So, I broke down last week and bought a burrito from the hospital cafeteria for lunch. It was SO good, but at $5.50 for the least expensive option, I knew I could do better.
I just finished tallying my cost for this recipe and I have to say, I’m sure I could have done much better. To be fair, I didn’t do any comparison shopping, I just ran in, got what I needed, and ran out. So, you might be able to make these for far less than I did. I did, however, make my own black beans instead of buying cans. That saved me a dollar or two. Oh, and I lucked out with the red bell peppers – on sale 10/$10! That’s a SUPER good price.
I seasoned up some regular old white rice, added my black beans (you can season those too, if you’d like), and then topped those with some amazing roasted vegetables. Roasting vegetables intensifies their flavor, and when you add herbs like I did, they become even more amazing. I suggest using whatever vegetables you can get for a good price (I was a bad example here), but the mushrooms really did make this special. So, get the mushrooms if at all possible!
Now I have 8 awesome burritos in my freezer just waiting to be grabbed for lunch in the morning. The recipe is enough for 10, but I already ate one burrito and I had previously used one of the tortillas for something else. To reaheat just place in a microwavable dish and nuke until hot.
Roasted Vegetable Burritos
Roasted Vegetable Burritos
Servings 10Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups uncooked long grain white rice ($0.75)
- 1 tsp salt ($0.05)
- 1/2 Tbsp chili powder ($0.07)
- 1 zucchini ($1.65)
- 1 red onion ($1.93)
- 1 red bell pepper ($1.00)
- 8 oz. mushrooms ($1.49)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin ($0.03)
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano ($0.03)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.32)
- 10 large flour tortillas ($2.99)
- 2 15oz. cans black beans ($0.75)
- 2 1/2 cups shredded cheese ($2.31)
- 1 bunch fresh cilantro ($0.75)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Chop the zucchini, bell pepper, onion, and mushrooms into bite-sized pieces. Toss the vegetables with 2 Tbsp olive oil, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp cumin, and 1/2 tsp oregano. Spread the vegetables out over a large sheet pan and roast for 40 minutes, stirring once half way through.
- Combine the rice in a medium pot with 1 tsp of salt and 1/2 Tbsp of chili powder. Add 3 cups of water, place a lid on top, and bring up to a boil over high heat. As soon as it reaches a full boil, turn the heat down to the lowest setting and allow it to simmer for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, turn the heat off and let it sit undisturbed until you’re ready to assemble the burritos. Fluff the rice just before using.
- When you’re ready to make the burritos, stack a few tortillas on a large plate, place a damp paper towel over top, and microwave for 30 seconds. This will make the tortillas more pliable as you wrap the burritos.
- Place 1/4-1/3 cup of rice on a tortilla, add 1/4 cup of black beans, 1/3 cup of the roasted vegetables, 1/4 cup of shredded cheese, and a handful of fresh cilantro leaves. Roll the burrito tightly and wrap in plastic until ready to eat.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
Step By Step Photos
Since the vegetables take the longest to cook, get them going first. You can use any mix of vegetables, but I like to make sure that I have an onion, some type of pepper, and some mushrooms. The mushrooms get ULTRA delicious when roasted.
Cut the vegetables into bite-sized chunks and then toss with olive oil, salt, cumin, and oregano.
Spread the seasoned vegetables out over a large baking sheet (cover with foil for easy clean up). Roast the vegetables in a preheated oven for 40 minutes, stirring once half way through.
Now the vegetables are all roasted and totally delicious. Try not to snack on them :)
While the vegetables are roasting, you can cook the rice. Combine the dry rice in a medium pot along with salt and chili powder. Add 3 cups of water, put a lid on top, and bring up to a boil over high heat. As soon as it reaches a boil, reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, turn the heat off and let it sit, undisturbed, until you’re ready to make the burritos. Fluff the rice just before using.
When you’re ready to assemble, you can make the tortillas more pliable by microwaving them with a damp paper towel over top. I do a few at a time as I’m making the burritos.
It’s really easy to accidentally over fill the burritos to the point that you can’t roll them up. So, you might have to play around with the quantities. I used about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of rice and 1/4 cup of beans per burrito.
…and about 1/3 cup of roasted vegeatbles.
And lastly, 1/4 cup of shredded cheese and a small handfull of fresh cilantro.
Roll the burritos up and wrap each one in plastic. To freeze, place them in a heavy duty freezer bag.
Hahah, okay, I had to document this… this is the first and last time my freezer will ever be so clean, neat, and tidy! See what a hurricane can do for you? :D
Fantastic! Just made the first batch and will make many more in the future.
Such a great idea! Made these twice now and love having such a convenient and healthy option for a quick lunch or dinner! The second time I decreased the rice to 1 cup dry and upped the veggies because we liked it better that way. Also added some salsa as others suggested. This will be a regular in our house – thank you!!
I’m about to give these a try! Could you tell me what you did to brown the outside of the tortilla so nicely?
I just place the wrapped burrito in a dry skillet over medium heat and let it brown and crisp up on each side. :) I love crispy tortillas!
How many calories/grams of fat is in a portion?
I now have a Sunday afternoon ritual – I make a batch of these for lunches for the week ahead. As well as being incredibly tasty, they’re also a really filling lunch without being too heavy. Mine do get soggy when I reheat them but that’s OK, I have cutlery.
I add jalapenos and salsa for some extra zing. I also use whatever vegetables are going cheap – it’s a pretty forgiving recipe, thanks Beth!
I love this recipie. Today is the forth time I’ve made these, and stocked up my freezer with easy meals on the go. Yum!
Made these last night, but with the veggies I had on hand that needed to be used (sweet potato, pablano pepper, red onion and a couple of orange bellpeppers) but left all the other ingredients the same. They’re great!
These are so yummy! I’ve been eating them for the past few days, just want to say I definitely did not need two whole cans of black beans, can probably get away with one next time.
I made these last week and L-O-V-E-D them! I did change a few things, which I thought I would share. Instead of zucchini I used butternut squash. This roasted up amazingly, and was so moist and smooth in the burrito’s. I also added a few tablespoons of salsa to each. I found this REALLY made a difference in helping keep the burrito’s moist, and it added such great flavour, I don’t know that I would ever make them without. They definitely freeze up nice too. Thanks for the great recipe!
Is it possible that I could add some chicken to the burritos? My sister is NOT very fond of meatless dishes, but I would make these burritos in a heartbeat!!
Absolutely! You can cook a chicken breast and then cube it and toss it into the mix, or just take the meat from a rotisserie chicken from the store. Whatever you think is easiest.
Awesome recipe
Yum! Just made these and loved them! Before assembling, I mixed all the filling together except the cheese and cilantro. It made assembling them a little bit quicker.
I made these tonight and used the BBQ to roast the veggies then to brown the burritos. My 11 year old son asked if he could take them for school lunches – a hit!!!
I was wondering what your opinion is on using corn tortillas for this recipe. I have celiac disease so i was wondering what you thought would be the best choice for making this dish gfree! thank you!!
The only drawback to corn tortillas is that they are not as pliable as flour tortillas and tend to crack and break when bent. They might not wrap around the filling nicely. Instead, you could make a layered “burrito casserole” where the corn tortillas are laid flat in layers between the filling. Then just bake until everything is heated through.
I’ve made these a bunch by now and I love them. My tips: I make them, roll them, and quickly roast the rolled burritos (seam down) on a sheet in the oven to crisp. Then freeze on a sheet, THEN wrap. Unwrap, then, Microwave wrapped in a paper towel. Also, I roast especially liquid-y veggies separately (like zucchini?) and seed them. Whole beans are better than refried. I can’t tell you how much I love flexible recipes like this. Easy breezy, and totally delish. You rock.