Easy Mexican Rice Bowl Recipe

When you need to make something tasty for a busy weeknight dinner, try this easy Mexican rice bowl recipe. You can even use leftover rice or chicken if you want or buy all the ingredients at Aldi for an inexpensive and delicious Mexican dinner. Full of fresh ingredients and to make a healthy meal your family will love.

You might also like this low carb burrito bowl recipe.

My family loves Mexican food so we eat it at least once a week. I make burritos, quesadillas, enchiladas and even tortilla soup in the slow cooker. It’s just delicious food to us and it’s rather inexpensive as well.

Today I wanted to make a Mexican rice bowl because my son has started eat at Chipotle’s and I thought he would like it. I made some cilantro lime rice for the base and bought some delicious marinated chicken from Aldi that we threw on the grill.

Then came the fun part.Everyone customized their bowls with their favorite toppings. I bought everything from Aldi so I can make this meal just about every week if I want! It’s a quick, easy and delicious dinner for us.

Recipe ingredients I used.

Below you can most of the delicious yet simple ingredients I used – marinated chicken breast, white rice, cilantro, fresh lime juice, canned black beans, frozen corn kernels, cheddar cheese, fresh salsa, sour cream, avocado and fresh jalapeno peppers.

And while I used chicken you can use other meats and protein for this dish. I have a great Mexican marinated shrimp recipe or you can use flank steak, taco meat or even tofu.

You can also use pico de Gallo as they have that Aldi too but my hubby prefers the fresh type of salsa. You could also just use chopped fresh tomatoes. As I mentioned above you can use leftover rice and leftover cooked chicken if you have that on hand too.

I made white long grain rice and added some fresh lime juice, zest and cilantro leaves after it was finished. If you use leftover rice just add the cilantro and lime (if using) after you heat it up. Also you can use cooked brown rice if you wish. 

I also bought this delicious cilantro lime marinated chicken from Aldi. I always have a package in the freezer because we use this in burritos, quesadillas, on salads or just eat it as is. It has a ton of flavor so I highly recommend it.

I also like it because you don’t have to mess with and spices or seasonings because the marinade has it all. You can also use rotisserie chicken or pan fry some for this recipe.

How to make a Mexican rice bowl.

Step 1: If using the Aldi marinated chicken, get it cooking on the grill or use a grill pan on the stove and cook according to the directions on the package.

Step 2: To make the cilantro lime rice recipe you can just make rice according to the package, then when it’s done, quickly add the lime juice, lime zest and chopped cilantro.

Mix it around well and then serve it in a big bowl or spoon it into individual bowls.

Step 3: When the chicken is done, chop it into bite sized pieces and place in a bowl or plate for everyone to use.

Step 4: Now just gather all the toppings you want and place them in bowls for everyone to add to their rice bowls.

We used our favorite ingredients which are shredded cheddar cheese, black beans from a can, frozen corn, fresh salsa, avocados, sour cream and fresh jalapeno slices. I have a list of toppings you can use below.c

Step 5: Create your own rice bowl anyway you want. Below you can see how we ate them. Note I had to heat up the frozen corn and canned beans in the microwave as well as chop our toppings of choice but you can do all this as the chicken and rice cooks.

Store leftovers in airtight containers and there will be no meal prep for the next day! Please scroll down for the printable recipe card.

And that is all there is to these easy Mexican rice bowls. We really liked them and is one of our favorite dishes. I made extras so we could eat them for lunch the next day.

Other ways to eat this.

You can eat this as a warm rice bowl like we did. Or you can also serve all of this in bowls along with large burrito tortillas. That way everyone can make either version they want – a bowl or burrito.

Another idea is to eat this cold. Serve everything over chopped Romaine lettuce along with your favorite dressing. You can also eat this without lettuce and make it a cold rice salad. Again use a dressing and mix together well.

Here are few good homemade salad dressings to try.

Lastly you can eliminate the meat and just make it a vegetarian bowl. The beans are a good substitute for meat in this dish. 

Topping ideas for your rice bowl.

Below you can see what we used for toppings and again I bought everything from Aldi.

Other topping ideas are sliced black olives, red onion, green onion, chopped tomatoes, pinto beans, chili beans, Mexican cheese like cotija, hot sauce, sautéed bell peppers and onions, cooked shrimp or beef, ground beef or turkey with taco seasoning, guacamole, etc.

More easy and tasty Mexican recipes to try.

As I mentioned above we eat Mexican food quite often so I have a lot of low carb and regular Mexican recipes on this blog. Here are few of my favorite recipes.

• shredded chicken enchiladas, chicken burrito casserole or oven quesadillas
• slow cooker tortilla soup or enchilada soup
• Mexican meatloaf and salsa slow cooker chicken
• Mexican street corn salad, bean salad and spicy corn side dish
• Instant pot burrito lasagna or slow cooker chili

Well I hope you enjoy this easy Mexican bowl recipe. It’s very simple but really tasty and sure to be a family favorite. You get all the veggies, protein and starch in one dish so it’s a very healthy dish as well. Enjoy.