This cauliflower rice burrito bowl is just as good as one from Chipotle, but it's totally different. Plant-based ingredients make it refreshing and fun!
This cauliflower rice burrito bowl delivers all the best parts of a Chipotle burrito bowl – fajita veggies, cilantro lime flavor, plenty of black beans and avocado – and skips the worst part (aka the food coma that comes when you’re done). To make it lighter, I swap seasoned cauliflower rice for regular rice. Then, instead of piling it with cheese or sour cream, I finish it with a creamy cashew green chile sauce. The combination is light, bright, and downright fun. I can’t get enough of it!
Cauliflower Rice Burrito Bowl Components
Here’s what’s you’ll need to make this healthy cauliflower rice burrito bowl:
- Cauliflower rice: You can buy frozen cauliflower rice at the store (looking at you, Trader Joe), but luckily, it’s also super easy to make in the food processor! Homemade broccoli rice would be great here too.
- Black Beans: An essential burrito bowl component! Use canned beans, or cook your own.
- Fajita Veggies: Instead of the typical bell peppers and onions, I use a spicy mix of leeks and poblanos.
- Mango: It adds a surprising sweet pop of flavor to this spicy, savory bowl. Use plain diced mango, or try homemade mango or pineapple salsa.
- Diced Avocado: Obviously, guacamole would be great here too.
- Creamy Green Chile Sauce: This yummy sauce is a mixture of vegan cashew cream and green chiles. I promise that you’re going to drizzle it over everything you eat for the rest of the week!
Top it all with fresh cilantro and a squeeze of lime, and serve with margaritas to drink!
Cauliflower Rice Bowl Variations
Feel free to make your cauliflower rice burrito bowl your own! Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Use regular rice. For a heartier bowl, use a 50/50 mix of cauliflower rice and white or brown rice, or make cilantro lime rice.
- Skip the fruit. For a more traditional bowl, replace the mango with diced tomato or pico de gallo. Cubed roasted sweet potato or butternut squash would be great too!
- Add a pickle. Top your cauliflower rice bowl with pickled red onions or jalapeños for a pop of bright flavor.
- Switch the sauce. So many delicious sauces could jazz up this bowl! Swap the green chile cashew sauce for creamy chipotle sauce or cilantro lime dressing, or add dollops of cashew sour cream and tomatillo salsa verde.
Let me know what variations you try!
More Meatless Mexican-Inspired Recipes
If you love these cauliflower rice bowls, try one of these Mexican-inspired recipes next:
- Vegetarian Tacos
- Vegan Jackfruit Tacos
- Homemade Taquitos
- Easy Fajitas
- Vegetarian Black Bean Enchiladas
- Best Breakfast Burrito
Then, head to this post to find more of my favorite rice bowl recipes!
Cauliflower Rice Burrito Bowl
- 1 cup raw cashews*
- ¾ cup water
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 2 tablespoons canned mild green chiles
- ⅓ cup cilantro
- 1 garlic clove
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 3 corn tortillas, sliced into strips
- 1 recipe Seasoned Cauliflower Rice
- 2 leeks, white and light green parts, rinsed well & sliced
- 2 poblano peppers, stem, seeds and ribs removed, thinly sliced
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 cup cooked black beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 ripe mangoes, cubed
- 1 avocado, diced
- ½ cup chopped cilantro
- lime wedges, for serving
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Make the cashew cream. In a blender, combine the cashews, water, lime juice, green chilis, cilantro, garlic, and salt. Blend until creamy.
- Make the burrito bowls. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the tortilla strips on the baking sheet and toss with a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt. Bake for 10 minutes or until crispy. Remove from the oven and set aside.
- In a medium skillet, heat 1 teaspoon of olive oil over medium heat. Sauté the leeks and poblanos with generous pinches of salt and pepper. Cook until soft for 7 to 10 minutes, and then add the minced garlic and oregano. Stir, cook for 1 minute, then add a squeeze of lime and remove from heat.
- Assemble the burrito bowls with the cauliflower rice, poblano mixture, black beans, mango, avocado, and cilantro. Drizzle with the cashew cream and top with the crispy tortilla strips. Serve with lime wedges and additional cashew cream.
Thank you for this recipe – it was a total winner! Whole family loved it. We used the leftover cashew cream on a green salad the next day – YUM! Your blog/recipes have been fabulous, as I now need to cook gluten & dairy free for my daughter. Just ordered your book! Can’t wait to read through it.
I made a few minor adjustments to recipe: only used 1 poblano b/c one family member doesn’t like things too spicy; added a cup of cooked quinoa to the cauliflower rice (we have not had cauliflower rice yet, so wasn’t sure what they would think). Didn’t use oregano b/c I didn’t have any. I also topped with some grilled chicken. AMAZING!
Hi Lucy – I’m so glad these were a hit!! I hope you enjoy the book too 🙂
Great recipe! My husband is a picky meat eater and wouldn’t stop talking how good this dish was. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Yay, I’m so glad!! Thanks for coming back to comment!
I love Cauliflower rice and am always looking for creative ways to eat it for dinner. Can’t go wrong with some avocado and black beans for a healthy, weeknight meal combo!
I made this Sunday night for my in-laws who are not even vegetarian. Everyone was happy!
Yay – I’m so glad everyone like it!
I made this last night for my in-laws who are not vegetarian. Everyone was happy.
This looks awesome…here’s how we do chicken at home… http://aleandtere.com/easy-chicken-recipe/
Made this tonight, SO freaking good! Every recipe of yours that I’ve tried has been delicious, but I have to say this is my favorite so far. Very, very good, thank you!
Hi Cassie, so sorry for my slow reply – I’m so happy you’ve been enjoying the recipes!
Hi Jeanine! Not too big on green chiles – is there a sub you’d recommend, or can they just be left out?
Hi Kelli, you can just leave them out. Maybe add more lime, to taste, if it’s not tangy enough.
Thanks for the speedy reply! Will do.
Just wanted to report back and say that adding more lime in place of the chiles worked out great. The cashew cream is SO good and I’ve been using the rest of it on my lunches all week.
Just made this for dinner. Can be served warm or cold. It tastes good either way. I’m trying to convince my family to eat a more plant-based diet and recipes like this are definitely doing the job. Thank you so much for creating and posting this delicious recipe!
I made this for dinner tonight and it will definitely be in regular rotation in the future. I recently switched my diet to be primarily plant based and your site and new cookbook have made every meal so delicious.
I haven’t been able to find raw cashews at my local grocery store – is there a big difference if I use roasted unsalted cashews in recipes like this? I haven’t made a cashew cream before tonight.
Hi Kelly, I’m so happy to hear that!
The difference is that the sauce with raw cashews won’t taste like cashews at all – they just have a neutral creamy flavor when blended. Roasted cashews will make the sauce have more of a cashew-like taste.
Yum!! I love the idea of using cauliflower rice!
Made it for supper tonight. It was yummy! Didn’t change a thing except oranges instead of mangoes. Since mangoes at store were hard 🙁 Otherwise so good..
My three year old LOVES rice but it’s so hard to get her to eat veggies. Cauliflower rice to the rescue! Thank you!!
This looks sooo good! I heard so much about cauliflower rice but i’ve never tried it. I really need to do it as soon as possible! Thanks for sharing this recipe!!
X Jenny
http://www.fitandsparklinglife.com
I tried this recipe last night! I have to admit I was HIGHLY skeptical of the cauliflower rice, but I gave it a shot and it was fantastic! Filling and tasty and didn’t feel at all like I was depriving myself. My husband has already requested it again. Thanks so much for sharing this!
Hi Arielle – I’m so glad to hear that it was a hit!
Of course you’d come up with the ultimate burrito bowl! Absolutely love this version. Also So true what you say about Austin. I’m from the area and also went to UT, and I miss the Mexican food and how common tacos, salsa, tortillas, etc are in the culture of shops, restaurants and markets there. Gotta make it all myself here in Switzerland. 😉 So I always appreciate your recipe inspiration!
thanks Katie!!
I just made a burrito bowl for lunch today and I was thinking, with all this rice it’s still kind-of carb heavy. This is the perfect solution. Thanks!
great minds think alike 🙂
Yum yum!! Just the thing to entice my son into giving burritos bowls a try! One of his favorite places to eat is at Chipolte…I think I’ll start him on the rice instead of cauliflower rice thought 😉 Thank you for sharing. Love your blog!
thanks Danielle! This would be so delicious with regular rice, I hope he likes the bowls!
Cinco de Mayo is when the Mexicans defeated Napoleon’s forces. All the same, as a devotee of Mexican cuisine in a town with none, I am having Cinco de Mayo this year for two dozen French friends (it falls on a French holiday)–bygones are bygones as long as the food is good.
This looks so healthy and delicious! I am making it my goal to start making incredible lunches like this from now on!