How to Make Copycat Chipotle Bowls on a Budget
Taking your family out to eat is expensive these days. Luckily, Nicole shows you in this video how to make Chipotle’s iconic chicken, cilantro lime rice, and honey vinaigrette at-home and without breaking the bank!
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00:00It's just gotten too expensive to eat out,
00:01and Chipotle's one of the popular places,
00:03and I just cannot afford to take my family to eat there.
00:06So we are going to create the Chipotle bowl experience
00:08at home for way less money.
00:11Oh yeah.
00:14Mm, juicy.
00:17I'm gonna show you the three most popular items
00:18that you can recreate,
00:19and they are going to be exactly the same,
00:22if not a little bit better,
00:23probably a little bit better, than the OG.
00:26What?
00:27Probably a little better.
00:29I'm giving you copycat Chipotle chicken,
00:32cilantro lime rice, and the Chipotle honey vinaigrette.
00:36And a couple bonus items along the way.
00:38Yesterday, I had to do a little research.
00:41If I'm trying to recreate, I've gotta do my research.
00:44I got the chicken burrito bowl.
00:45I like that they use thigh meat.
00:47It's just simple.
00:48Clean, simple, but expensive.
00:50Don't taste that much Chipotle.
00:52I would like a little more kick.
00:54I think I can do you one better.
00:55Let me get to my research.
00:58That bowl, which was a really hearty portion,
01:00was over 13 bucks.
01:02These groceries are roughly about the same amount.
01:06We can do this on a budget.
01:07I'm gonna start with the chicken and get it marinating.
01:10I mean, if my family of five went to Chipotle,
01:13we're looking, I just got garlic in my hair.
01:17Close, you know, at least 80 bucks probably,
01:19because you don't get chips with your meal.
01:21You don't get drinks with your meal.
01:23We've got drinks at home, and we've got tequila at home.
01:26I'm using the boneless, skinless chicken thigh for this.
01:29That's what they use.
01:30It's cheaper, and it's a lot harder
01:33to mess this up and overcook it.
01:35Then, straight into the bag, the garlic.
01:38I'm going to go in with two peppers.
01:41A little bit spicy, but it adds
01:42this kind of rich smokiness that I just love.
01:45Couple tablespoons of the sauce,
01:48and then a few tablespoons of oil.
01:49They use, like, neutral oil in most everything they have.
01:52Cumin, I need some cumin.
01:54I bet it's down the way.
01:56Laura, is your cumin down, is it down?
01:58Probably.
02:05All right, in with some cumin.
02:07It's also going to add a little smoky, earthy note.
02:10Some dried oregano, a little bit of salt and pepper.
02:14Now, a couple tablespoons of just white vinegar, and...
02:20Where's my honey?
02:21Laura, do you know where my honey is?
02:23Any honey?
02:24Oh, right here.
02:26How dare people put it where it goes.
02:30Grow up.
02:33Safety.
02:35I've wanted to use that for so long.
02:36Anywho, our chicken and our marinade
02:39in one beautiful package.
02:41And then just get it all up in there.
02:45You can just look at that and see the flavor in there.
02:47This, you want to marinate for at least a few hours,
02:50ideally overnight.
02:52We'll get the rice going.
02:53The rice is a cilantro lime rice.
02:57It's not that strong in flavor.
02:58It does have that kind of hint of acidity.
03:00There's not much cilantro in there,
03:02so I might be adding more cilantro in my bowl.
03:04All right, come over here.
03:05This is my foolproof way to cook rice
03:08if you don't want sticky, gummy rice.
03:11So I'm just gonna add in a little bit of olive oil.
03:14And I like to saute my rice.
03:17When the oil coats each grain of rice,
03:19it keeps it from sticking together.
03:21Now they're all gonna stay separated and fluffy.
03:25I'll also go ahead and salt it at this point.
03:28Okay, once you kind of see all those grains
03:30are coated with oil,
03:31they start to become a little less opaque,
03:33and that's when we add in our water.
03:35I've got one and a half cups of rice in there
03:37to three cups of water.
03:39And the only other thing they add is a bay leaf.
03:42Just give it a stir and bring it up to a boil.
03:44And then at the very end when it's done
03:46is when we stir in our lemon, our lime, and our cilantro.
03:50See how easy?
03:51We wouldn't have even made it to the restaurant by now.
03:55Chipotle honey vinaigrette is one of their
03:58biggest copycat recipes I remember seeing a ton of
04:02because you can mix it with sour cream
04:03and make even a more special sauce.
04:05Here's their version.
04:06And then I'm gonna create the copycat.
04:09This was a little sweeter than I remember.
04:10A little thicker.
04:11This predominantly tastes like honey.
04:13I wanna get more of all the other flavors in here.
04:16So I'm going in with those chipotles again
04:18with a tablespoon of the sauce.
04:21This is also what's gonna give it that good color.
04:24One clove of garlic.
04:26Teaspoon of dried oregano.
04:28Two tablespoons of honey.
04:30And then six tablespoons of red wine vinegar.
04:33Half a teaspoon of cumin.
04:35And then a little bit of salt and pepper to taste.
04:38Okay, and that's everything.
04:39And now I will drizzle the oil in as I whip this up.
04:45Let's give her a taste.
04:49Yes.
04:49This is gonna be good on our bowls,
04:51but you can also just keep this on hand
04:53for your other salads.
04:54Drizzle it on some sandwiches.
04:55Drizzle it on some grilled chicken or something.
04:58Just going to add it to a little jar.
05:00All we gotta do is cook our chicken and build our bowls.
05:02See how easy this is?
05:05Rice is done.
05:06Here's what it looks like.
05:08Wah!
05:10Did I fog you up?
05:11I'm just going to fluff it up with a fork.
05:13Let me chop up my cilantro.
05:15Okay, and then I'm gonna do the juice of one lime.
05:20And then a little bit of lemon.
05:22I'm gonna stir in my cilantro.
05:24It's about to come together beautifully.
05:26The rest of this is customizable.
05:28Whatever you like.
05:29In my bowl, I like to add the fajita peppers and onions.
05:32I'm just gonna whip those up real quick,
05:33as well as guacamole.
05:35I got two avocados for the same price
05:39to add one serving of guacamole onto your bowl.
05:42Cooking this chicken is super easy.
05:44I like to do it in a cast iron skillet,
05:46and then I'm gonna place the chicken thighs
05:48topside down, and you're just gonna leave them.
05:51We're gonna cook this undisturbed.
05:53Just leave it alone, crank it up.
05:56Shall we go get a cocktail while we wait?
05:58So I'm not tempted to mess it up.
06:04Although, don't try this at home.
06:06Don't walk away from your stove.
06:07I will not be responsible for your house fire.
06:10Bye.
06:13What about a Corona Sunrise?
06:17Sound good?
06:18I don't know if you can get beer at Chipotle,
06:19but you can't get tequila.
06:21You can't get margaritas.
06:23You have to drink some first.
06:28Add in some tequila.
06:30I don't know, that was too much.
06:32I don't know how much you're supposed to do.
06:33I'm going two limes now for the sunrise.
06:38Cheers.
06:41Mm, delightful.
06:42Okay, let's check on that chicken.
06:47Uh-huh, oh yeah.
06:49All that honey making that crust.
06:53What I like to do is now move it to the oven
06:55at 350 until it's cooked through.
06:58Are y'all excited?
06:59Oh, y'all, look at this.
07:03That is $7.70 chicken.
07:08Let it rest to keep those juices in.
07:10We're slicing it up, building our bowls.
07:12It's about to get real good.
07:14You're really gonna see the value of what you just did.
07:19Juicy.
07:22I mean, I don't understand when people say
07:24they don't like the thigh meat.
07:26That's where the flavor is.
07:28And look how much chicken.
07:29I mean, they probably give you like half a thigh.
07:32We're getting like six whole huge chicken thighs
07:35for $7.50.
07:37Here's how I make my perfect bowl.
07:40Down with the rice, some beans.
07:42Let's go in with our chicken next.
07:45The peppers and the onions.
07:46Cheese and sour cream.
07:48Fresh pico, our guacamole, our sour cream,
07:51our special vinny.
07:53And then I'm gonna do a little cilantro.
07:56Y'all, she is pretty.
07:59And she weighs a lot.
08:00Now, they gave you a hearty portion.
08:02This is definitely a hearty portion.
08:04And I have enough left to make everybody here a bowl.
08:09Let me make y'all a bowl.
08:14Oh, what's that you say?
08:15You want double meat?
08:16Sure.
08:17And that'll be no extra charge.
08:18Look at that.
08:19They all get extra meat.
08:20And I still have meat left over.
08:22Just keeps growing.
08:23And I'm not being skimpy, in case you can't tell.
08:26Vinegar up.
08:27This looks good.
08:29Boom, boom.
08:31Yes, I feel like I just won a competition.
08:34Since I have the original fresh on my mind
08:36from yesterday's actual purchase.
08:39Let's see how I did.
08:41Mm, mm, you're gonna love this.
08:4515 out of 10.
08:46Chipotle bowls at home are just gonna be way better,
08:49way cheaper, and way more fun.
08:51I hope you'll give one of these copycat recipes a try.
08:54I'll be happy to go up against the original any day.
08:57This thing, let's see how much this weighs,
08:59just for funsies.
09:00Okay, the bowl weighs 1.3 ounces.
09:04You're getting a full pound and a half of food
09:07in each bowl, and that's good.
09:10Oh my God.
09:12It's heavy.