Easy Burritos
Published Jan. 11, 2024
- Total Time
- 50 minutes
- Prep Time
- 10 minutes
- Cook Time
- 40 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:
6 burritos
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 medium yellow or white onion, finely chopped
- 1½ teaspoons ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika, or chipotle or ancho chile powder
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 (15-ounce) can black or pinto beans
- 1 large tomato, coarsely chopped
- 2 teaspoons lime juice, or apple cider vinegar
- Hot sauce, for drizzling (optional)
- 6 burrito-size (about 10-inch) flour tortillas
- 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack or Mexican blend cheese
Preparation
-
Step 1
In a large skillet, press the beef into an even layer to fill the skillet. Sprinkle with the onion. Cook over medium-high, undisturbed, until the meat is deeply browned underneath, 6 to 8 minutes. Sprinkle with the cumin, smoked paprika and oregano, and season with salt and pepper. Break up the beef into small pieces, then cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened and the spices are fragrant, 2 to 4 minutes.
-
Step 2
Add the beans, including the liquid, and the tomato and simmer, stirring and scraping up browned bits, until the liquid has evaporated and the mixture starts to sizzle, 8 to 10 minutes. Turn off the heat, stir in the lime juice and season with salt and pepper.
-
Step 3
Arrange the tortillas on a clean work surface. Sprinkle half the cheese across the center of the tortillas, left to right, leaving a 1-inch border. Top each with ⅔ cup of the beef-bean mixture, followed by the remaining cheese. Drizzle on hot sauce, if using. Fold the tortilla’s short sides over the filling, then fold the bottom of the tortilla snugly over the filling. Tightly roll away from you until the burrito is sealed. Repeat with the other tortillas.
-
Step 4
When ready to eat, in a nonstick skillet over medium, place the burritos seam side down. Cook, turning occasionally, until golden all over, 3 to 5 minutes. Serve with desired toppings.
Tip
- To make ahead, prepare through Step 3. Let cool slightly, then wrap in aluminum foil. Refrigerate for up to 24 hours or freeze for up to 3 months. To reheat, remove the foil and wrap the burrito in a damp paper towel. Microwave, seam side down, until warm, 1 to 4 minutes. Remove the towel and continue to Step 4.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Richard X
You have a round tortilla. Sprinkle cheese and meat left to right across the center of the tortilla (middle vertical third), leaving a 1" border at the left & right. This 1" border on the left & right sides are the "short" sides: the left and right sides of the round tortilla as you face it. Fold those in. The "bottom" of the tortilla is now closest to you. Fold that up, over the filling, and continue rolling. Video: https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+wrap+a+burrito&sca_esv=599926585&sx
Bob
Wrap it well in tinfoil and find a nice warm spot near the radiator of the equipment you are running (the engine block will burn it) and at lunch you got a nice, gooey, hot burrito.
David
I'm originally from San Antonio, as well, and frying before filling was a common step with many tortilla recipes. It's humorous to read some comments saying how this wasn't done "that way" where they had their experience or where their friend/family member came from in Mexico. You've got to realize and hopefully embrace, celebrate, and accept just how diverse and colorful and flavorful Mexican culture is - it is anything but homogeneous.
David
Delicious and quick (and easy) Friday evening meal! Was out of black and pintos, but a can of great nirthern worked well. I think almost any bean would work, as long as they’re unseasoned. And in the winter only canned diced tomatoes - no good tomatoes during the winter and the carbon miles from shipping mealy tomatoes long distances pretty much cancels them out.
RobinP
I do not begin to understand the wrapping instructions. A tortilla is round, so aren’t all sides the same? what is meant by “short sides” vs “bottom”? Can someone be more specific about how to roll these wraps or point to a picture or video?
Richard X
It is not silly. It sets things up for the rest of the Step by defining short and bottom sides of the tortilla. One reader has already been confused by that. Some new cooks are grateful for any additional tips/instructions, even if you think they are silly.
Sue
Thank God for 21st century sensibilities. Meat is not required to make these yummy burritos. You can use ground meat from your animal of choice, Impossible meat, textured vegetable protein, beans or whatever. The point is we can eat a delicious meal without continuing the bad, rapacious, blind, climate oblivious habits of generations before us. Sorry. I'm having a hard time filtering for the kids
Pamela
Tortillas are more flexible and easier to fold if softened wrapped in a damp paper towel and microwaved for a few seconds
Marnie
I used Fire Roasted canned tomatoes in the winter and they were wonderful.
Ellen Oliver
If I put the cheese on right to left does it change the flavor of the end product? Put your cheese on in any direction,L to R, R to L, north to south, east to west or even southeast to southwest. What a silly instruction in a recipe.
Miz
My mom was from San Antonio and on Christmas Eve would make a Tex Mex feast. We lived in a small fishing village in Alaska so she had to adapt her recipes. She made green enchiladas, cheese enchiladas and “burritos,” in much the same way as this recipe. Except she’d slice Monterey Jack cheese into long strips, pre-fry the flour tortillas then put the ground beef mixture on followed by a Monterey Jack stick and…cottage cheese in place of Cotija. Pre-frying made them bake up crispy.
Michelle Young
Don’t skip the lime at the end!!! What a boost. Absolutely delicious. I did drain the fat after browning the beef even though I used 93/7. Will make these again and again.
Robin Currie
I made this recipe with ground dark turkey, skipped the cheese, added some brown rice, and doubled the spices. Really a great and adaptable recipe for the freezer. I popped my burrito in the air-fryer. Worked perfectly
John
We make “carburritos” for our Friday drive to Snowshoe, WVa. Sub sauted veggies for beef, wrap and bake at 350 for 17 minutes. Cool, then wrap up. Most excellent car food.
Ferny
Yes, you could sub ground turkey. You may want to use dark meat ground turkey so it’s not too dry
Amy
These are terrific. My husband and I enjoyed these tonight for dinner; made the recipe as written — super tasty and much much cleaner than takeout. These are in the rotation
Bruce
I almost never add more salt than a recipe called for, but this one requires it, even if there is no recommended amount.
Julie b
My picky kid loved these! Skipped the tomato and used salsa when it was ready to roll up. Will be adding this to the rotation.
TJ
I popped a frozen foil-wrapped one into a 350-degree oven for about 30 minutes and had a great lunch!
LBJ
Tasty! Added a half bag of shredded coleslaw mix at the end. Accidentally didn't save the bean juice so used a can of tomato sauce. Served with Slow-Cooker Cauliflower, Potato and White Bean Soup.
Christine
A good way to assemble these are to heat a flat skillet, spray with oil and add tortilla and heat both sides. Each person can add whatever the set of ingredients they want. We add beans to the sautéed meat and spices and tomatoes so it’s all heated together and warm. Using a warm tortilla add your meat to middle, with 1.5” of bottom empty, then add cheese, sour cream, lettuce, avocado etc. to tortilla. Roll up the empty bottom to meat, then starting on one side roll to other side. Done!
Stephanie (Evanston, Illinois)
I liked this technique for deeply browning the ground meat with the onions and spices sprinkled on top. It really did something special to the flavor and texture of the beef. A keeper.
Laura C.
This was very yum. I doubled the spices and threw in a couple of Thai bird chiles.
Jenn Johnson
This brought back memories of eating burritos at the school snack bar. The filling was tasty as is, but my TX heart wanted a little chili powder and more cumin. Rolling can be a challenge if your tortillas are thick, but just keep folding the corners in as you get to the end and keep the seam side down until they go in the pan to brown. I lightly buttered the nonstick pan and they came out toasty and crispy. We froze 4 and can’t wait to see how they reheat.
Lynn
Delicious and easy! Great game day fare!
katie
Made with beyond meat for vegetarian friends and turned out great. Perfect proportions.
Tim
Super tasty and so easy to make. I added a little more seasoning than called for, with a little hot sauce for some zing. I’m very pleased that I have four more in the freezer. Yum!
Kathy T
These were great. I used dried (soaked overnight) pinto beans simmered slowly first in beef stock, tomato paste and onion powder, with a dried chipotle pepper reconstituted (used the soaking water too). Upped the spices with the beef and added garlic. Before adding the last layer of cheese in the burritos I sprinkled chopped fresh jalapeños and cilantro, which added some zing. I guess I made the easy recipe not so easy anymore ha ha - but it was mmmm delish.
Modification Molly
I’m considering packing one of these for lunch everyday for the rest of my life
Steve
Added two cloves of minced garlic, three minced jalapeños, and a can of well-drained corn kernels into the mix. Really upped the flavor matrix without increasing the moisture level of the filling. If you live in a place where large tortillas are hard to come by (Switzerland) Turkish wheat flatbreads are the same thing. Actually a tad softer and easier to work with typical store-bought tortillas.
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