Before we had our daughter, one thing my husband and I were pretty obsessed over was burritos and burrito bowls for Qdoba, Pancheros, and Chipotle. Conveniently there was one right next to my work so I was a frequent visitor. A simple bean veggie burrito bowl was my GO-TO order. Since having my daughter and eating more plant-based, I decided to try and make it at home. This recipe is about as close as you can get without using real cheese and a pound of oil. Needless to say, we cleaned out our bowls.
This burrito bowl recipe is using my favorite toppings, and making it as pantry friendly as possible, so feel free to adapt the toppings as much or little as you’d like to make it yours. For quite some time I wasn’t able to eat guacamole so I wouldn’t have included it on mine, but luckily now I can eat it with no problems. We always store some single serve guacamole cups in the freezer so we can thaw and have fresh guac without worrying about overly ripe avocados sitting around. We also always have salsa in the fridge so it makes it super easy to throw this together.
What you’ll love about this Copycat Qdoba Vegan Burrito Bowl?
- It’s vegan. ‘Cheese’ sauce, guac, salsa, all the goods.
- Gluten-free! No worries if you can’t eat a burrito shell, this is thrown together in a bowl without the tortilla.
- ‘Garbage bowl’. That sounds awful, but it’s a clean out the fridge recipe. Don’t have bell pepper, but you have onion, fry that up. Brown rice instead of white rice? It works great. You can also skip the rice and make these into burritos with tortilla shells! The world is at your command.
- Delicious tex-mex at home. Skip going out to eat and throw this together in the time it takes to run to the store and get it!
How to make this vegan burrito bowl?
- Cut up the veggies and cook in a skillet. They should start to get soft and the onions will become translucent.
Related Recipes
Vegan Burrito Bowl, Qdoba Copycat
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked rice
- 1 can black beans
- 2 bell peppers, julienned mixed colors
- 1 small onion, julienned
- ½ tsp cumin powder
- ¼ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- guacamole
- salsa
- cheese sauce
- shredded letutce or romaine
Vegan Cheese Sauce
- ¾ cup plant milk
- 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 2 tbsp corn starch
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ⅛ tsp onion powder
- ⅛ tsp turmeric
- ⅛ tsp paprika
- ¼ tsp salt
Instructions
Make Fajitas
- In a skillet, add the bell pepper and onion. Heat over medium until the onions turn translucent. You do not need any oil or seasoning. It takes about 5-7 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent them from burning or sticking.
- Remove from heat.
Beans
- Rinse and drain can of black beans.
- In a microwave safe bowl, mix together the beans, paprika, cumin, and garlic powder.
- Mix well to incorporate spices, and heat for 30 seconds or until warm.
Make the cheese sauce
- Mix all ingredients together with a whisk in a small saucepan.
- Heat over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes until the sauce thickens. Be sure to stir or whisk it to prevent it from burning to the bottom of the pan or clumping up.
Assembly
- Start with ½ cup of rice on the bottom of the bowl.
- Add ¼ of the fajita veggies and beans to the bowl.
- Next spoon 2-3 tablespoons of the cheese sauce. Then top with guacamole, salsa (pico, corn, etc), and romaine if desired.
- Leftovers can be stored in the fridge in air tight containers for 2-3 days separately.