30 minutes of time and minimal dishes is all you need to prepare the week’s lunch. These tasty Meal Prep burrito bowls are something to look forward to every day.
I’ll say this until I’m blue in the face: Meal prep is a billion times more effective than willpower alone when you want to eat a healthy diet! How likely are you to order or go through the drive-through or eat cereal for lunch when you’re angry and pressed for time during your lunch hour?
If you have something delicious ready and waiting for you in the fridge, the temptation to eat unhealthy has practically vanished. It feels so good to nourish your body. I have dozens of meal prep recipes to choose from on my website to keep it interesting. Find all recipes for preparing healthy meals here.
Ingredients and Substitutions
Romaine lettuce – it doesn’t have to be Romaine but choose a green leaf that will keep its shape for a while in the fridge. No baby lettuce or soft leaf lettuce like butter lettuce. They will wilt and start to taste weed after just a day or two. Your best options are Romaine, Kale and Iceberg. You can also use shredded cabbage or some sort of ready-made slaw mix.
Minced meat – Any ground beef works in this recipe. Beef, lamb, pork, turkey, chicken. Choose your favourite. If you want to make it vegetarian you can use lentils instead.
Black beans My favorite in these meal prep burrito bowls are black beans, but of course, pinto beans or pinto beans work great too. You can use canned or home cooked. My favorite way to cooking the beans is in the Instant Pot.
Corn – The sweetness that corn gives to the dish is unbeatable but if you don’t like corn you can simply omit it or add some peas.
Tomatoes – tomatoes are nice and refreshing but red pepper works great too. Roma tomatoes or tomatoes on the vine work best.
Condiments – excellent toppings are red onion, jalapeño and cilantro because they offer an excellent contrast of color, crunchiness and flavor. You can also use any other types of onions, chilies, and herbs, or omit any or all of them.
Spices – the spices used for the meat are those typically used in spice blends labeled as a taco seasoning. You can use 2 teaspoons of taco seasoning or make your own mix. I make my own because I can control how spicy I like it.
Get dressed – Meal prep bowls need a dressing, otherwise the lettuce will be pretty dry. Be sure to keep the dressing separate until just before serving. The dressed lettuce will wilt. I like to keep it simple with just the oil, lime, salt, and pepper, but you can make a fancier dressing if you like. Here you are 6 healthy salad dressings that would be an alternative.
How to make burrito bowls for meal prep
Wash, dry and chop all your vegetables. Make sure your lettuce is super dry after washing. If you add it moist enough to a meal prep container, it will wilt much faster.
Cook the meat with all the spices and then let it cool to room temperature. If you add hot ingredients to the lettuce, the lettuce will wilt and become all mushy.
Make a dressing but keep it separate, again so your lettuce doesn’t wilt.
Build your own burrito bowl. You can keep the ingredients separate and mix before eating or you can also simply mix them all in a large bowl and then add 1/4 of them to each container.
Frequent questions
All animal and plant proteins keep safe in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. That’s why you’ll mostly find meal prep recipes for 4 servings only. That doesn’t mean that meal prep burrito bowls will be poisonous on day 5, however, your risk of food poisoning simply increases.
If you only have one day a week to prepare all of your lunches for the entire week, I recommend making 4 bowls that fit in the fridge and 3-4 bowls that are freezer safe so you can freeze them. These Chipotle Chickpea Meal Prep Bowls are perfect for freezing.
Burrito bowls are nutritionally balanced because they contain protein, carbohydrates, healthy fats, and lots of fiber. A fabulous lunch that will keep you full and fed.
My meal prep burrito bowls are made with all clean ingredients. If clean eating is your jam, check out mine clean eating for beginners guide.
Burrito bowls for meal prep
Print Recipe
Pin Recipe
ingredients
- 1 head of romaine lettuce
- 4 tomatoes on the vine
- 1/4 cup chopped red onion
- 1 jalapeno pepper
- 2 cups cooked black beans
- 1 1/3 cup cooked corn
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 cup avocado oil
- 2 limes
- sea salt
- pepper
- cilantro for garnish
Instructions
-
Preheat a large skillet over medium heat and once hot add a drizzle of avocado oil and then brown the ground beef. Break up the meat with a wooden spatula and add sea salt and pepper to taste and all the spices. Be sure to stir and break constantly so the steam doesn’t get trapped, or else your meat will cook in its own juices instead of browning well. Once the meat is cooked, set it aside to cool.
-
Finely slice, wash and dry the lettuce. Cut the tomatoes into cubes. Finely chop the red onion. Peel the Jalapeño and chop it finely. Shelve.
-
Prepare the dressing by whisking 1/4 cup avocado oil, the juice of both limes, and sea salt and pepper until the dressing is pale and creamy.
-
Build your burrito bowl by adding 1/4 of the sliced lettuce, 1 diced tomato, 1/2 cup of black beans, 1/3 cup of corn, 1/4 of the cooked and cooled ground beef, and top it all with a some chopped red onion, chopped Jalapeño and a few coriander leaves.
-
Store the bowls and dressing separately in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. To serve, add 1/4 of the dressing to the bowl and mix together.
