Everyday Beef Burritos, stuffed with a simple, super tasty seasoned beef, rice and other fillings of choice. These are a gem because they are just as good made fresh or frozen then reheated. The burrito beef filling is especially fantastic, I use it for all things Mexican – it’s simple and tastes just like an Old El Paso seasoning! (Except better because it’s pure preservative free goodness 🙂 )
My memory of Mexican food from my youth involves nachos and the crispy taco shells that cracked into a billion pieces when I bit into my (always) overstuffed taco. Burritos and enchiladas, not to mention tostadas, chimichangas, taquitos, quesadillas and all manner of authentic Mexican and Tex-Mex favorites weren’t as well known to everyday Aussie families.
Not that I consider my family to be an everyday Aussie family, being that we grew up spending our weekends fishing just so we could have sushi because the fish shops didn’t sell sashimi-grade fish back then. My family and I often laugh about how all things sushi is “all the rage” now!
Tex Mex is very popular in Australia nowadays, so I’d say that most Aussies know and have probably tried burritos at some point in their lives. Though I am pretty sure burritos aren’t authentic Mexican, I do not remember seeing them at all in Mexico!
My mother reminded me that tacos were one of the first things that I started making for my family when I was in school. There’s no denying it involved a packet of Old el Paso Seasoning. 🙂 I was pretty chuffed* when I discovered how easy it is to make at home. To all Mexican food fans out there who use packet seasoning – please, please, please try homemade once! I absolutely swear to you, it smells just like the real deal packet seasoning and only requires a handful of common spices: paprika, cumin, oregano, onion or garlic powder, salt and pepper (plus cayenne pepper is optional).
* “Chuffed” means “very pleased”. Is this Aussie / pommy lingo??
Burritos are hands down one of the best freezer friendly meals in the world. Well, in my world! The beauty of burritos is that if you pack them with plenty of veggies (see notes for my tips!), these are a pretty well rounded meal especially if you skip the rice and pack it with more veggies. Pop them straight into the oven wrapped in foil, and out comes dinner.
Perfection!
I totally forgot to take a photo of what to dip burritos in. They do need something because you can’t make the filling too wet, otherwise it makes the tortilla soggy. For simplicity, my go-to is sour cream or yoghurt, sometimes with a dollop of some sort of chilli sauce. If I feel like making more of an effort or I’m doing these for a group (I like doing burritos for camping), then I’ll make Restaurant Style Salsa (because it’s smooth, it’s good for dipping) or Guacamole.
These are my everyday beef burritos, the main part of this recipe being the homemade beef filling. I did stuff it with quite a variety of fillings which are good for freezing. The beauty of burritos is versatility, so don’t feel the need to follow exactly what I use, stuff it with whatever you have! – Nagi xx
Simple, super tasty everyday beef burritos made with a homemade beef mince filling (ground beef), rice and your choice of fillings. One of the best freezer meals ever! I use this beef filling for all things Mexican - tacos, nachos, burritos, enchiladas etc. Feel free to change up the fillings to your taste! Recipe video below is handy to see how to roll burritos. Makes 8 - 10 burritos.
- 1 tsp each onion powder , dried oregano, salt
- 2 tsp each dried cumin powder , paprika
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper , or to taste (optional)
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves
- ½ onion , finely chopped
- 500g / 1 lb beef mince (ground beef), I use lean
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 3 tbsp water
- 6 - 8 large soft flour tortillas or round wraps (~25cm/10”+) (Note 1)
- 3 cups cooked rice , warm not piping hot (I use white long grain)
- 3 cups iceberg lettuce or cabbage , finely sliced (use cabbage if freezing)
- 1 cup corn kernels (I use canned, drained)
- 1 cup black beans (I use canned, drained)
- 3 tomatoes, deseeded and diced
- 1/2 red onion , finely chopped
- Finely chopped coriander (optional)
- 1 1/2 cups / 150g shredded cheese of choice (melting kind)
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Heat oil in a skillet over high heat. Add garlic and onion, cook for 2 minutes until onion is lightly browned. Add beef and cook, breaking it up as you go, until it turns from red to brown.
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Add Taco Seasoning (or use 1 packet store bought) and cook for 1 minute. Then add tomato paste and water, cook for 3 minutes until the water is mostly evaporated but the beef is still juicy, not dried out. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes – piping hot filling will steam the burrito, making the tortilla soggy.
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Optional: If not warming rolled burrito, warm the tortillas before rolling (per packet directions).
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Place a burrito on a work surface. Place 1/4 - 1/3 cup of rice just below the centre. Top with 1/4 - 1/3 cup beef, then some lettuce, corn, black beans, tomato, a sprinkle of red onion, coriander and cheese.
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Fold up the bottom to cover the filling then fold the edges in (video helpful to see how to do this). Roll up tightly, then wrap in foil. Serve as is or heat per below.
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HEATING: To warm through, pan fry (dry pan) in the foil over medium high heat for a few minutes on each side to slightly crisp and warm the outside. Or for 10+ minutes on a medium low heat if you want to melt the cheese. Or they can be baked at 180C/350F for 20 minutes in the foil – this will warm them all the way through and crisp up the tortilla slightly. If they are straight from the fridge, they will take around 30 minutes to warm through.
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Burritos are best served with something to dollop/dip - sour cream (or yoghurt) and some sort of chilli sauce are my usual because it's easy. When I'm making more of an effort, I use Restaurant Style Salsa or Guacamole.
1. I like to use Mission large soft wraps (see photo in post) because they are slightly larger than burrito wraps sold in the Mexican section of Woolies/Coles etc plus they are slightly softer so less prone to breaking AND they are slightly cheaper. Win, win, win! (PS I'm in Australia 🙂 )
2. STORAGE/REHEATING: Burritos freeze / reheat brilliantly as long as you avoid watery vegetables. The combination of ingredients I use (don't use lettuce, use green cabbage) is ideal for freezing. Typically, tomatoes aren't great for freezing but because it's the only "watery" vegetable and not much is used, it works great. To reheat, thaw for 24 hours in the fridge or overnight on counter (as log as it's not super hot where you are) then:
- OVEN: reheat in oven at 180C/350F in foil for 30 - 4o min (place on tray in case there is leakage) until outside is slightly crisp;
- MICROWAVE/STOVE: unwrap then microwave for 2 minutes then crisp in dry pan over medium heat;
- STOVE: Leave in foil and turn over medium heat in dry pan for 10+ minutes until crisp all over (takes a while to warm all the way through).
3. MORE VEGGIES / Great for Freezing: One way to pack more veggies into this and/or reduce the carbs by leaving out the rice is to add veggies into the beef filling. To do this, increase the Seasoning, tomato and water by 50% (use the scaler by hovering your cursor over Servings) then add 3 cups of diced veggies of choice, like zucchini, carrots, celery, capsicum, corn. Use a large skillet, saute these veggies after the onion, then push to the side and add the beef and proceed with the recipe.
4. Nutrition per serving assuming 10 burritos.
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Beef Burritos recipe video! Starring my mother. Do you miss my Baby Hands? 😉
LIFE OF DOZER
Staring competition: Dozer vs Burrito. Dozer won.
Thank you for posting this recipe. Made them last night and I got rave reviews!
Hi Nagi!
Can’t wait to try this recipe! I’d love to make a couple weeks worth and freeze at a time so I have lunch prepared for work. I’m wondering, do you freeze them in the alfoil? Also, I’d only have access to a microwave to reheat, no stove so would this still work without dry frying? 🙂
Hi Sarah! What I would do in that case is bake in foil, then unwrap and freeze in paper then cling wrap. Then defrost overnight then microwave in just the baking paper. Or better yet, on a plate with a paper towel, no paper or cling wrap 🙂 Best chance of preserving some of the crispiness!
How long can i keep themę in a freezer?
Hmm, I do 3 to 4 months as a rule 🙂
These were amazing!! My son and I had them for dinner tonight and he can’t wait to have them again! Your recipes never fail, thanks so much 🙂
You’re so welcome Shanan! Glad you enjoyed it 🙂 N x
Is there some sort of a limit to how long they can be kept in the freezer? Not that, they are going to last there very long, but I’d like to prepare more in advance
Hi Jan! I usually stick with the 3 month rule 🙂 Just to be safe! N x
I live in southern California and you would think we could find some decent Mexican food around here. So I am forever researching other’s ideas on the topic. If you want great results you need to start from scratch. I make my own chili powder using a variety of dried chilis and grind them to make a chili powder that you will never find in stores. I combine this with cumin, garlic and onion powder, oregano, paprika and salt and pepper for the meat seasonong. And, of course, all ingredients should be fresh as I am sure Nagi will agree. But the idea of storing in the fridge or even freezing them is a great idea. I can make a bunch of burritos and enjoy them any time I like until they are all gone. Which doesn’t seem to take very long.
I love hearing that! We don’t have Chili Powder here so anything I post essentially uses a spice mix that’s akin to homemade chilli powder! 🙂 N x
I making these tonight
t they smell really good in oven first made like this
Hope you loved it Christine! N x
Vanessa,
Unfortunately, not all of us are as talented as you. I, for one, find all the extra information Nagi provides very helpful. She answers my questions before I have even had time to think of them. Thank you, Nagi!
Hi Nagi, i too enjoy your stories. They are fun to read and gives me an insight to your
Passion for food and family. Please keep writing and sharing. Kaunda
This new thing of writing massive stories/autobiographies instead of posting just the recipe is getting ridiculous. Completely unnecessary. I understand it’s to do with having people remain on the page longer for ad revenue but majority use adblock and don’t care about your life story. There is also an add on which removes the useless story portion from the page. I’ll be adding that now.
Hello Venesa. This is my website. These are my recipes and I work extremely hard on everything I put on my website. You are using them at no cost. So respectfully, you have no right at all to complain about what I choose to put on my website. I take great offence at your comment. If it annoys you so much, just don’t visit my website. And frankly, you are not welcome on my website or to use my recipes. I can’t stop you, but seeing as what I write annoys you so much, please just go away and do not return.
Nagi, your comments are very true. Well done for sticking up for yourself.
Personally I found the bit about freezing the burritos very useful as it is not something I had considered before, but I will be doing it in the future. Keep on doing what you are doing. Maria
Thank you Maria 🙂 I normally ignore these messages! N xx
Way to go Nagi! You are so right. I love your recipes. You are so wonderful. Vanessa has a serious problem, and I am glad you defended yourself. Keep on cooking and so will I.
By the way, you are wrong about the writing being to attempt to make people remain on the page longer. That is the not the reason at all.
I love your stories Nagi. If people don’t like them they can press the recipe button at the top and go straight to the recipe. We live in a world full of whiners like Vanessa.
Thank you Sharon. And yes, that’s exactly the reason I specifically had that button created!!! 🙂 N xx
Vanessa.
“Go Crawl back under your rock”
Bye bye Venessa, no need for you to stop by anymore.