Ground beef, rice, kidney beans, green bell pepper and melted cheddar, rolled up in large, soft flour tortillas, all cooked in a single frying pan.
It’s a weeknight, it’s late, and nobody feels like waiting. In the frying pan, the ground beef sizzles with the garlic, the cumin warms up and the whole kitchen already smells like Tex-Mex.
Yesterday’s rice, the kidney beans and the green bell pepper join the meat, then the cheddar melts into the still-hot filling. You roll it all up in a large, soft tortilla, cut it in half, and the cheese stretches from the very first bite.
What Is a Beef Burrito?
A beef burrito is a large, soft flour tortilla that is filled and then rolled up, with the ends folded in so the filling stays sealed inside. In this homemade version, everything is made in a single frying pan: first the ground beef, browned with garlic and a whole clove, then removed, followed by a filling of tomato, onion, green bell pepper, cooked rice and kidney beans. Cumin and mild chili powder flavor the whole thing, and the shredded cheese is melted in off the heat to bind it all together. Toppings are left to each person’s taste.
In Spanish, “burrito” means “little donkey.” The most widespread legend tells of a vendor in Ciudad Juárez who carried his filled tortillas on a donkey’s back during the Mexican Revolution, but the word already appears in a dictionary of Mexicanisms published in 1895.
From Northern Mexico to the Taquerias of San Francisco
The burrito comes from northern Mexico, from the wheat-growing regions of Chihuahua and Sonora, around Ciudad Juárez. There, wheat makes soft, sturdy tortillas that are handy for taking a meal along and eating it with your hands.
The original burrito is small and thin. It pairs refried beans with a single stewed meat, often carne deshebrada, a Mexican shredded beef, or chile colorado, beef in a red chile sauce. Rice is not part of it.
In the United States, Tex-Mex cooking and the taquerias of San Francisco turned it into a big roll filled with rice, beans, meat and cheese, often held together with aluminum foil.
It’s this burrito from American cuisine that traveled abroad. Its version with ground beef, rice and kidney beans, cooked in a single frying pan, is the one people make at home today in France and Germany.
The Main Ingredients in a Beef Burrito
Ground beef cooks quickly and mixes easily with the rest of the filling. Cooked rice, ideally leftovers from the day before, and canned kidney beans, rinsed and drained, make the burrito hearty. Black beans work too. Diced tomato adds juiciness, onion brings sweetness, and the green bell pepper, cut into thin strips, adds a fresh, slightly bitter note.
The garlic and the whole clove flavor the meat; the clove is taken out before the filling goes in. Onion salt and pepper season the beef, and cumin adds a warm, earthy note. Chili powder here means the mild spice blend sold under that name (chile pepper, cumin, oregano, garlic): it adds color and flavor without too much heat.
The shredded cheese, sharp cheddar for example, goes in off the heat and melts into the hot filling. The large flour tortillas need to stay soft so they fold without cracking. Fresh cilantro, lettuce, black olives, sour cream, guacamole, hot sauce or fresh salsa can be added to taste.
Technique Tips for a Well-Rolled Burrito
Spoon the hot filling in a strip down the center of the tortilla, leaving room around the edges. Fold the ends in first, then roll it up tightly so nothing escapes. Aluminum foil is optional: it holds the burrito together and gives a cleaner cut.
Served right away, the burritos keep their cheese nice and melty. In the same spirit, you can also serve beef tacos or beef nachos.
Ingredients
Meat
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 250 g beef ground
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 whole clove
- onion salt, to taste
- pepper, to taste
Filling
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 small tomato, diced
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 small green bell pepper, cut into thin strips
- 80 g rice cooked, for example leftovers from the day before
- 90 g kidney beans canned, or black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 tablespoon cumin ground
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 55 g cheese shredded, of your choice, such as sharp cheddar
Assembly
- 2 large flour tortillas
- sauces and toppings, to taste: fresh cilantro, lettuce, black olives, sour cream, guacamole, hot sauce, fresh salsa
Instructions
Meat
- In a frying pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat.1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- Add the ground beef and brown it for about 5 minutes, stirring.250 g beef
- Add the garlic and the clove.2 cloves garlic,, 1 whole clove
- Season with onion salt and pepper.onion salt,, pepper,
- Continue cooking for about 2 minutes, stirring.
- Remove and discard the clove: it was only there to flavor the meat.
- Set the meat aside on a plate and keep the pan for the filling.
Filling
- In the same pan, heat the rest of the oil over medium heat.1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- Cook the tomato in it for about 3 minutes.1 small tomato,
- Add the onion and bell pepper.1 small onion,, 1 small green bell pepper,
- Sauté everything for about 3 minutes, stirring.
- Add the rice, beans, reserved meat, cumin and chili powder.80 g rice, 90 g kidney beans, 1 tablespoon cumin, 1 tablespoon chili
- Continue cooking for about 2 minutes, stirring to distribute the spices evenly.
- Remove the pan from the heat.
- Add the cheese and mix well so that it melts into the still-hot filling.55 g cheese
Assembly
- Divide the filling between the two tortillas.2 large flour tortillas
- Add the sauces and toppings of your choice.sauces and toppings,
- Roll up the tortillas, taking care to fold the ends in, so that the filling stays sealed inside.
- If you like, wrap each burrito in a sheet of aluminum foil: it holds together better and you lose less of it when you cut it.
- Cut the burritos in half and serve.
