I STRUGGLE AS I WRITE THIS. I’VE NEVER WRITTEN IT DOWN, I’VE ALWAYS JUST MADE THESE! I “invented” these right around 1991 or so…
HERE GOES…
Ingredients:
3 Cups cooked rice - we use long-grain - jasmine is my favorite!
1 lb. ground beef, cooked and drained
4 cups cooked refried beans (I make black beans)
1 can chopped green chilis
1 can Embassa salsa, or other small can medium to hot red salsa (in the ethnic section of your supermarket)
1 can chopped tomatoes - mexican style - or one tomato, chopped
1 can chilis in adobo sauce
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon oil (we use olive oil)
4 cups shredded cheese
hot pepper sauce of choice (we use whatever is on hand)
hot pepper flakes, if you’re wanting spicy burritos
About 30 large flour tortillas. I always bought these. But, sometimes they’re pricey and so I hope someday to make my own. Katie over at Frugal Fabulous has a recipe for supposedly easy homemade tortillas. I haven’t tried them yet, so if you do, let me know!
You also need plenty of plastic wrap
Procedure:
The day before, make the beans.
Rinse and sort 2 cups black beans or pinto beans. Rinse a few times. Cover in cold water and bring to a rolling boil. Turn off heat and cover and let “soak” for at least a few hours. Let them cool then cover, place in the fridge.
The next day, Drain and rinse again. Cover in cold water, bring again to a rolling boil then simmer slowly with a lid on until beans are nice and tender - soft enough to mash. Boil off extra liquid if needed, leaving some liquid so the beans are somewhat soupy, like a stew. Set aside to cool enough to handle in a food processor.
Cook the ground beef. Set aside. Start the rice. While the rice is steaming / cooking (jasmine takes about 20 minutes simmer covered low simmer), transfer half the beans to a processor and process or else use a potato masher to mash about half the beans. Mix well with the liquid, and if at this point they’re too “Soupy” then boil off some liquid. We prefer our beans with more texture. Process / mash to a consistency you prefer.
In a skillet with the olive oil, cook chopped onions and garlic until browned, then add the chilis with adobo sauce. Add some more oil if needed. Over med-high heat add the beans and let cook / fry. Flip / stir beans and continue to fry untl they start drying and getting “crusty”. Now keep stirring the crusty back into the beans. If you have to add some more liquid at this point that’s okay. Now we’re going for a little soupier than commercial, canned refried beans. Salt. We didn’t season the rice OR the ground beef. The beans are everything for the flavor of the burritos. Salt / taste. They’re so good I usually grab a tortilla at this point and have a mini bean burrito snack, beans and tortilla only!
In a very large bowl (I LOVE my giant stainless steel bowl) - combine beans, cooked ground beef, cooked rice, and canned ingredients. Stir and combine thoroughly. Taste and if desired, throw in some splashes of hot pepper sauce and pepper flakes. Remember, they’ll get “hotter” though after freezing, so go easy! For my family I like to make some spicy, some not.
Warm tortillas in stacks of 6 in a microwave, medium power for 1 minute. Stack warm tortillas in front of the bowl of burrito mix. Glob burritio mix in the burrito - not too much, you need to be able to roll it up tightly - then sprinkle about a tablespoon of cheese on. To roll, fold bottom up over the globe, pull toward you tight, then fold the sides in. Roll tightly. Transfer to a baking sheet, seam side down, to keep it in “shape” while you continue making burritos. When you have a large batch done, wrap them each individually in plastic wrap. Don’t use foil. Place them in a grocery sack or what-have-you and place in freezer. To eat, pull one out and microwave with plastic on, med power 1 minute to thaw somewhat. Loosen plastic wrap or just remove, and continue microwaving until burrito is hot.
I never did a cost on these - well I think I might have way back in the day - I do know this mix and process will get you 30+ burritos for way less than buying them at a convenience store or individually at the supermarket. The little “Juan” type ones aren’t even that good and they’re at least a dollar, sometimes $2. I think if I add meat, beans, etc. it would probably come up to less than $20.00 (tortillas, at least the good ones, are pretty pricey - investigate making them homemade!) - so you can figure out the savings. A bonus - you know exactly what’s IN these, no preservatives - homemade, fresh, delicious! I used to send a big batch of these to my husband’s work. He’s put them in the freezer there and his coworkers would put a dollar in a can when they wanted one. I think I made a pretty good profit. They were really popular. Kids love them, too.
