Weeknight Beef Burritos
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This Beef Burrito recipe comes together fast and is a crowd-pleaser. Even better, these burritos can be prepped ahead for the freezer! They are the ultimate weeknight meal that you’ll make on repeat. Bonus: Use the filling in Ground Beef Quesadillas another night!
4 Reasons to Make This Beef Burrito Recipe
- Crowd-pleaser! These beef burritos are cheesy, flavorful, melty deliciousness wrapped in a tortilla.
- Freezer Friendly! They are a great freezer meal for 1-2 people or to serve as a grab-and-go lunch.
- Healthy! If you use a whole wheat tortilla, grass-fed beef, and add the veggies we suggest, you’ll find that our beef burritos are healthier than most burrito recipes you encounter. Bonus healthy points if you serve with guacamole or our Avocado Salsa!
- Grab-and-Go! They are super easy to warm up for an on-the-go lunch or dinner.
- Customizable! They are easy to customize with add-ins. See those ideas below.
Main Ingredients
Here are the main things you’ll need to make this yummy dinner!
- Yellow onion – A white onion will work fine, too.
- Ground beef – Use lean ground beef or you can sub ground turkey or chicken. We get our beef from ButcherBox.
- Corn – Canned or frozen will work.
- Black beans – Rinsed and drained.
- Salsa – I prefer medium spice. This is a shortcut to adding a lot of flavor to the beef mixture.
- Tortillas – To make this recipe a little healthier, use whole wheat tortillas.
- Shredded cheddar cheese – Did you know you can freeze cheese?
- Optional: Cilantro Lime Rice or Brown Rice – Add in up to 1/3 cup of cooked rice, if you want to make these stretch even farther.
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How to Make Beef Burritos
Make the Ground Beef Mix
Your first step is making the beef filling. You’ll saute the onions and ground beef. Season the beef and then stir in the corn, beans, and salsa. This just takes minutes.
More Ways to Use the Ground Beef Filling
I highly, highly, highly recommend doubling or even tripling the ground beef mixture. It can be repurposed in so many ways or even frozen for later.
- Make Ground Beef Quesadillas. My husband’s favorite!
- Make Baked Nachos in the oven
- In a Taco Casserole
- For a Taco Bar
- On top of a Taco Salad
- In Bell Pepper Nachos
Assemble the Burritos
Once the filling is cooked, set it aside to cool a bit. Preheat the oven to 400°F and lay out the tortillas and cheese.
To each tortilla, add about 3/4 cup of ground beef filling and roughly 2 tablespoons of cheese.
You could also add in additional ingredients if desired.
Optional Burrito Add-Ins:
- Sautéed veggies like diced bell peppers, onions, or mushrooms
- Cooked rice, such as Cilantro Lime Rice or Instant Pot Brown Rice (use about 1/3 cup per burrito)
- Refried beans
- Chopped, fresh cilantro
Wrap and Bake!
Fold the sides of each tortilla over the filling. Then fold the bottom of the tortilla over the sides and filling. Roll the burrito tightly and place seam down on a piece of foil.
Wrap the burrito up in the foil. Place the wrapped burritos on a sheet pan and bake for about 15 minutes.
How to Serve Beef Burritos
Serve burritos piping hot with your favorite Tex Mex toppings like sour cream, guacamole, hot sauce, or salsa. These would also be delicious with our Southwest Ranch Sauce!
Side Dish Ideas
Serve the beef burritos with one of these popular recipes on our site.
Can I freeze burritos?
Burritos make a great freezer meal! They can be cooked straight from frozen and are perfect for those who only need to cook 1-2 portions at a time. (Empty-nesters, college students, make ahead lunches for work, etc.)
To freeze the burritos, simply follow the steps right up until baking. Instead of putting them in the oven, you will pop them in the freezer.
How to prepare a frozen burrito:
1) Microwave Method: Unwrap the foil from the frozen burrito, wrap in a moist paper towel, and microwave using the defrost setting for 2 to 3 minutes, or until warmed through.
2) Oven Method (Frozen): Preheat the oven to 400°F. Bake for 45 minutes, until warmed through.
3) Oven Method (Thawed): Thaw the burritos in the refrigerator. Bake as directed above.
Recipe FAQs
Because corn tortillas are a bit more fragile, they don’t hold up well in this recipe, especially if you plan to freeze the burritos. Stick with flour tortillas with this recipe.
I recommend using burrito sized tortillas. This gives you enough to work with to wrap it up properly.
Yes! Dairy-Free Option: Omit the cheese. You can add in smashed avocado in place of the cheese to add richness.
Gluten-Free Option: Use corn tortillas or gluten-free tortillas.
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Beef Burritos
Easy, flavorful, and freezer-friendly! This Beef Burrito recipe come together fast and is a crowd-pleaser. The beef filling can also be used in multiple ways.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or avocado oil
- 1/2 medium sized yellow onion, diced
- 1 pound lean ground beef (I used 97% lean)
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1/2 cup frozen or canned corn, drained
- 1/2 cup black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup salsa (your favorite)
- 4–5 burrito-sized flour tortillas (Tip: Use whole wheat for healthier option.)
- 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- Optional: 2 cups cooked rice (rec: Instant Pot Cilantro Lime Rice or Instant Pot Brown Rice)
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Instructions
Make It Now:
- Make the Beef Filling: In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Sauté the onion until it begins to soften, about 3-4 minutes. Add in the ground beef and cumin. Break up and cook the beef until it is no longer pink. Drain off the excess grease. Reduce the heat to low and stir in the corn, black beans, and salsa. Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set aside.
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 400°F. Tear off 4-5 pieces of foil (big enough to wrap the burritos).
- Fill Burritos: To fill each burrito, lay a tortilla out on a piece of foil and sprinkle about 2 tablespoons of shredded cheese over the tortilla. Then add roughly 3/4 cup of beef mixture. (Optional: Add in about 1/3 cup cooked rice at this step.)
- Wrap Burritos: To wrap each burrito, fold in the sides of the tortilla over the filling. Then, fold the bottom up and roll the burrito tightly. Place the burrito seam down and wrap it tightly in the foil. (Freezing instructions begin here.)
- Bake: Place burritos on a sheet pan (to catch any spills). Bake for 15 minutes or until heated through.
Freeze For Later: Place foil-wrapped (but not baked!) burritos into a gallon size freezer bag or container. Squeeze out any excess air, seal, label the bag, and freeze.
Prepare from Frozen: You have 2 options to heat the frozen burritos:
1) Microwave Method: Unwrap the foil from the frozen burrito, wrap in a moist paper towel, and microwave using the defrost setting for 2 to 3 minutes, or until warmed through.
2) Oven Method (Thawed): Thaw the burritos in the refrigerator. Bake as directed above.
Note: We have not tested warming these in the oven from frozen yet. However, you can try baking in the foil at 400°F for about 45 minutes or until warmed through. Let us know if you try this in the comments!
Notes/Tips
- Gluten-Free Variation: Use gluten-free tortillas (not corn tortillas!) if making from fresh. We have found the GF tortillas (especially the corn ones) unfortunately don’t hold up well in the freezer. Let us know if you find a brand that does, though!
- Budget-Friendly Tip: Add in cooked rice to the burritos to make the filling stretch even farther.
- Time-Saving Tip: Make a double batch of the meat mixture and use it for this recipe one night and then Ground Beef Quesadillas or Baked Nachos the next!
- You will have roughly 4 cups of burrito filling to work with. If you like bigger burritos, use 1 cup of filling per burrito to make 4 large burritos.
- You may be tempted to add salt to the beef mixture. But, once it is mixed with salsa, cheese, and in the tortillas, it is plenty salty.
This burrito recipe is now a staple in our house – per my husband’s request! We warm one in the oven in the morning, then he packs it in a Yeti tumbler for work and it stays warm until lunch! Added the optional rice at 1/3 cup per burrito and was able to make 7 burritos total. Yummy and filling!
Love to hear this working for your husband’s lunches Whitney! So smart! Thanks for leaving a detailed review.
This tasted delicious but there is no way a fajita tortilla can be correct. A fajita tortilla is small and a 1/2 cup meat mixture fills the entire thing making it impossible to roll. I did use one for my picky eater who I knew would not like this recipe so I made it small. The rest I did in Burrito Grande tortillas which were the perfect size for the meat mixture amount of 1/2 cup.
Hi Jennifer- so sorry about the tortilla mix up! I have corrected the size you need. That was my mistake when writing up the recipe. Thanks for letting us know!