Easy BBQ Chicken & Black Bean Burritos Recipe

How to Make BBQ Chicken Burritos

These BBQ chicken and black bean burritos are my family’s go-to taco/burrito night recipe because they’re SO quick to make.  They’re also super easy and very tasty. Plus, making them only costs about $5 to feed a family of 6!

There are a couple of different ways you can make these BBQ chicken burritos!  You can make freezer meals, or you can simply prep one meal! This is also a great one to double or triple batch because it’s soooo simple! Make a batch for tonight and then freeze the extra batches for later! You can freeze the chicken raw or cooked… either way will work!

Ingredients

The combo of the chicken, black beans, corn, shredded cheese, and then the sour cream and the BBQ sauce (we love this homemade Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce) make these burritos extremely tasty. If you’ve never had chicken and bean burritos, let alone with BBQ sauce, don’t worry, you’ll love these!

Note that if you want to add a little extra zest to these burritos, I recommend adding some cilantro and lime as shown in the photos. This adds some extra flavor!

Preparing for the Freezer: 

You can put 2 large chicken breasts into a gallon sized freezer bag, and add corn, black beans, and BBQ sauce. Mix and freeze. OR if you want to cook your chicken first, you can do that too!

Cook 2 chicken breasts in your slow cooker (low for 6 hours with about a cup of water or chicken broth) or in your instant pot (15 minutes with 10 min slow release – with about a cup of water or chicken broth). You can also just cook the chicken directly on the stovetop (directions below) if you’d like!

Next, shred your chicken with your Kitchenaid, with a hand mixer, or by hand. Add back to slow cooker or instant pot, or just put it in a bowl if you cooked it on the stovetop. Just make sure most of the liquid is out of it at this point.

Mix in about 1 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce. We love using our copycat Sweet Baby Rays BBQ Sauce. Some people like to use more sauce… do what looks good to you!

Finally, stir in the frozen corn (it will heat up with the warm chicken mixture) and black beans until evenly blended. Then put the mixture into a gallon-sized freezer bag and store flat to save space and for a quick and easy thaw, like so:

You can also simply freeze the fully assembled burritos if you’d like. Just place them seam side down on a baking sheet, freeze for 30-minutes, then transfer to a resealable freezer bag (good for up to 3 months).

Prepare after Freezing:

Quick note: If you froze your burritos fully assembled, you can quickly reheat them in the microwave or oven. Read the directions for that below! If you froze the burrito filling, keep on reading…

Warm the thawed chicken mixture in a skillet on the stove for about 10 minutes at medium heat, or in a microwave-safe covered dish for 3-5 minutes, or until heated through, stirring frequently. You could also throw it in the slow cooker to reheat (low for a couple of hours, just add some chicken broth), or in the instant pot (should take just about 5 minutes!).

Spread a little sour cream in the middle of a tortilla, then place the chicken mixture on top with a bit of cheese:

Next, finish the burrito by folding the shell into thirds:

And finally, at this point, I love to cook the bbq chicken burritos on a skillet to heat up the tortilla and melt the cheese. It makes the shell crispy and delicious!

Serving Tips

Serve your barbecue chicken burritos with a green salad or a veggie tray full of your favorite vegetables for a quick, well-balanced meal!

Learn More About Freezer Meal Cooking:

• Top 5 Benefits of Freezer Meal Cooking
• Freezer Meal Cooking: Is It Better In a Group?
• 24 Freezer Meal Tips to Make Your Life Easier
• Foods You Shouldn’t Freeze
• Freezer Meal eBook

More Freezer Meal Recipes:

• Mexi Stuffed Peppers
• Easy Beef and Bean Burritos
• Dr. Pepper Pulled Pork
• Cafe Rio Sweet Pork Burrito & Salad Copycat
• Easy Chicken Pillows

Easy BBQ Chicken & Black Bean Burritos Recipe

If you don't count the time it takes to cook the chicken in the slow cooker (consider doing it in an instant pot too!) this is a super fast delicious meal to throw together! It's a great alternative to taco night and a family favorite!

4.50 / 5 ( 8 Reviews )

Print Rate

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 4 hours hours

Total Time: 4 hours hours 10 minutes minutes

Serves: 6

Adjust Servings: 6

US CustomaryMetric

Ingredients

• 2 pounds chicken breast approx. 2 breasts
• 1 cup BBQ sauce see our delicious homemade barbecue sauce
• 15- ounce can black beans drained and rinsed
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 8 flour burrito tortillas
• ½ cup shredded cheese
• ⅓ cup sour cream
• ¼ cup fresh chopped cilantro
• 1 lime sliced into wedges

Instructions

• Place chicken breasts with water or chicken broth in crockpot on low for 5-6 hours (or instant pot for 15 minutes with 10 minutes slow release). For stove top, place chicken breasts in skillet and fill with broth or water until chicken is halfway covered. Simmer uncovered for 5 minutes, turn off heat, let sit covered for 15 minutes. Internal temperature of cooked chicken is 165° F.
• Remove chicken from liquid, and shred
• Return chicken to the slow cooker, Instant Pot, or transfer to a large bowl, and mix with BBQ sauce and a little of the remaining liquid to keep the mixture moist.
• While chicken is still warm, stir in frozen corn and black beans.
• Spread a spoonful of sour cream in the middle of each tortilla.
• Spoon on chicken filling.
• Sprinkle desired amount of cheese and cilantro into the burrito, and squeeze a small amount of lime juice over the mixture.
• Fold shell into 3rds
• If desired, cook in a dry frying pan and press with spatula until golden brown.

Air Fry Instructions:

• Roll into thirds and lightly mist with oil. Air fry at 350˚F/176˚C for 5 minutes or until it reaches desired crispiness, flipping halfway.

3 Ways to Prepare for Freezer:

• Place raw chicken, corn, black beans, and BBQ sauce into a gallon sized freezer bag. Shape to fit slow cooker or instant pot, freeze. OR...
• Cook chicken mixture as directed, cool slightly and place in a freezer bag (or smaller bags if portioning) and freeze. OR...
• Place assembled burritos, seam-side down on a baking sheet and freeze for about 30 minutes. Then wrap each burrito individually in plastic wrap or foil. Place wrapped burritos in a resealable bag and freeze for up to 3 months.

Prepare after freezing:

• For raw chicken mixture, cook in instant pot (from frozen) with an extra cup of chicken broth, and cook on high pressure for 40 minutes (or 20 if thawed)
• For cooked chicken mixture, cook in an instant pot (from frozen) with an extra cup of chicken broth for 15 minutes.
• For Burritos:
• Microwave - Remove wrapping from burrito. Poke holes in the top several times with a fork. Microwave for about 2 minutes. Gently poke a few more holes, sprinkle some shredded cheese on top, then microwave for 1 more minute. For a crispy outside, broil the burritos briefly.
• Oven - Thaw. Wrap burritos in foil and warm in the oven at 350 for about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese, then broil until cheese is melted and starting to brown. (You can heat from frozen, but it will take longer.)

Recipe Notes

To make this recipe even faster, use your instant pot and cook your chicken in water or broth for about 35 minutes (if frozen) or 15 minutes (if thawed). Then shred your chicken and stir in the BBQ sauce, black beans, and corn and BOOM you've got your mixture, all ready for tortillas!

Nutrition

Calories: 522kcal | Carbohydrates: 60g | Protein: 43g | Fat: 12g | Sodium: 1282mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 18g