These burritos are the stuff that foodie dreams were made of, especially if you’re a Mexican food freak like me. Mexican food often makes it onto my weekly meal planner and always hits the spot for me. It’s incredibly versatile, such as, today’s recipe can be made vegetarian at the drop of a hat. This is probably my most favourite burrito filling that I’ve made in a long time.
Pan fried chicken thighs, black beans, spring onions, sweet red pepper and quinoa in a mildly spicy tomato-based sauce all wrapped up in a soft tortilla wrap, yum! The sweetness from the red pepper and tomato sauce works so well with the savoury flavours from the black beans. A lot of burrito recipes call for the use of the of rice in the filling. Instead, I’ve opted to use superfood quinoa which is as filling and wholesome. It’s a lovely healthy twist that makes these burritos even more nutritionally dense!
- 6 skinless chicken thighs on the bone
- 2 cups cooked quinoa
- 1 red pepper , diced
- 3 spring onions , sliced
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 packet of taco seasoning
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 500 ml passata
- 1 1/2 cups precooked black beans
- 8 tortilla wraps
- fresh coriander to garnish
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Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
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In a large roasting pan, add the chicken thighs and season. Cook for 15-20 minutes until cooked through, use a Thermapen Thermometer to check that you the chicken is cooked – it should read 74°C. Allow to cool slightly before removing the skin from the bone and cutting into chunks.
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While the chicken thighs are cooking, heat some oil in a pan and cook the spring onions for 2 minutes before adding the garlic and red pepper. Cook for another 5 minutes.
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Next pour in the passata, taco seasoning, smoked paprika and black beans. Simmer on a low heat for 10 minutes.
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Add the cooked quinoa and chicken to the pan and cook for another 5 minutes to warm through.
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Serve and enjoy!
I slow roasted my chicken thighs first in the oven on the bone to ensure that they remained succulent and full of flavour. To ensure that they were cooked to the right temperature I used my trusty Thermapen Mk4 digital thermometer. It’s super easy to use and incredibly accurate, making sure that you are cooking your meat to the right temperature and safely. This particular model has a smart automatic backlight that can detect when it’s dark, perfect for low light conditions.
The tender chicken thighs take those Mexican flavours to the next level, however, these burritos are equally delicious without the chicken too. It’s very easy to make them vegetarian by omitting the chicken and adding in more vegetables and beans. I think a mix of black beans, cannellini beans and red kidney beans works well in Mexican food, like on my Three Bean Mexican Tortilla Pizza.
What I love about Mexican food is that it’s very social. You can just place the burrito filling in a pan on the table along with your favourite accompaniments (guacamole and salsa for me!) and tortilla wraps and let everyone dive in and help themselves. Making these great for a casual dinner party with friends or a fun meal for the family.
DO YOU LOVE MEXICAN FOOD? IF NOT, WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE CUISINE? WHAT IS IT THAT YOU LOVE ABOUT IT?
*Recipe commissioned by Thermapen, but all opinions are my own.
How yummy! I love using beans to amp up the fibre and protein in my meals.
Same here Claire, they’re such an easy way to get more fibre and protein into your meals.
This looks delicious! I was just thinking yesterday that I need to do a Mexican meal this week and now I think I know what I’ll be cooking…
Aww thank you. I hope you like them if you give them a go!
i LOVE Mexican food – i eat guacamole as much as humanly possible as it just goes with nearly everything!
Haha! I’m a guac monster too! 🙂
I really like the sounds of adding quinoa to your chicken burritos. So often I’m hungry shortly after eating Mexican but quinoa will keep those hunger pangs at bay for a while longer.
Absolutely, it’s an added source of protein and works really well.
Your photos are fab…I could eat that right now!! ahah xx
Ah, and you used my favorite <3 smoked paprika!!
It’s the best! 🙂
I honestly can’t get enough of burritos at the moment. There is so much that you can do with them, and I am LOVING this filling idea.
They’re so versatile aren’t they – pretty much anything goes! 🙂
OMG, this is the best!! I have never thought about quinoa in burritos, but now I am obsessed.
It’s a lovely twist to get more protein in.
This looks amazing, although I have to admit I am not a huge fan of Quinoa. Maybe your recipe will convert me!
Wow I love Mexican food, chicken and burritos so this is a winning dish for sure.
Thanks Gloria!
I had to look up what passata was after reading your recipe. I feel like I learned something now.
I love Mexican food and this is another awesome recipe from your bucket. Have pinned it for my reference. Thanks for sharing it with us! 🙂
Thank you so much! Love that you are enjoying my recipes.
These look so delicious – we love tortilla wraps and nachos in our house 🙂 Kaz x
Thank you!
Mexican food is the BEST! Social, versatile, full of flavour and healthy too! (Most of the time 😛 ) These burritos looks incredible, especially being packed with quinoa which is my all-time-favourite grain. Love that you used chicken thighs, they take on so much more flavour than other cuts and stay way juicier too!
I much prefer chicken thighs to the breast, much more flavour like you say.
Mexican food and pregnancy go hand in hand although I’m not a huge fan of quinoa, might try them with an alternative cause they look delish ????
I swapped the quinoa for rice, which would also work just as well. 🙂
Wow — these look so yummy!! I love your photography too — really beautiful pics! They’re making me hungry!! 🙂
Ooh I love Mexican food, and that’s a really interesting twist adding quinoa instead of rice to the burrito – I might have to try it! Xx
That looks very scrummy, I am off to Pin it!
Thank you! 🙂