These quick and easy Chicken Taco Poblano Rice Bowls are perfect for dinner or to make ahead for meal prep! Made in a skillet, with diced chicken breast, poblano peppers, corn, pico de gallo and cheese.
Chicken Taco Poblano Rice Bowls
This healthy chicken taco rice bowl recipe takes boring chicken breast and makes it exciting with taco spices and veggies. They are served over brown rice instead of a tortillas. Great for dinner or to make ahead for meal prep. For more Mexican-inspired bowl recipes, try my Chipotle Chicken Bowls, Spicy Pork Brussels Bowls, Shrimp Fajita Bowls, and Quinoa Huevos Rancheros Bowls.
These chicken taco and rice bowls are ready in under thirty minutes and are very family-friendly since they are so customizable. Set out all the toppings, and your family members can skip any they don’t like. Plus, these bowls are great for meal prep. You can cook the chicken, veggies, and rice ahead of time and then assemble the bowls and top with the pico de gallo, cheese, and sour cream at dinner time. You can also put the chicken and rice in a glass container and the toppings in another one and take it with you for an easy lunch.
How to Make Taco Seasoning from Scratch
I season the chicken with my homemade taco seasoning blend. Of course, you could buy it, but it’s super simple to make homemade taco seasoning with spices you probably already have. And making it yourself is less processed, and you can control the amount of sodium. All you have to do is mix all the spices below in a small bowl:
- garlic powder
- cumin
- kosher salt
- chili powder
- sweet paprika
- dried oregano
How to Make Pico de Gallo from Scratch
Pico de gallo is a fresh tomato salsa that’s perfect on top of tacos, chips, and so much more. To make pico de gallo from scratch, combine chopped tomatoes, onion, and cilantro and season with lime juice and salt. You can also add some chopped jalapeno if you prefer it spicy.
Chicken Taco Bowl Tips and Variations:
- Sub the chicken for steak or ground meat.
- Swap the poblano pepper for bell pepper or jalapeño to make it spicy.
- Add black beans for more protein and fiber.
- Top your bowl with sliced avocado or guacamole.
- Add some hot sauce or fresh jalapenos for some extra spice.
- Switch out the brown rice for cauliflower rice for a low-carb bowl.
- Use my Cilantro Lime Rice or my cauliflower rice version as the base instead of brown rice.
To Meal Prep: Divide chicken and rice into four meal-prep containers. Pack the pico de gallo and toppings in a separate container. Keep covered and refrigerate up to four days. To reheat, microwave in 30-second intervals until heated through.
More Chicken Taco Recipes You’ll Love:
- Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos
- Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili
- Chicken Taco Chili Stuffed Peppers
- Crock Pot Chicken and Black Bean Taco Salad
- Grilled Chicken Tacos with Lettuce Slaw, Avocado, and Cotija
Chicken Taco Poblano Rice Bowls
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 pounds organic boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut 1/2 inch cubes, from 3 small
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 medium red onion, peeled and diced
- 1/4 cup cilantro, minced plus more for garnish
- 1 poblano pepper, seeded and diced
- 1 roma tomato, cored and diced
- 1 lime, halved
- taco seasoning, see below
- kosher salt
- 1 cup frozen or fresh corn kernels
- 3 cups cooked brown rice, heated (use cauliflower rice for low-carb)
- 1/4 cup cheddar-jack cheese
- 1/4 cup 2% sour cream or Greek yogurt, optional
Taco seasoning:
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
Instructions
- Dice the chicken into small pieces. Combine taco seasoning in a small bowl and set aside.
- To make the pico de gallo, set 3 tablespoons of the diced onion aside and place it in a bowl with tomato, cilantro, 2 teaspoons lime juice, 1/4 teaspoon salt. Set aside.
- Add oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add the chicken and cook until it starts to brown, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add the remaining onion, poblano pepper and taco seasoning to the skillet and cook until it softens, 2 to 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup water and corn. Cook 1 to 2 minutes then remove from heat.
- Divide rice in 4 bowls, top with chicken, cheese, pico de gallo and optional sour cream.
Amazing! The lime based pico de gallo
really brightens the dish and easy to make!! Thanks as always Gina!
So delicious! Takes a little more time than some of my other go-to SkinnyTaste recipes, but still do-able with a toddler running around. Could probably prep the pico in advance/day before.
This was so delicious! My teen daughter agreed! I can’t wait to have it again for lunch tomorrow.
Awesome!
I made this for lunch and served it on a fresh bed of greens from my garden. I used rotisserie chicken since I had some in the fridge. A I had a jalapeño instead of the poblano. It was delicious. I will be making this again. My husband really liked it as well. It took me a bit longer than I thought it would to make but it was worth it!
Prepared yesterday evening and had a portion for lunch today; it is DELICIOUS!! I’m not a fan of red onion but didn’t mind it for this dish! Will definitely be fixing again!
One of my favs! I make it almost every week for meal prep! It’s so good!
Chipotle who? This was absolutely delicious!! I paired it with your instant pot cilantro lime rice. Definitely saving to my make again list.
Thanks Michelle!
So delicious!!! I forgot to buy frozen corn and used canned corn as I had it on hand it was still very tasty! This will definitely be a staple recipe. Thank you!
Amazing recipe. I added red pepper strips, about 1/2 cup canned green enchilada sauce instead of water to bring it together along with 1/2 cup canned black beans. Garnished with sliced avocado!
I literally love this recipe sooo much!! I’ve made it using chicken, beef and shrimp-All were absolutely amazing and loved by everyone in my family! Thanks for this gem!
Yummy
I did sub out rice use Trader Joe’s Mexican cauliflower mix so I made burritos with half the recipe and was so delish… next batch I’m going to use black beans also… thanks Gina your a blessing
This was a winner for lunch prep this week. I love the idea of doing a poblano pepper, fresh flavor. I subbed bell pepper instead of onion just because I don’t like them. And I added black beans for some more protein. Great recipe that you can definitely make your own and heated up very well for lunch at work.
This was so delicious. My husband and I are both on Weight Watchers. This had enough flavor to satisfy us. I made it just as written.
This recipe is a winner! It’s a little time consuming, took me about an hour all together to chop/prep everything. However, it was worth it, the result was delicious. I’ve never made pico de gallo, but I will because it really adds flavor. Also, I’d never tried poblano peppers, but they added to the flavor I believe too. Thanks Gina for your recipes!
Absolutely loved this recipe! It is not your typical taco bowl! I think the red onion and poblano in place of regular onion and bell pepper really elevated the flavors. I almost skipped making the pico (thinking I’d sub out with store bought stuff) but do NOT skip this step! It was fantastic and the flavors came together so beautifully. As suggested, we topped our bowls with a little shredded cheese and some plain Greek yogurt. This will definitely be repeated!
Love this recipe!….skip the water otherwise you will be draining it and lose a lot of the seasoning flavor
I made a few changes but utilized basic recipe except that instead of plain water I added 1/4 c of tequila and 1/4 c of water. . But I did not put the corn into the chicken mixture. I serve the bowl as follows: a layer of brown rice, the chicken, a layer of shredded lettuce in which I arranged black beans, corn and chopped red pepper. I topped the bowl with a small amount of shredded cheddar cheese, some sour cream, some spicy toasted pumpkin seeds I had on hand, and a bit of crushed tortilla chips. Served with lime wedges. Delicious
This was a yummy surprise and a lick the bowl clean dish! A winner!
This was delicious. The only thing I didn’t do was add the 1/2 cup of water because it seemed like it would be too runny. I’ll definitely make again.
This is good! I’ll add it to my meal prep rotation. What would the carbs be if you don’t use rice?
Love this recipe, meal prepped for lunch this week! Any conversions on nutrient for cauliflower rice instead of brown rice? Thank you!
I would probably make this again, but there’s a bit I would change about it.
1. I already made the call to have two roma tomatoes instead of one
2. Double or triple the seasoning, it’s pretty bland otherwise
3. The chicken time the recipe provides is quite brief
4. Use fresh, thawed, or canned corn that’s drained. Adding water to the whole pot at the end makes everything too watery and more bland.
I think with those changes it would be a tastier mea. But the recipe is quite simple, so points there!
This recipe was an absolute flavor explosion and exceeded my expectations. Easy to make, delicious, this recipe is a keeper!
Just made this tonight. Definitely on my top 5 favorite Skinnytaste recipes! It was absolutely delicious! I had to make a few changes just due to what I had on hand. I used smoked paprika, chipotle chili powder, Italian herbs instead of Oregano, and fresh garlic rather than powder. Next time, I may add a little bit of avocado on sauce too! So delicious either way!
Hi? What would calories be if cauliflower rice instead of brown rice?
This was a huge hit with all 5 in my household. That RARELY happens!! Thanks so much ♥️
I’ve been trying to eat better, and I’ve lost 15 lbs!!! Recipes like this one save me from having to make two different dinners—-ORR eat salad while watching them eat happy meals!!! 🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌
Way to go Stephanie!!! Congrats! So glad everyone enjoyed this!
This was delicious and super healthy! I used store bought pico, skipped the onion and poblano, and added avocado! I also seasoned the chicken with half the taco seasoning before cooking. Absolutely yummy!
My family loves this recipe. We eat it with the cilantro lime rice recipe instead of brown rice. We also add black beans to the skillet at same time as the corn, to add extra fibre, and nutrition. Excellent!
We make this recipe every week in our household and it is a hit. Easy to make, cheap and super healthy
Thank you for the recipe. How is the calorie effect if using cauliflower rice in place of regular rice
Hi – I am getting ready to food prep for the week with this recipe. What is the point difference if you swap the rice for riced cauliflower? Thx
Made this tonight and it was delicious. Thanks for the great recipe!
Very yummy and filling! I added spinach to the bowls, too.
This was so good and easy!
How much of the rice and chicken in a serving? Sorry, if I’m missing that somewhere.
Made this as is, but ate it for dinner instead of meal prep. Everyone loved it! My husband went back for seconds!
I LOVED this recipe. I made cauliflower rice on the side and only had a tiny bit of brown rice as I’m trying to cut down on my carbs. So yummy!!!!!!
This looks delicious, and I really want to try it! But re: poblano peppers, I’m nervous – the past few times I’ve used them, they were SO spicy. (And yes, they were poblano peppers and not jalapenos.) I was dicing roast poblanos when my three-year-old asked for a cup of water. I stopped and gave him a cup of water, but then he started crying because the edge of the cup that I had touched was burning his mouth! Is there a reliable way to be sure the peppers aren’t spicy before you buy them?
You could try a bell pepper instead of a poblano? Red ones are usually pretty sweet.
Great rice bowl! Very flavorful and colorful.
OMG. Amazing! I decided to put a beef roast in crock pot with the taco seasoning. Fixed rest of ingredients on stove. Adding the cooked beef Wow. Ate on our rice with the pico! Wow!
I just made this. And oh my! It was absolutely delicious. Will be my new go to for meal prepping. Thank you for the incredible recipe.
I made this two weeks ago for my husband and his first reaction was “can we have this every day?”. We LOVED it and will be making it again and again.
Awesome!
This was dinner tonight. This was so seriously delicious that it was hard to believe that it was so healthy!! It’s definitely going into my favourites! You knocked this one out of the park!
OMG, so um, I totally cheated on this recipe but it was still so good. First, used store bought low sodium taco seasoning as well as store bought pre-made pico, and frozen brown rice. I sprinkled some taco seasoning on the chicken and then grilled it. Once it was cooked I cut it up and started in the pan. I added a cup of frozen corn with some pico juice, a can of black beans (rinsed), the water and the rest of the seasoning. Finally I added the pico but not the juice.
I’m sure it isn’t the same, but it was so very delicious anyway. I have horrible osteoarthritis in my knees so I needed the quickest method possible. I might try this again with steak. And if I use chicken again I think I might shred it instead.
This recipe is great for a week-night when you are pressed for time yet it could also be the main course at a dinner party! It is super fast and for a dinner party it will free you from being tied to the kitchen so you can enjoy spending more time with your guests! You could have it prepared in advance and just assemble the bowls before serving. My daughter wanted to leave out the onion and sour cream and it was still amazing but I can see where both of those ingredients would add a lot in terms of flavor!
This is sooo good!! I just want to know what the aercing size is 🙂
I added black beans and made your cilantro lime rice with it (hubby’s favorite). He said “definitely a repeat” which means this was a big win! I’m going to do with brown rice for my meal prep at work next week.
I didn’t do this as meal prep, but made for dinner. It was outstanding! I had to make a substitution of a jalapeno instead of a poblano because my store was out of poblano peppers. Only other change I made was instead of water, I used the juice from the other half of my lime. Really amazing flavor!!
My husband meal prepped these for us last night and I was so happy at lunch today!!! I can’t wait to eat this for the next couple of days. He said it was an easy meal prep and I say it is absolutely delicious! HIGHLY RECOMMEND!
This is delicious! I subbed 1 lb ground turkey for the chicken but otherwise followed as written. Great recipe!
Awesome!
What’s the best way to freeze this for meal prep – just leave out pico, cheese and sour cream?
yes exactly!
WW Blue Points if using cauliflower rice?
By my calculation, using cauliflower rice and Cabot 50% cheese, serving is 2 blue points
Do you roast and peel your poblano peppers before you chop them up in this recipe
Nope
I made this last night and it’s another winner! – I doubled the pico de gallo, and added black beans. It came together so quickly. This will be going into our regular rotation! So delicious! Thank you
Adding black beans is a great idea! Thanks for sharing!
This sounds so simple and delicious! I happen to have one lonely poblano in my fridge and some leftover rice I need to use up. I’m so making this! 🙂
Thank you! I have always been a fan of your recipes, meal plans, and I bought the meal planner last year. This summer I was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease, something my mother passed away from. Your recipes are some easy to adapt to a kidney-friendly diet—a little less salt, a little less tomato! This is lunch today!
This was so good and super easy. I made this last night and I added some sliced avocado to the final product.
Hi – the link for Quinoa Huevos Rancheros Bowls points to the shrimp bowls. 🙂
Looks delicious! What size are the glass containers in your photos?
36 oz I believe