Pinbuster: Copycat Chipotle Recipes

Who hasn't lost hours upon hours on the lovely addiction we like to call Pinterest? At its heart (does Pinterest have a heart?--hmmm--discuss amongst yourselves for a minute) Pinterest is a wonderful space to house your interests and loves. However, jokes ABOUND about how many things we pin and actually never look at, try, or do EVER.....

Well--Holly and I decided to put our Pinterest boards to the ultimate test! We each will choose something we have pinned and "intended" to do for awhile and we will actually DO IT. We are calling it PINBUSTER! (Like Mythbusters ya know!) We are stepping a bit away from the fashion on this one---Holly's up first with her Chipotle recipe!

While looking through some Pinterest recipes I came across this link for copy cat Chipotle Chicken burritos. I LOVE Chipotle! I had to try it! I was a little skeptical at first because Chipotle burritos are the perfect combo of sweet and spicy. YUM!! I double dog dare you to try it!

I just pasted the information from the linked site. My extra comments (time savers I found or substitutes that I used) are in RED.

source

 

I got all the recipes online from other fellow chipotle fans as myself, since I don’t have a clue when it comes to Mexican cooking.

I still managed to tweak the recipes to the ingredients I had, and it still turned out delicious! I give them 5 stars for being as close to chipotle as I can ever get, without leaving the house..

Enough with the chitchat and on to the recipes…

Chipotle’s grilled chicken marinade:

The original method of cooking the chicken is to marinate it overnight and grill it flat (lay a brick wrapped in foil on it).. Since it was a last minute decision (see: cravings above) it was already 3pm when I took the chicken breast out of the freezer, so I needed a plan B.

I made the marinade, added water. And threw it in a crock pot on high for 5 hours..

Let me just say I wish you were here to smell how good it was …..

If I'm in a pinch, I shred up some chicken breasts (or I have been known to use it from a can if I'm desperate) and just simmer it in the marinade while I put everything else together. It ends up being about 30ish minutes and the taste is still excellent!  I added extra cumin for a little more kick, too.  ~Holly

Ingredients: original recipe link

My tweaked version:

- 1 7oz can of chipotle pepper in adobo sauce. Remove the peppers and keep the sauce. (I left in one pepper)

- 6-7 dried red chili peppers

- 1 small onion

- 2 tsp cumin

- 2 tbsp dried oregano (all I had on hand)

- 2.5 tsp salt

- 1 tsp black pepper

- 6 chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces

- 1/4 cup canola oil

- 2 cups water

Throw everything in food processor, blend and cover chicken, throw in crock pot, check on it 5 hours later.

Since my chicken was still kinda frozen when I put it in, it took longer than I anticipated, so when Maghrib was approaching I moved everything to a pot and cooked it on the stove on medium heat for around 20 mins to give it a boost and make it really soft. 

Again, feel free to check the original recipe here and follow their directions as well. (I used recipe #1)





Corn Salsa:

This was super good and easy to make, and wouldn’t be a real chipotle dish without it .. 

Ingredients: original recipe
My tweaked version:

1 lb bag of frozen corn, cooked
1/3 bunch of cilantro, chopped finely
2 green jalapenos, finely diced
1/2 red onion, diced finely
Juice of one lime
Salt pepper to taste
1  pablano pepper, roasted in the oven, diced finely 
(I was too scared it would be spicy since I’ve never used it before, and it’s huge!! Let me just say the jalepenos were spicier…)

Chop chop chop, and mix all together. and your done

One time when I made this I didn't have lime juice on hand, so I used a lemon and it was fine. Lime is better, but lemon worked as well.
I also used a regular green pepper instead of the pablano pepper.   ~Holly

 

Pico de gallo : (original recipe found in the comments)

What I used:
6 ripe Roma tomatoes, finely diced..
2 tbsp chopped cilantro
1/2 red onion, diced finely
1/2 tsp salt
Juice of half a lemon
1/2 jalepeno, finely diced


Dice everything and combine.. And enjoy

Don't mess with this recipe! It is amazing just the way it is! ~Holly

You will also need shredded lettuce as a topping. So cut some up and put it in a separate bowl.

 

Cilantro lime rice: original (used recipe #2 and doubled it)

2 cup basmati rice
4 cups water
Bay leaf
1 tsp salt
Juice of a lime
2 tbsp cilantro, minced

2 tbsp oil

 

Saute the rice in oil until almost translucent.  Add bay leaf and water, bring to a boil.
As soon as the water begins to boil, turn the heat down low.
Simmer, covered for 15-20 minutes, or until all water is absorbed.
Turn off heat.  Leave covered for 30 minutes. This is the “steaming” part, this is what makes the rice fluffy.

Once done, It may be helpful to transfer rice into a mixing bowl for the next step.
Mix salt and juice of lime together until salt is dissolved.
remove bay leaf, pour it over rice, fluff with a fork.
Sprinkle in cilantro, and toss well to evenly coat with cilantro and lime mixture. And you’re done!

Again, I used a lemon and it was good...And I skipped the bay leaf, I couldn't tell the difference.  ~Holly

Sour cream sauce:

Just get sour cream, add some water to make it a smooth consistency, and mix well. thats it!

We used just regular sour cream to save time as well, but this is super easy.   ~Holly

Here is another recipe that was at the bottom of the burritos' recipe. It sounds delish, but I have not tried it yet. Let me know if you try it.    ~Holly

Espinaca (spinach and cheese dip) similar to Jose peppers… 

 

Ingredients:
16 oz 1/3 fat cream cheese
8 oz hot pepper cheese (not same as pepper jack) 
4 oz frozen spinach
1 onion, chopped
1 10 oz can rotel, drained
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
2 Maggie cubes (equivalent to 4 small bouillon cubes) 

Add all in crock pot (or on stovetop on the lowest heat) until melted and combined (around at least 30 mins)  Stir and serve hot with chips.

 

 Just for fun i put it in a chocolate fondue bowl, to keep it from getting cold.

And that was our Mexican Chipotle dinner for that night.. hope you enjoyed it as much as i did!

HAPPY COOKING!!

~Holly