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. Caramelized 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!
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
▸ For more of my favorite cooking tools, shop my healthy kitchen!
Spicy Sweet Potato and Green Rice Burrito Bowls
- Author:
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings
- Category: Main
- Cuisine: Mexican
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 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 sea 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
- Sea 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.
Vegetable enthusiast. Dog lover. I'm probably making a big mess in my Kansas City kitchen right now. 
Joy Calleran
this was a hit with the family! i fid make some changes though as i had to double it for my large family. i used multi grain rice, half butternut squash half sweet potatoes, i also i doubling ran out of veggie broth and had to substitute with chicken broth, and lastly i served with regular salsa, but none the less it was amazing!!! im so making this again and sharing this recipe!
★★★★★
Kim
I want to try this recipe but I have a question, if I use canned beans I like to drain and rinse them. I’m leery of the “stuff” they are soaking in. If I drain and rinse, what should I use as cooking liquid to heat them?
Kate
Hi Kim, the “stuff” is just starchy bean cooking liquid, but you can use 1/2 cup water instead if you’d prefer!
heather solomon
If there was an option for 6 stars – I would have chose 6. I made this and my family loved it. I didn’t change a thing, it wasn’t necessary. I added Cod as a protein as I’m not vegetarian and love to add a protein to these recipes. Cookie and Kate is my go to for recipes.
★★★★★
Kate
You are so sweet, Heather! I really appreciate your comment and review.
Kaitlyn Nelson
I loved this recipe! The green rice was amazing! I made it exactly as is and wouldn’t make any subs. So quick and easy!
★★★★★
Kate
Great! Thank you, Kaitlyn for your review.
christine sokolowski
This looks so good! I’m sorry to say but I hate hate hate Cilantro. Have you ever tried this with another herb? Please let me know what you’d recommend! Appreciate it :)
Thanks in advance! Love your recipes! :)
Kate
Hi Christine, for the green rice, you can just replace the cilantro with extra spinach. There isn’t really a suitable substitution for cilantro, so I’d generally suggest omitting it.
Nicole
This was seriously amazing – I should stop being surprised by how fantastic your recipes are because they always are! Thank you so much for inspiring me to continue on my cooking/baking journey!
★★★★★
Kate
You are so sweet, Nicole! You are very welcome. Thanks for coming back and for the review!
Vincent
Hi Kate! I’ve tried a few of your recipes and they’ve all come out lovely. This was my first time cooking brown rice and I followed all the steps. But even after cooking it for nearly 3 hours it was still crunchy. I was wondering if you knew how to rectify this?
Kate
I’m sorry to hear that, Vincent! That shouldn’t have been the case. Maybe your rice needed some more liquid? I think if you toast the rice for too long, it can have trouble absorbing water, but it might just be your particular variety/brand/age of rice that caused problems. I hope your next C+K recipe turns out perfectly!
Hannah Dodge
Is the brown rice uncooked to start out with? Thanks!
Kate
Yes! You start with it uncooked through the first few steps, then you add the rest of the vegetable broth and cook the rest of the way. Hope this helps!
Hannah Dodge
I am looking to incorporate other sources of protein into my diet that don’t include eating meat, not that I’m against it, just looking to expand my eating habits to something a little better! Win that being said, I am trying theee of your recipes this week and super excited to see how they turn out! Your blog(?) has been so helpful to me for this experiment already and I haven’t even started cooking! Thank you!
Megan
Your green rice is amazing – I received your cookbook for Christmas this year and my white-rice-loving toddler DEVOURED this rice. She didn’t care that it was brown (vs. white) and she didn’t care that it was covered in green, so this is now my go-to, guilt-free dinner option for her to add some nutrients to her carb addiction. Thank you.
★★★★★
Kate
Well, thank you Megan! I’m happy it is such a hit with your toddler. Thanks for your support and review!
Nisha
Just made this for dinner and it was fantastic! Thanks for the consistently great recipes! I’ve been reading your blog ever since I moved to the Middle East 4 years ago and I never realized you’re from Kansas City, me too! Even more reasons to share your recipes with friends! :)
★★★★★
Kate
You’re sweet, Nisha! I’m happy you have had so much success. Thanks for the review!
Juli
I made this last night, and my brother-in-law, a devout meat eater, loved it. But more importantly, the vegetarians present loved it. We were all wowed by the combo of textures and flavors: soft, crunchy, hot, cool. The hint of lime in the beans and the seasoned rice were show-stoppers. I am curious to try other flavored rice, but for now, thank you so much for such a wonderful company dish.
★★★★★
Kate
Wonderful! Thank you, Juli for sharing.
Kate in London
As I opened this recipe for about the bazillionth time (I actually don’t really even need to look at it anymore) I thought it was high time I shared with you how much I bloody love it. It’s seriously brilliant, as is everything on your site (and in the book)! I have been vegetarian now for about two years: I found this recipe shortly after I stopped eating meat, and I have never looked back.
Thanks for all the recipes you share with us! It’s so valuable to have blogs and cookbooks that you just TRUST. If I try a new recipe from you both I and my (also vegetarian) husband 100% know we are going to love it. So cheers for that!
ErikB
Fantastic! Another big hit with my family! Each part full of flavor, combination of parts = delicious!
Things I did different to recipe:
-Used 1/4 cup onion instead of shallot.
-used 3T chopped jalapeño from a jar.
-cooked the green rice in rice cooker (simplifies meal prep and rice came out perfect).
-used guacamole, organic Greek plain yogurt, and pico de gallo as toppings (what was available).
Thanks again, Kate! Photo posted on Instagram.
★★★★★
Mara
Pretty good – loved the rice. The beans were a bit bland, will try with lime instead of vinegar next time.
★★★★
Kate
I’m sorry you felt that way. But, sounds like you know what your taste buds like. Thanks for the review!
Deborah Ritchie
Have made this twice and it is so good. Thank you ladies!!!
★★★★★
Kate
Great!
Larissa Villela
Can you use rice that has already been cooked for this recipe?
Kate
I guess you could, but I’m not sure how the flavors would change. Browning the rice is key. If you try it, let me know how it goes.
MK
I have been cooking from your blog for about a year now, and every recipe is delicious! Each one is easy to make and just full of flavor. It is really the only blog I use. Also, most of them my 2 and 4 year old will eat as well, which is a huge plus! Thanks for such a wonderful food blog!
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you!! So nice to hear, MK. I really appreciate the review.
Mary
This continues to be one of my favorite go to meals during the week. So delicious and pretty easy to throw together!
★★★★★
Mary
I actuallly prefer the green rice in your cookbook in the chick pea recipe so I always substitute when I make these bowls!
Kate
I’m so happy to hear it’s a favorite! Great meal for the week. Thanks, Mary!
AM
This is absolutely, positively delicious! Excellent, excellent, excellent!
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you!!
Jenni
This was so, so, soooo good. I ate the leftovers then wanted to make it again the next day, it’s so delicious. Going on the weekly rotation. Thank you!
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome! Leftovers are perfect.
Aashi
Hi!
I am 13 and I plan on making this for my family tonight! The recipe looks amazing and I can’t wait! – I hope they enjoy it! It is so healthy and a balanced meal! – Amazing :) However, I plan on using a rice cooker to cook the rice and then combining the puree of the green veggies? – How do you think that will work?
Thank you so much! Amazing x
★★★★★
Kate
How fun, Aashi! I didn’t use a rice cooker for this as the flavor and texture of this really needs the browning and then adding the green mixture. But, you could search the comments to see if other readers have had experience. Thank you for your review!
Alexa
Awesome tasting and easily made; though I can say the same about any vegan recipe on this site that I’ve tried. I often just make the green rice by itself, using as many of the ingredients as I have at hand. Thanks for the great recipes Kate :)
★★★★★
Kate
Wonderful! Thank you, Alexa.
Jan
Oh my Gosh!!!! Made this for dinner last night! So Yummy! Thank you for your GREAT recipes! This one will go into the rotation of favourite dinners! You have such wonderful recipes!
★★★★★
Kate
Hooray! Thank you, Jan. I really appreciate it.
Cheryl Clarke
This is an awesome recipe! My whole family loves it! I’ll make it again and again!
★★★★★
Kate
Wonderful, Cheryl! Thank you for your review.
Cheryl
We had it last night. Had the whole family over. They all love it and were pleasantly surprised to to have it for dinner. My son took home the leftovers (what little there was).
★★★★★
Allison
Super yummy! I love the combination of colors with the green rice, sweet potatoes, and black beans. I didn’t have a shallot on hand and used a onion instead and still turned out good. I topped mine with salsa verde and Monterey jack cheese for dinner, but my lunch leftovers the next day didn’t have either and both meals were delicious. I will be making again :)
★★★★★
Kate
Thanks for sharing, Allison.
Sarah
This is a new family favorite!
★★★★★
Kate
Oh yes! I love when that happens. Thanks for sharing, Sarah.
Debbie
My husband (who prefers meat in every dish) said this was an amazing mix of flavors and I, of course, must agree. Thanks for another delicious recipe. You are my favorite maker of recipes!
★★★★★
Kate
Hooray! That’s awesome to hear. Thanks so much, Debbie.
Matt
This has been a staple in my house for quite awhile! And anyone looking to cook the rice in an Instant Pot: Prepare rice as normal (I sauteed mine in the Instant Pot itself), but be sure to drop your total liquid to about 2¼ cups, then cook on high pressure for 15 min, doing a quick release after 5 min.
★★★★★
Kate
Thanks for sharing, Matt!
Josh
Your recipes never cease to amaze and this was certainly no exception.
Took a bit longer to prepare than my average dinner but so worth it! My girlfriend wouldn’t stop telling me how tasty it is and I completely agree. So good, and healthy!
Due to availability, I made a few adjustments, I used sesame oil instead of olive oil and a sweet onion instead of shallot and it worked great!
My only suggestion to other people making this is don’t feel shy about adding spice and herbs to the black beans as they can take a lot of it before it becomes overpowering.
★★★★★
Kate
I’m SO happy you think so, Josh! Thanks for your feedback. I’m glad this worked well, even with your adjustments.
Victoria
This recipe is delicious! The rice took longer to cook and needed more liquid, so I added more broth and it ended up being like a risotto, which was a nice change from the usual rice texture. I left out the cilantro (I’m one of those people that hates it), and it still had great flavor. Thanks for sharing!
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome, Victoria! Thanks so much for your review.
Elizabeth Badreddine
The green rice was out of this world. I subbed the spinache with kale which also worked perfectly.
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you for sharing, Elizabeth!
Vandana
Great recipe, I will definitely try it.
★★★★★
Kate
Let me know what you think when you do, Vandana!
Elizabeth Conrad
Can this be made with instant brown rice? It’s all I have on hand and this recipe sounds amazing :)
Kate
You could try it!
April
I made this tonight and it is just amazing. Wow. I am blown away and will make this again and again.
I had to substitute out the cilantro, as my husband doesn’t like it. I used flat leaf parsley and some lemon juice in its place. It still tasted great! I’ll have to try it with cilantro when my husband goes back to camp.
★★★★★