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!
Le Creuset 3 1/2-Quart Cast Iron French Oven
Wusthof 7-Inch Santoku Knife
Blendtec blender
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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.
I’ll admit that this recipe initially intimidated me! It felt out of my league, like a lot of ingredients and a lot of time.
I gave it a try anyways, and I am so thrilled that I did!
The ingredients looked like a lot on paper until I measured them out, they turned out to be really easy to find and prepare. As far as time goes, I think I spent maybe 25-30 minutes actually actively cooking, and at least five minutes of that was trying to fix my blender. Ultimately this recipe yielded a really delicious meal with a lot of flavor (usually when I cook Mexican cuisine the flavors kind of blend together, and with rice bowls at least one element comes out bland, but that was so not an issue with this recipe) and the spice was easy to adjust for personal preference. Saving this one forever, thanks Kate!
This came together shockingly fast (I subbed white rice for just that reason) and I was really impressed with the flavor and textures and healthiness! I didn’t toast the rice, I’m sure that would be very good, but it still was wonderful in case anyone else is looking for a shortcut.
Thanks for sharing, Tess!
I have NEVER liked sweet potatoes, made this dish and loved the taste of the sweet potatoes roasted in olive oil with smoked paprika. The entire dish was so flavorful. My meat and potatoes husband loved it as well. This is definitely in our regular meal rotation. A little advanced prep makes it come together easily.
I’m glad you liked this dish! Thanks for your review, Martha.
My 4.5 YO saw the picture & asked me to make this, so I did and we all loved it! He usually eats deconstructed versions of “bowl” recipes but for the 1st time ever he mixed everything together and actually ate it! I never thought he’d eat the green rice, lol. Thanks so much!
I love that! Fun to have your kiddo involved. Thanks for your comment, Laura.
Loved this recipe! It was so flavorful! Didn’t have pepitas handy but I will definitely be adding them moving forward for a good crunch. Thanks for another great recipe!!
I absolutely LOVE this recipe. I crave it at least once a week. I love how amazing it still tastes as leftovers. I’ll definitely be making this as a dinner staple for the rest of my life…
Thank you for your comment and review, Melissa!
Hello! I was wondering if you had instructions for how to make this rice in an instant pot?? Thanks so much and I’m so excited to try this!
Sorry! I don’t have those as I haven’t tried it.
Thank you for this recipe! Don’t usually like rice but this rice was absolutely divine <3
Very simple to make and so flavourful! Really enjoyed.
Love this recipe – wondering if I made the spinach / cilantro mixture ahead of time (a day or two) would it last? Plan to make this rice in two days and trying to pre prep!
I recommend doing it at once, but you could try it! Let me know what you think, Anita.
This is incredibly delicious and far easier than I expected! I made it once before with ordinary rice but tonight I made it properly and it took it to the next level of delicious! As always with your recipes – follow them to the letter and they are amazing!!
Wonderful to hear you loved this one and other recipes, Kathy! Thanks so much for your comment and review.
Short of my grammie’s orange pancakes this is by far my favourite recipe! I make it at least once a month and up to once a week! :D
Amazing flavours, super healthy and really hard to mess up! I give this recipe to whoever will take it! xD
Thank you for sharing, Michael!
Has anyone ever tried this with regular potatoes? I have this on my “menu” for the week but I totally forgot to buy sweet potatoes. With that said, we have roughly 100 lbs of regular potatoes in storage that are starting to go soft and I guess I should use though. I’ve made this several times with the sweet potatoes and LOVED it so I’m afraid I’ll be bummed with regular potatoes. Thoughts anyone??
Let me know how it goes! I think it could work. May need to adjust cooking time.
Can you please tell me where to find the nutritional information on your recipes? When I click on nutritional information all it says it that the information is provided by an online calculator, and there is no information anywhere that I can find?
Hi Sherrie! I’m sorry you are having issues. Try clearing your cache and then reload the page. Let me know if you are still having issues.
Hi! Can I make the green rice mix ahead of time?
Hi Elli, I think so. The only risk is that the spinach may oxidize (turn more brownish than greenish) over time.
I don’t usually comment in recipes but this was absolutely amazing! Clean bowls from the 3 small people and 2 big ones. Thank you
I made this the other night. I was in a rush and didn’t follow the directions for the rice. Ultimately it still turned out very very yummy even with my mixing it up. Thanks for another great recipe!!!
Hi Kate, just wondering could I use a different type of bean in this recipe? Say kidney or cannelini?
Hey Hannah! Sure, you could. Pinto would probably be best, since it goes well with Mexican flavors. Second best might be kidney. Or, skip the beans and add a fried egg or other kind of protein, depending on your diet/preferences.
This was just a great recipe!!! My family loved it including my 5 year old!!
Love it, Shari! Thank you so much for sharing.
I have made several of your recipes and own the cookbook but OMG this rice is amazing! Great idea to toast the rice (mine turned out slightly too crispy) before cooking. For dinner I made the rice and potatoes and served it with cod. Then to use the leftovers made the beans today for our lunches. Love your recipes!
I’m happy to hear you love them, Katie! I appreciate your review.
Made this for the second time, I can’t remember if I already reviewed it lol. But it’s a really yummy mix of flavors and textures and very filling. Both times my rice has been a little too mushy for my taste, so next time I will probably go off the water ratio on my bag of rice, and just use 1/2 cup of that for the greens part.
But I love how you get to sneak extra greens in the rice! Which is great with kids. Also added some chopped up cabbage for extra crunch and freshness. Thanks!
This RICE!!!! Sooooo good (the rest was also amazing but this guy blew me away)
Thank you so much for this recipe!
This dish was delicious! My husband, who is a meat lover, went back for seconds and woke up the next morning still raving! I am so happy to have found you and look forward to making many more delicious meals!
Sadly my rice was crunchy and not cooked. But the flavors were amazing and I didn’t want to give up! So I read the rice package and turns out since I’m at a higher elevation I had to add a little more veggie broth and cook a little longer! It worked and was so yummy!
Thanks for the recipe!
That is interesting, Emily. I’m sorry that was your result, but that you figured it out! Thank you for sharing.
The filling was all delicious, we ended up having it on burritos because two and a half hours later we are still waiting for the rice to be done! I saw that a couple other people had the same problem, I’m not sure that any of their solutions would have fixed this but we will just have the rice with leftovers.
This is my favorite meal i’ve EVER had! Better than a restaurant.
I’ve been making this for a couple years now and it’s still a family favorite. I follow the recipe (as I do with all your recipes) and it’s always spot on! Thank you for all the flavorful and nutritious recipes :)
I love this recipe! I was going to make it again today, but I realized I’m out of spinach and wondering if I could replace the spinach with kale?
Sure! That is a great option.
We really liked this! Thank you for another awesome recipe. I left the seeds in the jalapeno and added another serrano with seeds (we like it spicy). We also added more salt to the rice. We served it with diced avocados and a little bit of lime juice on top. Excellent! One note, I accidentally drained my beans so I had to add vegetable broth while they simmered but next time I’ll make sure not to do that. Maybe you could put “do not drain beans” in bold letters? I was rushing so it was my fault but it would have been helpful. Thanks again for the recipe.
That is a lot of spice! Thanks for your feedback on the beans. I actually do have noted, 2 cans (14 ounces each) black beans or 3 cups cooked black beans, with their cooking liquid. I’m happy you liked it!
Oh I just meant in bold letters so that it stands out. Thanks for responding back to me – I am a big fan. I’m looking to get your book soon. Thanks again!
Finally tried my first Cookie and Kate recipe. This was delicious.
A few comments/suggestions that maybe other readers will find helpful. First, I cut the olive oil by around half. I definitely didn’t need 5 tablespoons, which saves a lot of fat grams. Second, I cut the sweet potatoes into half inch pieces at the largest. I baked for 30 minutes and could’ve done 25 minutes, with no need to shake or stir the pieces halfway. Third, I made the beans without lime juice or sherry vinegar, only cause I had neither, and they still tasted delicious. I might cut back on the cumin and add more chili powder.
Looking forward to the next recipe.
I love the idea of this recipe and all the ingredients, but every time I cook it the rice never cooks all the way. I didn’t toast it to see if that helped and it didn’t. Very disappointing.
I had cooked rice, so I I just made a “pesto” with the ingredients I was supposed to cook the rice in. I don’t know if it was as tasty as the your original intention- but we loved it and worked in a pinch!
my daughters been vegetarian since like 12 years,now 40 he said quietly.i m not veg. but good vegetarian cook.after making this,had to say one of your best recipes.have used a number of your other recipes.i just add much more flavoring,they re great.many thanks from both of us.
I made the green rice with mustard greens instead of spinach. It was delicious! Thank you!
Delicious!! So good.
I made this last night for dinner. It was delicious. I omitted the feta to eliminate dairy and didn’t miss it as all. Great flavors.
I’m happy you enjoyed it, Jennifer! Thank you for taking the time to review.
I’m making an effort to eat healthier and found this recipe for dinner last night. I loved it last night, and I loved it this morning when I topped some leftovers with a fried egg and had it for breakfast. Very thankful for your recipes – God bless!
This is one of our favourite Vegetarian night meals. So good. I triple the recipe (for my fam of 5), and make pre-portioned containers for lunches with the rest.
In fact I’m whipping up a batch now, just for lunches.
The first couple of times I made it, the rice took longer to cook or there was extra liquid and had to cook it off. However now I just measure out the green liquid once blitzed. And use the standard 2times liquid per brown rice and it works perfectly.
Family not a fam of Salsa Verde, so we omit now.
Always use the other additional garnishes tho.
Amazing recipe!
This was an unbelievably delicious tasting recipe. Thanks for sharing. Only thing I did differently was used Farro instead of brown rice using the exact same measurements and it turned out splendid!
This looks so good. So healthy! Is it in the cook book?
Hi! I hope you love it. This one is not the my cookbook. My cookbook has it’s own unique recipes. :)
Thank you for yet another fantastic recipe! Kids loved it! I love your blog so much, I love that I know that anything from you is a winner! You’re the one I trust the most when I try new recipes. Thank you!!!
Thank you, Heather! I’m delighted you are loving so many recipes.
This is the best recipe ever! I could make it everyday and be happy.
Thank you, Shannon!
Really really good. Such amazing flavor, and I am a flavor fiend. Love the sweet, sour, salty, soft, crunchy mix. This is such a great meal to make for the whole family. It’s great for picky kids because they can choose what they want. And I loved it because it doesn’t taste like the same old taco bowl.
That’s great! Thank you for sharing what you thought, Sejal.
This was delicious! A big family hit – including 4 and 6 year olds (one of who had 3 helpings!) I only had white rice so reduced the cooking time. I scaled back some of the chile powder to avoid it being too spicy for kids. I used one jalapeño in the sauce and kept some back from the rice for same reasons and then the grownups used it as extra sauce on top of the bowls. so great to have a meal the whole family loves!
I love that! Thank you for sharing it was such a hit with your family. I appreciate your review.
Just what our bodies needed after all the holiday stuff! This bowl is loaded with whole food goodness that makes your body so happy! The flavors are fantastic and this was the first time I had green rice- super flavorful and aromatic! Everyone went back for seconds, so sadly no leftovers. But EVERYONE commented on how it was ‘Feel good food’! Thanks for another Great recipe!!
Thank you, Colleen! I’m glad you loved it. I appreciate you taking the time to review.
Dear C&K, Do you think this would work as well with farro or wheatberries?
Thank you,
Big Fan
Hi! Sure you could try it, just make sure you follow the cooking instructions for the grain. I can’t guarantee it will turn out the same with the green rice, but I would be interested to hear what you think!
Delicious!
10/10. Didn’t change anything except for the fact that we only had white rice on hand (which shortened the cook time) but it was AMAZING! I will also absolutely incorporate the rice and beans into other meals; they were both so flavorful. I can’t wait to have the leftovers!
Wonderful to hear, Hayley!
My family absolutely loved this recipe. I have a 12 year old pick eater and 14 year old and they both love this meal. We have made it one of our routine meals. We use sunflower seeds instead of pepitas. Thanks for sharing!!
You’re welcome, Betsy! Thank you for your review.
This was really delicious – my whole family liked it, which is amazing. I could not believe even my picky, meat-loving 17 year old liked it too!! Served with avocado, salsa verde and toasted pumpkin seeds, as you suggested. So good!
That’s great to hear, Beth! Thank you for sharing.
This recipe was pretty time-consuming but totally worth it!! My entire family loved it !! Thanks for the amazing recipe!!
I’m happy you found it worth it in the end, Katy! I appreciate your review.