Chicken Burrito

Don’t you hate it when the filling of your Chicken Burrito falls out and you end up with a chaotic mess on your hands? This one won’t! Juicy, cheesy, flavour loaded chicken burrito filling keeps everything together as you munch your way through.

Eat some now, freeze some for later – you can even reheat from frozen!

Chicken Burritos

One of my biggest gripes about Burritos (other than how ridiculously gigantic they can be, far wider than any normal human mouth) is that by the time you get halfway through, you’ve got burrito explosion on your hands.

Rolling technique comes into play – the firmer it’s rolled, the better it holds together. The filling you choose also has an effect – Shredded Beef and Shredded Chicken holds together pretty well.

But chopped chicken more often than not comes tumbling out a few bites in. As for the last few bites – forget about it. It’s just one big diabolical mess (albeit a delicious one).

Which is why I make my chicken burrito filling using refried beans which not only holds everything together, it makes the filling juicy and adds extra flavour!

What you need for Chicken Burritos

Here’s what you need. PLUS TORTILLAS! How did I forget the single most important ingredient for this recipe?? 🤦🏻‍♀️

Refried beans are the secret ingredient that fills it out and holds everything together

I’ve used seasoned Mexican Red Rice here which is my favourite to stuff into burritos. But feel free to use plain white rice – the Chicken Burrito Filling has so much flavour you won’t feel deprived!

How to make Chicken Burritos

And here’s how I make it:

• Sear chicken seasoned with a homemade Burrito spice mix, then chop it up;

• Make burrito filling – sautéed onion, capsicum/bell peppers, refried beans, and add the chicken. The filling should be juicy and wet, but not watery – otherwise it will make the burrito soggy;

• Pile filling, corn, rice, coriander/cilantro and cheese on a tortilla, then roll up tightly;

• Bake or panfry to melt the cheese and warm it all up!

Few things in life rival the sense of smug satisfaction when you’ve got a stash of burritos in the freezer…. and you can reheat from frozen!

How to freeze burritos

Burritos are PERFECT for freezing, making them the ideal standby homemade convenience meal! To freeze, just wrap in paper then foil, place in an airtight container or ziplock bags then freeze.

To reheat:

• thaw then oven for 15 minutes; OR

• reheat from frozen for 40 minutes.

Dunking Sauce for Burrito

You’ll find the filling for these Chicken Burritos is juicier than most, thanks to the refried beans. So you don’t even need a sauce.

However, I am never one to say no to a sauce for dunking or drizzling or dolloping or smearing, so here are some suggestions:

Sauce for burritos

Avocado Sauce

Restaurant Style Salsa recipe

Life Changing Queso Dip (Mexican Cheese Dip)

Guacamole

Nachos Cheese Dip (and Sauce!)

The Avocado Sauce is pictured in the photo above. But the Queso is secretly my favourite. Seriously, imagine a burrito dunked in a warm Cheesy Mexican Dip?? – Nagi x

Watch how to make it

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Chicken Burrito

Author: Nagi

Prep: 15 mins

Cook: 15 mins

Mains

Mexican, Tex-Mex

4.97 from 61 votes

Servings5

Tap or hover to scale

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Recipe video above. This is a chicken burrito stuffed with a juicy seasoned chicken filling, refried beans, corn, cheese and Mexican Red Rice. The refried beans makes it juicy inside without being soggy, adds flavour and holds it all together so the filling doesn't come tumbling out when you pick it up!

Ingredients

• ▢ 5 tortillas , flour (approx 20cm/8" wide)

Burrito Seasoning:

• ▢ 1 tsp each onion powder, dried oregano, salt
• ▢ 2 tsp each dried cumin powder, paprika
• ▢ 1/4 tsp black pepper
• ▢ 3/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional, adjust to taste)

Chicken Filling:

• ▢ 600g / 1.2 lb chicken breast , sliced in half horizontally (Note 1)
• ▢ 2 tbsp olive oil , separated
• ▢ 1/2 onion , chopped
• ▢ 2 garlic cloves , finely minced
• ▢ 1 red capsicum/bell pepper , diced
• ▢ 400g/14oz refried beans , canned (Note 2)
• ▢ 1/4 cup water

Rice - CHOOSE one:

• ▢ 2.5 cups white rice , plain (cooked, Note 3)
• ▢ 2.5 cups Mexican Red Rice (the best for Burritos!)

Other Stuffings:

• ▢ 400g/14oz canned corn , drained (or 280g/9oz frozen thawed)
• ▢ 1.5 cups (150g) cheese , shredded (Mexican blend, cheddar, tasty, Montery Jack)
• ▢ 1/4 cup coriander/cilantro , finely chopped

Sauce for dunking - choose:

• ▢ Avocado sauce
• ▢ Sour cream
• ▢ Salsa (restaurant style, smooth)

Instructions

• Burrito Seasoning - Mix Seasoning ingredients. Drizzle 1 tbsp oil over chicken, mix to coat. Sprinkle with Seasoning, toss to coat.
• Cook chicken - Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add chicken, cook 2 minutes. Turn and cook 1.5 minutes. Remove, rest 2 minutes then chop.
• Saute onion - In the same skillet, add onion and garlic, cook 1 minute. Add capsicum, cook 2 minutes until onion is translucent.
• Finish Filling - Add refried beans, diced chicken and water. Stir and cook for 2 minutes until reduces slightly. Should be thick and juicy, not watery and not dry/stodgy! Let cool 5 minutes - will thicken.

Assemble burritos:

• Gently warm tortillas in microwave (makes them pliable), lay on work surface.
• Place rice on lower third, top with Chicken Filling, corn, cheese then sprinkle with coriander. Fold up, burrito style.
• Toasting: Either pan fry over medium high heat (no oil) for 2 minutes each side to make tortilla crispy and melt cheese a bit OR wrap tightly in foil and bake in oven 10 minutes at 180°C/350°F.
• Dunk in sauce(s) of choice or douse with hot sauce of choice, and devour! Suggestions: Avocado Sauce, Guacamole, sour cream, Restaurant Style Salsa, Queso, Nacho Cheese Dip.
• Freezer friendly! Note 4 for directions.

Recipe Notes:

1. Chicken breast - slice in half horizontally to make 2 thin steaks out of each breast. I do this so there's more surface area to coat in the spice mix! 

2. Refried beans - secret ingredient! Makes the burrito filling juicy and holds it all together, rather than dry and crumbly (which too many burritos are!)

Substitution: Saute 1 garlic clove minced in a little oil until golden. Add 1 can pinto, red kidney or black beans  with 1/4 cup of the liquid in the can, 1/2 tsp each cumin, onion and paprika powder. Stir few minutes until beans thoroughly heated then mash or puree.

Any beans will actually work just fine, just a different colour!

3. Rice - you'll need 1 cup of uncooked rice to make 2.5 cups cooked rice. See here for instructions for how to cook plain rice, or make Mexican Red Rice!

4. Storage - Wrap in cling wrap or foil, fridge for 4 days or freeze. Best to warm in oven - 15 minutes at 180C/350F wrapped in foil. Frozen - thaw overnight then warm in oven 15 minutes. To reheat from frozen, wrap in foil and place in oven for 40 minutes at 180C/350F.

5. Nutrition per burrito.

Nutrition Information:

Calories: 700cal (35%)Carbohydrates: 72g (24%)Protein: 49g (98%)Fat: 23g (35%)Saturated Fat: 9g (56%)Cholesterol: 109mg (36%)Sodium: 2051mg (89%)Potassium: 1209mg (35%)Fiber: 10g (42%)Sugar: 8g (9%)Vitamin A: 2036IU (41%)Vitamin C: 101mg (122%)Calcium: 470mg (47%)Iron: 9mg (50%)

Keywords: Burrito Recipe, Chicken burrito

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