Spicy Chicken & Steak Burritos with Homemade Guacamole

Sometimes it can be really fun to go all-out and prepare a giant platter of stuffed cheesy chicken & steak burritos for a large group. It helps to have an extra set of hands available in the kitchen if you are trying to assemble them all at once.

What I often like to do is provide the burrito components in individual serving bowls on the table buffet-style, where you can keep the tortillas wrapped in aluminum foil on very low heat in the oven for whenever folks are ready to assemble. This way, people can add as much of the various components as they like. Try not to overstuff your burritos, as they are likely to break when wrapping!

The recipe below is intended to make roughly 8 large burritos.

Ingredients

For the Marinated Chicken and Steak:

32 oz boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into thin bite-sized strips
32 oz skirt steak or steak of choice, cut into thin bite-sized strips
3 cloves garlic minced
½ cup olive oil
¼ cup lime juice
½ cup orange juice
½ cup fresh cilantro finely chopped
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp cayenne powder
1 tsp chili powder
1 Tbsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp dried oregano
1 Tbsp or more of kosher salt
1 tsp freshly-ground black pepper

For the Homemade Guacamole:

3 Hass avocados perfectly soft & ripe, flesh removed and reserved
¼ white onion small dice
Zest of 1 lime
Juice of 1-2 limes, depending on preference for acidity level
1.5 tsp kosher salt
1 Roma tomato cut into quarters, soft flesh discarded, remainder cut medium dice
1 serrano chili, finely minced
¼ cup fresh cilantro, both stems & leaves finely sliced

For Remaining Burrito Components:

2 cups cooked white rice
Zest of 1 lime
¼ cup fresh cilantro roughly chopped
2 cups cooked black beans
2 cups cooked corn
2 cups spicy salsa of choice
2 cups shredded mild cheese like Monterey Jack or Pepper Jack
1 cup pickled jalapenos
8 extra-large flour tortillas
2 cups sour cream
2 cups homemade guacamole from earlier
2 cups shredded iceberg lettuce
Your favorite hot sauce

Instructions

For the Marinated Chicken and Steak:

Start by marinating the chicken and steak.
In a large bowl, mix together the garlic, olive oil, lime juice, orange juice, cumin, cayenne powder, chili powder, red pepper flakes, oregano, kosher salt, and freshly-ground pepper.
Taste the marinade, and add more salt and black pepper if desired.
Distribute the marinade into two large freezer-safe zip lock bags.
Place the chicken in the bag with half of the marinade, and place the steak in the bag with the other marinade.
Place the bags with the marinating meats on a tray in the refrigerator for 4 hours.
*Be careful to ensure the bags are fully sealed.
When the chicken and steak have marinated, remove them from the marinade and allow them to drain.
Preheat the oven to 375F.
Place the marinated chicken and steak on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper.
*Depending on the size of your sheet trays here, you might want to use two, allowing for some space in between the individual pieces of marinated meat on the tray.
Bake at 375F for 10-12 minutes, or until the chicken is barely cooked through.
Remove the steak and chicken from the oven and transfer to a place.
Cover the plate with plastic wrap, and keep the mixture warm while you get your burritos ready for assembly.
Set the covered warm plate aside for later.

For the Homemade Guacamole:

Remove flesh from avocados and roughly mash with a potato masher or fork, maintaining large chunks of avocado in the mixture.
Cover the avocado mixture with a layer of plastic wrap pressed firmly against the top of the mashed avocado.
Combine the white onion with the lime juice and allow the two to sit together for 15 minutes.
Add 1 tsp of the kosher salt to the avocado mixture and stir to combine.
Add the remaining ½ tsp kosher salt to the Roma tomato flesh and allow to sit for 10 minutes.
After the tomatoes have sat for 15 minutes, drain excess water from the tomatoes and add the avocado mixture.
Add the serrano chili to the avocado mixture.
Add the lime zest and lime juice and white onion to the avocado mixture.
Stir in the freshly sliced cilantro until fully combined.
Taste and adjust for salt and lime.

For Remaining Burrito Components:

To make the burrito assembly process a bit faster, you can combine many of the remaining burrito ingredients in one large bowl and scoop from there.
To make this filling, combine the cooked white rice, with the black beans, cooked corn, spicy salsa, shredded cheese, and pickled jalapenos in a large bowl.
Preheat the oven to 325F.
Wrap the extra-large flour tortillas together in aluminum foil and preheat the tortillas at 325F for roughly 12 minutes before you are ready to assemble.
When you are ready to assemble the burritos and your tortillas are warm, remove the tortillas from the oven.
Place a large flour tortilla on a flat surface.
Add some of the cooked chicken and steak mixture to the center of the tortilla, followed by a generous scoop of burrito filling.
Add a scoop of sour cream and a scoop of your homemade guacamole from earlier.
Add shredded lettuce and some of your favorite hot sauce.
Fold the top and bottom of the tortilla over the chicken and steak filling, then fold in the sides to form a burrito.
*Try to watch a quick YouTube tutorial on how to roll a burrito if you are feeling a little bit nervous here. It definitely helps to work with a warm tortilla, and if it has some extra give to it and can stretch a little, that’s an extra plus!
Repeat this process with the remaining ingredients to make a total of 8 burritos.
Heat a skillet or griddle with a light layer of vegetable oil.
Warm the burritos lightly on two sides right before serving, if desired.

Notes

I once knew a guy who would buy burritos from this family-owned store that were wrapped in aluminum foil, and he would freeze them. He would defrost them, and reheat them in the oven whenever he felt like it. I have to admit, I haven’t actually tried that with these homemade burritos, as I prefer the ingredients to be a bit fresher. But hey, sounds like it worked just fine for this guy.