These healthy chicken burritos come together in a flavor-filled flash using just two pans and nutritious but convenient ingredients! Topped with salsa verde and fresh cilantro, this recipe is the perfect one to save for a busy week night dinner or high protein meal prep idea.

One task that I was not prepared for in motherhood is the task of making dinner. Why does thinking of food literally never end? Yes, I made us dinner before having a baby, but now adding a hungry toddler into the mix makes this task feel even more daunting. What does everyone like to eat that is semi-nutritious? What do I have the ingredients for? How can I minimize clean up?

I’m constantly searching for easy dinner recipes and wanted to share a few of my own personal favorites that are on rotation in my own home, including these healthy chicken burritos with salsa verde. These burritos come together in less than 30 minutes, are full of flavor, and packed with nutrient dense foods like vegetables, beans, fiber rich tortillas, and lean protein from the chicken. While the salsa verde may be a bit spicy for a young toddler pallette, I know these burritos will become a family favorite in your home too!

Why You’ll Love These Healthy Burritos:

Give me a burrito but make it nutritious. These burritos check all my dietitian boxes because they are:

Easy to make with minimal clean up: This recipe uses convenient and canned ingredients and will only dirty 2 dishes… your mixing bowl and your 9x13 baking dish!
Meal prep friendly chicken burritos: My husband loves these burritos because they are filling, satisfying, and nutrient dense so I am constantly meal prepping these for his lunch at work.
Filled with vegetables: I generally serve these salsa verde chicken burritos with a side salad or roasted bell peppers, but the burritos themselves also do contain vegetables with the rotel tomatoes and black beans.
Packed with protein: These salsa verde chicken burritos have high quality protein from the chicken and plant based protein (plus fiber!) from the black beans which makes them super filling and a high protein recipe to reach for when you meal prep or plan for dinner.
Fiber rich: finally, these burritos are rich in satisfying fiber from the black beans and the fiber rich tortillas that I chose.

Recipe Modifications:

Make these burritos your own by:

Changing out the protein: swap out the chicken for shredded pork, carne asada, or even chopped shrimp.
Add more veggies: when it comes to vegetables, the more the merrier! You can add diced bell peppers, tomatillos, or other vegetables to the chicken filling.
Swap the salsa verde: if you are going to change the protein for shredded pork, you may consider swapping the salsa verde out for homemade chili verde instead.

Ingredients:

Cooked chicken: I cooked and shredded two chicken breasts in the slow cooker but you could also use canned chicken, rotisserie chicken, or any other cooked chicken you have on hand.

Mild diced green chilis: you choose your spice level here. I didn’t want a super spicy filling so I kept my diced green chilis mild.

Mild rotel: I recommend draining the rotel so that your burritos don’t get too soggy while they bake.

Herdez salsa verde: This is a store-bought jar but you can certainly make your own salsa verde or choose a different sauce for these burritos!

Tortillas: I choose whole wheat tortillas to increase the fiber content of the burrito.

Black beans: If you were to ask me for a list of superfoods, beans would be on them. They are so nutritious and easy to include into recipes. I chose black beans but pinto beans would work great as well!

Shredded cheese: Because everything is better with a little cheese. I kept the calories slightly lower by only sprinkling cheese on top of the burritos but you can sprinkle some on the inside of the burritos as well.

Taco seasoning: I used store-bought but you can use your own homemade seasoning if you have some on hand.

Recipe FAQs:

Can I freeze these burritos?

Yes! These were one of the freeze meals I prepped when I was pregnant with my son and they were so convenient. Instead of placing them in a 9x13 pan, I would keep these in an aluminum freezer pan so that they can go straight from the freezer to your over. Simply prep the recipe as it’s written and then cover them with plastic wrap then tin foil. Place the uncooked burritos in your freezer for up to 3 months.

How do I reheat the frozen burrito in the oven?

You have a few options on how to reheat these burritos in the oven after they have been frozen. One option (which is what I do) is to let the burritos thaw in your fridge overnight, remove the plastic wrap, and then bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes or until warmed through. The other option is to bake from frozen which will add cook time. For this, I remove the burritos from the freezer, remove the plastic wrap, and bake at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour or until fully warmed through.

Can I make these gluten free?

If you want to make this recipe gluten free, use large corn tortillas instead of flour tortillas. Be careful while folding the burritos as the corn tortillas may not hold their shape as well!

Yield: 6

Author: Lauren Twigge