Chicken Burrito with Pico de Gallo

cutting burrito in half after cooking in skillet for five minutes

5 from 2 votes

Chicken Burrito with Pico de Gallo

Pico de Gallo is the ultimate secret weapon when it comes to burritos! It will make any burrito taste fresh, vibrant, and off-the-charts satisfying.

Prep Time15

Cook Time15

Servings:

Calories: 420kcal

Author: Mexican Please

Ingredients

1 cooked chicken breast
1 cup shredded cheese (I used Jack)
2-3 cups cooked white rice
3-4 burrito-sized flour tortillas

For the Pico de Gallo:

2 plum tomatoes
1/2 small onion
1 jalapeno
15-20 sprigs cilantro
juice of 1 lime
1/4 teaspoon salt (plus more to taste)

Instructions

If you want to make rice from scratch for your burritos, start with a single cup of uncooked white rice. Add the rice to a saucepan along with a glug of oil. Let the rice cook over medium heat until it's turning opaque and light brown in color, stirring occasionally. Add 1.5 cups water (or stock) along with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and let cook until all the liquid is absorbed. Turn off heat and let sit covered for a few minutes. For this batch I added a squeeze of lime and some leftover chopped cilantro to the cooked rice.
For the Pico de Gallo, start by giving the tomatoes, jalapeno, and cilantro a good rinse, then de-stemming the tomatoes and removing the bottom portion of the cilantro stems. Finely chop the tomatoes, onion, jalapeno and cilantro, adding it to a mixing bowl along with the juice of 1 lime and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Feel free to use less jalapeno for a milder version. Combine well and take a final taste for seasoning, adding more salt and lime if you want. Tip: I usually twist off and discard the bottom, thicker portion of the cilantro stems, but use the upper stems that hold the leaves together.
I cooked a single chicken breast for this batch using this simple chicken recipe. Basically you are just seasoning a chopped chicken breast and cooking it off with some onion. It's a great all purpose technique for tacos, burritos, tostadas, etc. -- but feel free to cook the chicken as you see fit as you'll be getting most of your flavor from the fresh Pico de Gallo :)
For this batch I also shredded a heaping cup of Jack cheese.
To build the burritos I usually start by warming up the tortilla in a skillet over medium heat, this makes them easier to roll. Each burrito gets cooked white rice, cheese, cooked chicken pieces, and plenty of Pico de Gallo. Roll tight. Cook your rolled burritos in a dry skillet over medium heat for 1-2 minutes per side -- this will crisp them up and melt the cheese. Tip: freshly chopped Pico always has some liquid in the bowl -- try not to add too much of this liquid to your burritos or it will sog them up. You can either drain the Pico a bit or just use a fork to pile it into the burritos.
Serve immediately. Feel free to add a few drops of hot sauce to each bite (I use Valentina). And I will sometimes even add some Salsa de Aguacate to each bite. Enjoy!

Notes

This recipe will make enough for 3 loaded burritos, or 4 smaller burritos.

Nutrition