, the reasoning being food safety issues that can arise from timing and temperature issues.
Starting with frozen chicken means, the chicken itself can sit in the “temperature danger zone” for too long a period of time and can become unsafe to eat.
To err on the side of caution, starting with thawed, raw chicken is the safest bet.
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What Equipment Do I Need For This Chicken Burrito Bowls Recipe?
- Slow Cooker
- Mixing Bowl
- Forks or Shredders
What Can I Serve With Burrito Bowls
- Mexican Salad with Avocado Dressing
- Agave Margaritas
- Mexican Street Corn Salad
- Elote
- Chunky Guacamole
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Slow Cooker Chicken Burrito Bowls
Ingredients
- 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 1 (16 oz) jar salsa
- 1 (15 oz) can black beans
- 1 (10 oz) can diced tomatoes
- 1 (4 oz) can diced green chiles
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 tsp chipotle chile powder or regular chili powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp ground oregano
- 1 tsp table salt
- 1 tsp finely ground black pepper
- 2 cups instant rice (such as Minute rice)
- 8 oz shredded Colby-Jack cheese
- Optional garnishes: sour cream, olives, avocado, hot sauce, cilantro, green onion
Instructions
- Place the chicken breasts in the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Add the onion, salsa, black beans, diced tomatoes, diced green chiles, chicken broth, chipotle chile pepper powder, paprika, oregano, salt, and black pepper. Slow cook on low for 4 hours.
- Remove the chicken and place in a large bowl. Use 2 forks or shredders to shred the chicken. (Keep the lid on the slow cooker while shredding the chicken to retain the heat.)
- Place the shredded chicken back into the slow cooker and add the rice, stirring to combine.
- Cook for another 45 minutes, or until the rice is tender. (Make sure to taste the rice here to check for tenderness.)
- Top with shredded cheese and place the lid back on top of the slow cooker, cook for another 3-5 minutes, until the cheese has melted.
- Serve in a bowl with desired toppings.
Nutrition
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Lori Putnam says
Is that true that it takes 45 minutes in a slow cooker to cook instant rice? Jeepers.
Cathy says
Since the slow cooker is on low, yes. But you want the rice in there to absorb the tomato-spiked broth and other flavors. It’s worth it. If you just pour the ingredients over rice or stir rice in and serve, you miss out on the absorption process.
Laura says
Thank you so much, the whole family loves these yummy burrito bowls!
wilhelmina says
These burrito bowls put fast Mexican chain burrito bowls to shame! So easy to make and I love being able to make a big batch!
Toni says
This is such a delicious meal! My family really loved it!
Libbie says
Can one use regular rice instead of instant?
Cathy says
Not in this recipe without completely changing the cooking time and amount of liquid.
Katie says
I love this recipe- it’s truly so delicious! The spices are perfect, and the additional garnishes are just right.
Barbara Rupnick says
Can I use instant brown rice instead of white?
Cathy says
Check the cooking times with instant brown rice and instant white rice. If they are the same then it should be fine, otherwise you will want to test for doneness before eating.
Kim says
Can I use an instant pot for this?
Cathy says
You probably could, but I’ve never made it that way and I would imagine some conversion of liquid is required. You’d have to play with it varying the ingredients.
Matth says
Why would you take the day off chicken thighs??? Lol that’s why they’re so good because there’s so much more flavor vs breast.
Cathy says
Because a slow, wet heat is used to cook the chicken, the skin is going to come out rubbery and chewy rather than crunchy and crispy. On top of that, the natural fat in the chicken skin will result in the sauce acquiring a layer of oil on top that you’ll either have to skim off, or eat around and soak into the rice. You don’t need the extra fat in this recipe to keep the chicken from drying out.
Linda says
Great recipe. I made it for my husband and I and it was a big hit. Will definitely be making again!
Carter says
We are hooked on this recipe, it’s so yummy. No more Chipotle for us. Saving money with this one.
Cathy says
Right on.
Cherrie L Ward says
I would also add…regarding frozen food in a slow cooker…is it is never recommended because the heating crock, next to the frozen food can also cause the ceramic liner to crack….which is never a good think.
This looks good. Gonna try it. I am going to try some precooked petite sirloin chunks that I froze…I made too many for a recipe and have’t been able to figure out what to do with the leftovers. Being already cooked, the time in the crock will allow the meat (that is rather tough) to break down.
Elsa says
OMG these were amazing! Loved every bite and now on my regular meal rotation.
Missy says
Hi do you drain the juice out of the black beans?
Cathy says
Pour them into a colander and rinse them.
Alannah says
I made this recipe yesterday and it turned out really well! I had a couple of hiccups so in case anyone runs into the same issues I hope this helps:
– lol for starters, I wasn’t able to get to the store and pick up the groceries, my partner did but he lost the shopping list and had to go by memory. We got a red onion instead of yellow/ white and didn’t get chicken broth.
– we had a lot of other types of meat stored in our freezer and decided to use that in place of chicken breast, because chicken is getting really expensive these days. We went with pork shoulder!
– unfortunately the pork didn’t thaw in time when we went to make the recipe it was probably 80% thawed
– I overestimated how much salsa I already had at home so I was a couple oz short. I made up the difference in diced tomatoes.
– i used a leftover packet of instant ramen broth in place of the broth, and put that in 2 cups of water.
Aside from the ingredient differences, I followed the directions pretty much the same except added a couple of extra hours onto the cook time I want to say 6 hours instead of 4, then 2 hours instead of 45.
I wasn’t able to shred the pork, I just took it out onto a cutting board and started cutting it into smaller pieces, checking to make sure it was getting cooked through. I still made sure the rice wasn’t getting thrown in until the last 45 mins so it didn’t “overcook” I don’t know what would have happened to it otherwise.
It was still a hit and will make it again, better equipped for next time and maybe I’ll do steak next time đŸ˜‰ or 2 cans of black beans for a vegetarian version.
Tracy says
What size slow cooker works best for this recipe? Can’t decide between the 4 quart or 6 quart.
Thanks!
Tracy
Cathy says
Definitely 6 quart!