Chipotle Meal Prep

Chipotle Meal Prep is one of our favorite things to make for the workweek. Copycat recipes for all your favorite Chipotle eats can be prepped so you can reheat burrito bowls throughout the week, or make tacos and quesadillas. You’ll find all my tips for what to prep ahead and what to make fresh, as well as all my favorite shortcuts to speed up the prep time. These Chipotle copycat recipes are all naturally gluten-free, with a few options to make the toppings dairy-free.

Glass bowls of black beans, Chipotle honey chicken, cilantro lime rice, Fajita veggies, Pico de Gallo, Chili Corn Salsa, grated cheese, and shredded romaine lettuce. - 2

You can buy ‘chipotle meal prep’ at Chipotle for a fairly reasonable price, but we like to make our own for a couple of reasons. First up, you are in charge of the quality of ingredients. And the second reason is that making things from scratch is more affordable.

Until recently, I had no idea people were buying Chipotle meal prep from Chipotle as a ‘family style’ meal. But we’ve been meal prepping our own Chipotle for about 5 years now.

We love having these things prepped ahead to have burrito bowls all week long. And when we started prepping Chipotle, we didn’t have one locally, so there was no way to shortcut!

Over the years, I’ve developed some tips and tricks to simplify, cut down on prep time, and shortcut making this at home. You’ll find all my copycat recipes for each Chipotle burrito bowl component.

But there’s no doubt it takes more time to prep than my shortcuts. So don’t skip the tips below to have burrito bowls in even less time.

All the Chipotle meal prep ingredients made into a Chipotle Honey Chicken Burrito Bowl. - 3

Ingredients & Substitutions

Glass containers of cilantro lime rice, black beans, fajita veggies, corn salsa, pico de gallo, cheese, and shredded lettuce. - 4

Chipotle Chicken – Instant Pot Beef Barbacoa , or my Instant Pot Carnitas all work well for chipotle meal prep. I also sometimes make my Smoked Chicken Breasts or Smoked Chicken Thighs instead and get the chipotle flavor from Chipotle Honey Vinaigrette . Don’t miss my brand new Chipotle Honey Chicken based on the new menu item.
Cilantro Lime Rice – just like Chipotle but even more flavorful! To simplify, make my Instant Pot White Rice .
Fajita Veggies – a mix of sautéed onions and peppers adds lots of flavor to the mix with this meal prep. Chipotle uses green bell peppers, but we prefer red, orange, or yellow.
Salsa (s) – fresh Pico de Gallo is what you get at Chipotle, but my Fire Roasted Salsa is a great option when tomatoes aren’t in season, and it freezes well, too. You can also make my Mango Salsa or Caramelized Pineapple Salsa , both go well with these flavors. I also have a copycat recipe for Roasted Chili Corn Salsa for the classic burrito bowl experience.
Beans – I use canned black beans, well rinsed. For a little extra flavor, you can simmer them for a few minutes in some orange juice with a large pinch of cumin.
Toppings – lettuce, cheese, sour cream, and Mexican-inspired sauces like Chipotle Ranch , Chipotle Honey Vinaigrette or my Cilantro Lime Dressing all add lots of flavor. For cheese, we love Pepperjack, it adds a touch of spice and so much flavor! For lettuce, romaine is our favorite for the added crunch.

How to make this recipe step by step

Glass containers of black beans, corn salsa, romaine lettuce, Cilantro Lime Rice, Fajita veggies, chipotle chicken, salsa, and cheese. - 5

Step 1: Start by choosing as many of the recipes as you’d like to make. You’ll find my shortcuts below for how to simplify this Chipotle meal prep and cut down on the prep time.

Containers of Chipotle Meal Prep stacked on a white countertop. - 6

Step 2: Once everything is made, place it individually into different containers and refrigerate. Sometimes I prep the meal from marinade to cooked and chopped. Other times, I just get the meat marinating in the fridge.

Four photos in a collage showing containers of chipotle meal prep and the food put together into a burrito bowl. - 7

Step 3: When you’re ready to eat your meal prep, spoon out a little of each component to be reheated in a skillet – the rice, beans, fajita veggies, and chicken. Add a tablespoon or two of water, cover, and reheat over medium until hot and the water is gone.

Serve your warmed-up burrito bowls with the fresh toppings and any sauce you made.

Chipotle honey chicken, cilantro lime rice, corn salsa, cheese, black beans, sour cream, lettuce, and guacamole in a white bowl. - 8

Ways to serve this

Make this chipotle meal prep into burrito bowls by reheating it in a skillet and topping it with all the fresh toppings you desire.
You can use the different components of this meal prep to make tacos, fajitas, quesadillas, or nachos.
Add a lot more greens and make this into a salad bowl with a bit of Chipotle Honey Vinaigrette .
Serve this meal prep with Chipotle’s ‘secret sauce’ which is Chipotle Honey Vinaigrette mixed together with sour cream to your taste. We also love making burrito bowls and adding this Chipotle Ranch , which is a copycat of Chipotle’s Adobo Ranch.

Yes, burrito bowls are easy to meal prep and reheat really well.

Yes, you can order Chipotle catering and portion it out into meal prep at home. This costs around $11-$13 per serving, but it does save on time when needed. We prefer to meal prep our own Chipotle at home with my copycat recipes which saves a lot of money.

Storing leftovers

To store – store each part of your Chipotle meal prep separately in airtight containers in the refrigerator.
Make ahead – each part of this Chipotle meal prep keeps well for about 4-5 days, except the guacamole. I sometimes make enough for 1 meal, but it usually won’t keep past 1 day.
Reheating – place a bit of each part of your burrito bowl into a skillet, except the fresh components. Add a tablespoon or two of water, cover, and reheat over medium heat until hot and the water has evaporated.
To freeze – the chicken, beans, and fajita veggies can all be frozen for up to 1 month in airtight containers.

Glass containers of black beans, salsa, cheese, guacamole, lettuce, marinated chicken, fajita veggies, and rice on a white countertop. - 9

Shortcut Tips & Tricks

Make plain steamed rice instead of the cilantro lime to save time. You can also buy salsa, pre-grated cheese, canned beans, etc.
Instead of salsa and guacamole, try serving diced tomatoes and avocados along with some chopped fresh cilantro and lime wedges. This really cuts down on the prep time and gives you most of the same flavors.
Another way to add flavor is to make my Chipotle Ranch , Chipotle Honey Vinaigrette and/or Cilantro Lime Dressing . These are both super flavor-packed, and when you drizzle them over your burrito bowl, you can skip making cilantro lime rice/salsa/and guacamole.
I usually shortcut this meal prep by making the sauces mentioned above and skipping a lot of the prep work, unless I have some extra time.
One more thing I love to do is to make double, triple, or quadruple batches of the meat and freeze the extras for even easier meal prep the next time around.

Dietary Options & Substitutions

Dairy-free – you can use your favorite dairy-free cheese and sour cream. Our favorite dairy-free options are my Cilantro Lime Dressing , Chipotle Aioli , and/or Chipotle Honey Vinaigrette .
Paleo – omit the dairy, beans, rice, and corn salsa. Instead, make one of my dairy-free sauces listed above and my Roasted Sweet Potatoes for carbs.
Best Vegan Queso – is the perfect ‘cheese sauce’ to use if you’re looking for something dairy-free and paleo to use instead of the sauces mentioned above.

Recipe Inspiration

Chipotle Chicken Copycat
Chipotle Honey Chicken
Instant Pot Beef Barbacoa
Instant Pot Carnitas
Cilantro Lime Rice

INGREDIENTS1x2x3x

3 cups Chipotle Chicken - 1 recipe, see notes
3 cups Cilantro Lime Rice - 1 recipe
4 cups Fajita Vegges - 1 recipe
1.5 cups black beans - well rinsed
1.5 cups Pico de Gallo
2 avocados - 1 batch Guacamole
6 cups romaine lettuce - chopped
1 cup Pepperjack cheese - grated
1 cup sour cream
1 cup Chili Corn Salsa - see notes

INSTRUCTIONS

Make each recipe for your Chipotle bowls and divide into airtight sealed containers.
I recommend making just enough Guacamole for what you need that day, or using diced avocado because it doesn’t keep well. Refrigerate and use within 4-5 days.
To reheat your Chipotle bowls, place a bit of each part of your burrito bowl into a skillet, except the fresh components.
Add a tablespoon or two of water, cover, and reheat over medium heat until hot and the water has evaporated.
Serve with the fresh toppings.

NOTES

nutrition facts