I love ordering burrito bowls at restaurants but also appreciate that burrito bowls (and especially vegetarian burrito bowsl!) are a super easy meal to make yourself. I have just one problem: as a college freshman, I don’t really have a kitchen.
Technically, there is a kitchen in my freshman dorm building…on a different floor…and the stove kind of works…if you have 20 minutes to wait for a pot of water to boil. While I do absolutely love cooking, I’ve avoided the dorm kitchen as much as possible this year.
So, I came up with an easy way to make a vegetarian burrito bowl without doing any actual cooking or even leaving my dorm room. I thought I’d share in case you’re in the same dorm room boat, are cooking for one, or don’t enjoy making complicated meals!
To make my vegetarian burrito bowl, I used this timesaver: pre-cooked frozen brown rice! If I had a fully-stocked kitchen, I’d probably make my own rice, but this little shortcut saves time AND keeps me from having to wash an extra pot.
You could also use leftover brown rice from another meal, if you have anything, for this simple recipe.
There are lots of possible variations, but here’s what I do for my single-serving bowl:
I prepare the brown rice in a microwave-safe bowl and then mix in black beans, a spoonful of salsa, a sprinkle of shredded cheese, and the secret ingredient: plain Greek yogurt. It adds so much creaminess.
Then, I microwave the bowl for about a minute, stir the mixture up, top it with some avocado slices, and voila! My 5-minute vegetarian burrito bowl is ready.
I kept my toppings and mix-ins pretty simple since my refrigerator is the size of a shoebox, but there are lots of possible variations.
You could also add sautéd veggies, shredded chicken, tofu, corn, or pico de gallo, or drizzle your bowl with salsa verde or enchilada sauce, or top your burrito bowl with guacamole instead of sliced avocado. Instead of black beans, you could even use pinto or refried beans. Hope you enjoy!
If you try this vegetarian burrito bowl recipe, let me know in a comment or take a photo and tag me @livbane on Instagram. I’d love to see!
5-Minute Vegetarian Burrito Bowl
Ingredients
- 1 cup cooked brown rice (I used Trader Joe's frozen pre-cooked brown rice)
- 1/2 cup black beans, drained and rinsed
- 2-3 tablespoons salsa, or to taste
- 1 tablespoon plain Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon shredded cheddar or Mexican-blend cheese
Toppings:
- Diced avocado, diced tomato, guacamole, pico de gallo, etc.
Instructions
- Prepare brown rice according to package instructions.
- In a microwave-safe bowl, combine rice, black beans, salsa, plain Greek yogurt, and shredded cheese. Microwave on high for 30-60 seconds, or until heated through.
- Top with diced avocado, diced tomato, guacamole, pico de gallo, or other desired toppings.
Nutrition
Oh yum!! This is all I want. Plus, I love that it is lazy girl friendly : )
I almost named it Lazy Girl Burrito Bowl haha!
Ha! When I read that title I thought there must be some kind of trick behind it. But nope! It really is a 5 minute burrito bowl! Thanks for the recipe! 🙂
Haha no trick! I almost felt silly posting this as a recipe, but I figured it might give other Mexican-lovers an idea for an super quick meal 🙂
Yummm this looks amazing! I usually go to Chipotle or get nachos from this place called Freebirds up here in SB. If you ever are in the area, I MUST bring you there ;). Anywho, it does get expensive so I LOVE the idea of being able to make delicious and healthy burrito bowls a home! And girl. I use that exact same brown rice practically almost every day. Such a huge time saver for me!
I would LOVE to visit Santa Barbra and get nachos at Freebirds! (Oh, and see you too. 😉 ) I love that Trader Joe’s sells recipe shortcuts like this brown rice!
Yum! I adore Chipotle and I’m all for easy dorm options. I’m in the same boat; technically I have access to a kitchen in my dorm… but it’s not really all that functional. And it’s usually not the cleanest. This looks like the perfect solution!
Oh girl, our dorm kitchen is grody. I’ve seen raw chicken being cut up straight on the counter, eeek!
Looks yummy and healthy. I pinned it to try later. thanks for sharing
Thanks for pinning, Eva! 🙂
I LOVE how easy this recipe is! You are a genius! Do you feel like as a student any extra time HAS to be spent studying? That is one of the biggest challenges for me as a student- there is always more study I could potentially be doing!
It’s so hard “cooking” in a college dorm and I’m so impressed with how you create all these recipes even with those obstacles! This looks amazing, especially knowing your kitchen limitations 🙂 I totally wish I had done the same in college!
Thanks, Liz! I love making quick little meals in my dorm room when I can just to have something homemade. And I’ll be getting some real homemade food when I go home TOMORROW!! 😀
This is great!! Thanks! 🙂
Glad you enjoyed it, Miki!
Sharing with my college daughters! Tip: try the “Cuban style” canned black beans from Trader Joe’s – it will be even yummier!
Those sound delicious! Thanks for the tip!
Thanks this was great. Made it today for lunch and added some sauteed peppers and onion.
So glad to hear you enjoyed it! Your additions sound delicious!
This sounds delicious, but I have one question. Can you taste the greek yogurt?
I am not a fan of greek yogurt, and almost 100% of the time I can not stand the smell of it 🙁
Hi Olivia! Great name 🙂 If you’re not a fan of the Greek yogurt, you can sub sour cream or just leave it out!
I am a vegetarian and love to eat this dish!
Hi! Can I substitute Greek yogurt for a dairy free alternative? Do you have any suggestions that you think work well? Thank you, this bowl is a life-saver in some cases, you know;)
You definitely can! I like cashew milk yogurt and almond milk yogurt! Both the Kite Hill brand and Forager brand are great.
Thanks so much for your timely answer!
I forgot to ask for the shredded cheese, too. I want to veganise this for myself as a vegan student and this bowl seems just perfect for an easy but filling meal:) can I switch for a dairy free cheese? I’ll try it soon!
You can definitely swap for dairy-free shredded cheese or just omit the cheese altogether 🙂
This was great! I’m going to use a variation of this recipe for a cooking for one class for seniors on a fixed income. It’s flavorful, most of the ingredients are low cost pantry staples, and, batch cooking brown rice and storing leftovers is even cheaper than minute rice (though I completely understand why pre cooked rice was used here). Even the Greek yogurt can be used in many different recipes, as can the avocados (or, they can be omitted). While I opted for fresh salsa (I cheated on that one, lol) jarred salsa would have been good, too. Thank you so much for sharing.