Bean and cheese burritos are tasty, easy, and inexpensive, and they can be adapted to what is in season and what your family likes. They are a great "fill your own" dish to serve with a variety of fillings and let each person make their own.

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⏲️ Time needed
🥘 Ingredients
📋 Instructions
💭 Tips
📖 Recipe
🥗 Side dishes
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⏲️ Time needed

The time needed to prepare bean and cheese burritos is just the time to cook the onion, garlic, and pepper, then to heat the beans. I like to cook a batch of dried pinto beans and serve Pinto Beans and Cornbread for one meal, then use the planned leftovers to make these bean and cheese burritos.

🥘 Ingredients

In addition to beans, cheese, and tortillas, the ingredients in bean and cheese burritos are both basic and flexible. This recipes calls for:

chopped onion
minced garlic
chopped red bell pepper
oil for sautéing
seasonings
optional fillings, such as cilantro, green onions, rice, sour cream, etc.

Although I love the sweet flavor of red bell peppers, when they are expensive (and their price can vary widely - I have bought a package of 6 for $3.99 and have at times paid that much for one pepper), omit them or substitute a green bell pepper.

If you like rice in your burritos, feel free to add it (I'm not a fan of rice in burritos, but I seem to be in the minority).

📋 Instructions

If you are preparing the beans from dried, you will first need to soak and cook those, or thaw them if you are using your freezer stock. Then, in a skillet, sauté onion, garlic, and red bell pepper in a small amount of oil.

When they are tendercrisp, reduce the heat and add the seasonings and beans, mixing well. To create a binding for the filling, mash some of the bean mixture with a potato masher, adding a small amount of water if needed, and mix with the remaining filling. Continue cooking over medium-low heat until hot.

Warm tortillas and let each person assemble their own burritos with the filling, cheese, and other optional fillings.

💭 Tips

Although canned pinto beans may seem easier, planning ahead and cooking dried beans is not only less expensive, but also creates a more tender bean filling than using canned beans. Since cooking dried beans is time-consuming, I like to cook a big batch and freeze the cooked beans in can-sized portions for use in recipes like this. Just thaw and use as you would canned beans.

📖 Recipe

Bean and Cheese Burritos

Burritos are typically a low cost meal and are very filling. This vegetarian burrito recipe can be adapted to what is in season and what your family likes.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 5

Cook Time 10

Total Time 15

Course Main Dish

Cuisine Mexican, Vegetarian

Servings burritos

Calories 449

Ingredients

1 medium onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 tablespoons vegetable oil
Salt and pepper to taste
½ teaspoon chili powder
30 ounces canned pinto beans, drained and rinsed (or prepared equivalent from dried beans)
6 burrito sized tortillas
1-½ cups cheddar cheese, shredded

Optional Fillings

Cilantro, optional burrito filling
Green onions, optional burrito filling
rice, optional burrito filling
sour cream, optional burrito filling

Instructions

In a skillet, sauté onion, garlic, and red bell pepper in a small amount of oil.
When vegetables are tendercrisp, reduce heat.
Add seasonings and beans, mixing with previous ingredients.
Mash some of the beans with a potato masher, adding a small amount of water if needed.
Continue cooking over medium-low heat until hot.
Warm tortillas and let each person assemble their own burritos with the filling, cheese, and other optional fillings.

Notes

Nutrition data does not include optional fillings.

Nutrition per serving

Calories: 449 calCarbohydrates: 56 gProtein: 19 gFat: 17 gSodium: 972 mgFiber: 9 gSugar: 6 g

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🥗 Side dishes

Suggested sides for bean and cheese burritos:

Tex-Mex Cole Slaw
Spanish Rice
Green Salad

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