Taco Bell Power Bowl is a delicious and hearty meal. Fuel up with these easy chicken taco bowls loaded with chicken, black beans, Mexican rice, guacamole, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, and avocado ranch sauce. This is one of those easy weeknight meals, as you can meal prep most of this and put it together when you are ready. These power bowls make a healthy meal the whole family will love.
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Healthy Mexican Dinner
You may think of Taco Bell as a cheap restaurant serving the kind of food perfect for crushing late-night cravings but not being kind to your waistline. But the company is trying to keep up with the times and quietly added a few healthier options to its menu over the last few years. This protein bowl is one of those more nutritious options to make fast family dinners we all love.
One of the most popular of these health-conscious additions is the Taco Bell Chicken Power Bowl.
This recipe is not just better for you; it tastes downright delicious. After all, who doesn’t love the combination of seared chicken, creamy guacamole, and real cheddar cheese served on top of Mexican rice and beans?
Whether trying to make smarter food choices or want something new, you can’t go wrong with this recipe.
Taco Bell Power Bowl Recipe Ingredients
Here’s a list of what you need:
- Knorr Mexican or Spanish rice
- Sour cream
- Buttermilk
- Avocados
- Fresh garlic
- Fresh lime juice
- Dry ranch dressing mix
- Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Ground black pepper
- Red onion
- Tomatoes
- Canned black beans
- Shredded Cheddar cheese
- Low fat sour cream
How to Choose the Perfect Avocado
Avocados aren’t cheap; choosing a bad one is like throwing away money, and nobody wants to do that. Here are three tricks for finding the best ones:
- Press your finger lightly against the stem end of the avocado. The avocado is ripe if the stem gives slightly, then springs back.
- Avoid any avocados that have dark or soft spots on the skin.
- Try not to buy bagged avocados. Buying in bulk may cost less per avocado, but there is a good chance at least one of them will be past its prime.
Check out more of our Taco Bell recipes on YouTube!
How to Make Taco Bell Power Bowl
- Cook the rice according to the package directions.
- Place sour cream, buttermilk, ripe avocado, chopped garlic, lime juice, and dry ranch dressing mix into a blender. Puree until smooth.
- Cook the chicken on the stovetop in a skillet or grill pan with vegetable or canola oil until cooked through. Then thinly slice the chicken.
- Shred the romaine lettuce.
- Run water over the beans to rinse them and drain off excess water.
- Wash and chop the tomatoes.
- Make quick guacamole and mash avocado in a bowl and stir in lime juice, onions, tomatoes, and salt.
- Build the bowl and layer rice on the bottom, then top it with portions of chicken, black beans, guac, chopped tomatoes, low-fat sour cream, cheese, and chopped lettuce.
- Drizzle avocado ranch sauce on top and serve immediately.
Can Someone on the Keto Diet Eat a Taco Bell Chicken Power Bowl?
Unfortunately, the Taco Bell Power Bowl ingredients are not all keto-friendly. But if you are making this dish for someone on a strict keto diet, you can try these substitutions.
- Rice is a no-no, but cauliflower rice is a great low-carb alternative. If you aren’t that into cauliflower rice, you can try including an equal amount of cooked green lentils seasoned with a couple of pinches of taco spice.
- Beans have tons of fiber, protein, and, unfortunately, carbs. You’ll have to get rid of them, but you can toss in a few cooked peas in their place if you want.
- According to the keto diet, fat is fine, so toss out that low-fat sour cream and bring in the full-fat version.
- Sorry, there is no dairy milk on a keto diet, including buttermilk. But you don’t want to lose the tang that the buttermilk delivers to this dish. A simple way to make a keto-friendly alternative is to combine a third cup of unsweetened cashew milk with a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar. Stir it and let it sit on the counter for at least five minutes before adding it to the recipe.
- Onions are crucial for the crunch and spicy kick in guacamole, but red onions are full of carbs. Try using scallions as a substitute since they have fewer carbs and are generally more nutrients than red onions.
Tips For Serving and Storing Taco Bell Chicken Power Bowl
- This recipe is even better with beef. Grill a skirt or hangar steak and slice it thinly across the grain.
- Store guacamole underwater. As strange as it sounds, if you plan on making the guacamole ahead of time, put it in a bowl and cover it with a thin layer of water over the top. The water keeps mashed avocados from turning brown. Pour off the water before using the guacamole in the recipe.
Optional Toppings
While Taco Bell does not add these toppings, I recommend some additional add-ons to improve your Chicken Taco Bell Power Bowl.
- Pico de gallo
- Nacho cheese sauce
- low fat or non-fat sour cream
- Extra chicken
- Taco Bell Taco sauce
- Crisp cooked bacon
- Seasoned ground beef
- Make fajita veggies from lots of your favorite fresh vegetables
- Swap the Mexican-style rice for brown rice
- Add a good sprinkling of chopped cilantro
How to Turn This Into a Discontinued Taco Bell Cantina Bowl
Taco Bell Cantina Bowl featured marinated, fire-grilled white meat chicken, romaine lettuce, guacamole, pico de gallo, avocado ranch dressing, shredded cheddar cheese, and reduced-fat sour cream, on a bed of Latin rice and black beans. So you can start with this recipe, and add a premade avocado ranch dressing or use my Chick Fil A Avocado ranch dressing for this recipe, and swap the chopped tomatoes for pico de gallo.
I hope you give this recipe a try. You are going to love how this will taste. It is easy to make this burrito bowl from scratch. This is one of the Taco Bell menu items you can customize to your personal taste. You may even want to add extra lettuce and turn this into a delicious salad. This power bowl has lots of texture and flavors to make this one of the most interesting and healthy menu items you can get at Taco Bell.
Love Taco Bell? Try these copycat recipes!
- Taco Bell Baja Blast
- Taco Bell Cinnamon Twist
- Taco Bell Crunchy Tacos
- Taco Bell Enchirito
- Taco Bell Nacho Fries
- Taco Bell Potatoes
- Taco Bell Quesadilla Sauce
- Taco Bell Soft Taco Supreme
Popular Mexican Recipes
- Chicken Quesadilla
- Chipotle Barbacoa
- Chipotle Carnitas
- Creamy Jalapeno Sauce
- Pork Chili Verde
- Refried Beans
Check out more of my easy Mexican food recipes and the best Taco Bell recipes here on CopyKat!
Taco Bell Power Bowl
Ingredients
Rice
- 1 package Knorr Mexican or Spanish rice
Avocado Ranch Sauce
- ½ cup sour cream
- ⅓ cup buttermilk
- ½ cup ripe avocado
- 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
- 2 teaspoons lime juice
- 2 teaspoons dry ranch dressing mix
Chicken
- ½ pound chicken breast
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
Guacamole
- 2 small or 1 large avocado
- 2 teaspoons lime juice
- 1 tablespoon diced red onion
- 1 teaspoon diced tomato
- ½ teaspoon salt
Vegetable Toppings
- 1 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 tomato, chopped (use 1 teaspoon of this in the guacamole)
- ½ cup shredded Cheddar cheese
- ½ cup low fat sour cream
- 2 cups shredded lettuce
Instructions
- Cook the rice according to the package directions.
- To make the avocado ranch sauce: Place the sour cream, buttermilk, avocado, garlic, lime juice, and dry ranch dressing mix into a blender. Puree until smooth. Pour the sauce into a small airtight container.
- To make the chicken: Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Then heat a skillet over medium heat, and add oil. When the oil is hot, cook the chicken for 7 to 9 minutes per side, or until it is cooked through. The actual time will depend on the thickness of your chicken breast. Remove the chicken from the skillet and allow it to rest for about 3 minutes before slicing it into thin strips.
- To make the guacamole: Mash the avocado in a bowl. Add lime juice, onions, tomatoes, and salt. Stir gently to combine.
- To assemble the bowl: Place the cooked rice in the bottom of a bowl. Over the rice, add a portion of sliced chicken, black beans, guacamole, tomatoes, sour cream, cheese, and lettuce. Drizzle the avocado ranch sauce on top.
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