I can’t lie, guys. Sometimes I crave those cheap freezer burritos. They’re just so easy to buy and stash in your freezer for days when you don’t feel like cooking. But guess what? It really doesn’t take a lot of time or effort to make your own freezer burritos, with ingredients you choose, and they’ll still be super cheap. So this weekend I whipped up a batch of super simple Make Ahead Bean and Cheese Burritos to feed us for the week (and beyond). I stored half in my fridge for the next few days, and the rest went into the freezer for longer storage (but let’s be real, they’ll be gone in a couple of weeks).
Burrito Filling Options
I made my burritos super simple with just some seasoned rice, black beans, cheese, taco sauce, and a few green onions, but the options for what you could put in your make ahead burritos is endless. Here are some great options:
- Taco seasoned ground meat or meat substitute
- Scrambled eggs
- Roasted vegetables
- pulled pork and pineapples
- Jalapeños
- Carnitas
- Refried beans (instead of whole beans)
You can add just about anything to your burritos, as long as the ingredient isn’t very watery or has a high water content (like fresh lettuce or tomatoes). Ingredients with a lot of water won’t store well in the refrigerator or freezer and are best added to burritos that will be consumed the same day.
Bean and Cheese Burritos
Servings 8Ingredients
Seasoned Rice
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.04)
- 1 clove garlic, minced ($0.08)
- 1 tsp chili powder ($0.10)
- 1/4 tsp ground cumin ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp oregano ($0.02)
- 1 cup long grain white rice ($0.53)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1.5 cups water ($0)
Burritos
- 2 15oz. cans black beans ($1.18)
- 2 cups shredded cheddar ($1.50)
- 2 green onions ($0.17)
- 1/2 cup taco sauce ($0.88)
- 8 large flour tortillas ($2.39)
Instructions
- Begin making the seasoned rice first, so you can prepare the rest of the ingredients as the rice cooks. Add the cooking oil and minced garlic to a sauce pot and sauté over medium for about one minute, just to take the raw edge off the garlic.
- Add the chili powder, cumin, oregano, and rice to the pot. Continue to sauté, stirring continuously, for about two more minutes to toast the rice and spices.
- Carefully add the water and salt to the pot, place a lid on top, and turn the heat up to high. Allow the pot to come up to a boil, then turn the heat down to low. Allow the pot to simmer on low for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, turn the heat off, and let the rice rest undisturbed for five more minutes. Finally, fluff the rice with a fork.
- While the rice is cooking, rinse and drain the black beans well. Slice the green onions.
- When the rice is finished cooking and you’re ready to assemble the burritos, stack four tortillas on a large plate and place a damp paper towel over top. Microwave for 30 seconds to steam the tortillas, to make them more pliable and easy to roll. Steam the next four tortillas only when you’re ready to begin working with them.
- To each tortilla add about 1/3 cup rice, 1/3 cup beans, 1 Tbsp taco sauce, 1/4 cup shredded cheddar, and a few slices of green onion. Roll the burritos up tightly, making sure to fold in the sides first to hold in the the filling.
- Store the burritos in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for 4-5 days, or wrap each burrito individually in parchment paper or plastic wrap, then place in a freezer bag, and store for up to three months.
- To Cook from Refrigerated: Place the burrito in a skillet or on a grill pan and cook over medium-low heat until the outside is brown and crispy and the cheese is melted on the inside.
- To Cook from Frozen in Microwave: Set the microwave to the defrost setting for approximately 9 minutes, or the defrost by weight setting, programmed to one pound.
- To Cook from Frozen in the Oven: Wrap the burrito in foil and bake in a preheated 350ºF oven for approximately 40 minutes.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!How to Make Bean and Cheese Burritos – Step by Step Photos
Begin the rice first so you can prepare the rest of the filling ingredients as the rice cooks. Add 1 Tbsp cooking oil and one minced clove of garlic to a sauce pot. Sauté the garlic over medium heat for only about a minute to take the raw edge off the garlic. Next, add 1 tsp chili powder, 1/4 tsp cumin, and 1/4 tsp oregano.
Also add 1 cup uncooked long grain white rice. Continue to sauté the rice and spices for about two minutes, which will toast the rice and spices and enhance their flavor.
Next, add 1.5 cups water and 1/2 tsp salt. Place a lid on the pot, turn the heat up to high, and allow it to come to a boil. As soon as it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to low and let it simmer on low for 15 minutes.
After simmering for 15 minutes, turn the heat off and let the rice rest undisturbed for another five minute. Finally, fluff the rice with a fork. While the rice is simmering and resting, rinse and drain two cans of black beans, and slice two green onions.
When you’re ready to assemble your burritos, place 4 large tortillas on a plate and cover them with a damp paper towel. Microwave for 30 seconds to steam the tortillas, which will make them more pliable and easy to roll (steam the second four when you’re ready for them).
To make each burrito, place about 1/3 cup of the seasoned rice, and 1/3 cup of the black beans on each tortilla.
Then add 1 Tbsp taco sauce… (this helps keep the burritos moist)
And finally, 1/4 cup shredded cheddar and a few slices of green onion. Roll the burritos up tightly, making sure to fold the sides in first to hold in the filling.
And now you’ve got eight burritos ready for eating or storing for later!
You can keep your burritos in the refrigerator for 4-5 days. To cook them from the refrigerator you can just place them in a skillet or on a grill pan and cook over medium until the tortillas are brown and crispy, and the cheese is melted on the inside.
Or you can freeze them for about 3 months. Knowing that we’ll eat these up within a couple weeks, I took the lazy route and just popped them into a freezer bag. If you want to store for longer and prevent freezer burn, you will want to wrap each burrito individually in either plastic or parchment before placing them in the freezer bag.
To reheat the burritos from frozen, you can either use your microwave’s defrost setting (mine took about 9 minutes on defrost) or reheat in the oven. Using the oven does take some time from frozen. Wrap your burrito in foil and place in a preheated 350ºF oven for about 40 minutes.
And then enjoy! If you want to reheat from frozen and still get that nice crispy exterior, I’d first do the defrost in the microwave and then crisp it up in a skillet at the end.
We made a bunch of these and brought them along on a long camping trip. Threw a couple in the backpack in the am and they were ready to eat about lunch time. You saved us time and money, as you always do Beth. Thank you!
I saw this recipe and decided to do one of the other takes on this recipe that you suggested. You said try egg, so I tried this and it was a huge hit. I brought lots of eggs, and then added milk to make the eggs stretch. And I added turkey bacon and a little cheese to the egg. I formed 2 burritos per bag for my husband’s breakfasts and it made so many burritos that I could not believe it. My husband loved them!!! And now that we are entering the coldest months of the year, a hot breakfast is definitely more appealing than a cold bowl of cereal. Also, I normally purchase the pre-made frozen breakfast items, but Beth you helped me see that what I made here at home was sssoooo much better than the pre-made frozen breakfast stuff. My husband said the breakfast burritos tasted better and actually kept him fuller, so he avoids the mid morning hunger pangs. I will definitely be making these again. But what I may do to make this stretch even further is add bits of potatoes to the eggs, milk, and bacon. I may omit the cheese as cheese can be a little pricey. I also plan on making the lunch/dinner take on this recipe with beef, beans, and corn. Every recipe that I make from this website has been a delicious success. But this recipe was different in that I never thought about making my own homemade breakfast and that it could be so satisfying. Thanks again Beth and warm wishes to you for a great Christmas, Kwanzaa, New Year, etc!!!!
Awesome!! I’m so happy to hear that! :D
I found this recipe 6 weeks ago and I just made my fourth batch. Absolutely delicious, I enjoy them crisped up in the oven (I freeze then cook from frozen in parchment paper), or I take from the freezer and heat up in the microwave at work (not crispy, but still delicious). I love that I can have frozen food on hand with good ingredients and I know what’s in them! I’ve shared the link with many friends and family- everyone loves these! Yum- thank you!
i was hoping to make these for work lunches, but i will only have a microwave at my disposal for heating food. how would you recommend preparing these so i could easily reheat with only the microwave? cook fully and then reheat?
Actually, once they are filled and rolled the only reason you need to “cook” them further is to heat them through or to get the tortilla crispy. :) So if you only have a microwave, you won’t be able to get the tortilla crispy, but they’ll still be delicious! Once you have them filled and rolled you don’t need to cook them prior to refrigerating them. Just reheat them in the microwave at work once you’re ready to eat. I hope that made sense!
How do you make the seasoned rice using a rice cooker?
You should be able to just add all the ingredients to the rice cooker and use the usual setting to cook the rice.
How can I make this with brown rice instead of white rice?
Follow the water volume and cooking time recommendations listed on your package of brown rice, instead of using the 1.5 cups water and 15 minute cooking time I list in the recipe.
We love these burritos! They’re a lifesaver for our lunches during the week. One question: what brand of taco sauce do you prefer to use? We’ve tried a couple and have been on the hunt for the one that tastes best.
What are the rules for re-freezing frozen food? For example, I always stock up on tortillas and freeze them for when we need them. I also make your crockpot black beans and freeze the portions. Can I thaw those foods, make these burritos, then re-freeze? These would be awesome to have pre made for lunches and such!
Multiple freezing and thawing cycles can break down the texture of food each time, but as long as you are keeping the food below 40ºF throughout the thaw cycle, it does not pose a food safety danger. The danger usually comes when people leave the food out at room temperature or use warm water to thaw the food.
So tasty and so easy!!! I made some this week with the intent of saving them for a couple months, and then ended up having my work schedule shift so I didn’t have time to get to the grocery store when I wanted. These saved me! Not having to worry about lunch because I could simply grab one and go was such a stress reliever. Plus, they taste so. good.
Just curious, any alternatives to the cheese in this? It’s not that necessarily that I object to cheese or anything, but mainly interested in what else I could use as a means to hold these together?
I wouldn’t say that the cheese acts to hold the burritos together at all, so you could just leave it out. :)
I recently went vegetarian and my friend recommended Budget Bytes as a great source of recipes. These burritos were the first recipe that I made, and I was just as happy with burrito number one as I was with burrito number eight. These are cheap and easy work at home lunches. Cheers!
These sound great! I may also try with quinoa instead of rice for a different texture. I just love quinoa and black beans together. :)
Really tasty and so easy! I’ve made them two times already. The second time around I made my own sauce from cooking bell peppers and tomatoes. Allows me to include a bit more veggies and a great addition in taste.
Love these! I think they’re even better from frozen (I nuked em as instructed). So easy and delicious on a busy weeknight!
So good – trying one right now! I’ve got tons of black beans in the freezer thanks to you!