Burrito-Bowl Meal Prep
One easy batch cook that fills four containers with everything you’d order at the burrito counter — seasoned chicken, rice, black beans, peppers, corn and salsa — boxed and waiting so a good lunch is just a lid away. Around 560 calories and 46 grams of protein per bowl, the macros already counted. This is the prep I keep on rotation when I want days of real, satisfying food and zero fuss after work.
Prep 01 / Boxed
There was a stretch a few years back when I’d finish at the gym, sit in the car, and drive straight to the burrito place on the corner before I’d even thought about it. Same order every time — bowl, double chicken, beans, rice, the lot. I told myself it was fine, it was mostly good food, and it mostly was. But it was costing me a small fortune, the portions wandered all over the place, and on the nights they were heavy-handed with the rice I’d eat half a day’s calories standing at the counter without meaning to. I’m a man who likes to know his numbers, love, and that bowl was a mystery every single time.
So one Sunday I just made it myself. Same flavours, same comfort, but cooked in one batch and split into four boxes that I knew, down to the gram, what was in them. Seasoned chicken, a pot of rice, black beans warmed with a little cumin, charred peppers and corn, a good spoon of salsa. It took me about three-quarters of an hour, cost a fraction of four trips to the counter, and meant that for the rest of the week a proper, satisfying lunch was sitting in the fridge with the maths already done.
I’ve made this for half the people I train with since. The ones who swore they couldn’t meal-prep because prep food is boring — they didn’t find this boring, because it doesn’t taste like prep, it tastes like the bowl you’d queue for. That’s the whole idea. You’re not eating sad fridge food for four days. You’re eating something you actually want, made calmly on a quiet afternoon. I’ve got you on this one.
01Who it’s for & when to eat it
This is built for the person who wants a good lunch waiting all week without thinking about it after a long day. Cook once on a quiet afternoon, eat for days, every bowl already counted. Here’s how I steer the four boxes depending on what you’re chasing.
Lean on the protein
Keep the chicken and beans exactly as they are and trim the rice down to a half scoop per bowl. You hold the full 46g of protein and a big pile of peppers and corn for satiety, and the calories drop toward 460. Volume stays high; that’s what keeps you full on a cut.
Build the bowl up
Same protein, more around it. A bigger scoop of rice, an extra spoon of beans, and half an avocado sliced on top just before you eat. You’ll clear 750+ calories per bowl with the same lean base — full, satisfying, easy to get down on a busy day.
Steady fuel
Four even bowls across the week spread the protein and energy out nicely. Lean chicken, a fist of rice and beans, and a good hit of veg in each box is a calm, dependable way to fuel normal working days without a big evening overshoot.
Timing: I usually eat one of these for lunch, but it sits just as happily as a post-training dinner — the chicken, rice and beans land well either side of a session. Eat it cold from the box if you’re short on time, or warm it through; both work.
02Ingredients
Makes 4 bowls, each landing near 46g protein and about 560 calories. Want a full week? Multiply every line by the days you’re prepping and keep the proportions the same — the method doesn’t change.
Per bowl ~46g protein · adjust on the live recipe card- Chicken breast, skinless700 g · 1.5 lb
- White rice, dry200 g · 7.1 oz
- Black beans, cooked / canned drained400 g · 14 oz
- Bell peppers, sliced300 g · 10.6 oz
- Sweetcorn, kernels200 g · 7.1 oz
- Salsa chunky, jarred or fresh240 g · 8.5 oz
- Olive oil1 tbsp · 15 ml
- Garlic, grated3 cloves
- Ground cumin2 tsp
- Smoked paprika2 tsp
- Chilli powder1 tsp · to taste
- Lime1, juiced
- Salt & black pepperto taste (go light on salt)
Swaps I actually use: lean beef mince (5% fat) works beautifully in place of the chicken if you want a deeper flavour — brown it with the same spices. No white rice? Swap in brown rice, jasmine, or cooked quinoa one-for-one; brown rice and quinoa add a little more fibre. Pinto or kidney beans stand in for black beans without a fuss. Vegetarian? Drop the chicken, double the beans and add a block of firm tofu browned hard — the bowl structure stays exactly the same.
03Step by step
Four containers, one clear bench
Pull out four meal-prep containers and clear a stretch of bench. Get the rice going first since it takes the longest, then mix your spices in a small bowl — the cumin, smoked paprika, chilli, garlic, a pinch of salt and pepper. Having everything to hand makes this prep calm rather than frantic.
Magnus says: prep is calmer when the kitchen is. Clear the decks first.
Cook the rice, fluff and cool
Rinse the rice until the water runs clear, then cook it however you normally do — pot or rice cooker, whatever you’ve got. Once it’s done, squeeze in half the lime, fluff it with a fork and spread it on a plate to cool a little. Cooling it spread out keeps it from going gluey in the box.
Season and cook the breast
Cut the chicken into bite-sized chunks, pat dry, and toss with most of the spice mix and a little of the olive oil. Cook in a hot pan over a medium-high heat for 8–10 minutes, turning, until it catches some colour and reaches 74°C / 165°F in the centre. Don’t crowd the pan — work in two batches if you need to, so it browns rather than steams.
Magnus says: a dry surface and a hot pan gives you colour. Colour is flavour.
Warm the black beans
Drain and rinse the beans, then warm them through in a small pan with the grated garlic, a teaspoon of cumin and a splash of water for two or three minutes. A short warm-through wakes them up — far better than spooning them straight from the tin. Take them off the heat once they’re hot and a little soft.
Char the peppers and corn
In the same pan you used for the chicken, with the last of the olive oil, throw in the sliced peppers and the corn over a high heat. Leave them alone for a minute at a time so they catch and char at the edges rather than going soft. Five or six minutes and they’re done — a little colour, still a bit of bite.
Magnus says: don’t fuss the veg. Let it sit and catch, and it holds up far better all week.
Split it evenly across four boxes
Divide everything across the four containers — roughly a quarter of the chicken, rice, beans, peppers and corn in each. Even portions mean even macros, so each bowl lands near 46g of protein and 560 calories. Squeeze the rest of the lime over the top. Let it all cool fully before the lids go on.
Magnus says: cool it before the lid goes on. Trapped steam is what turns prep soggy.
Keep the salsa separate
Here’s the one rule that makes or breaks this prep: don’t box the salsa with the rest of it. Wet toppings sitting on warm rice for days will turn the whole bowl mushy. Spoon the salsa into small separate pots, or simply add it fresh from the jar each day. Same goes for avocado — cut it the morning you eat it, never days ahead.
Magnus says: keep the wet stuff out until the last minute, and a four-day-old bowl still eats like fresh.
04The spec sheet
Real numbers, calculated — not guessed. The batch makes 4 bowls. Each cooked bowl weighs about 430g with the salsa added. Here’s what one bowl and a flat 100g actually give you.
| Nutrient | Per bowl | Per 100g |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 560 kcal | 130 kcal |
| Protein | 46.0 g | 10.7 g |
| Carbohydrate | 62.0 g | 14.4 g |
| — of which sugars | 8.0 g | 1.9 g |
| Fat | 9.0 g | 2.1 g |
| — of which saturates | 1.8 g | 0.4 g |
| Fibre | 11.0 g | 2.6 g |
| Sodium | ~0.52 g | ~0.12 g |
Low for a complete meal with rice and beans in it. The beans and charred veg pad the bowl out with bulk and fibre, so you get a genuinely full plate for a modest calorie count — exactly what you want whether you’re holding or losing.
A lifter’s metric. Solid for a carb-forward bowl built around rice and beans — the lean chicken does the heavy lifting, so plenty of the energy you’re eating is working for your protein target.
- Niacin (B3)~14 mg · 88% DV
- Vitamin B6~1.1 mg · 65% DV
- Folate~160 µg · 40% DV
- Magnesium~110 mg · 26% DV
- Iron~4.2 mg · 23% DV
- Zinc~3.0 mg · 27% DV
Macros are calculated from standard food-composition data and will shift a little with your exact ingredients and brands. Micronutrient figures are estimates against general adult Daily Values. Numbers are for guidance, not medical advice — see our Nutrition Disclaimer.
05Bulk / Cut / TRT variations
One prep, three jobs. The chicken and beans stay the same — you move the rice and the fat around them. Macros below are per bowl, adjusted for each goal.
The lean default
Keep every gram of protein and the full pile of peppers and corn, but halve the rice across the bowls. Maximum food on the plate, calories pulled down. This is how I run it when I want the scale moving and still want a full box at lunch.
Build it up
Same protein, a bigger scoop of rice and an extra spoon of beans, with half an avocado sliced on top just before you eat. Clean, calorie-dense, and easy to get down across a busy day without feeling stuffed.
Steady & balanced
The standard bowl, spread evenly across the week. Moderate carbs from the rice and beans, lean protein, a little healthy fat from the oil. Full, steady energy without a big evening overshoot.
06Meal prep & storage
This whole recipe is a prep, so storage is the main event. Cool everything fully before the lids go on, label the boxes if you’re making several days at once, and keep the wet toppings out of the box until you’re ready to eat — that’s the difference between a bowl that holds and one that goes sad by Wednesday.
Boxed and sealed, the chicken, rice, beans and veg hold beautifully for four days. Cook on a Sunday afternoon and you’re sorted with lunches through Thursday.
The chicken, rice and beans freeze well; the veg softens a little on thaw but holds. Cool fully, freeze flat, thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating. Freeze without the salsa.
Microwave the box for 2–3 minutes, stirring once, with a splash of water over the rice to bring it back. Add the salsa and any avocado fresh after reheating so they stay bright.
A word on prepping days ahead, because it’s the heart of this one: cook the bowls cold-store-ready, keep the salsa and avocado in separate pots, and you can box four days at once on a single afternoon. Reheat each bowl only once, until it’s piping hot, then top it fresh. Treated that way, a Sunday batch eats like it was made that morning right through the week.
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07Common questions
How far ahead can I make these bowls? +
Four days in the fridge is the sweet spot — cooked chicken, rice and beans are happiest eaten within about four days. For a full working week I cook the four fresh and freeze a second batch, thawing it overnight when the first lot runs out. Keep the salsa and avocado separate and even a four-day-old bowl eats like fresh.
Why keep the salsa out of the box? +
Wet toppings sitting on warm rice for days will turn the whole bowl soft and watery. Spoon the salsa into small separate pots, or just add it from the jar each day. Same with avocado — it browns fast, so cut it the morning you eat it rather than days ahead. Everything else holds beautifully; it’s only the wet stuff that needs keeping back.
Can I use beef instead of chicken? +
You can, and it’s lovely. Use lean beef mince at 5% fat and brown it with the same cumin, paprika and garlic. It nudges the fat up a touch, so if you’re watching calories on a cut, stick with the chicken. Otherwise it’s a straight swap and gives the bowl a deeper, richer flavour.
How do I keep the rice from going hard? +
Two things. Cool it spread out on a plate rather than in a lump, and when you reheat, add a splash of water over the rice before it goes in the microwave. The steam loosens it right back up. A lid or a damp paper towel over the box while it heats helps too.
Can I make this vegetarian? +
You can. Drop the chicken, double the black beans and add a block of firm tofu browned hard with the spices. You’ll want a little extra volume to reach the same protein without meat, but the bowl structure — protein, rice, beans, charred veg, salsa — stays exactly the same and tastes just as good.
Do I have to eat it cold? +
Not at all. These reheat well — a couple of minutes in the microwave with a splash of water over the rice brings the whole bowl back. I add the salsa and avocado fresh after reheating so they stay bright, but the chicken, rice, beans and veg are all happiest warm. Cold from the box works fine too if you’re short on time.
This prep is the backbone of a full week of meals.
These bowls are the engine room of my meal plans — seven days of high-protein meals with the macros counted and the grocery list written. You pick the goal; I do the maths and the cooking order.
See the meal plans →08Pairs well with
Magnus Olafsson
I’m Magnus — twenty years under the iron, from a cold gym in Stockholm to the classic-physique stage, and now mostly in my kitchen in a pink apron. I’ve cut for shows, bulked through winters, and I’ve been on TRT since I was thirty-five. I know what it takes to eat for the body you’re chasing, and I know it shouldn’t come with a side of shame.
Everything here is food I actually cook and macros I actually count. I don’t diagnose, I don’t promise, and I never make a number up. I just feed you well and tell you the truth.
Slim Diet Era shares recipes and general nutrition information. It is not medical or dietetic advice, and we do not provide guidance on obtaining or using any controlled substance. See our Medical Disclaimer and Nutrition Disclaimer.