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Chipotle chicken burrito bowls

Lunch · Dinner · Tex-Mex

Chipotle chicken burrito bowls

Smoky chicken, beans and rice with a sharp salsa. The burrito bar, minus the queue.

Start to finish
45 min
Hands-on
35 min
In the fridge
1 day
Freezes
Yes

Properly hot

Ingredients

4 portions
  • 500gChicken thigh fillets
  • 2 tbspChipotle paste
  • 1 tspSmoked paprika
  • 1 tspGround cumin
  • 1 tinBlack beans, drained
  • 1 tinSweetcorn, drained
  • 250gBasmati rice
  • 2Limes
  • 1Red onion
  • 250gCherry tomatoes
  • 20gFresh coriander
  • 2Avocados, add on the day

Plus salt, pepper and water.

Method

  1. 1

    Heat the oven to 220C (200C fan). Toss the chicken with the chipotle paste, paprika, cumin, the juice of 1 lime and a good pinch of salt. Spread it out on a lined tray.

  2. 2

    Roast for 25 minutes, until cooked through and charred at the edges.

    25 min, mostly hands-off

  3. 3

    Meanwhile, rinse the rice and put it in a pan with 375ml water and a pinch of salt. Bring to the boil, cover and cook on the lowest heat for 10 minutes, then leave off the heat, lid on, for 5 minutes.

    20 min, mostly hands-off

  4. 4

    Fluff up the rice and spread it thinly on a tray so it cools fast. It needs to be in the fridge within an hour of cooking.

    15 min, mostly hands-off

  5. 5

    Tip the drained sweetcorn into a hot, dry frying pan and cook for 5 minutes until it catches in places. Stir in the drained black beans and a pinch of salt, then take off the heat.

  6. 6

    For the salsa, finely chop the onion, tomatoes and coriander, and mix with the juice of the other lime and a pinch of salt.

  7. 7

    Slice the chicken and pack it into tubs with the rice and the beans and corn. Put the salsa in small pots on the side. Lid and fridge, and freeze any tubs you will not eat tomorrow, minus the salsa. Keep the avocados whole to slice on the day.

On the day

Microwave the rice, chicken and beans for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring halfway, until piping hot. Reheat rice only once. Top with the cold salsa and half a sliced avocado. Defrost frozen tubs overnight in the fridge and use hot sauce instead of salsa.

Cook’s tip

Let the corn really catch in the pan. Those blackened bits do more for the flavour than any spice.