Crispy chickpeas are a plant-based powerhouse and set these fully loaded vegan chickpea burrito bowls over the top with texture and flavor!
I’m still very much enamored with burrito bowls these days.
Can you blame me? A mountain of fluffy seasoned rice piled high with all your favorite burrito fixings… what’s not to love?!
For these baller burrito bowls I used crispity crunchy taco-seasoned oven roasted chickpeas as my protein. That’s a lot of adjectives, I know, but also a lot of deliciousness!
My go-to burrito bowl base is half fluffy seasoned yellow rice and half chopped romaine lettuce. This way you get all the heartiness of rice but lightened up a bit thanks to the salad greens filling half the bowl.
Today’s beautiful bowl is topped with fresh Pico de Gallo salsa, some quick marinated red onion, fresh sliced jalapeño peppers, and chopped scallions.
For a sauce I opted for some thick and creamy Valentina hot sauce (YUM) and a drizzle of lime kissed vegan sour cream.
Burrito Bowl Topping Inspo
Choose your favorites from the list below and mix and match for a custom burrito bowl that rocks your face!
- fresh cilantro
- chopped green onion
- sautéed or grilled vegetables
- black bean salsa
- black beans
- sweet corn
- pico de gallo
- jarred or homemade salsa
- guacamole
- sour cream (vegan or regular)
- tomatillo salsa verde
- avocado salsa verde (yessss!)
- sliced black olives
- pickled jalapeño peppers
- pickled red onion
- shredded cabbage or slaw
- crushed tortilla chips for a little crunch
- hot sauce
While the recipe is written to be gloriously gluten-free and vegan, vegetarians are free to add regular sour cream and even some grated cheese to the mix!
My T-Rex husband added chicken to his bowl while I doubled up on chickpeas. (I may have blatantly told him the chickpeas were all mine – haha!)
They’re so easy to customize and can satisfy a variety of dietary needs and preferences. Choose what you love and have fun with it!
Mix and Match: Burrito Bowl Base Ideas
I mentioned earlier how I used a duo of fresh crisp romaine and fluffy yellow rice for my burrito bowl base, but that’s not the only option!
For those who need a grain-free, paleo, whole30, low carb, or keto option, you know what to do: Cauliflower rice to the rescue! To amp up the flavor I highly suggest using my Mexican Cauliflower Rice as the base. It’s delicious!
No yellow rice? No problem! Try it with regular white rice, Spanish rice, cilantro lime rice, or even brown rice.
Another tasty base is quinoa. You can use fluffy Cilantro Lime Quinoa or even serve up your burrito bowl with my black bean and veggie Mexican Quinoa Salad as the base.
Crispy Roasted Chickpea Burrito Bowls
As written, the recipe below makes 2 large-and-in-charge meal-sized burrito bowls with *all the toppings*
Feel free to double or triple the recipe if you have a larger crew to feed.
Are you team meal prep? The rice and toppings for these bowls can all be prepped and stored in the fridge so all you’ll have to do is warm up some rice while you roast your chickpeas. Simply assemble and commence faceplant!
Roasted Chickpea Burrito Bowls
Ingredients
- ½ cup uncooked yellow rice
- 1 ½ cup cripsy roasted chickpeas (see recipe below)
- 1-2 cups chopped romaine lettuce
- 1 cup Pico de Gallo (see recipe below)
- ⅓ cup thinly sliced red onion (see notes)
- 1 jalapeño sliced thin
- vegan sour cream for topping
- fresh cilantro or chopped green onion for topping
- hot sauce for topping
CRISPY ROASTED CHICKPEAS
- 1 can chickpeas (15 oz)
- 1 TBSP avocado oil
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ¾ tsp chili powder
- ¼ tsp smoked paprika
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper (optional) add extra for spicy chickpeas
EASY HOMEMADE PICO DE GALLO
- 1 cup finely diced roma tomatoes
- ½ cup finely diced white onion
- 1 small jalapeño (optional)
- 1 tsp avocado oil (optional but tasty!)
- ½ lime juiced
- 2-4 TBSP fresh chopped cilantro
- ¼-½ tsp salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven 400°F.
- Cook yellow rice via package instructions (approx. 20-25 min)
- While the rice cooks, prep all your burrito bowl ingredients and roast your chickpeas. This way once the rice and chickpeas are ready all you have to do is assemble and faceplant!
- Rinse and drain chickpeas then pat dry. Lay spaced out on lined baking sheet and drizzle with avocado oil and salt. Mix to evenly coat. Set timer for 25 minutes, toss em in the oven at 400°F, and move on to prep the rest of your burrito bowls. Once crispy, remove chickpeas from oven and add cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and paprika. Mix well to coat.
- To make the Pico de Gallo (which is basically just a chunky fresh salsa – delish!) finely chop onion, tomato, and jalapeño. Combine with the juice of half a lime, fresh cilantro, and season with salt to taste. This recipe makes more than you'll need for the bowls so you can add extra as desired or snack on it as an appetizer with tortilla chips. Love it so!
- Chop lettuce and thinly slice jalapeño.
- Once rice is done cooking, fluff with a fork and divide between two bowls.
- Add chopped lettuce, crispy chickpeas, pico de gallo salsa, red onion, and jalapeños to each bowl.
- Top each bowl with a dollop or two of vegan sour cream (or regular if vegetarian) and drizzle the chickpeas with hot sauce if you'd like a little kick!
- Sprinkle some scallions or cilantro and top and add any extra toppings your heart desires. See blog post for a full list of topping ideas. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
If you get a chance to try these tasty roasted chickpea burrito bowls, let me know!
Leave some love in the comment form below or tag your photos with @peasandcrayons on Instagram so I can happy dance over your creation. I can’t wait to see what you whip up!
What temperature are chickpeas cooked?
Hi Marie! They are roasted at 400F. Thanks for reaching out — I’ve updated the post so it’s front and center in the recipe card. xo
I looooove chickpeas! This was such a tasty lunch!
They’re such a perfect little punch of protein — Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
This was soo tasty!
Yay!! Thanks Erin!