Chiptole-style Chicken Burritos

This is more or less a copycat of Chipotle’s chicken burritos. I took the basic recipes from chipotlefan.com and tweaked them. I wouldn’t say this recipe tastes like a copycat, but it’s definitely in the same ballpark.

Tortillas:

2 ¾ cup flour

5 tablespoons vegetable shortening or lard

¾ teaspoon salt

¾ cup very warm water

In a bowl, add the flour and shortening. Mix with a pastry blender of forks until the fat is pebble sized. Add the salt and mix. Pour the water on top, and work the dough with your hands until smooth. Divide into 6 equal pieces, then spritz with cooking spray and cover with plastic wrap for half an hour.

Spread some flour onto a work surface, and roll out the tortillas, one at a time. Press each ball into a circular disk with your hand, and then roll out using a rolling pin, turning 90 degrees as you roll to maintain a circular shape. Roll out to about 12” in diameter.

Preheat a 12” pan over medium high. Cook each tortilla for about 30 seconds per side, until you see some browning in spots. Tortillas can be cooked ahead and kept in the fridge, covered with plastic wrap.

Pico de Gallo:

4 roma tomatoes

1 heirloom tomato

¼ bell pepper

½ large red onion

4 tbsp Cilantro

Juice of 1 lime

Juice of 1 lemon

Salt

Roughly chop everything into a dice and put it in a bowl for at least an hour. Seriously, that’s it. Try to keep the dice fairly small.

Roasted Corn Salsa       

1 lb. frozen corn

1 poblano pepper

½ red onion

2 tablespoons Cilantro

Juice of 1 lime

Salt

Preheat oven to 450. Spread the corn out on a baking sheet and roast for about 10 minutes. Roast the poblano until the skin blisters. Roast the onion as well, so it doesn’t feel left out. Dump the corn in a bowl. Remove the skin from the poblano (I do this under running water, just use your fingers and rub/tear it off), then cut it open and rinse out the seeds. Dice and add to the bowl with the corn. Dice the onion and toss it into the bowl. Add the cilantro, lime and salt. Mix, and let sit for at least an hour.

Chicken:

3 chicken breasts

1 small Spanish onion (~1 cup chopped up)

4 cloves garlic

1 chipotle pepper in adobo

2 tablespoon red wine vinegar

2 tbsp chopped cilantro

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon salt

Roughly chop the onion, garlic, chipotle pepper and cilantro and add to a blender along with the vinegar, paprika, oregano, and salt. Puree. Dice the chicken up into roughly ¾” pieces, and put them in a ziploc bag. Pour the marinade over, and make sure everything is co-mingling. Let this chill in the fridge for a few hours. When you’re ready to cook, rinse the excess marinade off the chicken and pat dry with paper towels. Cook in a large pan, over medium/medium high heat for about 2 minutes, then flip and cook for another 2 minutes.

Rice:

¾ cup uncooked rice

¼ cup cilantro

Juice of 1 lime

Cook the rice as usual, then fluff and incorporate the chopped cilantro and lime juice.

Assembly:

If you made the tortillas ahead of time, reheat them by stacking them on a plate, placing a dampened paper towel on top of each layer. Microwave on low power for 1 minute. Top with rice, chicken, both salsas, sour cream, and shredded cheese.

While tasty, the burrito is a pain in the ass to photograph. Especially when you're trying to do so quickly.