WW Recipe of the Day: Low Calorie Chicken, Black Bean & Brown Rice Bowl
Chipotle was a favorite lunch destination when I was working in the corporate world. I honestly thought I was having a healthy lunch. I skipped the tortilla most days and chose a burrito bowl with brown rice, black beans, and grilled chicken.
Are Burrito Bowls Healthy?
I was shocked when I learned how many calories I was getting in these fast food burrito bowls. According to the New York Times, most burrito bowls with cheese can weigh in at over 900 calories!
But with a few modifications, you can enjoy a nutritious, delicious bowl at home. This healthy recipe for two from Dr. Oz gives you the same great flavors with a lot fewer calories.
Black bean bowl with chicken, brown rice and guacamole
How Many Calories and WW Points is this Chicken Black Bean Burrito Bowl?
According to my calculations, each serving has 390 calories and:
9 *SmartPoints (Green plan)
6 *SmartPoints (Blue plan)
3 *SmartPoints (Purple plan)
10 *PointsPlus (Old plan)
To see your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, Click here!
To lower the WW Points further:
- Substitute cauliflower rice for rice. This will deduct 4 points on the blue & green colored plans. (Brown rice is zero points food on the purple plan.)
- Substitute reduced fat cheese for a 1 Point savings.
How to Make Black Bean Chicken and Rice Burrito Bowls
Step 1: Gather and prepare all ingredients.
Preparing bowl ingredients
Step 2: Preheat oven to 375F degrees.
Step 3: Spray a baking sheet (affiliate link) with non-stick cooking spray and add corn. Roast corn 13-15 minutes, or until golden brown.
Oven-roasted corn kernels
Step 4: Grill chicken 3-5 minutes per side, or until done. Chicken can also be cooked indoors in a grill pan (affiliate link) over medium-high heat.
Cooked chicken breast
Or you can skip the cooking and use skinless rotisserie chicken breast instead. Cut cooked chicken into bite-size pieces.
Chopped chicken breast
Step 5: Combine roasted corn, tomato, onion, lime juice, jalapeno, cumin, salt, and 1 tablespoon of cilantro in a small bowl (affiliate link).
Mixing the corn salsa
Step 6: Arrange the rice, beans, chicken, corn salsa, and avocado (if using) into two bowls.
Step 7: Top with shredded cheese.
Step 8: Garnish with remaining cilantro and avocado, or guacamole, if desired.
Black bean bowl with chicken and corn salsa
Substitutions and Variations
- Using the avocado adds approximately 130 calories and 12 grams of fat and 3 WW Points.
- Keep it vegetarian and skip the chicken and bump up the beans.
- Use rotisserie chicken breast.
- Skip making the corn salsa and use your favorite jarred brand.
- Trader Joe's Cowboy Caviar (or any corn salsa from a jar) would be a great substitute for the homemade corn salsa.
- Go vegan and eliminate the cheese or use a non-dairy cheese option.
Trader Joe's Cowboy Caviar
Serving Suggestions
- Bulk things up by serving your skinny burrito bowl on a bed of lettuce greens.
- Add more fresh veggies to your bowl. Shredded lettuce, chopped tomato, zucchini, shredded cabbage would all be great.
Black bean bowls with chicken, rice and corn salsa
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Low Calorie Chicken, Black Bean Rice Burrito Bowl
Ingredients
- ½ cup frozen corn
- 1 roma tomato, diced
- 1 tablespoon diced onion
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 3 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1 tablespoon jalapeno, minced (ribs and seeds removed)
- Pinch of salt
- Pinch of ground cumin
- 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast (5 ounces)
- 1 cup cooked brown rice
- 1 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed
- ½ avocado, sliced or ¼ cup prepared guacamole (optional)
- ¼ cup shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F degrees.
- Spray a baking sheet (affiliate link) with non-stick spray and add corn.
- Roast corn 13-15 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Grill chicken 3-5 minutes per side or until done. Chicken can also be cooked indoors in a grill pan (affiliate link) over medium-high heat. Or you can skip the cooking and use rotisserie chicken breast. Cut cooked chicken breast into bite-size pieces.
- Combine roasted corn, tomato, onion, lime juice, jalapeno, cumin, salt, and 1 tablespoon of cilantro in a small bowl (affiliate link).
- Add the rice, beans, chicken, corn salsa, and avocado (if using) into two bowls.
- Top with shredded cheese. Garnish with remaining cilantro and avocado, or guacamole, if desired.
Equipment
Recipe Notes
- Using the avocado adds approximately 130 calories and 12 grams of fat.
- Substitute cauliflower rice for brown rice and shave 4 WW Points (green, blue)
- Keep it vegetarian and skip the chicken and bump up the beans.
- Use rotisserie chicken breast.
- Skip making the corn salsa and use your favorite jarred brand.
- Trader Joe's Cowboy Caviar would be a great substitute for the corn salsa.
- Use reduced fat cheese to decrease WW SP by 1.
- Go vegan and eliminate the cheese, or use a non-dairy cheese option.
Recipe source: Food Can Fix It: The Superfood Switch to Fight Fat, Defy Aging, and Eat Your Way Healthy (affiliate link) by Dr. Mehmet Oz
*Points® calculated by WW. *PointsPlus® and SmartPoints® calculated by Simple Nourished Living; Not endorsed by Weight Watchers International, Inc. All recipe ingredients except optional items included in determining nutritional estimates. SmartPoints® values calculated WITHOUT each plan's ZeroPoint Foods (Green plan, Blue plan, Purple plan) using the WW Recipe Builder.
More WW Friendly Low Calorie Black Bean Recipes
- Quinoa and Black Bean Southwestern Skillet
- Zesty Shrimp and Black Bean Salad
- Skinny Black Bean and Cheese Nachos
- Creamy Chili Corn Black Bean Soup
Brenda is a licensed esthetician and former small business owner after completing over 15 years of service with the United States military.
She is an essential oil enthusiast and avid home cooking for her husband and their two dogs.
Brenda and her family spend most of their time in the American Southwest, but they also love hitting the road for adventure.
One of her new passions is creating easy, healthy family-friendly freezer meals which can be prepared at home and frozen, and then cooked while traveling the country in their travel trailer.
She looks forward to sharing everything she learns with you here on Simple Nourished Living.
This post contains affiliate links to products I like. When you buy something through one of my Amazon links or other (affiliate links), I receive a small commission that helps support this site. Thank you for your purchase!
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Brenda Riddle
Thank you for these recipes. I had always been a skinny girl until back injury many years ago. I am over 100 pds of what my weight should be. I do not like this. Thank you, again.