Chicken Meal Prep Burritos Recipe

chicken meal prep burritos featured image

Chicken Meal Prep Burritos Recipe

You can make chicken meal prep burritos in less than an hour on the weekend and keep them stashed in your freezer for easy lunches or dinners. You don't even need to thaw them in advance, they reheat well from frozen!

Course Main Course

Cuisine Mexican

Keyword Chicken Burrito Recipe, Chicken Burritos Recipe, Easy Chicken Burrito Recipe, Easy Chicken Burritos Recipe, High Protein Burritos, Meal Prep Burritos, Meal Prep Chicken Burritos, Shredded Chicken Burritos

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 15

Servings servings

Calories 488kcal

Author Faith Gorsky

Ingredients

Chicken Burritos:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 large white onion diced (about 1 1/4 cups)
1 red bell pepper chopped (about 1 cup)
4 large cloves garlic crushed
4 cups baby spinach coarsely chopped
4 cups shredded rotisserie chicken see Notes for chicken options
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder see Notes for spice options
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup salsa verde green salsa
3 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
3/4 teaspoon fresh lime zest
6 10-inch soft flour tortillas
8 ounces Monterey Jack cheese shredded

High Protein Cilantro Lime Crema:

1 1/4 cups 4% cottage cheese
1/4 cup full-fat sour cream or Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 large clove garlic crushed
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
3/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 teaspoon fresh lime zest
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

For the Chicken Burritos:

To make the filling, add the oil to a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add the onion and red bell pepper, and cook until starting to soften, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and spinach and cook until the garlic is fragrant and the spinach is wilted, about 1 minute, stirring frequently. Stir in the chicken and spices and cook 1 minute. Stir in the salsa, cilantro, and lime zest, and remove from the heat.
To assemble the burritos, lay a flour tortilla out on a flat surface. Place 1/6 of the chicken burrito filling (about 1 cup) across the bottom 1/3 of the tortilla, leaving a little space on all sides so you can fold the tortilla over. Add 1/6 of the shredded cheese on top of the filling. Fold both sides of the tortilla over onto itself, then fold the bottom 1/3 up over the filling, and roll it up as tightly as possible. (See Notes to soften your tortillas before rolling the burritos.) Repeat until all the burritos are rolled.
To toast the burritos, preheat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the rolled burritos and cook until they’re warm throughout and golden on the outside, about 3 to 5 minutes. (Do this in 2 batches if your skillet isn’t big enough to hold all the burritos at the same time.)

For the High Protein Cilantro Lime Crema:

Add all ingredients (except the cilantro) to a blender or food processor and process until smooth. Add the cilantro and pulse a couple times to combine.

To Serve:

Serve the warm chicken burritos with the cilantro lime crema for dipping.

Video

Notes

Chicken Options: Leftover roast chicken is another great option here. You can also use raw boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs; cut them into bite-sized pieces and cook them for 5 minutes before adding the onion and bell pepper to the skillet. Another option is to use canned, drained chicken breast.
Spice Options: If you prefer, you can streamline the spices! Omit the chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, ground cumin, salt, Mexican oregano, and black pepper and instead use 3 tablespoons of your favorite taco seasoning.
To Soften the Flour Tortillas: To help prevent the tortillas from cracking when you roll the burritos, you can soften the tortillas first. To do so, stack the tortillas layered between damp paper towels, place them on a microwave-safe plate, and microwave them in 20-second intervals until warm.
Storage: Once they're cooled to room temperature, wrap the burritos individually in foil and then put them in a large zip-top plastic bag. Portion out the crema into condiment containers. Store the burritos and crema in the fridge for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Reheating: If you're pressed for time, the microwave will work well to reheat burritos in just a couple minutes. However, if you want to re-crisp the outside, there are better reheating methods.
- You can reheat them until warm in a skillet on the stovetop over medium to medium-low heat, flipping occasionally.
- To reheat burritos in the air fryer, preheat it to 350F and heat them wrapped in foil for 8 minutes (flipping once), and then unwrapped for 1 to 2 minutes.
- To reheat burritos in the oven, preheat it to 350F and heat them wrapped in foil for 15 minutes (flipping once), and then unwrapped for 2 minutes.
To Reheat From Frozen: Preheat the oven to 350F. Place foil-wrapped burritos in the oven and reheat for 40 to 45 minutes, or until warm throughout.
Keto Version: Use keto soft tortillas. These Hero tortillas are my absolute favorite. Even though they're only 8-inch, they're soft and pliable and still work really well here. Or skip the tortillas and eat the filling and cheese as a skillet meal to keep the carbs down!

Nutrition