One thing that Chipotle is famous for is its chicken. Marinated in Chipotle pepper adobo, this chicken is a delicious addition to a burrito, tacos, a bowl, or even a salad. Chipotle’s burritos, which are known for being larger than what one would think a normal burrito should be, come with a warm flour tortilla.
From there you add your choice of protein, rice and beans, and a variety of different toppings including salsas, guacamole, cheese, and veggies.
Their bowls and tacos follow the same prep, letting the consumer customize their meal with exactly which ingredients they want to be included. You can add any of Chipotle’s flavorful meats, especially their most popular Grilled Chicken, in any combination you see fit.
Does Chipotle Use Real Chicken in 2024?
Chipotle chicken is real chicken. Chipotle lets its customers know that its food is unprocessed and uncomplicated. Chipotle’s ingredients are listed clearly on the restaurant’s website, including the entirety of what is in its chicken.
Chicken, black pepper, chili peppers, cumin, distilled vinegar, garlic, oregano, salt, sunflower oil, and water are what make up Chipotle chicken.
Chipotle boasts its sourcing methods opening, knowing that its customers feel assured by complete transparency. Chipotle began a partnership with CIWF (Compassion In World Farming) as well as the Humane Society, to enact an initiative in 2017.
Its mission is to improve the standards on how chickens are treated and processed. Some of these standards include improved living conditions and a controlled-atmosphere processing system.
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What Percent of Chipotle Chicken is Real?
Chipotle chicken is 100% real chicken with absolutely no fillers. Their chicken is hormone and antibiotic-free. With chipotle, you don’t have to worry about what is in your food.
In the 28 years since Chipotle opened up shop in Colorado, the menu has hardly strayed from the original design. All of Chipotle’s 53 ingredients are purely what they say they are.
Does Chipotle Raise Their Own Chickens?
Chipotle chickens are, with very little exception, from Chipotle’s hand-picked suppliers which have hatcheries in Arkansas, Georgia, Minnesota, North Carolina, and Virginia.
The chickens are raised in grow-out houses, which are large, enclosed barns that are built to keep the chickens safe from the elements as well as insects, predators, and any foreign contaminants that might introduce disease.
Chickens in these Chipotle supplier’s facilities are fed a completely vegetarian diet, allowing them to grow to full size naturally. They are then sent to processing plants where they are killed, cleaned, and refrigerated.
From there, they are cut, deboned, and pre-marinated in adobo seasoning. They are then sent to the distribution center where refrigerated trucks wait to deliver the chicken to Chipotle restaurants across the nation.
The entire process is overseen by auditors from Chipotle, as well as third-party auditors, to ensure consistency and food safety regulations are always followed.
Chipotle was the first national restaurant brand to make a firm commitment to sourcing responsibly raised meat and poultry.
What Does Chipotle Do To Their Chicken?
Once the chicken has arrived at the restaurants, the raw chicken is marinated in spicy adobo sauce overnight in refrigeration, then grilled on a flat-top grill. It is checked to make sure it is thoroughly cooked and has reached the acceptable internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
To stay true to its promise of freshness, chicken needs to be cooked consistently throughout the day along with the other meats and rice.
It is then transferred into containers and placed in the well-known countertop prep stations that have come to embody the overall experience of Chipotle Mexican Grill.
Customers then get to choose their ingredients and watch as employees put together their food right before their eyes.
Is The Chicken At Chipotle Highly Processed?
Chipotle’s chicken is not highly processed. From farm to table it maintains its integrity as pure chicken, with all the taste and consistency that entails.
While chicken at other restaurants may be ground and reshaped or have fillers added for texture and flavor, Chipotle serves its adobo marinated chicken as naturally as possible.
The pure poultry leaves nothing to the imagination, looking and tasting like something you could make at home with a whole chicken.
The absence of extra processing also makes it easier for Chipotle to keep track of food safety because its chicken is not going through unnecessary processes and machinery.
Is It Safe To Eat Chipotle Chicken?
Chipotle Mexican Grill had taken quite a few hits in the past decade for food safety concerns that became dangerous outbreaks.
In 2015, after an E. Coli outbreak and a norovirus outbreak that was traced back to their restaurants, Chipotle had to rethink its strategy. Customer traffic and stock prices fell dramatically. In the wake of the foodborne illness disaster, Chipotle adopted a proactive approach.
With the launching of its new food safety program, Chipotle made changes to food prep and handling procedures, added DNA testing of ingredients before leaving distribution centers, and introduced paid sick leave for its employees to encourage them to not work with food if they were sick.
These programs kept Chipotle’s head above water, establishing the transparency it offers with its sourcing to individual restaurants.
Is Chipotle Chicken Healthy For You?
The chicken at Chipotle is one of the healthiest options you can add to your plate. It contains a whopping 32 grams of protein per serving and has about half the fat of Chipotle’s famous carnitas. It is, however, high in cholesterol.
A serving of Chipotle chicken has 125 milligrams of cholesterol. It is recommended that if you have risks factors of heart disease you should avoid consuming more than 200 milligrams in a day, with those not at risk limited to around 300 milligrams.
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Does Chipotle Use Real Chicken For Their Food?
Chipotle Mexican Grill’s chicken options consist of one food: adobo marinated chicken. Their chicken is 100% real, responsibly raised chicken with no fillers, no added hormones, no added antibiotics.
Even though they have struggled with their food safety image in the past, Chipotle strives to prove to its customers that it is committed to serving only fresh, unprocessed, and humanely grown food.
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