Ultimate Chicken Burritos
Published 9/9/2022
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These easy shredded chicken burritos are super flavorful with smothered chicken and fajita veggies, refried beans, and Spanish rice.
Make a batch and enjoy immediately, or follow our freezer instructions for the ultimate meal prep recipe!
Easy Chicken Burritos Perfect for Meal Prep!
These easy shredded chicken burritos are seriously one of our favorite go-to recipes for meal prep! Because you can either enjoy them right away or freeze them for later, these super flavorful burritos are such a great lunch or dinner solution for you and the fam.
This chicken burrito recipe is made with refried beans, boxed Spanish rice, shredded chicken breast, peppers and onions, and cheddar cheese.
We’ll walk you through how to make a batch of these burritos, and then how to either wrap and freeze them for later or enjoy immediately 😀
What does a chicken burrito contain?
Most chicken burritos are made up of shredded or diced chicken, Spanish/Mexican rice, refried beans, and cheese. Other ingredients such as peppers, onions, salsa, and guac can commonly be found in a chicken burrito, too.
Shredded Chicken Burritos — What You Need
These shredded chicken burritos are exactly what the title suggests — EASY! With simple yet flavorful ingredients (and a few substitutions and ingredient swaps you can consider to truly make this recipe your own!), you’ll be off and enjoying a delicious chicken burrito in no time. You need:
- Sliced veggies: white onion, yellow pepper, green bell pepper
- Canned goods: tomato sauce, green chiles, refried beans
- Chicken broth
- Taco seasoning
- Shredded chicken
- Spanish rice
- Mexican shredded cheddar cheese
- 12-inch flour tortillas
- Olive oil
Add-Ins and Swaps for Chicken Burritos
- Roasted sweet potato: add a little more “meat” to your burritos with some roasted sweet potato!
- Switch up your beans: any kind of bean works for this recipe! Try chili beans, kidney beans, black beans, or northern white.
- Cilantro lime rice: swap your Spanish rice for a homemade cilantro lime rice!
- Taco seasoning: add more flavor with a sprinkle of taco seasoning on top of each burrito once it’s rolled up!
- Make it breakfast-y: add scrambled eggs to these shredded chicken burritos for a fun breakfast twist.
how to make shredded chicken
Looking for an easy shredded chicken recipe? Check out our shredded chicken tutorials in a variety of different methods:
How to Make Shredded Chicken Burritos
For the full recipe, scroll down to the recipe card for a list of ingredients and instructions.
Make Smothered Chicken & Veggies
- Heat a large skillet pan or dutch oven over medium/high heat, and add olive oil.
- When olive oil is fragrant, add the onion to the pan and sauté the onion for 2-3 minutes.
- Turn heat to medium and add the sliced bell peppers to the pan and sauté the peppers and onions for an additional 4-5 minutes.
- Add tomato sauce, green chiles, water, and taco seasoning to the pan and stir until a thick tomato sauce is created.
- Next, add the shredded chicken to the pan and toss the chicken with the vegetables and tomato sauce until the chicken is coated in sauce.
- Bring the tomato sauce to a boil and then turn heat to low and simmer the chicken until the sauce has reduced by 1/4. Remove chicken from heat and set aside. It’s almost time to assemble your burritos!
Assemble Shredded Chicken Burritos
To assemble the burritos, lay a large tortilla on a flat surface and spread 3 tablespoons refried beans out on the tortilla and then add 1/4 cup Spanish rice, 2 tablespoons shredded cheese and an 1/8 of the chicken mixture to the burrito.
Tightly wrap each burrito by folding the sides in and rolling. Repeat these steps until all the burritos are made.
Enjoy, Heat Up or Freeze for Later
If you are going to eat the chicken burritos right away, feel free to eat the burrito as is, freeze the burritos or heat the burritos up in the oven or on the stop top.
Heating Chicken Burritos
Now that you have your shredded chicken burritos all assembled, it’s time to heat them up to melt-y delicious perfection. You can do this in either the the oven or on the stovetop. We’ll walk you through both!
Stovetop Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over medium/high heat and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
- When the olive oil is fragrant, place the burrito in a pan and let the burrito brown for 2-3 minutes on each side over medium heat.
- Remove from the stove top and enjoy with your favorite toppings. We love to cut our burritos in half to allow them to cool a bit before biting into.
Oven Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425ºF and spray a casserole dish or baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
- Place the burritos on the baking sheet or casserole dish and sprinkle with cheese and drizzle with olive oil. Feel free to make a whole pan if you’re serving a group, or just one or two!
- Bake the burritos for 10-15 minutes or until the burritos begin to brown and the cheese is melted.
- Remove from the oven and enjoy with your favorite toppings. We love to cut our burritos in half to allow them to cool a bit before biting into.
Freeze for Later
These burritos can be frozen for later, making them super great for meal prep. Here’s how:
- Wrap each individual burrito in a piece of tin foil and remove as much air as possible. Pro tip: write “chicken burritos” and today’s date on the tin foil, so you know exactly what’s wrapped up in the foil as well as how long it has been frozen.
- Store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
How to Reheat
These shredded chicken burritos can be reheated from frozen OR thawed, so choose your own adventure here!
If heating from frozen, unwrap and place the chicken burrito on a plate and then into the microwave. Use the defrost setting on your microwave for 2 to 3 minutes, flipping every minute. Then microwave on high for 60-90 seconds or until hot.
If heating from thawed, microwave on high for 60 to 90 seconds.
Easy Shredded Chicken Burritos
Ingredients
Smothered Chicken & Fajita Veggies
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 white large onion, sliced
- 1 large yellow pepper, sliced
- 1 large green pepper, sliced
- 1 15-oz. can tomato sauce
- 1 15-oz. can green chiles
- 1/2 cup chicken broth, or water
- 3 tablespoons taco seasoning, or a store-bought packet
- 1 lbs. shredded chicken, we used rotisserie
Other
- 8 12-inch flour tortillas
- 1 15-oz. can refried beans
- 2 cups Spanish rice, 8 oz. store-bought Spanish rice
- 1.5 cups Mexican shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet pan or dutch oven over medium/high heat. Add olive oil.
- When olive oil is fragrant, add the onion to the pan and sauté the onion for 2-3 minutes.
- Turn heat to medium and add the sliced bell peppers to the pan and sauté the peppers and onions for an additional 4-5 minutes.
- Add tomato sauce, green chilis, water, and taco seasoning to the pan and stir until a thick tomato sauce is created.
- Next, add the shredded chicken to the pan and toss the chicken with the vegetables and tomato sauce until the chicken is coated in sauce.
- Bring the tomato sauce to a boil and then turn heat to low and simmer the chicken until the sauce has reduced by 1/4. Remove chicken from heat and set aside.
- To assemble the burritos, lay a large tortilla on a flat surface and spread 3 tablespoons refried beans out on the tortilla and then add 1/4 cup Spanish rice, 2 tablespoons shredded cheese and an 1/8 of the chicken mixture to the burrito.
- Tightly wrap each burrito by folding the sides in and rolling. Repeat steps 7 and 8 until all the burritos are made.
- If you are going to eat the chicken burritos right away, feel free to eat the burrito as is, freeze the burritos or heat the burritos up in the oven or on the stop top.
Stovetop Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over medium/high heat and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
- When the olive oil is fragrant, place the burrito in a pan and let the burrito brown for 2-3 minutes on each side over medium heat.
- Remove from the stove top and enjoy.
Oven Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425ºF and spray a casserole dish or baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
- Place the burritos on the baking sheet or casserole and sprinkle with cheese and drizzle with olive oil.
- Bake the burritos for 10-15 minutes or until the burritos begin to brown and the cheese is melted.
- Remove from the oven and enjoy.
Freeze for Later
- Wrap each individual burrito in a piece of tin foil and remove as much air as possible.
- Store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Reheating Burritos
- If heating from frozen, unwrap and place on a plate and then into the microwave. Use the defrost setting on your microwave for 2 to 3 minutes, flipping every minute. Then microwave on high for 60-90 seconds or until hot.
- If heating from thawed, microwave on high for 60 to 90 seconds.
Watch It
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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So delicious! We really enjoyed this recipe. Thank you!
Delicious, simple, family favorite!