This Pulled Chicken Burrito Recipe is like a Mucho Burrito copycat, with delicious pulled chicken and all your favourite burrito toppings!
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Ingredients and substitutions
Pulled chicken
- Chicken breasts – you could also try using boneless skinless chicken thighs, but chicken breasts generally work better for pulled chicken.
- Olive oil – or another neutral cooking oil like avocado or canola oil.
- Yellow onion – white onion or shallots can also be used.
- Garlic – freshly minced garlic is best but jarred minced garlic will work in a pinch.
- Chicken broth – vegetable broth would also be good here.
- Salsa – use your favourite jarred or fresh salsa.
- Taco seasoning – make your own using chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder and oregano.
- Lime juice – freshly squeezed or bottled lime or even lemon juice will work.
- Salt & pepper – to taste.
Guacamole
- Avocados – you could also use store-bought guac for this recipe.
- Red onion – white onion can be used but has a milder flavour.
- Lime juice – try using lemon juice if it’s all you have on hand.
- Garlic – freshly minced garlic or even garlic powder can be used here.
- Salt & pepper – to taste.
Sauteed veggies
- Olive oil – or another neutral cooking oil like avocado or canola oil.
- Red and green pepper – use any combination of coloured bell peppers of your choice.
- Red onion – white or yellow onion can also be used, but will have a milder flavour.
- Salt & pepper – to taste.
Burritos
- Flour tortillas – use whole-wheat tortillas or lettuce wraps for a healthier option.
- Pinto beans – black beans or refried beans are also popular choices.
- Shredded cheese – use cheddar, Tex Mex or any blend of your choice.
- Pico de gallo – fresh salsa, jarred salsa or homemade salsa can all be used instead.
- Cilantro – leave this off if you’re not a fan.
- Sour cream – low-fat sour cream would cut down on the calories.
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How to make chicken burritos
Step 1: Sauté the veggies.
Heat oil in large pan on high heat until it starts to smoke. Add peppers and onion, then season with salt and pepper. Saute until vegetables are sizzling, about 2 minutes stirring often, then remove from heat and set aside.
Step 2: Make the shredded chicken.
Boil chicken in hot water for 15 minutes or until almost fully cooked and easily shreddable. Shred chicken once cooled slightly. Heat olive oil in a large pan on medium heat. Add onion & garlic, sauteeing for 2 minutes until fragrant. Add shredded chicken, broth, and all other ingredients for the pulled chicken as listed. Bring to a boil, then down to a slow simmer and cook for 5 minutes until most of the liquid has absorbed into chicken.
Step 3: Prep your toppings.
Meanwhile, heat drained pinto beans in a saucepan (or add to burrito cold) and mix all ingredients for guacamole together.
Step 4: Assemble your burritos.
Everything should be finished cooking right about now, so set up a station where everyone can go and get their favourite toppings. Add a small amount of chicken, veggies, beans, cheese and other desired toppings to each flour tortilla, placing all ingredients in the middle of each tortilla.
Step 5: Roll the burritos.
Fold up each side of your tortilla and then roll to form a wrap.
Step 6: Serve and enjoy!
Optional step: fry the burrito on all sides in a pan that's placed on med-high heat. This will toast the burrito a bit so that it doesn't get soggy. Cut in half with a very sharp knife and enjoy!
Slow cooker and Instant Pot method
While I typically boil the chicken for this chicken burrito recipe, you can also easily make the pulled chicken in the slow cooker or the Instant Pot.
Using a slow cooker to cook chicken is great for people who need to be away from the kitchen. Because the crockpot does all of the work, you’ll just put the chicken in and head out to do whatever you need to do.
You can get the full recipe instructions in my 2-ingredient salsa chicken post. You'll mainly just be cooking the chicken with the seasonings on low for 8 hours.
If you own an Instant Pot, you will be able to save SO much time making this recipe! For chicken breasts that are thawed, you can cook Instant Pot shredded chicken in less than 15 minutes. Of course, you will also need to allow for 10-15 minutes of natural pressure release but the cooking time is hands off when using your Instant Pot.
Frequently Asked Questions
When it comes to chicken burrito toppings, the options are pretty much endless. The basics typically include chicken (or another kind of meat), veggies, cheese and guacamole, but you can add in anything you’re craving. Try adding in some rice, diced tomatoes, jalapenos, shredded lettuce, refried beans and more.
Like nearly every other meal, burritos are only as healthy as the ingredients you use to make them. To keep this chicken burrito recipe healthy, make it with good quality chicken and fresh produce. Also, use portion control with heavy sauces and toppings that are higher in fat and calories. To keep the calorie count lower, leave out the cheese and guacamole and focus on chicken, veggies and salsas.
For this chicken burrito recipe, each burrito has 432 calories, if prepared per the recipe below. To cut down on the calories a bit, you can make a few ingredient substitutions, by using low-fat sour cream, going easy on the guacamole, making your own salsa and using low-fat cheese (or skipping the cheese altogether).
Storing and reheating
It can be tricky to reheat an already-assembled chicken burrito, especially if you’re using a mixture of hot and cold ingredients. For that reason, I’d recommend keeping all the ingredients separately – not only does it make storing the leftovers a lot easier, but it means that everyone at the table can customize the fillings to their liking.
Store all the components of this burrito recipe in the fridge for up to 5 days. To reheat the chicken, sprinkle some water over top to prevent it from drying out, then microwave for 1 to 2 minutes. You can also reheat the veggies in a skillet on the stovetop or in the microwave. Assemble your fresh burritos with the rest of your chosen toppings and dig in!
Can you freeze burritos?
Unfortunately, you can’t freeze this burrito recipe – but you can freeze the cooked shredded chicken for up to 3 months. Once it’s cooled, transfer it to airtight glass containers or Ziploc bags. When you’re ready to use it, let it defrost in the fridge overnight then reheat as normal.
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Pulled Chicken Burrito Recipe
Ingredients
Pulled Chicken
- 1 lb chicken breasts
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1/3 cup salsa
- 2 tbsp taco seasoning
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- salt & pepper, to taste
Guacamole: Mash avocado & mix all ingredients together
- 2 avocados mashed
- 1 small red onion finely chopped
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp each salt & pepper
Sauteed veggies
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 red pepper sliced
- 1 green pepper sliced
- 1 red onion sliced
- Salt & pepper, to taste
Burritos
- 6 flour tortillas
- 1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 cup shredded cheese of your choice
- pico de gallo or salsa
- cilantro chopped
- sour cream
Instructions
Pulled chicken
- Boil chicken in hot water for 15 minutes or until almost fully cooked and easily shreddable. Shred chicken once cooled slightly.
- Heat olive oil in a large pan on medium heat. Add onion & garlic, sauteeing for 2 minutes until fragrant. Add shredded chicken, broth, and all other ingredients for the pulled chicken as listed. Bring to a boil, then down to a slow simmer and cook for 5 minutes until most of the liquid has absorbed into chicken.
Sauteed veggies
- Heat oil in large pan on high heat until it starts to smoke. Add peppers and onion, then season with salt and pepper. Saute until vegetables are sizzling, about 2 minutes stirring often, then remove from heat and set aside.
Assembling the burritos
- Meanwhile, heat drained pinto beans in a saucepan (or add to burrito cold) and mix all ingredients for guacamole together.
- Everything should be finished cooking right about now, so set up a station where everyone can go and get their favourite toppings. Add a small amount of chicken, veggies, beans, cheese and other desired toppings to each flour tortilla, placing all ingredients in the middle of each tortilla.
- Fold up each side of your tortilla and then roll to form a wrap.
- Optional step: fry the burrito on all sides in a pan that's placed on med-high heat. This will toast the burrito a bit so that it doesn't get soggy. Cut in half with a very sharp knife and enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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