VEGAN BURRITO BOWL - Better than Chipotle-

Hello, hi. Today I'm gonna try to make a vegan burrito bowl at home that's better than Chipotle's. And later, we're gonna head over to my parents' house for a special little taste test to see how my version stacks up against the original. You don't have to hold me the whole time. Just got to Chipotle. I'm about to do some serious scientific taste testing. Also, I haven't eaten lunch yet. Can you please get a burrito bowl with white rice? So, fritas, please. The corn salsa and the tomato salsa. Whew. Tried to film at Chipotle. It was so loud, impossibly loud. We started with. So here I am at home, outside my home, eating Chipotle. Let me walk you through the Chipotle burrito bowl that I got that is now very messy. I start with the white rice as the base. I think it's pretty good. For the protein, sofritas, that's the tofu seasoned with spices. I love that it exists, but it's not my favorite, sorry. It's too tangy and too bitter for my taste. Black beans, mostly for extra protein. They're nothing special. They're just beans. For some veggie action, I get the fajita veggies. And for the salsas, I get three of the four different options, the corn salsa, which is my favorite for the sweetness, the tomato salsa for the freshness factor, and the green medium salsa for a little bit of heat. Finally, as you can see, I get a big, nice mound of guacamole. I know it's extra, but a Chipotle bowl really just isn't as delicious or as complete in flavors without it. Let's try a little bite. Overall, I'd give it a six, maybe a six and a half out of 10. Considering it's fast food, it's pretty good, but I think we can do a lot better, like a lot, lot better. So let's head inside. I'm gonna start by making our sofritas. And I wanted to stick to Chipotle's list of ingredients as closely as possible, but I also know we can make some flavor improvements. So that's gonna be my approach today. The first ingredient we'll start with is our poblano pepper, which is a mild Mexican chili pepper. The best way to get the most flavor out of this is to char it all over. Now you can brush the pepper with a bit of oil and pop it under your broiler for five to six minutes. But for an even smokier flavor, I'm gonna char it on my gas stove over a high heat. It takes about four minutes, and you wanna make sure to turn the pepper every minute or so. Now for our aromatics, we've got some classic Mexican staples, one medium onion, four garlic cloves, two Roma tomatoes, and a Chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, plus a half tablespoon of the adobo sauce. And of course we need some spices for our sofritas. So I'm starting with some ground cumin. Also got some Mexican oregano. If you only have regular oregano at home, that is totally fine. I just have this gigantic bag that I need to get through. Also some ancho chili powder. Chipotle actually doesn't use chili powder in its sofritas recipe. But like I said, kinda wanted to add a few flavor tweaks where I thought it would improve the recipe. Oh, and two tablespoons of tomato paste for that savory umami backbone. Bloop, bloop. That's the sound of the tomato paste. Bloop, bloop. And now for our main ingredient, the tofu. Chipotle actually makes its own tofu with their own soybeans. So they're able to get a really meaty, chewy texture, much more so than the kind of extra firm tofu that we typically buy at the grocery store. So my workaround is to use super firm or high protein tofu. And this stuff has almost all of the water pressed out of it. So it is able to get that chewier, meatier texture, which is great when you're trying to mimic the texture of meat. Now that the tofu is waterless, it's time to crumble it. Chipotle crumbles their tofu pretty finely. So I'm trying to do that here as well. You don't want it to be tiny, but definitely smaller than if you were making, say, a tofu scramble. I've got a large frying pan over medium-high heat with a bit of oil. And once that pan is nice and hot, it's time for the onions. Season with a pinch of salt, and these need about five minutes. In goes the garlic, spices, and tomato paste for a minute. And then our tomatoes. You want to cook those until they've softened, about four to five minutes. Transfer this mixture to a blender along with the charred poblano pepper from earlier, the chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, a bit of red wine vinegar for tang, and a half cup of water. And normally I would cook the tofu at the same time as the aromatics in a separate pan to save some time, but I only have one of these portable stove things, so let's cook the tofu now. Medium-high heat, a large frying pan, and I like to let it hang out undisturbed for two to three minutes to help it get brown and a little crispy, which is going to improve the texture. And it needs about 12 minutes total until it looks like it's this gorgeous golden brown. Last thing, I'm gonna add in the chipotle tomato sauce that I just blended. I'm gonna simmer this for about 10 minutes. It's gonna start to thicken quite a bit about five minutes in, so I'm gonna lower the heat so it doesn't burn. Our sofritas smells so good, and the last step is to just hit it with a little bit of lime juice. This is going to kind of brighten everything up, and tiny pinch of salt just to bring out all the other flavors. It's so good. It's smoky, it's a little tangy, it's a little spicy, and honestly, just this over rice would be a great meal. But if you are allergic to soy or just don't wanna make the sofritas for some reason, you can make these saucy Mexican black beans. They are delicious, they are super easy, and they'd be perfect for this burrito bowl. These black beans also start off with some very simple aromatics and spices, a small red onion diced up, four cloves of garlic, half teaspoon of red pepper flakes, a half tablespoon of oregano, and a half teaspoon of cumin. I've got a frying pan over medium heat with a couple tablespoons of oil, and the onions need five to seven minutes to soften and get just a little color on them. The garlic and spices need about two minutes, but make sure to stir frequently so they don't burn. I'm adding a 14 ounce can of diced tomatoes, but if you've got good quality tomatoes, definitely add those. You can use a pound of fresh chopped tomatoes. Keep this at a rapid simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. And once the tomatoes have thickened up and the liquid has evaporated, you'll season with some salt and pepper. Now I'm adding two cans of black beans, including the liquid. Don't worry, the liquid is safe to eat. It's just the liquid the beans were cooked in. And this is actually the secret to super saucy, creamy beans because the liquid is quite starchy. And I'm gonna simmer everything together for 15 minutes. Our beans are nice and saucy, and the way I like to finish them, for a little richness because there's really no fat in canned beans, I'm gonna add some olive oil, just like a nice little glug. Oops, a little messy. Some lime juice for that kind of tangy brightness, little acidity always brightens things up. And of course, some chopped cilantro. We're making Mexican food. We gotta have cilantro. Give it a little taste. Let's try that again. A little more. The simplest ingredients, and it is excellent. So again, if you can't make the sofritas, this is another great option. If you wanna make both, go ahead and do that too. All right, we've got our protein options, and now we need to make the rice because you can't have a burrito bowl without some rice. I like using jasmine rice because it is super quick cooking. It takes like seven minutes on the stove. And I know everyone has their own method of making rice. This is just what I do. First, I start by rinsing the rice because I'm Indian. If I don't rinse the rice, pretty sure I'll lose my Indian membership and my parents will never respect me. So gotta rinse the rice. Then I like to agitate the rice with my hands for about a minute. And this actually helps to remove more of the excess starch so that the grains don't stick together and gelatinize when they're hot. I'm using the absorption method, so you don't need too much water. A cup and a half of room temperature water for a cup of rice. Season with some salt, a bay leaf, and just a teaspoon of olive oil, which adds moisture and improves the texture and flavor. Once it's boiling, simmer covered for just seven minutes. You can take a peek to make sure it's simmering and not boiling, but don't stir the rice. The water has been absorbed, so now I let the rice steam covered for 10 minutes. And one technique I learned for fluffy rice is to drape a dish towel on top of the pot so the condensation from the lid doesn't drip down into the rice and make it soggy. Time to fluff the rice, and now for our flavoring. The zest of a medium lime for the aromatic lime flavor, as well as some lime juice, about a tablespoon and a half. Chipotle also adds lemon juice, so I'm adding a half tablespoon here. And another teaspoon of olive oil if you want a little extra richness and moisture, and a generous amount of chopped cilantro. Some salt to season, and that's it. It's perfectly cooked. If you have a rice cooker or an instant pot that you prefer to use to cook rice, totally fine. Go ahead and do that, but don't skip the lime zest and the lime juice and the cilantro and the olive oil. They really add a lot of flavor and a tiny bit of richness to the rice. Now for the fajita vegetables. These are so simple, you can do them in your sleep. Just kidding, don't do that. You're gonna burn down your house. Make sure you're awake for this. You will need a large bell pepper, and remove the core like so, and slice it into strips. If you watch my channel, you probably already know that I think green bell peppers are the worst. Say no to green bell peppers. I hate these things. They're just not that good. They're the worst. Don't use them. But Chipotle uses them in their fajita veggies, so that is what we're using today. And if I'm being honest, when they're cooked down with onions and then you add all those other delicious flavors, they're not so bad. I can't believe I said that, but they're not so bad. Also need a red onion, thinly sliced into rings. Chipotle uses oregano in their fajita veggies. I happen to have fresh oregano at home today. I'm gonna chop up a half tablespoon of that, but you can easily use a half teaspoon of dried oregano instead. A little bit of avocado oil or whatever cooking oil you like, medium-high heat in a large frying pan. Once the oil is shimmering, add in the peppers, onions, oregano, and a half teaspoon of kosher salt. Let's crack in some black pepper. Why not? Toss this occasionally, but not too often. Seven to eight minutes if you like them crisp and tender, but I like them more caramelized, so a few extra minutes for me. I know I showed you that I get three different salsas at Chipotle, but ain't nobody got time to make three salsas. I'm gonna make one salsa instead, and it's gonna combine all the three components I love about Chipotle salsas. We're gonna get the freshness, the sweetness, and the spiciness. So we'll start with a pico de gallo, which is the fresh tomato salsa factor. We'll add in some charred corn for the sweetness, and I'm gonna make the salsa fairly spicy so we also get in that heat. I've got 12 ounces of tomatoes that I'm finely chopping. No big chunks, please. Tomatoes are watery, though, so I'm gonna salt them to dry out some of that excess water and also to flavor them. These can hang out and do their thing while everything else gets prepped, but first, clean up your canner. Don't be a filthy animal. Now for some heat. I'd say a jalapeno is good for most folks, but again, my family likes things spicy, so I'm using a serrano pepper. Dice about half of a small red onion. Squeeze on a generous amount of lime on both of these, a big, juicy lime, and sprinkle on some salt. Let this rest for 10 minutes, and it's gonna mellow out the intensity of the raw onion and the pepper. While that magic is happening, I'm gonna grab our corn. And to shave the corn, I position a small ramekin upside down in a large bowl, slice out the bottom of the cob to create a flat surface, and run a sharp paring knife downwards to shave off the kernels, and this way, they conveniently land into the bowl without making a big mess. We're blessed in California to have a long corn season, but if it's not fresh corn season for you, use about two cups of frozen, defrosted corn. And to make the corn nice and roasty, I like to char it in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the corn kernels undisturbed for a few minutes so they can get some char, then stir, and let them cook undisturbed again for a few minutes, and repeat this cycle for 10 to 12 minutes. Little pinch of salt at the end to bring out the corn sweetness. Now it's time to marry everything together. Tomatoes go in with the macerated onion mixture, but drain the liquid first so the salsa isn't watery. Grate a fat garlic clove in there for some flavor, a big handful of chopped cilantro, some black pepper, add in the charred corn. It smells so freaking good. And the flavors will be even better after it rests for like 10 minutes. Y'all, that is a freaking great salsa. And if you have leftovers, you definitely should pair them with some tortilla chips because that would be amazing. One second. Ah, we have tortilla chips. Don't mind if I do. Last but not least, the guac. I have a feeling this bowl won't really need the guac in the same way that I think the Chipotle bowl needs it because there's gonna be so many layers of fresh flavor. But on the other hand, it also takes like three minutes to make a quick and dirty guacamole, so that's what we're gonna do right now. And now it's time to build this glorious burrito bowl. Cilantro-lime rice on the bottom, some sofritas, the black beans, peppers and onions, the corn-tomato salsa, and of course, a big mound of guacamole. All right, the time has come. Finally, I get to eat everything together. So excited. Looks so good. Get some beans, sofritas, some rice. This is like the happiest day of my life. Wow, that is a lot of flavor. It's so good. I really don't have anything else to say, but the real test is whether my picky parents like it. So let's head over there and see what they think. As usual, it took a while before we could actually get to the taste test. No, I don't have any women's hat. You sure? Yeah. You wore my jacket. She gave me the men's hat. She did, but you wore sometimes mine too before. No, that was my only ever choice. Oh. You don't have to hold me the whole time. No, just put your hands here. You ready? Was there anything else you want? Wait one second. Welcome to our taste test. These are my parents. Please introduce yourselves. I'm Deepak. I'm Neela, Nisha's mom. Mom and dad, yes, that's correct. Deepak and Neela Vora. Everybody, you know their names. You know their relationship to me. Do you guys ever eat Chipotle? I have eaten a few times. We used to back home in Barstow, but since the Chipotle is not around here, we don't go much. I just went to one 10 minutes away from your house. Chipotle is everywhere in San Diego. Do you guys eat fast food often? Occasionally. Which places do you occasionally eat at? We don't. Indian food. There's no Indian fast food in America. All right, so today I have prepared a Chipotle copycat burrito bowl, and we're also gonna have you taste alongside the classic Chipotle vegan burrito bowl. All right, so please have a bite of bowl number one. Let me know your thoughts. Just a bite. Or two. He will finish the whole bowl. You gotta get to work. He's already going. World's slowest eater. This does not have enough spices. Does not have enough onion, not enough chili. This is so-so. I'll just drink water. Thoughts? Your face. It's okay. So we're done with this one, right? Okay, so we switch the bowl. All right, please have a bite or two of bowl number two. And try to get, you know, a bite of everything. This is delicious, I think. This is a lot more tastier. It has more variety in it. I think she said only a couple of spoons. You can have as much as you want. Do you have any thoughts? It's very good. That's why I'm eating. It's spicier and more masalas and all that. Ah, Chipotle, you need more masala. Can you tell what that is? It's like chicken, but what is it? It's tofu. Oh, it is? Do you like it? Yeah, now I like it. Now that you know it's not chicken? Right. Why would I serve you chicken? I'm vegan. I know, I know. This is very tasty. Is it spicy enough for you? Because I sliced some chili peppers. I like to decorate my bowl. Look at that, now. Ah, now that's a burrito bowl. Fantastic. So if you had to grade the first bowl you ate, what grade would you give it on a- I would give number four. Number four out of- Ten. Oh, I was going to give one. It's not that bad, is it? Yeah, it feels as if you put everything together. It does not sort of assimilate properly with each other. This one does it very well. So I would give 10 out of 10 on this one. Oh, wow. Me too. Oh. I give 12 out of 10. Well, folks, you heard it here. You gotta make an Indian-style Chipotle burrito bowl to win over my parents. But for the rest of you, these bowls are super delicious. You can find the recipes linked in the description box below. Thank you for watching. Thanks to my parents for joining us. And we'll see you guys later. Bye. Thank you very much. Thank you. I'm gonna keep eating.