Kale, Black Bean & Avocado Burrito Bowl
Fresh burrito bowl with super flavorful components—lime marinated kale, seasoned black beans, brown rice and avocado salsa verde. Both gluten free and vegan.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 29, 2024
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Last week, Cookie and I zoomed up to Minneapolis to visit a friend. It was a long drive, long enough to justify lots of seat squirming as all the hills and trees started looking the same, but we made it there and we made it back. In between, we explored the city with my college roommate/tour guide. She took me to all the cool places to eat and drink, and shop, and hike and bike. She introduced me to the Minnesota delicacy known as fried cheese curds. (Cheese and beer at midnight is hard to beat, am I right?) It was a wonderful extended weekend and I didn’t want to come back home to a mountain of laundry and unanswered emails.
I composed this burrito bowl in my head on the drive home, somewhere between my stop at Ikea (first time!) and Iowa. I was feeling a little off balance after all the eating, drinking and shopping. I wanted a hearty meal with greens, one that would keep well so I could eat leftovers for a few days as I got caught up on work. I wanted something economical and practical, yet so tasty that I could forget about all of those factors and enjoy every bite. Mission accomplished!
Kale, Black Bean and Avocado Burrito Bowl
A fresh burrito bowl with super flavorful components—lime marinated kale, seasoned black beans, brown rice and avocado salsa verde. This recipe is both gluten free and vegan.
Ingredients
Brown rice
- 1 cup brown rice, rinsed (short grain/arborio or long grain/basmati recommended)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Lime marinated kale
- 1 bunch curly kale, ribs removed and chopped into small, bite-sized pieces
- ¼ cup lime juice
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Avocado salsa verde
- 1 avocado, pitted and sliced into big chunks
- ½ cup mild salsa verde (any good green salsa will do)
- ½ cup fresh cilantro leaves (a few stems are ok)
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
Seasoned black beans
- 2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained (or 4 cups cooked black beans)
- 1 shallot, finely chopped (or ⅓ cup chopped red onion)
- 3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- ¼ teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
Optional garnishes
- Cherry tomatoes, sliced into thin rounds
- Crumbled feta cheese
- Toasted pepitas (green pumpkin seeds)
- Hot sauce
Instructions
- Cook the rice: Bring a big pot of water to a boil, pour in the rinsed brown rice and boil, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Turn off the heat, drain the rice and return it to the pot. Cover and let the rice steam in the pot for 10 minutes, then fluff the rice with a fork and season with ¼ teaspoon salt, or more to taste.
- Make the kale salad: Place the chopped kale in a big mixing bowl. Massage the leaves with your hands by lightly scrunching big handfuls at a time until the leaves are darker in color and fragrant. Whisk together the lime juice, olive oil, chopped jalapeño, cumin and salt, then pour the dressing into the bowl and stir to combine.
- Make the avocado salsa verde: In a food processor or blender, combine the avocado chunks, salsa verde, cilantro and lime juice and blend well.
- Warm the beans: In a medium saucepan, warm 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-low heat. Sauté the shallot and garlic until fragrant, then add the beans, chili powder and cayenne pepper. Cook until the beans are warmed through and softened, stirring often, about 5 to 7 minutes. If the beans seem dry at any point, mix in a little splash of water.
- To serve, spoon generous portions of rice, beans and kale salad into a bowl. Top with a couple of spoonfuls of avocado salsa verde and garnish as desired.
Notes
Recipe inspired by Not Without Salt’s jalapeño and lime marinated kale tostada. Recipe updated in 2024 to include massaging the kale for an improved texture, plus additional garnish suggestions.
Leftovers? Each component of this recipe keeps well in the refrigerator. For leftovers, just reheat the beans and rice and serve alongside marinated kale and salsa verde. To make sure the salsa verde stays bright green, store it in a bowl with plastic wrap pressed against the sauce.
If you love this recipe: Don’t miss my simple kale and black bean burritos.
Make it vegan/dairy free: Don’t add cheese.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
So delish!!!! Added a little sweet to the kale salad for balance, hubby went back for thirds thank you for the recipe!
PS- this was a last minute google search in Publix parking lot- the perineal question? #vegandinnerrecipe
Whoa. This came out so nicely!
I did something a little bit different and baked the kale for 8min at 420F and just threw the marinade ingredients separately on top of it before I stuck it in the oven.
Just used regular avocado instead of the purée because I don’t much care for Verde, and put the cilantro on the beans.
Thank you for the recipe! I’ll be doing this one a lot.
Thank you for sharing, Jansen! I like that idea.
Very yummy, but my kale was pretty chewy. Do you let it marinade for a while to soften?
Thanks for another fabulous recipexx
I love trying all your recipes! Thank you for widening my horizons with food. This wasn’t my favorite. For me maybe a little too much tang from all the lime juice. I would try again with less lime juice.
I’m allergic to avocado. I’ve noticed that it’s almost a staple in your repertoire. Is there any substitution(s) I can make that will help re-create that creaminess and sublime taste?
Thanks for all the great recipes. Never a bad one in the bunch!
Hi, I don’t really have a replacement for avocado. You could try a creamy soft cheese in some cases, or omit. It would really just depend on the recipe.
Fantastic, as always, Kate! Tonight we made this again and served with corn on the cob and watermelon margaritas! Celebrating the waning summer days.
And thanks for being the source for about 80% of the dinners we make each week!
I’m happy you are enjoying so many of my recipes! Thank you for your review, Courtney.
This recipe is awesome! It combines all of my favorite things: kale, black beans, avocado, and rice! Thank you for sharing.
This was easy and delicious! Thanks for the idea! I’m glad that it uses ingredients I regularly have on hand and help me put them together for a cohesive vegetarian meal with lots of flavor. Adding this one in the rotation and excited to try more from Cookie and Kate!
I’m happy to hear that, Jo! Thanks for sharing.
Yum! I used leftover cilantro lime rice and added salsa verde to store purchased prepared guac because avocados looked terrible. Flavor combination was great! I love your site and the quick, easy, delicious flavor combinations! Thanks again!
You’re welcome, Melissa! I appreciate your review.
Fabulous! I made it yesterday and everyone loved it. Thanks……
Thank you for your comment!
We love this recipe! Made it it too many times to count. We are not big fans of kale, however, so always substitute spinach instead, and it’s super delicious. The leftovers are great stuffed into a wrap!
I finally had the chance to try this recipe, and it was great. It was even better because I was able to use dried black beans from my garden that I had cooked and frozen using your recipe “How to Cook Black Beans! :)