Spicy Sweet Potato and Green Rice Burrito Bowls
Healthy burrito bowls made with roasted sweet potato, green rice and black beans! This delicious, vegan dinner reheats well for lunch.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 29, 2024
Cookie and Kate are finally back in the kitchen. I still wasn’t feeling in the mood up until a couple of nights ago, when I spent a few hours cleaning out the cabinets and the refrigerator. Turns out, everyday cooking doesn’t need to involve avalanches of dried pasta. Organization is key.
The past few weeks of kitchen avoidance have been heavy with introspection. I want to say that I’ve come out on the other side with clarity and a renewed zest for life. (Every sad story needs a happy ending, right?) The truth is, I’m still just one sappy coffee shop love song away from another fit of tearful existential despair.
It’ll pass. In the meantime, I’m treating myself right with these burrito bowls. Roasted sweet potatoes, seasoned black beans and cilantro-spinach brown rice combine in one bowl for a cozy vegan dinner. Oven-toasted pumpkin seeds, avocado and salsa verde make it totally irresistible.
More reasons to love this dish? You’ll have enough time while the sweet potatoes and rice cook to clean the kitchen before dinner’s ready. Oh, and these bowls reheat well for lunch, too. Burrito bowls for the win!
Watch How to Make Sweet Potato and Green Rice Bowls
Please don’t be intimidated by the length of the recipe—it’s pretty basic stuff. All you do is blend up the green rice seasonings and toast the rice before cooking it as usual. Roast some sweet potatoes, toast some seeds and warm some beans. Then you arrange it all in a bowl and make it look pretty. Or not. I assure you that my leftovers won’t look as pretty as shown here.
If you’re craving more spicy sweet potato recipes after this, check out my sweet potato burritos and tacos. Leftover green rice would be great in my kale and avocado burrito bowl, too. Lastly, don’t miss the burrito bowl recipe and sweet potato enchiladas in my cookbook!
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Spicy Sweet Potato and Green Rice Burrito Bowls
Healthy burrito bowls made with roasted sweet potato, green rice and black beans! This delicious, vegan dinner reheats well for lunch. Recipe yields 4 servings.
Ingredients
Green rice
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 ½ cups long grain brown rice
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- 1 ½ cup baby spinach, lightly packed
- ½ cup cilantro (mostly leaves, stems are ok), lightly packed
- 1 jalapeño or serrano pepper, seeded, membranes removed and roughly chopped
- 1 medium shallot, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 garlic clove, peeled, roughly chopped
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt, more to taste
Sweet potatoes
- 2 pounds sweet potatoes (3 to 4 medium sweet potatoes), peeled and sliced into 1-inch chunks
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
Seasoned black beans
- 2 cans (14 ounces each) black beans or 3 cups cooked black beans, with their cooking liquid
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon sherry vinegar or lime juice
- Fine salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Additional garnishes
- ¼ cup pepitas (green pumpkin seeds)
- ¼ teaspoon olive oil
- 1 avocado, pitted and sliced
- Jarred mild salsa verde
- Chopped cilantro
- Crumbled feta (optional, not vegan)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Line one large, rimmed baking sheet and one smaller sheet with parchment paper. Place the spinach, cilantro, jalapeño, shallot, garlic, salt and ½ cup of the vegetable broth in a food processor or blender. Blend until smooth.
- Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat until shimmering. Add the rice and stir to coat. Spread the rice in an even layer on the bottom of the pot and let the rice lightly brown. This happens quickly! When the rice starts to brown, stir it and spread it out in an even layer again so that more of the rice browns.
- When most of the rice has lightly browned, scrape the green purée into the rice. Stir until the rice is evenly coated with green purée and continue to cook, stirring constantly, for a minute. Add the rest of the vegetable broth to the pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a low simmer and cover the pot. Cook the rice on a very low simmer until tender, 35 to 40 minutes.
- While the rice cooks, toss the sweet potatoes in the olive oil, smoked paprika and salt until the sweet potatoes are evenly coated in oil. Arrange in a single layer on your prepared baking sheet. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, tossing halfway, until the sweet potatoes are tender and caramelizing at the edges.
- Meanwhile, transfer the beans and their cooking liquid (don’t drain the beans) to a medium pot. Stir in the cumin and chili powder and warm over medium heat. Once the beans are simmering, cover the beans and reduce heat to maintain a very gentle simmer until you’re ready to serve.
- Once the rice is done cooking, remove the pot from heat. Uncover the pot and place a clean tea towel over the pot, then recover. The towel will help absorb excess liquid as the rice continues to cook in its own steam. (If you don’t have a clean towel, you can skip this step, just cover normally.) Let sit for 10 minutes.
- Once the sweet potatoes are done cooking, toss the pepitas with ¼ teaspoon olive oil and a sprinkle of salt on the small baking sheet. Toast the seeds in the oven for 4 to 5 minutes, until they’re turning lightly golden and making little popping noises. Set aside to cool.
- Fluff the rice with a fork and season with salt if necessary. Remove beans from heat, stir in the vinegar and season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Assemble your bowls: First add green rice, then use a slotted spoon or fork to transfer beans to the bowls. Top with sweet potatoes and add a few slices of avocado to each bowl. Sprinkle with toasted pepitas and cilantro and optional feta. Serve with salsa verde on the side.
Notes
Green rice adapted from Simply Recipes. Burrito bowls inspired by my sweet potato and black bean tacos.
Change it up: I think butternut squash would be great in place of the sweet potato! You could also substitute another grain for the rice, although you’ll need to adjust the cooking method and amount of liquid for said grain.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Hands down one of the best meals I’ve ever eaten. Thank you so much for this incredible recipe. Already dreaming about the leftovers for lunch (or breakfast? Lol).
I LOVE the green rice. I made your avocado salsa verde and added it to the top of the bowl. Just like you said, perfect for lunch the next day. Love your blog, thanks so much for sharing your stories and recipes.
Wasn’t able to snag a picture before it was devoured, but my boyfriend and I made this (halved the recipe) and it was absolutely DELICIOUS! The blend of flavors and textures was divine. We will definitely be making this again. Thanks for the fabulous recipe!
I made this last night after googling “vegetarian recipes for meat lovers” since our dinner guest is a vegetarian and we are healthy carnivores. It was amazing and I rarely love vegetarian recipes. I did sub a bell pepper/basil quinoa for the brown rice though (for timing) and used the vibrant green mixture as a sauce. WOW! We love spice and using a large jalapeño was perfect. No cheese needed but I did add avocado and pepitas. Thank you for this eye opening game changer. Look forward to following you and trying more recipes! ~Suzanne in San Diego
Hi Suzanne! Thank you so much for saying hello. I’m so glad you all enjoyed this dish and hope you enjoy my other recipes just as much!
We really loved this. I did add the jalapeno to the rice since it would be too spicy for my daughter, but I did serve it on the sid. I will make this again. I think it would make a great covered dish to bring to a gathering.
Thank you, Susan! Happy to hear it. :)
Loved this! Perfect supper with wind chills below zero. I’ll be making that rice again and again. Can’t wait to taste it tomorrow, I think it will taste even better. Thanks for this great recipe.
Hooray! Thank you, Kathleen!
Made this tonight. It was amazing!! I have been so impressed with all your recipes .. Mmm. Thank you! (Do you know nutrition facts?)
I made this for dinner last night. Holy tasty!!! Definitely a repeat recipe for my boyfriend and me. :) Was so happy to have extra for lunch today.
I loved this recipe, it was really satisfying. I know ill be making that green rice for a much more recipes. And to mix things up a little I added a chipotle enchilada sauce on top and that was wonderful, I would definitely recommend it.
Thank you, Lauren! Your enchilada sauce on top sounds amazing.
This was AMAZING! So flavorful and filling- definitely will be making again:) I used instant brown rice and regular paprika since it was what I had on hand. What a great way to use up the spinach in my fridge that was starting to look sad.
This was AMAZING! Def adding to our rotation
This is one of my most favorite dishes. I have made this numerous times and have shared the recipe, since everyone who eats it loves it. Even my kids love this.
This dish was delicious! It was also relatively easy to make with quick clean-up. Thank you for the recipe!
I forgot to mention that it tastes great with goat cheese.
I made this last night, and my husband said that it was the best thing he’s ever eaten. EVER! It beats chiken tikka masala! Thank you so, so much for this recipe. It’s a gem, as are the rest of your recipes. Please don’t ever stop creating.
Love the entire recipe but whoa..that rice was out of this world!!! And it was so easy!!!
This is fantastic! I recommend using a can of salsa verde instead of the vegetable broth – gives the sauce a bit more flavor and spice!
I have been trying to squeeze in more vegetarian meals – which is always fun with 10 yr old and 3 yr old boys. These were a hit with both. The combo of flavors was impeccable. I made a huge batch of the black beans in the crock pot and froze batches for easy pairing with other meals. I have tried four of your recipes so far and every one has been a hit. Thanks so much for your great blog and energy!
Hi Kate,
OMG! I made this on Sunday so I could take it to work for lunch. It was so good, unbelievable! I added goat cheese, which worked really well with the other flavours.
One suggestion: Would it be possible to also write down ingredients for the metric system? I’m from Amsterdam and we actually don’t use the imperial system… Of course it’s extra work, but I assume you have many readers from other places in Europe as well who would really be happy!
Made this–so good! Even the carnivore husband thought so :) the Pepitas are such a nice texture contrast. Thanks for sharing it with us!
(Oddly, I did have trouble getting the rice to cook after the toasting…anyone else? It took like twice as long.)
I’ve made it twice and the rice is a disaster for me. Last week I finally transferred it to my rice cooker after I cooked it the full amount on the stove and it still tasted crunchy when it was ‘done’ I’m curious if it is the toasting or if it’s because I’m at a higher altitude?
This was such an amazing dish! I’m trying to go dairy-free, but find it difficult at times to convince my husband unless the meals are flavorful. THIS was a flavorful meal! He loved it, as did I. Wonderful recipe! A must try.
Thanks ever so for the recipe. I have made it twice in the last week and a half, which means it is DEFINITELY a keeper. The green rice recipe is great. I had another one that wasn’t as flavorful, so this is my new “go to”. While roasting the sweet potatoes, I also roasted up some pasillas (then peeled, seeded and chopped) and a couple of chopped red onions. It makes for such a beautiful presentation! I’m looking forward to summer so I can add some fresh corn too. Thanks Kate! And Bailey says to say “woof” to Cookie.
I made this recipe tonight and it was a huge hit! I was not cooking for a vegetarian or vegan crowd so I threw a salmon cake on top, and also served a kale salad on the side. My guests couldn’t stop talking about the rice, especially. It was flavorful, and really easy and fun to make. Thanks for sharing this great recipe!
I made the recipe last night it was very good! I used chicken broth, though, fell out of the vegan category. That green rice was really really good, I’m surprised I haven’t ever seen a recipe for that before.
I have made this recipe several times now and it is always a hit with my family. It is now one of our go to recipes. The colors and the flavors are both fabulous!
I am new to this type of cooking, and my family isn’t happy. :-) They love meat. But. This recipe was so good and satisfying, my husband is washing the dishes! Thank you. We love dogs too! I just wished I had pepitas to add. Otherwise, I followed the recipe exactly and it is perfect!
Hooray! I’m happy to hear that. Thank you for letting me know, Kelly!
I have been making your dishes for a few weeks now. Everything I have tried is delicious!! This green rice meal was so filling and flavorful. So glad I found your blog.
Forgot to rate!
I’m eating this right now and it’s pretty awesome! I had to add an additional tablespoon of olive oil to the potatoes, and they were still kind of dry, and instead of caramelizing, they blackened a little bit. In the future I would double the olive oil and potato spices. (I used 3 medium potatoes btw) Rice tastes great, as did the beans, but I personally found that keeping all that canned bean liquid gave the beans kind of a…slick, fairly uninteresting texture, and since all the spices got caught in the liquid, when you pull the beans out on a slotted spoon, you lose a lot of that great flavor. Next time I may roast them on a baking sheet after I drain the liquid (but I won’t rinse the beans off.) I know this sounds nit picky, but this really was a great recipe, and those are just the tweaks I’d make based on personal preference. Also, I always think it’s a bonus when you’re eating something that tastes so good you don’t even realize it’s vegan until you’re rereading the recipe tags, awesome recipe!
Hi Kate,
I made this last night after receiving your email for 24 Meatless Recipes that Carnivores Will Love. We loved it! First time making Green rice-awesome! Thank you, came at the perfect time.
Delicious Everyone I’ve made it for has love it
Thank you so much for this recipe!! I tripled it for 10 friends and everyone loved it! Each part is delicious, the rice is amazing, looking forward to making this again and again!
AMAZING. Shoving my face as I type. I found this recipe on pinterest and it turned out to be a success! This green rice turned out fantastic and is a great way to add extra nutrients to a meal. I used what is technically known as yams, or a variant of sweet potato…. I like the brightest orange. I now have tons of leftovers for meals over the next few days. Thanks!
This was great! We added some sauteed zucchini to it. We used white Hannah sweet potatoes. The green rice was such a cool idea! Thanks!
I made this last night! I used dino kale instead of spinach (cause it was all I had) & it was delicious. The roasted sweet potatoes add a nice sweetness and the toasted pepitas added nice crunch! Yum!
Boyfriend, while eating: “This is one of the best recipes you’ve ever made.”
So, I guess you could say it was a hit? I’m not big on sweet potato but I found that just the rice with avocado and beans (and salsa) was delicious in itself. Only thing is I 1.5x the recipe and it made wayyyy more than 6 portions. So in the future I will be making the standard recipe and generating 6 portions from that as we are not huge eaters.
I made your banana bread this afternoon, which is always great too. Thanks for all the great recipes! :)
I’ve made this twice now, once for my daughters family and once for us. It was a big hit both times. Tonight I used a pablano instead of the japapeno and it worked. This is a great example of a simple, inexpensive vegetarian meal that taste great and very satisfying.
This recipe is just fantastic! I followed it exactly as written, except for subbing parsley for cilantro in the ‘spinach roux’. It took a fair amiunt of time and steps, but so incredibly worth it! And, it does allow for kitchen clean up in between steps, so thats good. But wow! Such a recipe. The pepitas roated in a touch of oil oil and paprika were terrific. I added a touch of chipolte flavored Yum Sauce on the leftovers and they were well received. A new family favorite. Thanks for your great recipes Kate!
This is absolutely, ridiculously DELICIOUS!
Absolutely delicious! I will make this again for sure. Thank you for sharing.
I just made this and with every bite I took I couldn’t believe how good it was. The combination of all of these things together was just perfect. Recipes from your website have changed our entire way of eating over the past year since I’ve discovered it. Thank you!
Kate, the green rice is so addictive! 1.5 cups rice was too much for this recipe for one person, so I froze half the rice and am eating the rest right now with saag paneer. Next time I might add some shredded coconut to the green paste and get a more spreadable consistency, so I can eat it directly on toast! Thank you!
Love this one. Cooked it for 60 last month at storytelling camp, everyone wanted the recipes! We baked the potatoes in the fire and mashed them with spices and butter. Healthy, colourful, economical and delicious :-)
I made these this week and they were even yummier than I thought they’d be! The recipe did take a little while especially the rice, ended up taking about an hour. But end result was so so yum can’t wait to make them again! Great as leftovers for lunch next day too!
This burrito bowl was fun to make and soooo delicious!!!!
Thank you!
Just starting cooking vegan meals recently and found your blog. I made this recipe last night and it was fantastic. Looking forward to eating the leftovers today.
Made it for dinner tonight and had a blast doing so. I changed little things here and there but nothing significant. I did add a homemade pico de gallo to it and it was lovely, gave it a nice fresh touch!
Thanks, Sam! Pico sounds like a delicious addition.
This was SOOO good and very flavorfull! My family is used to eating meat, but my hubby & I would like to go more meatless with baby steps, so I wasn’t sure how everyone would respond. This looked colorful and so good in the photo that I just had to try it. My little boys loved it as well as my spouse! Just a mild touch of spice if you dont use the salsa verde. I left the seeds in my jalapeño in the puree because we do like a little zing to our food. I omitted the avocado since I’m the only one that enjoys them and used sunflower seeds instead, since I already had them on hand. So yummy!!! Will definitely make this again! Thanks for sharing!!!
Thank you, Abra! I’m so glad you all enjoyed this one.
I am newly adapting to the vegetarian lifestyle and trying to get my mom and sister to support me with it… this tasty meal totally turned their minds around on what vegetarian food tastes like! It was a HUGE hit! I subbed butternut squash for the sweet potato! So delicious… we continued eating the leftovers for a few subsequent days :) this recipe will certainly remain on our dinner menu! Thank-you, Kate!
I made this tonight. It was great! The whole family loved it and there was enough left to pack two lunches for my daughters to take to school tomorrow.
I made this and it was delicious and a big hit with my husband. I did modify a bit – I roasted the sweet potatoes and about halfway through I added some zucchini pieces and roasted those as well and added them to the dish. I think next time some red onion would be a great addition as well.
I love the recipes here and while not a vegetarian – we are adding more vegetarian meals to our diet and this site is SO helpful. Thanks