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These ground chicken taco bowls are filled with cilantro lime rice, Mexican spiced ground chicken, and an easy homemade black bean and corn salsa. They’re great for meal prep and a fun way to change up taco night!
Looking for a ground beef taco recipe? Try these taco salad bowls!
Why I love them
Family friendly – This is one of those meals that the whole family can get behind. You can make the rice bowls just as I have or customize the toppings to whatever your family likes best.
Easy weeknight dinner – Start by making the salsa and then set aside while you make the ground chicken taco filling. The rice will take about the same amount of time to cook as the ground chicken taco mixture will.
Meal prep – I like to make these taco bowls on a Sunday and then store the components of them separately so I have dinner or lunch ready to go for a few days during the week.
Customizable – You can easily customize these taco rice bowls with whatever your favorite toppings are. Check out some of the substitutions and variations I’ve listed below for ideas.
The ingredients
- Ground chicken – Can be substituted with ground turkey or beef if you prefer.
- Chili powder, cumin, oregano, garlic powder, smoked paprika – The taco seasoning spice blend.
- Onion – Yellow or white onion can be used.
- Salsa – Salsa verde or tomato salsa can be used. You also use enchilada sauce if you prefer.
- Rice – White or brown rice can be used. Keep in mind that brown rice takes about 40 minutes to cook.
- Cilantro – Adds a ton of flavor to both the taco meat and cilantro lime rice.
- Lime – You’ll be using both the zest and juice from the lime. Be sure to zest it before juicing.
- Black beans – Be sure to drain and rinse them before adding them to the salsa.
- Corn – frozen or fresh corn can be used. Try frozen fire roasted corn or grill fresh corn for extra flavor.
- Jalapeño – Make the salsa a little spicy. Leave the seeds in for an extra spicy salsa or omit the jalapeño for a mild salsa.
- Red onion – I like to use red onion for fresh salsas like this, but if you want a stronger onion flavor use white onion.
- Avocado – Avocado is a must for tacos and it goes great with the chicken taco meat and the black bean corn salsa.
How to make ground chicken taco bowls
Make the black bean corn salsa – In a bowl combine the black beans, corn, jalapeño, red onion, cumin, cilantro, lime juice, and salt. Stir everything together and adjust with additional salt or lime juice if needed.
Cook the rice – Rinse the rice and add it to a saucepan. Cover the rice with water and add in the lime zest, cilantro, and salt. Bring it to a boil, cover with a lid and turn the heat down to low. Let it cook for 15 minutes then turn off the heat.
Squeeze in the lime juice and fluff the rice with a fork. Cover with the lid again and let it steam for 10 minutes before adding it to the taco bowls.
Make the ground chicken taco filling – Add the onion and ground chicken to a large skillet with some olive oil. Crumble the chicken with a wooden spoon or spatula. Add in the taco seasoning, salt, pepper, and cilantro.
Stir everything together and let it cook until the onions are tender and the chicken is cooked through. Pour in the salsa and stir everything together.
Assemble the bowls – Add some of the cilantro lime rice to a bowl. Top it with the chicken taco mixture, black bean and corn salsa, chunks of avocado and extra cilantro.
Substitutions and variations
- Swap the ground chicken for ground turkey or ground beef.
- Try a different kind of salsa. I recommend this pico de gallo.
- Add this green chile guacamole as a topping or drizzle with avocado salsa verde.
- If you don’t like cilantro skip it and just make lime rice or plain white or brown rice.
- For a lower carb option, replace the rice with cauliflower rice and the corn with avocado.
Make ahead tips and storage
If you’re meal prepping these taco bowls to have for lunches or dinners during the week, everything will keep for up to 5 days in the fridge.
You can either store everything together in individual serving containers or keep everything separate and assemble it when you’re ready to eat it.
The black bean and corn salsa tastes good either cold or hot depending on what you prefer.
If you want to double this recipe, both the ground chicken and cilantro lim rice can frozen for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to use them let them defrost in the refrigerator overnight and then heat them in the microwave or on the stove over medium heat.
More taco recipes
- Grilled Fish Tacos
- Grilled Salmon Tacos with Strawberry Avocado Salsa
- Creamy Green Chile Chicken Tacos
- Black Bean Tacos with Avocado Corn Salsa
- Egg Green Chile and Cheese Breakfast Tacos
Did you make these ground chicken taco bowls? I’d love if you’d leave a recipe rating and review below.
Ground Chicken Taco Bowls
Ingredients
Ground Chicken
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1/2 cup diced yellow onion
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoon chopped cilantro
- 1/2 cup salsa
Black Bean Corn Salsa
- 1 cup canned black beans drained and rinsed
- 1 cup frozen corn defrosted
- 1/3 cup diced red onion
- 1 jalapeño diced (seeds removed)
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
- 1 lime juiced
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- Salt to taste
Cilantro Lime Rice
- 1 cup uncooked rice
- 1/2 cups water
- Salt to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- Zest of a lime
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Black Bean and Corn Salsa
- In a bowl combine all of the ingredients for the salsa. Stir everything together and adjust with additional salt or lime juice if needed.
- Cilantro Lime Rice
- Rinse the rice under cold water and add it to a saucepan. Cover the rice with 1 1/2 cups of water and add in the lime zest, cilantro, garlic powder, and salt. Stir everything together and bring it to a boil. Cover with a lid and turn down the heat to low. Let it cook for 15 minutes then remove it from the heat.
- Squeeze in the lime juice and fluff the rice with a fork. Cover with the lid again and let it steam for 5-10 minutes.
- Ground Chicken
- Add the olive oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot add in the onion and ground chicken. Crumble the chicken with a wooden spoon or spatula. Add in the taco seasoning, salt, pepper, and cilantro. Stir everything together and let it cook until the onions are tender and the chicken is cooked through.
- Pour in the salsa and stir everything together. Let it simmer until heated through and then remove from the heat.
- Assemble
- Add some of the cilantro lime rice to a bowl. Top it with the ground chicken, black bean and corn salsa, chunks of avocado, shredded cheese and garnish with cilantro.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Made this for my family tonight and it was a HIT! even my daughter who’s a picky eater loved it.
Wonderful to hear! Thanks for making the bowls!
The final result was tasty! But my rice burned on the bottom and I had to add quite a bit more water. There also was not any liquid to simmer once the salsa was poured in to the ground chicken. I just stirred until it was coated.
We thought it was good but dry. I did use turkey which was probably the problem. My husband did put salsa on his. We loved the black bean salsa. I’ll use ground beef next time. Thanks!
Yum! Does the nutrition info include the avocado and cheese?
It does not include those. Just the rice, ground chicken, and black bean corn salsa.
Oh my gosh, I meal prepped this recipe for this week and it’s delicious! I love all of the cilantro and lime. All of the flavors married together beautifully! Will make again for sure! Yummm!!!! Thanks for sharing :)