Chicken & Charred Corn Burrito Bowls
with Chicken Thighs, Pepita Rice & Lemon Crema
- Milk
Burrito bowls have become staples of our weekly dinner rotation, and for good reason: They’re dynamic, customizable, and of course, delicious every single time. Case in point: this hearty spiced chicken served on a bed of nutty pepita-studded rice and topped with bright, savory corn and tomato salsa. Add a drizzle of tangy, cooling lemon crema and hot sauce if you’re feeling spicy (it’s nice-ey!), and you’ll be bowl-ed right over!
Ingredients
3 tablespoon
Sour Cream
(Contains: Milk)
10 ounce
Diced Skinless Dark Meat Chicken
1 unit
Lemon
1 tablespoon
Fajita Spice Blend
1 unit
Tomato
2 unit
Scallions
1 tablespoon
Mexican Spice Blend
½ ounce
Pepitas
¾ cup
White Rice
1 teaspoon
Hot Sauce
1 unit
Corn
Not included in your delivery
teaspoon (tsp)
Salt
teaspoon (tsp)
Black Pepper
2 teaspoon (tsp)
Cooking Oil
1 teaspoon (tsp)
Olive Oil
¼ teaspoon (tsp)
Sugar
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• In a small pot, combine rice, 1¼ cups water (2½ cups water for 4 servings), and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to low. Cook until rice is tender, 15-18 minutes. • Keep covered off heat until Step 5.
• While rice cooks, wash and dry produce. • Drain and rinse corn, then pat very dry with paper towels. • Heat a drizzle of oil in a large pan over high heat. Add corn, Fajita Spice Blend, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until corn is golden brown and lightly charred in spots, 4-6 minutes. (TIP: Cover with a lid if kernels start to pop!) Turn off heat; transfer to a medium bowl. Wipe out pan. • Meanwhile, dice tomato into ½-inch pieces. Trim and thinly slice scallions. Quarter lemon.
• Open package of chicken* and drain off any excess liquid. Heat a drizzle of oil in pan used for corn over medium-high heat. Add chicken in a single layer and season with Mexican Spice Blend and a pinch of salt and pepper. • Cook, stirring occasionally, until chicken is browned and cooked through, 4-6 minutes.
• To bowl with charred corn, add tomato, half the scallions, a drizzle of olive oil, juice from one lemon wedge (two wedges for 4 servings), and a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
• In a small bowl, combine sour cream, juice from one lemon wedge (two wedges for 4 servings), salt, and pepper to taste. Add water 1 tsp at a time until mixture reaches a drizzling consistency. • Fluff rice with a fork. Stir in pepitas. TIP: If you have extra time, toast pepitas beforehand in a small dry skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, for 1-2 minutes to add extra flavor and crunch!
• Divide pepita rice between shallow bowls. Using a slotted spoon, top with salsa (draining first) and chicken in separate sections. • Drizzle with lemon crema and as much hot sauce as you like. Top with remaining scallions and serve with remaining lemon wedges on the side.
Chicken is fully cooked when internal temperature reaches 165°.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Dec 2025- Flavor: Some found it flavorful, while others felt it was bland; adding extra herbs or hot sauce could boost taste.
- Ease of prep: Quick and easy to make, though a few noted it took longer than the recipe stated.
- Suggestions: Consider using lime instead of lemon, adding black beans, and toasting the pepitas for extra crunch 🌶️.
- Portions: Generous servings; many had leftovers for lunch the next day.
- Texture: The pepitas in rice provided a nice crunch for some, while others found it odd.
Reviews from our home cooks
I definitely prefer these bowls with chicken thighs over the ground pork/beef, and I'm glad to see this ingredient showing up more. This was a flavorful meal, and also a good pre-long run "carbo-load" meal with a good balance of protein, rice, and plenty of veg.
Very tasty and easy to make. The charred corn salsa is outstanding.
One of my all time favorites. There was a previous chicken and corn bowl we had that I don't remember being the exact same, but very similar and it wasn't too good. This was excellent!
Super yummy! Loved the charred corn, was unique for me. Very flavorful.
This was surprisingly flavorful and tasty. We actually use the corn salsa for a dip to go along with chips because we had leftovers.
Cooked chicken 6 minutes, left chicken in pan to stay warm but it didn't keep it as warm as I would have liked. I will cook the rice and make salsa first next time so that chicken is last to be done and plate. I will also hold the spices for the first 2 minutes of cooking the chicken as they may have over-cooked. I couldn't taste them as much as I expected so I'm guess that's why.
This was just okay. I made a few modifications to suit our tastes. I sautéed onion and jalapeño with the chicken, added extra lemon juice and sour cream, and topped it with shredded Colby Jack cheese and cilantro. It needs more protein and way less seasoning on the corn; it was overpowering. The additional citrus and sour cream helped cut the bitter bite of it. It could have used another tomato, too.
Cooking the corn on high in a pan just burnt the seasoning to the bottom of the pan. The corn never really "charred" at all, just the pan.
My son wasn't a fan of the pepita in the rice but I enjoyed the crunch
I liked that the chicken came diced, time saver, rice was good, corn salsa was good and the flavor of the chicken was good and the sour cream sauce was perfect
