← All recipes

§03 · Dinner · Mexican · burrito-bowl

Revised Aug 2026 · 3 revisions

Burrito Bowl

Lime-brightened rice, spiced black beans and corn, and a tangle of quick-pickled onion for punch. The beans come together while the rice cooks, and it packs cold into a lunch box.

Illustration of Burrito Bowl
Hands-on 20 min Total 45 min Serves4 Ingredients14 Cost / Serv.$1.37 Calories480
Servings
4 servings
×1

Ingredients

Everything here is already in your pantry.

Ran low on something?

What swaps in
Brown Rice
Short-grain brown rice stickier; same ~45 minutesMedium-grain brown rice between the twoWhite rice about 20 minutes instead of 45, with less fibre
Black Beans
Pinto beans creamier, hold their shape slightly lessDried, cooked ¾ cup dried ≈ one 15 oz can drained
Frozen Corn
Canned corn, drained softer, often saltedFresh corn off the cob about 1 cup per ear
Frozen Bell Pepper Strips
Fresh bell peppers 1:1, and they'll actually crispFrozen pepper-and-onion blend pull back the onion accordingly
Frozen Spinach
Fresh spinach roughly 4:1 by volume; a 1 lb bag wilts down to a 10 oz blockFrozen kale chewier, needs longer
Red Onion
Yellow onion milder cooked, none of the anthocyaninsWhite onion sharper raw, none of the anthocyaninsShallots sweeter and finer; about 3 small per onion
Garlic
Fresh cloves 1 tsp jarred = 1 clove
Smoked Paprika
Sweet paprika same color and body, none of the smoke
Bottled Lime Juice
Fresh limes 1 lime ≈ 2 tbsp
Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
Butter 1:1 for cooking; browns at a lower temperature, and it sets solid once coldRefined olive oil higher smoke point, less flavorAvocado oil neutral, very high smoke point
Pepitas
Sunflower seeds 1:1
Sea Salt
Kosher salt coarser, so more by volume; the ratio depends on the brandTable salt finer and denser; use about ¾ by volume

No close substitute for Cumin and Chili Powder.

What you'll need

Method

  1. Start the 1 cup185 g brown rice first: simmer it in 2 cups water, covered, until tender, about 40 minutes. When it’s tender, fold in a spoonful of the 3 tbsp46 g lime juice and a pinch of salt, to taste, for lime rice.
  2. While the rice cooks, thinly slice half the 1110 g onion and scrunch it with a splash of the lime juice and a pinch of salt. Leave it to soften into quick pickles.
  3. Toast the ¼ cup32 g pepitas in a dry skillet over medium until they pop and smell nutty, 2–3 minutes, then tip them out.
  4. Add the 2 tbsp27 g olive oil to the skillet. Dice the rest of the onion and cook it with the 1 cup149 g bell pepper until soft. Stir in the 3 tsp15 g garlic, 2 tsp4.2 g cumin, 2 tsp4.8 g chili powder, and 1 tsp2.2 g smoked paprika for 30 seconds, then add the 2 cans (15 oz)506 g black beans, drained and rinsed, 1½ cups218 g frozen corn, and 1 cup85 g frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry. Warm through, mashing a few beans to thicken, until the spinach is hot and broken up through the beans.
  5. Build bowls: lime rice, the spiced beans and corn, a tangle of the pickled onion, a squeeze of the last of the lime juice, and a scatter of the toasted pepitas.

Kids: build theirs before the pickled onion goes on — plain lime rice, corn, and beans is the easy win, with the sharp toppings on the side.

Dietary

  • Gluten free
  • Tree nut free
  • Peanut free
  • Soy free
  • Sesame free

Nutrition

Per serving · makes 4
Calories480Protein17gCarbs76gFiber15gSugars7.3gFat14gSaturated Fat2.3gSodium243mg
Vitamins & minerals
Iron5.8mgCalcium113mgPotassium988mgMagnesium197mgZinc3.0mgFolate170µgVitamin C60mgVitamin B120.0µgOmega-3 (ALA)0.05g
Estimated from pantry data, excluding Sea Salt (to taste).
Change log · 3 revisions
  1. 5 Aug 2026

    HeardThe bean step asked the spinach to wilt in — but this is frozen spinach, already thawed and squeezed. It has no wilting left to do, so there's no cue to cook toward.

    ChangedRewrote the finish as what actually happens: warm it until the spinach is hot and broken up through the beans.

  2. 24 Jul 2026

    HeardThe 30-minute time didn't account for the brown rice, which is the long pole in the recipe.

    ChangedCorrected the total time to a realistic 45 minutes, standardized the rice step to note it's about 40 minutes and starts first, and adjusted the summary's speed claim to match.

  3. 13 Jul 2026

    FoundThe top-rated black bean bowls all share a bright acidic top note and a green that ours lacked.

    ChangedAdded a quick lime-pickled onion that softens while the rice cooks and stirred spinach into the warm beans, plus toasted the pepitas, keeping it acid-forward and free of a creamy sauce so it stays distinct from the tahini grain bowl.

Report on this recipe

Cooked it and something was off — too bland, too thick, timing wrong?

MVP field manual · burrito-bowl