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.
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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.
How long would you reheat these from refrigerated in the oven?
I didn’t test that method, unfortunately.
I realize it’s a little late to be commenting on this lol but any tips on how to reheat it if it’s been thawing in the fridge for a couple hours at work and then I want to throw it in the microwave?
I would just follow the reheat instructions I have in there for frozen burritos because it’s not going to thaw that much in a fridge after only two hours. :)
How long in the oven from fresh or refrigerated?
This was my gateway recipe – I stumbled upon this online some years ago and discovered the whole world of Budget Bytes. Thanks!
These were amazing. I added about 1/2 cup of hatch chile salsa to the rice while cooking for some heat and adjusted the water amount. Otherwise followed the recipe exactly. Heated it up in my cast iron which gave a perfect crisp and served with some pepita salsa from Trader Joe’s. Froze half the batch. We will definitely be adding these to the regular rotation. It was a perfect lunch to have while working from home!
I love having burritos on hand for simple grab and go meals and these might be my new favorite! The taco rice is so flavorful! Simple ingredients, great for a tight budget
I made these for a coworker who has been out on maternity leave. A few of us made her freezer ready meals and I’m glad I made this! I managed to make 10 of these but gave her 9 since it’s 3 in her family that’ll be eating them. So hubby and I tried the remaining one after it sitting in the fridge for 2 days and mmm so good! Love the flavored rice, cheese, and taco sauce! The beans had nice depth to the burrito and I like the pop of color of the green onions. Yummy! Eats meal prep that I’ll have to make again some time!
i make burritos. beth makes burrito art. i make beans from dry every week in the pressure cooker, then after a few days, mix the leftovers with a can of refried beans, and shredded cheese, and wrap burritos and freeze them.
Instant classic in our house. Kids love them, and I can’t get enough. I ended up eating half of the recipe right away and the rest I put in the fridge. I just wish I had doubled the recipe!
This is a great recipe! I always wanted to know how to batch cook freezer burritos and am excited I did it for the first time. I added some chopped cilantro to the green onions, plus a little extra salt because otherwise the unsalted beans made mine taste bland. I cooked them on a grill pan too, for that delicious crunch. Perfect!
These are a staple in our freezer and I love them. BUT now we have an air fryer and that has been a freezer burrito game changerrrrr!!!! I put a frozen burrito in the air fryer for about 12-15 minutes on 400 and the tortilla gets soooo crunchy and I’m OBSESSED.
Oh and if you’re a vegetarian, try throwing in some cooked Soyrizo! That’s also upped my freezer burrito game…
Love your Recipes, thank you!
WHAT?! That’s awesome!
These were good! I do think the rice could use a little more salt. I may try this again adding some taco-seasoned ground beef. That might be enough to liven up the rice a bit. But overall, very tasty and filling and easy to make.
It’s definitely up to you and your taste! Beth has a great Cumin Rice or Cilantro Lime Rice that could spice things up the next time you make these.
These are delicious! They are quick and it’s easy to double to make a bunch for a crowd or for leftovers.
Love this recipe.
It also works great with smaller tortillas. The smaller burritos make great snacks for my teen boys.
I’m particularly pleased with this filling combo, which is sweet, savory, sour, and umami:
* Pinto beans cooked with smoked ham trimmings or hock
* Brown rice, seasoned or not (plain is fine)
* Cubed sweet potatoes, tossed with a little taco seasoning or chili powder, roasted and then drizzled with lime juice
* Homemade pickled jalapenos
* Manchego cheese
* Cilantro
These filling options all sound amazing! I’m going to try this for my 3 teen boys as well…..I can’t keep the freezer stocked fast enough!
How do you keep the tortillas from getting wet and mushy in the fridge?
I didn’t do anything special. I don’t think there is enough moisture in the filling for it to make the tortillas mushy.
Let the burritos cool before you seal them up in foil or a bag. Trapped heat will result in lots of moisture and soggy tortillas