isithalal.food

Halal-conscious recipe

Halal chicken burrito bowl

A burrito bowl of Halal chicken, black beans and Mexican-style rice with roast sweet potato, avocado, a fresh tomato salsa and crisp tortilla strips.

  • Cuisine Tex-Mex
  • Meal Main
  • Difficulty Easy
  • Yield 2 bowls
  • Time 45 min
  • Last updated

Each method follows published technique for the dish, and every Halal substitution is checked against the ingredient pages we cite. Photographs come from our ingredient library rather than the finished dish.

Printable view
A burrito cut in half on a white plate, filled with grilled beef, avocado, cheese, chips and tomato
Photograph from our ingredient library: a beef burrito, not the finished dish from this recipe.

Photo: RightCowLeftCoast · CC BY 4.0

Why Halal checks matter here

Burrito fillings such as carnitas and al pastor are typically pork and chicken needs Halal slaughter; some tortillas use lard, and the splash of cider vinegar is a scholarly difference.

A burrito bowl is a burrito without the wrap: the meat, beans and rice go in a bowl with salsa and avocado. The Halal questions are the same as for a burrito: fillings such as carnitas and al pastor are typically pork, the chicken needs Halal slaughter, and some tortillas and refried beans use lard.

This version follows the BBC Good Food team's chicken burrito bowl, made with Halal chicken and a tortilla without lard. Its tablespoon of cider vinegar is a scholarly difference (see apple cider vinegar); use it if your school accepts it, or add a little more lime juice instead.

The sweet potato roasts while you cook the chicken, beans and rice in one pan, so everything is ready in about half an hour.

Halal-critical ingredients

  • The chicken Chicken is only Halal from Halal-slaughtered birds, and burrito fillings such as carnitas and al pastor are typically pork. Buy Halal chicken from a Halal butcher or a certified pack. When ordering a burrito, ask which meat it is and whether it is Halal. See Burrito and Chicken.
  • Tortilla Some tortillas, and some refried beans, are made with lard, which is pork fat. Read the tortilla pack for lard or 'animal fat', or use one made with vegetable oil.
  • Cider vinegar Deliberately made vinegar is a scholarly difference: the Hanafi school, MUI and IslamQA permit it; the classical Shafi'i and Hanbali position does not. Use it if your school accepts it, or use extra lime juice instead. See Apple cider vinegar.
  • Rice pouch A flavoured rice pouch is a bought product with its own ingredient list. Read the pouch, or cook plain rice with your own spices.

Safe substitutes

  • Chicken breast of unknown slaughter → Halal skinless chicken breast
  • Tortilla made with lard → Tortilla made with vegetable oil

Allergens

gluten (tortilla)

Ingredients

Bowl

  • 1 small sweet potato, cut into wedges
  • 2 tbsp oil
  • 1 garlic clove, chopped
  • 1 small red onion, finely chopped
  • 1 skinless Halal chicken breast, sliced into strips
  • 1 tbsp cider vinegar (see the vinegar check below)
  • 1 tsp honey
  • 400 g can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 250 g Mexican-style rice (pouch)

Salsa and toppings

  • 1 medium tomato, chopped
  • 1 lime, zested and juiced
  • 1 handful coriander, chopped
  • 1 avocado, stoned and sliced
  • 1 small tortilla made without lard, sliced into strips
  • to taste hot sauce and lime wedges, to serve (optional)

Method

  1. Roast the sweet potato. Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Rub the sweet potato wedges with 1 tbsp of the oil, season and bake for 20 minutes, until tender and slightly crisp at the edges. Cover to keep warm.
  2. Cook the chicken. Heat the rest of the oil in a frying pan and briefly fry the garlic and most of the onion. Add the Halal chicken and fry for 7 to 10 minutes, until cooked through with no pink.
  3. Add the beans and rice. Stir in the vinegar, honey and black beans and cook for 2 minutes. Add the rice from the pouch, breaking it up as you stir, and warm everything through for 5 minutes.
  4. Make the salsa and tortilla strips. Mix the tomato, the rest of the onion, the lime zest and juice and the coriander. Grill the tortilla strips until crisp.
  5. Build the bowls. Divide the rice mixture between two shallow bowls. Add half the avocado and half the sweet potato wedges to each, spoon over some salsa and top with the tortilla strips. Serve with hot sauce and lime wedges if you like.

How this recipe was researched

Method from BBC Good Food's 'Chicken burrito bowl' by the Good Food team (serves 2: a small sweet potato in wedges roasted with oil at 200C/180C fan/gas 6 for 20 minutes; garlic and red onion fried, then a sliced chicken breast for 7 to 10 minutes; cider vinegar, honey and black beans for 2 minutes; a 250 g pouch of Mexican-style rice warmed in for 5 minutes; topped with a tomato, onion, lime and coriander salsa, avocado, the wedges and a tortilla cut into strips and grilled crisp). We specified Halal chicken, a tortilla made without lard, and flagged the vinegar per school. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.

Technique and ingredient sources

  1. Chicken burrito bowl — BBC Good Food Retrieved:

    By the Good Food team. Serves 2, prep 15 minutes, cook 30 minutes: roast sweet potato wedges, a sliced chicken breast fried 7 to 10 minutes with garlic and onion, cider vinegar, honey, black beans and a 250 g pouch of Mexican-style rice; a tomato, lime and coriander salsa, avocado and grilled tortilla strips.

  2. Burrito analysis — isithalal.food Retrieved:

    Fillings, lard in tortillas and beans, and the cheese question.

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