
Update 6/2012: Taken after the model of these delicious wraps, I threw these together for dinner one night nearly three years ago in a frantic attempt to feed my hungry family and use ingredients I already had on hand. And the result was such a smashing success that we’ve continued to enjoy this recipe at least monthly since (and that’s saying a lot coming from the lady who doesn’t repeat many meals). Full of flavor, these wraps are a snap to make. The method turns out a delightfully crunchy tortilla that is filled with rice, chicken, beans, spices and cheese. And they make great leftovers. I just love it when a meal happens to fit all the criteria I love: healthful, fast, delicious. Score.

Note: This is one of the most adaptable recipes on here (reading through the comments will prove that – your variations sound amazing!). Feel free to up the cilantro, add in a different meat of your choice, eliminate the pepper, add green chilies – seriously, the options are endless.
Ingredients
- 1 cup cooked rice, warm or at room temperature
- 1 cup cooked, shredded chicken (or other leftover meat, like shredded pork or beef)
- 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 green onion, finely sliced (white and green parts)
- 1/2 red or green pepper, diced
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- juice of 1 lime
- 1/2 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
- 2 cups shredded cheese (I use a combination of Monterey jack and sharp cheddar)
- Sour cream (optional)
- 6 burrito-sized flour tortillas
Directions
- Mix rice together with chili powder, cumin and garlic salt. Add remaining ingredients except for cheese and sour cream. Sprinkle cheese over tortillas, leaving 1/2-inch border around edges, then arrange chicken and rice mixture down the center of each tortilla. (Optional: I like to dollop little bits of sour cream over the cheese before arranging chicken and rice mixture down the center – it makes the wraps delightfully creamy.) Roll stuffed tortillas, leaving edges open and slightly flatten the wraps with the palm of your hand. Spray seam-side of the wrap lightly with cooking spray.
- Heat a large non-stick skillet (or griddle) over medium heat for 1 minute. Arrange wraps, seam-side down, in pan or griddle and cook until golden brown and crisp, about 2-3 minutes per side. Cooking them seam-side down first helps seal the long edge so they don’t fall apart. Transfer to a plate and repeat with remaining wraps. Serve warm.















I made this tonight. It was absolutely DELICIOUS! Thank you for the recipe!
I made these tonight, I used a white onion cause I forgot the green onion. But my husband and I LOVED them! They were amazing!!! My favorite item that I’ve made this year! It was filling but not heavy! So happy. Found this!
Found this recipe on Pinterest, not that I’m one to necessarily eat “healthy” but this recipe sounded delicious, so I made it tonight. My only problem was that I can’t eat flour tortilla’s b/c of my Lap Band surgery, so I had to use corn, and corn is so small that it didn’t really make an actual wrap, just kind of an open faced, soft corn tortilla toastada. But… Still delicious. Next time I’ll marinate my chicken, it was a little bland. And I grilled my chicken, green bell pepper, and yellow onion, on my indoor grill.
Made these tonight and after our poor rolling technique due to our too small tortillas, we found out these are also great as quesadillas! We added corn, salsa, and some diced jalepeno for some extra pizzaz! Loved it!
[...] Adapted from: melskitchencafe [...]
[...] Southwest Chicken Wraps – from Pinterest [...]
I made these last night, i make shifted a little, my husband loves flavor, so i added a can of rotel to the rice, the cumin, black beans, the lime and a little taco seasoning, i also added some salsa to the sour cream and grilled the chicken my family devoured it!.. thank you so much yummy
These are DELICIOUS! This will definitely be a repeat recipe in my house
These are fantastic! I made them tonight for dinner but used leftover turkey breast and I doubled the recipe for my family of six, everyone loved them. THANK YOU!
Made these tonight for my family and sister’s friends. TOTAL success!
love love these…. So easy to make .. Buy a store bought rotisserie chicken and it is even easier…
These are AMMMMMMMmmmmMMMmmAZING! Thank you for sharing! My hubby says he would love these at least once a week. I did add a little more kick to it with some extra seasoning, lime juice and cayenne. I am going to dice up fresh jalapenos next time. Just wonderful!
Thank you so much for the recipe!!! Made these last night and they were amazing, keeping this in my recipe archive for sure
Made these tonight and they didn’t disappoint.. as none of your recipes ever do! I didn’t have a few things on hand.. but today was my shopping day.. sadly, my car has a dead battery. So I had to make it without the peppers/cilantro.. still really good. I wonder how it would be with diced green chilies? ok seriously, I put those in everything. haha.
[...] Today, I made some really yummy food, so that’s what I’m going to post about. The recipe I found was called Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps. I don’t really cook a whole lot, but I really love to do it. I don’t know why I don’t.. I should start cooking more
Anyways, I got the recipe off Pinterest.com, and whoever put it on there got it from here. [...]
Found you on Pinterest the other day, made these tonight, altered them a tad, and they were Delicious! And Super Quick and Easy(something I’m thankful for when I get home late most days)! So glad I have leftovers! Definitely something I will make again.
Really, really tasty. I doubled the recipe. We used a bit more than three chicken breasts, added only one can of beans to the mixture and my bf fried/cooked the other with garlic & chili peppers. We used sliced alvocado, fresh salsa, and good cheddar as our toppings. Had supper and lunch and the other half we froze. Def on the ‘make again’ list!
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OMG, this is making me so hungry right now! I’m adding this to my recipe box.
Yummmm
I think this is exactly what I was looking for for tonight…got beans in the crockpot right now!
Just made these! Vegetarian version, I simply replaced the meat with 1 cup of corn!
Just made these for a dinner/late night snack and they were delicious! I forgot to buy a bell pepper so I left that out. Also I thought the lime might have been alittle too tangy but it actually enhanced the flavor of everything, the cilantro especially! Thumbs up.
[...] melskitchencafe.com via Christa on [...]
Just made these, and they are amazing! Thank you for sharing the recipe. I was directed to your site through Pinterest.
Wow! These would be even better with guacamole, but divine as they are! Thanks!!
cant wait to try
Wow!! I just made these and they were delicious!! I didnt fry them cause im trying to stay away from fried food and they still turned out great…will definetly make again..thankyou…
Lisa, you’re not frying them in any fat – you’re heating them in a frying pan. The fat that makes them crispy is already in the tortillas, so you’d be eating it either way. You don’t need to add any cooking spray. They brown perfectly without adding anything to the pan. Your comment doesn’t make sense to me, but maybe I’m missing something. Glad they were good without the pan-crisping. I wouldn’t recommend leaving that step out to others – that melts the cheese and warms everything up perfectly.
I absolutely agree with Carolyn. Besides, the crispiness of them was one of my favorite parts.
If you don’t want to use Pam, use a *little* EVOO instead and you’ll get the same result while still keeping it healthy.
These look so yummy! I’m making them for dinner tonight. I’m wondering what kind of rice you used? Thanks!
Laura – I usually use either long grain white rice or brown rice. Whatever I am in the mood for!
How do you flip them on the grill without all the contents falling out?
these were amazing. Will make again and again. My 5 yr old girl even loved them. My husband said to put them at the top of my recipes!! I did use Spanish rice instead of plain, but seasoned the chicken with the specified ingredients……did use Si Si cilantro instead of fresh. Loved!!
Heather – using a large, flat spatula helps as well as placing them seam-side down to begin with. That helps seal everything in and then all you have to worry about is the two short edges, which isn’t too big of a deal if you flip carefully with a large spatula.
Heather – I use burrito size tortillas and tuck the ends in before I roll. You won’t loose a drop.
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[...] Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps at Mel’s Kitchen Cafe — These appear easy, but substantial enough to feed a crowd of men if need be. Most of the prep can be done in advance for a quick halftime fix. If wrapped in smaller sized tortillas, they could be cut in half and served on a platter with salsa for dipping. [...]
[...] inspiration for this recipe came from this recipe which I found on Pinterest. (Who else is completely obsessed with [...]
Just wanted to let you know I found these via pinterest and made them last week. They were a huge hit. Thanks for sharing!! I’m linking to your recipe from my blog this week and just wanted to say hi.
hi,
does anyone now or have tried to freeze these rice and chicken wraps?? i wonder if mines the sour cream would they freeze well?
thanks
I made this tonight and my family loved them! I loved how easy they are to make. Thank you.
Yummy!I can not wait to try them!
These look awesome! Anyone figure out the PointsPlus for Weight Watchers yet??
DELICIOUS !!!! loved the flavors.. could even eat the mixture as a salad !
I’m making these for dinner tonight! And I’m looking forward to at least one leftover for lunch tomorrow!!
[...] 6. Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps [...]
I made these tonight and they were soooo delicious!!! Relatively quick to make too. I think even my picky eater 3 year old would love these!
Made it tonight. Added to the list of recipes!
These look and sound great! Making this for dinner tonight!
Made this tonight….absolutely DELICIOUS!!! Thank you!
[...] Taste test these crispy southwest chicken wraps [...]
[...] – Crispy Southwest chicken wraps (using up leftover chicken from [...]
I make the same recipe, except I use Spanish rice and I make them into quessadillas. My family and I love this. Yum
I love that you have a printable version WITH a picture. These look awesome!
made these tonight…very yummy! Added onion too..
[...] you have pinned. For example, I recently pinned this recipe for Southwest Chicken Wraps: Source: melskitchencafe.com via Jessica on [...]
[...] Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps [...]
Made these tonight. Incredibly good. I think I might try adding avocado chunks and chopped tomatoes.
[...] Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps [...]
Thank-you so much for sharing!! I tried this tonite for dinner and my husband and kids LOVED IT! Needless to say so did I
[...] Day 3 Recipe 3 Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps (via melskitchencafe.com) [...]
Started making these a couple months ago and I now make it every few weeks for the family. A very tasty wrap! Thanks for the recipe!
I just tried this recipe and it was delicious! These were hands down the best chicken wraps I’ve ever tasted. Thanks for sharing!
[...] – Crispy Southwest Chicken Wrap. I’ll skip the tortilla and just do a chicken/rice [...]
Thanks for dinner tonight!
This recipe is perfect for ready rice and rotisserie chicken and frankly you made it when you were in a a rush…..I made it because I just dont always feel like spending an hour cooking. My kids ate the rice and chicken and I can eat like a grown up with actual spices…..it was a win/win Tuesday. Mama likes when it all works out in the end.
I imagine you could make these in other flavors and they would be yum!
[...] handy ingredient search box to use cilantro and green onions leftover from last week’s southwest chicken wraps (so. damn. good.) and found this fish tacos [...]
These look delicious! Any idea on calorie count? Time to loose weight for summer.. blahh! haha!
[...] made Southwest Chicken Wraps for dinner tonight thanks to another Pinterest [...]
Looks delicious. Trying this tonight. Yum!
making this recipe right now!!!! cant wait to try it!!!!! smells so yummy:)
[...] http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2009/09/crispy-southwest-chicken-wraps.html View more posts in: [...]
I loooovvveee these!I tricked my family and used greek yogurt instead of sour cream for extra protein and also added some corn. We use the wheat wraps (which my kids and husband think are better than the regular tortillas) and they were toooo-die-for even per my super picky family!!! Thanks for the great recipe!
[...] Southwest Chicken Wraps from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe and corn [...]
I’d love to make these tonight, but I don’t have any cooking spray. Do you think it would work to coat the tortilla with butter? Or pour some vegetable oil into the pan before I cook each one?
You don’t need cooking spray. Just put the tortilla on the pan. I never use it and they crisp up perfectly because of the fat already in the wrap.
Sharon – try it as Carolyn suggests (without any cooking spray or oil) and if you have sticking/burning issues, spread a little bit of oil on the griddle or skillet before cooking.
I made these for dinner tonight. They were wonderful. The sour cream made the whole thing, so don’t leave it off. Just the right creaminess.
I have spanish rice, do I need to use the cumin, chili powder and garlic salt? I really don’t cook much. Thanks!
If I am starting with spanish rice do I need the cumin, chili powder and salt? Thanks!
Jenee – is it a prepackaged Spanish rice blend you are using? If so, I’m not sure what to eliminate since each package probably differs in spices. You’ll probably have to experiment to taste but I’d probably leave out the extra spices and add them in as needed so it isn’t overly salty or too spiced.
[...] – Crispy Southwest Chicken wraps. Minus the beans for everyone, minus the tortilla for me. These were very good last [...]
[...] S: Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps [...]
Made these last night – the changes I made were to use chicken from a rotisserie chicken, cooked brown rice, whole wheat tortillas, and a whole red bell pepper. I also added pickled jalapenos on top of the cheese before adding the chicken and rice mixture. I didn’t have any sour cream on hand, but if I make these again, I will definitely be adding it. The burritos were a little dry, so I think the sour cream will help with that.
Made these tonight! We loved them! My husband took one bite and said, “That’s a keeper.” Thank you Mel!! .. and so simple too!
[...] Grilled Chicken Wraps from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe: I didn’t have everything on hand (as usual) but had the shredded chicken (leftover from last month’s Slow Cooked Chicken Tacos), cheese, beans and rice so I wrapped that up with some sour cream and crisped these up. We had these again the next night (at the request of my “not a fan of leftovers” husband. I think I’ll eat wraps like this from now on. I’m not a huge fan of plain tortillas. Heating them up to crunchy was super good that might be the only way I eat them from now on. [...]
[...] my recipe ideas and we decided to try one out. i found it here – but the original recipe is here…crispy southwest chicken wraps. i slightly modified the recipe because marcos and i dont [...]
[...] batch to my cooking marathon. With the amount of tortillas I bought for the breakfast burritos, Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps (a great grab-and-go lunch option–just needs reheating), Southwest Roll-ups, and Baked Creamy [...]
I made these tonight & my toddler loved the rice especially! Thank you!
[...] – Southwest Chicken wraps (wrap free for [...]
[...] is somewhat of a miracle in it’s own right. You can find the original recipe by clicking here or I have also put it [...]
Made this for tonights dinner with my own little twist. DELICIOUS!!! Thanks for the idea!
[...] Wraps Tuesday: Mongolion Beef Wednesday: Poor Man’s Dinner Thursday: Beef Stroganoff Friday: Pepperoni Rolls Saturday: Cripsy Southwest Chicken Wraps Sunday: Tender Beef Pot [...]
[...] Monday 4/23: Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps [...]
I made these with ground turkey, and cheated by using already-seasoned Spanish rice and they were delicious! My boyfriend said it was his new favorite meal that I make.. It works well for me that the meal only took me 20 minutes! Thank you so much!
[...] to spice up dinner, I took to my new favorite playground, Pinterest, and found an incredible, delicious and easy Southwestern recipe. It was a huge hit tonight as the kids even asked for seconds so I knew I had to share. [...]
I made these and they were SO tasty. They’ll definitely be added to our “favorites” list for dinner. Thanks for sharing!
Just made these with brown rice and a wheat tortilla…YUM!
Made these for the second time tonight. They are DELICIOUS. The only change I make is to season the chicken with various mexican spices before I cook it. These are going into our rotation of favorite weeknight dinners!
just made these and the husband loved them! i cooked the chicken in the slow cooker with a 1/2 can of diced tomatoes w/lime and cilantro and that made the chicken perfect! thank you for I am sure this recipe will be well used in my house!