Mexican Christmas Chicken Burrito

Filled With Joy!

My Mexican Christmas Chicken Burrito is a true joy to eat. It is filled with citrus marinated grilled chicken, spicy lime rice, refried pinto beans and cheese. I top my wet burrito with red chili sauce and roasted green chili verde salsa for a true burrito feast.

Start by reconstituting dry, seeded ancho and guajillo chiles.

Marinate thin chicken cutlets in spices with lemon and lime zest and juice.

After chiles have been reconstituted, they are blended with onion, garlic, jalapeno and cooked over medium heat with a can of chicken broth.

The green chili consist of roasted tomatillos, onion, garlic, jalapeno, poblano peppers and cilantro. Then blended until finely chopped. 

Chicken breast is cooked about 4-5 minutes on each side depending upon thickness and allowed to rest 5 minutes before cutting.

Place chicken in the center of a warmed burrito shell.

Top burrito with your favorite toppings, I chose refried beans, Spanish rice and cheese.

Fold in both sides of burrito.

 Fold over bottom of burrito to reach as far up as it will go without smashing the burrito filling.

Finally roll burrito over and you have a neatly rolled burrito and none of the burrito goodness will leak out.

Top burrito half with salsa verde and the other have with red chili sauce for a true Mexican Christmas burrito.

Top with extra cheese, shredded romaine lettuce, guacamole and tomatoes. Enjoy

Mexican Christmas Chicken Burrito

Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings: 4-6

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 tbsp. chile powder
1 tbsp. Mexican oregano
1/2 tbsp. garlic powder
1/2 tbsp. onion powder
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. salt
1 lemon, zested, juiced
1 lime, zested, juiced
3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
burrito shells
red chile sauce (recipe below)
green salsa verde (recipe below)
refried beans (recipe below)
lime rice (recipe below)

For the Roasted Green Chile Salsa Verde:

3 poblano peppers, roasted and skin removed
1 1/2 lb tomatillos, roasted
1/2  white onion, roasted
3 cloves of garlic, roasted
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1 jalapeno pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil 

For the Red Chile Sauce:

3 dry ancho chiles. seeded
3 dry guajillo chiles, seeded
1 small can of chicken broth
1/2 c. water
1 can hot tomato sauce
1/2 tsp. sugar

1/4 tsp. salt  

3 cloves garlic

1 poblano, fresh 
1/2 white onion 
1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil 

For the Quick Spanish Rice:

2 c. rice
2 1/2 c. chicken broth
1 small can of tomato sauce
1 lime, zested and juiced

For the Quick "Refried" Beans

1 small can of pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 white onion
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder

For the Toppings:

chopped lettuce
tomatoes
cheese
guacamole
sour cream
diced tomatoes

Directions:

To prepare the Red Chili Sauce, coat with olive oil and roast poblanos, garlic and onion until poblano is blackened on both sides. Remove from oven and cover with a kitchen towel for about 5 minutes. 

Reconstitute ancho and guajillo chiles by removing stem, pouring out seeds and in a small stock pot cover dry chiles with water, bring to a boil and let sit for about 30 minutes until soft and pliable. 

Add reconstituted chiles, poblano, onion, and garlic to a blender, blend well. Take vegetable paste and add to a small stock pot. Pour in chicken broth, sugar, water and salt and whisk well. 

Cook for about 5 minutes. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve, discarding pulp. Add hot tomato sauce and bring to a simmer. Cook for about 5 minutes more. 

To prepare Green Chili Sauce, remove husk from tomatillos and rinse well. Rinse poblanos and add tomatillos, poblanos, jalapeno, onion and garlic in a roasting pan and coat with 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and salt.

Broil vegetables turning during roasting until skin is blackened on both sides. Allow roasted vegetables to sit under a kitchen towel to steam for about 5 minutes.

Remove skin from poblanos and discard stem. Slice poblanos to remove seeds. Do not rinse roasted peppers or they will lose their flavor. Add all ingredients to blender, blend well.

To prepare the Spanish Rice bring chicken broth, tomato sauce and lime zest and juice to a boil in a small sauce pan. Add rice, stir, cover and cook approximately 15-17 minutes.

Remove from heat and allow rice to steam for about 5 more minutes, fluff with fork.

To prepare the beans, place all items in a blender and blend until creamy. Add to pot and heat until cooked about 5 minutes.

To prepare the burrito, slice boneless skinless chicken breast into cutlets. Place cutlets in a large bowl, add all spices, lemon and lime zest and juice.  Add 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and mix well. Marinate in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

In a hot grill pan add olive oil and grill chicken for about 4-5 minutes on each side until no longer pink. Allow chicken to rest for 5 minutes before slicing.

Add sliced chicken into the middle of a warm burrito shell, top with beans, rice, cheese and roll burrito up using my burrito tutorial. Top  half  of burrito with red sauce the other half with green sauce then garnish with more cheese, shredded lettuce, guacamole and diced tomatoes. Enjoy