Zucchini Spanish Rice Burrito Bowls with Chicken & Mushrooms

These gluten free Zucchini Spanish Rice Burrito Bowls with Chicken & Mushrooms give a savory, veggie-full twist to comfort food in a bowl!

As we get closer to summer here, how about some comfort food you can make entirely on the stove top without heating up the whole oven? Even in the spring, I still have some nights where I’m all about the comfort food. Today’s Zucchini Spanish Rice Burrito Bowls with Chicken & Mushrooms recipe slots nicely into that savory sweet spot.

So here’s what inspired this Spanish rice burrito bowls recipe: While searching for something else a while ago, I serendipitously ran across a Spanish rice with zucchini recipe over at Epicurious. Their recipe isn’t really how I make Spanish rice at all, or even what I think of when I think of Spanish rice, but I quite liked the idea of letting some zucchini quick steam cook in at the end to help keep it crisp-tender rather than mushy.

So in today’s recipe, I used their zucchini cooking method along with my own Spanish rice recipe — and then, I also threw on some cheese and cooked up some juicy, flavorful chicken and mushrooms to top everything off. Because burrito bowls, they are always the bomb.

Zucchini Spanish Rice Burrito Bowls with Chicken & Mushrooms

Ingredients

– for the zucchini Spanish rice

1 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp diced yellow onion
2 tsp minced garlic (about 4 cloves)
1 cup uncooked rice
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup salsa
1 medium zucchini, chopped into small pieces
1 cup shredded cheddar

– for the chicken and mushrooms

2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast, trimmed & halved lengthwise
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp seasoned salt
8 oz baby bella mushrooms, chopped

Directions

– Start the rice cooking

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat for one minute. Stir in onion and cook for 3 minutes, then add garlic and cook for another 30 seconds. Stir in the rice and spices and continue to cook over medium heat, stirring often, for a couple of minutes until rice begins to brown.

Stir in chicken broth and salsa and bring to a boil. Cover the skillet, reduce heat to medium low, and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until liquid has been mostly absorbed.

– While the rice is cooking

Chop the zucchini into about quarter inch pieces and set it aside.

Prepare your chicken and mushrooms. Trim the chicken and slice it in half lengthwise, then heat 1.5 Tbsp of olive oil in a 12″ cast iron skillet over medium-high heat for one minute.

Season the chicken with chili powder, oregano, cumin, garlic powder, and seasoned salt. Cook the seasoned chicken over medium-high heat for about five minutes a side, or until cooked through. Remove the cooked chicken to a separate cutting board, then cut it into strips once it’s cooled off a bit.

While the chicken is browning, chop your mushrooms.

After removing the chicken from the pan, reduce heat to medium and add 1/2 Tbsp olive oil. Add the chopped mushrooms to that same skillet and cook for seven minutes, stirring occasionally and scraping up browned bits from the bottom, or until mushrooms have browned and softened.

– Once the rice is done

Once the liquid has been absorbed by the rice, remove the lid and stir in zucchini. Spread the rice and zucchini mixture back out across the bottom of the pan.

Top the rice evenly with cheese, replace the lid, and let the pan stand covered off of the heat for five minutes until cheese is melted and zucchini is tender.

Serve your zucchini Spanish rice topped with the cooked chicken strips and mushrooms.

Note: This chicken, by the way? If you’re not feeling burrito bowls today, you can also use the same seasonings & cooking method to make chicken strips for taco salad and more. So flavorful, you guys!

So much chicken burrito bowl yum!

The little bites of zucchini steam up just perfectly at the end of the cooking time, leaving them nicely crisp-tender — and, you get so much flavor from the seasoned chicken on top of the Spanish rice! This is also a great meal prep recipe to divide up for lunches at the beginning of the week; it keeps and reheats quite well (although the zucchini will lose some of its texture on reheating).

Zucchini Spanish rice burrito bowls are naturally gluten free. 

Zucchini Spanish Rice Burrito Bowls with Chicken & Mushrooms, printable recipe

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Zucchini Spanish Rice Burrito Bowls with Chicken & Mushrooms

These gluten free Zucchini Spanish Rice Burrito Bowls with Chicken & Mushrooms give a savory, veggie-full twist to comfort food in a bowl!

Course dinner

Keyword burrito bowls, chicken, chicken burrito bowls, gluten free, spanish rice, zucchini

Cook Time 45 minutes

Servings 6

Author Rachel Singer

Ingredients

– for the zucchini Spanish rice

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 Tbsp diced yellow onion
• 2 tsp minced garlic about 4 cloves
• 1 cup uncooked rice
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 cup salsa
• 1 medium zucchini chopped into small pieces
• 1 cup shredded cheddar

– for the chicken and mushrooms

• 2 Tbsp olive oil divided
• 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast trimmed & halved lengthwise
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp seasoned salt
• 8 oz baby bella mushrooms chopped

Instructions

– Start the rice cooking

• Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat for one minute. Stir in onion and cook for 3 minutes, then add garlic and cook for another 30 seconds. Stir in the rice and spices and continue to cook over medium heat, stirring often, for a couple of minutes until rice begins to brown.
• Stir in chicken broth and salsa and bring to a boil. Cover the skillet, reduce heat to medium low, and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until liquid has been mostly absorbed.

– While the rice is cooking

• Chop the zucchini into about quarter inch pieces and set it aside.
• Prepare your chicken and mushrooms. Trim the chicken and slice it in half lengthwise, then heat 1.5 Tbsp of olive oil in a 12″ cast iron skillet over medium-high heat for one minute.
• Season the chicken with chili powder, oregano, cumin, garlic powder, and seasoned salt. Cook the seasoned chicken over medium-high heat for about five minutes a side, or until cooked through. Remove the cooked chicken to a separate cutting board, then cut it into strips once it’s cooled off a bit.
• While the chicken is browning, chop your mushrooms.
• After removing the chicken from the pan, reduce heat to medium and add 1/2 Tbsp olive oil. Add the chopped mushrooms to that same skillet and cook for seven minutes, stirring occasionally and scraping up browned bits from the bottom, or until mushrooms have browned and softened.

– Once the rice is done

• Once the liquid has been absorbed by the rice, remove the lid and stir in zucchini. Spread the rice and zucchini mixture back out across the bottom of the pan.
• Top the rice evenly with cheese, replace the lid, and let the pan stand covered off of the heat for five minutes until cheese is melted and zucchini is tender.
• Serve your zucchini Spanish rice topped with the cooked chicken strips and mushrooms.

Notes

This chicken, by the way? If you’re not feeling burrito bowls today, you can also use the same seasonings & cooking method to make chicken strips for taco salad and more. So flavorful, you guys!

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