Did you know you can repurpose cooked chicken in more ways than you could ever freaking IMAGINE? Don’t be afraid that it’s already cooked. It doesn’t mean it will easily overcook when reheated, especially using dark meat. I’m shredding both chicken thighs off of some leftover rotisserie chicken to cook in a chipotle tomato stew that I’ve coined as quick tinga chicken. The smokey flavors mixed with the tomato base and broth make the chicken extra juicy. We’re making burrito bowls tonight, topped with our quick chicken tinga, cilantro lime rice, corn, black beans, avocado slices, and tomato wedges. To finish our bowls off we’re drizzling over all of the sour cream your heart desires and some lime wedges. You can make this for a weekend lunch or weeknight dinner, either way, it takes less than twenty minutes to feed the whole family.

We made this as a part of a test to utilize a whole rotisserie chicken.

To see how they stack up, read on here:
Four Recipes and One Rotisserie Chicken. Let’s Make Lunch!

You can see the other three chicken recipes here:

Rotisserie Chicken Noodle Soup
Chicken Pesto Pasta Salad
Chicken Caesar Salad Lettuce Wrap

This is one of those recipes that you use leftovers in your fridge, so if you don’t have it, use what you got. A jar of jalapeños? Perfect! Last night’s roasted zucchini or asparagus? Toss it in! Don’t worry if you are missing any of these ingredients because there is always a substitute.

Mexican food is usually one of my go-to cuisines when it comes to leftovers and burrito bowls especially when I have leftover takeout white rice. Those restaurants would always send so much white rice with your order and I’d spend so much time asking myself what I can do with this rice besides stir fries! This cilantro lime technique is foolproof and will make you think twice before throwing that leftover rice away next time. All you have to do is toss the leftover rice with a little lime juice, lime zest and chopped cilantro for the base of our burrito bowls. Citrus and herbs are all you need to make miracles happen when repurposing leftovers. You should see how tasty rice gets tossed with pesto or chimichurri.

Sometimes I think I never used to make burrito bowls because I could buy a delicious one at Chipotle, but I now know they are ultimately better when made from scratch at home. Know that you are not limited by the ingredients in this recipe only the ingredients you have in the kitchen. Try making this with broiled fish, seared steak, leftover beans, leftover vegetables, or even tofu.