Slow Cooker Burrito Bowls
These vegetarian slow cooker burrito bowls are SO easy to make, no pre-cooking required! Serve hot with your choice of toppings – I like cheese and avocado!
My veggie burrito bowls are still one of the most popular recipes on this blog, even now, 3 years later. Not to blow my own trumpet or anything (except that I totally am), but I still get pretty regular comments about how much people enjoy the recipe. That’s how I know you guys are my soul mates – anything with spicy black beans, covered in melted cheese, you love about as much as I do.
I’m hoping that you’re also as lazy as I am (read: pretty damn lazy), because I thought it was time to revamp my old burrito bowl recipe into a version that’s even easier, even quicker to prepare, and just as delicious (the italics make it extra true). That’s right, I bring you slow cooker burrito bowls! Huzzah!
The basic process is this:
1. Put some ingredients in the slow cooker. You don’t need to pre-cook anything, because that would be rubbish. Mix it around a bit.
2. Turn it on (this really does need to be a step all on its own, otherwise this list of processes would just be far too short).
3. Wait for three hours. Take a bath or drink a bottle of wine or something.
4. Top the burrito bowls with grated cheese, avocado, sour cream, or whatever else tickles your fancy (this is the fun bit).
5. Eat (…okay, maybe this is the fun bit).
See? Really couldn’t be any easier. You’ve got your beans, your veggies, your rice – all cooked together in one big yummy mix. Feel free to swap around the veggies depending on what you have in the fridge, add a bit more hot sauce if you like things spicy, use different spices to put your own spin on it. The slow cooker burrito bowl is your oyster.
I kept my toppings pretty simple – some grated cheddar, fresh coriander (that’s cilantro, and it’s a must in my book), a dollop of sour cream, and some sliced avocado. You can add whatever toppings you fancy though, of course. Mexican food (even knock-off, untraditional Mexican food like this) has so many options when it comes to toppings, so go crazy. Salsa, guacamole, jalapeños, spring onions, a squeeze of lime… toppings for daaaays.
What would you pile up on top of your slow cooker burrito bowl?
Slow Cooker Burrito Bowls
If you’ve cooked this recipe, don’t forget to leave a star rating!
Print Pin Comment(if you suffer from allergies, please double check all ingredients before eating)
Ingredients
- 1 onion, diced or thinly sliced
- 1 bell pepper (I used yellow), diced
- 1 mild red chilli, finely chopped
- 400 g tin black beans, drained (240g, or ~ 1 1/4 cups, when drained)
- 215 g uncooked brown rice (~ 1 cup)
- 400 g tin chopped tomatoes (~ 1 1/2 cups)
- 150 ml water (~ 1/2 cup)
- 1 tbsp chipotle hot sauce (or other favourite hot sauce)
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- Salt
- Black pepper
- To serve, your choice of: grated cheese, fresh coriander (cilantro), chopped spring onions, sliced avocado, sour cream, guacamole, etc.
Instructions
- Add all the burrito bowl ingredients (not toppings) to a slow cooker – mine is 4.7 litres / 4 quarts. Mix well.
- Cook on low for around 3 hours, or until the rice is cooked *see note below*.
- Serve hot with your choice of toppings.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on your exact ingredients. Please calculate your own nutritional values if you require accuracy for health reasons.
Love a Mexican-style dinner made in the slow cooker? You’ll love my slow cooker enchilada chilli:
I make this at minimum once a week. It’s literally SO easy and delicious and I love that you can just save and heat up the leftovers for easy lunches. My boyfriend is a super finicky eater and commented “I could eat just this every day for the rest of my life!”
Yay! I’m so happy you and your boyfriend both enjoy these :D Thanks for the lovely comment, brightened up my morning!
Came out perfectly and so yummy! Thanks again!
Thanks BB! :)
I have now made this recipe twice in the last two weeks. It’s great and super easy. The only difference was because I don’t have an electric slow cooker, I used a cast iron Dutch oven and slow cooked it on the stove instead. It worked fine except I had to triple the water in the recipe. I also was able to fry off the veggies and spices before adding the rice and liquid and I added the coriander stalks along with the veggies just because I hate throwing food out (I don’t know if it made a difference to the taste but I felt very virtuous, so that’s something!).
Thanks Belinda, really pleased you like this recipe! :)
My rice didn’t cook! Left it on for 5 hours and it’s still hard :( any recommendations?
Oh how strange, sorry about that! Was there plenty of liquid in the bowl? Perhaps your tinned tomatoes were less wet than mine, or something? I’d just add a tiny dash more water and keep cooking it until it’s done to be honest!
Oh I just saw that you cooked it for an extra 2 hours. Really strange! As long as there’s a little liquid in the bowl and the heat was on, it should have cooked in 5 hours!! Maybe try it on high next time?
I have had this same problem with other slow cooker recipes using rice. Not sure what the issues is.
How strange! I have absolutely no idea why your rice wouldn’t be cooking… maybe your slow cooker doesn’t get quite as hot as mine? I can’t really think of any other explanation!
Oh wow! This looks and sounds so yummy, I have to try it :)
So good. Made this last night. So easy! It barely felt like cooking haha.
I was lazy and used the tin of kidney beans instead of preparing the dried black beans. Still worked well! Very tasty, got three thumbs up from the boys.
Definitely going on the rotation! Thanks :)
Hehe yes it’s barely cooking – but that’s the best kind of cooking ;) I didn’t use dried beans either so no judgement here!
I have made this twice this month already! We’ve used it in tacos, burritos, and as a base for Tempeh Picadillo. Delicious!
Oh you’re quick! So glad you liked them! :D
This recipe seems great – delicious ingredients and easy prep! I just have one question: how many people does this recipe feed? I’m planning to cook this for about 15 people. The plan is to have sour cream, guac, and queso on the side while providing tortillas so everyone can make their own! Any insight will be helpful :)
-Reny
Update: Spoke too soon. I noticed it says it yields for 3-4. What’s the size of the crock pot you’re using, though? I believe mine is a 4 quart. Would I be able to double or triple the quantities and be alright?
Hi Reny, I think mine is 4.7 litres, which looks like it is around 4 quarts. To be honest I’m not sure you could cook enough for 15 people in a slow cooker that size – it would be full right to the top, and I’m not sure how evenly the rice would cook. It might take longer too – I wouldn’t want to promise that it would work if you scaled up the recipe so dramatically.
You might be better off making a stove-top version like this, since you can watch it more closely and can be more sure that it will cook evenly.
Or, an even better idea might be to make a simple chilli in your slow cooker rather than burrito bowls – you could still have all your toppings on the side, but serve the rice separately too. Without the bulky rice taking up space in the slow cooker, you’re more likely to be able to cook enough for 15 people in the slow cooker. Try this one :)
Thank you!! Those are both great ideas.
-Reny
Love the idea that the burritos are made in a slow cooker! They look so good!
I seem to use my slow cooker way more in the winter then the summer. I like to make soup when it is cold and if its rainy it’s a bonus! We are having a cold snap here in Maryland (USA) so I am using it right now and your black bean soup recipe is in it (with a few minor changes for things I did not have on hand or added lol)! I am going to try this recipe later this week, I think I can get the whole family on board for this one.
Ooh I hope you enjoy the soup! I use mine more in the winter too, but I’m lazy all year round, so it definitely gets some use even when it’s warmer out ;)