Taco Bell Border Rice Bowl - Zesty Chicken Recipe

At my previous two jobs I had a taco bell within walking distance (doesn't mean I walked, they were just close!). I love taco bell for their good food and also that they serve Pepsi products (read: Mountain Dew).


Once a week I'd get the Zesty Chicken rice bowl (they called them border bowls I guess?). They're like a really REALLY good salad, with not too much lettuce. Healthy too, as nothing is fried, it's full of veggies, brown rice, beans and cheese. Of course they eventually decided to discontinue their border bowls and I was devastated. Thankfully, I have some decent cooking skills and I was able to recreate what I consider an almost perfect match of Taco Bell's version. So, here goes the recipe!

This serves 2 people by the way. Brown 2 chopped chicken breasts in 1-2 Tbsp of oil.

Halfway through the cooking, add pepper to the chicken and sprinkle a good amount of taco seasoning on the chicken. You may need to add a couple tablespoons of water if the seasoning doesn't distribute well.

Next up, the rice. I used Uncle Ben's rice in a bag (SO easy to make!), again added more taco seasoning as well as some taco bell mild taco sauce.You don't want it super flavorful, but enough you can taste the seasoning.

 Warm up a can of Taco bell's refried beans in the zapper.

 Spread about half the can in the bottom of a bowl

top with a cup or so of rice

then half of the cooked chicken

Then tortilla strips. I found these at walmart in the salad dressing isle

Then top with chopped tomatoes, shredded cheddar or colby jack cheese, and shredded lettuce. (Sorry no pictures of the last two)

 The finishing touch is the topping. Taco Bell Mild Taco sauce (also found at walmart) and Spicy Ranch dressing. The picture doesn't show Spicy Ranch because I didn't have it at the time. But I assure you, It tastes exactly like the sauce at Taco bell.

Trust me, this Rice bowl is SO good!