Burrito bowls are quick and relatively painless meals, practically created for picky eaters. The amount of customization in the average burrito bowl is second to none.
While you can create a burrito bowl out of leftovers or whatever you have laying around, you can also go all out and create a truly masterful ingredient spread.
In these instances, usually when you’re getting ready for some kind of dinner party, it helps to do some meal prep. We have a number of ways that you can prepare your bases and signature proteins for their starring role in your burrito bowl night.
Read on to discover how you can meal prep for burrito bowls and save yourself a lot of time and mental anguish.
Chicken
Chicken is one of the major common ingredients found in most burrito bowls.
It’s a healthier leaner protein that doesn’t contain a lot of fat. If you’re trying to watch what you eat and up your protein macros, you can’t go wrong with chicken in your burrito bowl.
But what’s the best way to prep chicken for burrito bowls?
There are a number of cooking methods that will work for you, all to varying degrees. It depends on what you’re looking for.
If you’re looking for regular grilled chicken breast, cook them up on a grill or bake them in the oven. Ground chicken can be easily fried in a pan.
But sometimes people like more of a pulled chicken for burrito bowls, and you can’t go wrong here with the Instant Pot. It’s a simple matter to cook chicken in the Instant Pot and we’ve got plenty of recipes to go around. Chicken breast is one of the most common forms of chicken to appear in burrito bowls, so check out our recipe on how to cook chicken breast in an Instant Pot.
But maybe you want to try some fried chicken in your burrito bowl, or some other kind of breaded chicken. Maybe even chicken tenders? For that, we recommend cooking your chicken in the Air Fryer. It’ll come out crispy, moist, and delicious.
Once you’ve cooked your chicken, place it in airtight containers and either set it to the side or refrigerate.
If you’re working with fried chicken, you should read up on how to reheat fried chicken for best results.
Beef
Beef is a perfect addition to burrito bowls, and can be prepped quite easily.
Ground beef is a popular option for burrito bowls. If you’re prepping ground beef you could cook it up in a pan in under 10 minutes. Most large pans accommodate one to two pounds of ground beef. But if you’re making upwards of five pounds of it for a big burrito bowl fiesta, it’s also possible to prepare your ground beef in a slow cooker.
This allows you to set it and forget it. Just break up the meat into small pieces inside the slow cooker, add some seasoning, and ¼ cup of water or broth per pound of meat that you’re cooking. Once that’s done, cover the pot and cook on high for two to three hours.
But maybe you don’t want ground beef. If you want something else, like maybe pot roast or brisket, I highly recommend checking out how to cook beef in the Instant Pot.
There’s even a can’t miss recipe in there for Instant Pot Chili that will go perfectly with some rice and veggies in your burrito bowl.
Once your beef is done and prepped, set it aside in an airtight container until it’s time to reheat and serve.
Rice
A good burrito bowl needs a good base, and rice is an incredibly versatile burrito bowl base that goes perfectly with just about anything. That’s why it’s such a staple food in countries all over the world.
If you’re preparing a lot of rice, I definitely recommend using the Instant Pot. Of course, depending on which kind of rice you want to include, you’re going to have to go about cooking it in different ways.
For example, brown rice just needs a cup of brown rice and a cup of water. But something like Jasmine rice is going to involve some salt, and wild rice needs a little oil.
That’s why we’ve created a page specifically detailing how to make difference kinds of rice in the Instant Pot. We walk you through how to make sticky rice, wild rice, brown rice, and Jasmine rice.
But maybe you’re not a rice fan.
That’s ok, it’s fairly common.
We have a great alternative for you.
Cauliflower rice!
Yes, you read that right. It’s rice that is made of cauliflower. Our recipe for cauliflower rice has only 51 calories per serving and serves four.
All you have to do is heat olive oil in a skillet on medium heat, add crumbled cauliflower, and stir. Then, cover the skillet and cook for five to seven minutes. Once that’s done, just stir in some salt and you’re done.
Rice can easily be stored and reheated whenever it’s time to make your burrito bowls.
Vegetables
Once everything is cooked up, it’s time to prep the veggies.
Chop some fresh veggies and set them aside. This includes lettuce, tomato, carrots, onion, mushrooms, and anything else that strikes your fancy.
But when it comes to veggies you’re able to do a little bit of cooking as well.
Make up some fajita vegetables to give your burrito bowls some serious life. We have a recipe for amazing Air Fryer chicken fajitas. Even if you don’t want to make the chicken, you can still use this method to create some perfectly cooked and delightfully crispy vegetables.
In Conclusion
And there you have it! Everything you need to know to successfully meal prep for a stellar burrito bowl night.
What are your favorite burrito bowl recipes? How do you go about meal prepping for them? Sound off in the comment section below and let us know!
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