Fill Your Freezer -- Burritos

These burritos are awesome! You make a bunch in advance, keep them in your freezer, and anytime you want a quick meal or snack, cook for about 2-3 minutes in the microwave. Adults and kids love them.

If you have a freezer and microwave at office, you’re set for lunch, although you may have to keep your coworkers from stealing them, once they see what you’re eating.

The recipe below is written as a utility recipe, meaning you can use the specific ingredients you prefer and/or happen to have on hand. I often use this recipe to clean out the freezer and fridge of various meats and veggies, and I’ve been known to make as many as 60 burritos at a time!

Why not? Once you gather together all your ingredients and supplies, it’s just as easy to make lots as it is to make a few.

See the instructions below for further notes on ingredients, variations and substitutions. The amount of ingredients you will need will depend on how many burritos you want to make (this is a great way to use leftovers). Multiply the amount of ingredients below by the number of burritos you want to make.

Mix and Match Per 8-inch Tortilla Burrito:
generous 1/4 cup cooked rice or cooked Spanish rice
1/4 cup chopped cooked protein – cooked beef, chicken, pork, or tofu
generous 1/8 cup grilled veggies
generous 1/8 cup cooked beans (black and/or pinto beans work well)
generous 1/8 cup grated cheese
1 tablespoon cooked salsa (see Related Recipes section below for recipes), optional
18-inch flour tortilla

Mix and Match Per 10-inch Tortilla Burrito:
1/3 cup cooked rice or cooked Spanish rice
1/3 cup chopped cooked protein – cooked beef, chicken, pork, or tofu
1/3 cup grilled veggies
1/3 cup cooked beans (black and/or pinto beans work well)
1/3 cup grated cheese
1/8 cooked salsa (see Related Recipes section below for recipes), optional
1 10-inch flour tortilla

Gather your ingredients together. I sometimes take several days to prepare before actually making the burritos. Making beans (usually in my slow cooker) one day, salsas another day, grill meat, tofu, and veggies another. When I have all the pieces, I make a big burrito assembly line.


To make individual burritos for the freezer, center a tortilla on a piece of freezer paper, wax paper, or parchment paper.

Leaving about an inch margin at the bottom, layer ingredients in a single line down the center of the tortilla as in the photo below.


Fold up the bottom of the tortilla, fold one side over, and roll up as tightly as possible. Fold the paper over the burritos, tucking in both sides, the tightly rolling the burritos in the paper as in the photos below.




Pack paper wrapped burritos in a zipper top plastic freezer bag. When ready to eat, remove burritos from the paper and put on a microwave safe plate. Unwrap and microwave on high for about 2 minutes. Carefully turn the burritos over – careful, it will be hot! Microwave another minute. Remove from oven and enjoy. Add additional salsa and/or hot sauce as desired.

All microwaves are different, so you may need to adjust cooking times for your oven. Check often during cooking and make notes of just how long it takes your oven to perfectly cook the burritos.

Freezer Friendly Burrito Making Tips

• Once you assemble together all the ingredients, it’s just as easy to make lots of these at once as it is to make just a few. I’ve been known to make as many as 60 at a time and pass out extras that I couldn’t fit in my freezer to appreciative friends and family members (everybody loves a quick meal or snack they can pull out of their freezer).
• Feel free to mix and match the above ingredients in any combinations that suit you – if you eliminate one, add more of another. The only ingredient I don’t recommend cutting is the rice – unless you plan on eating the burritos right away instead of freezing. If you do plan on freezing, I find that rice will soak up any excess moisture, keeping the burritos from becoming too wet upon reheating. Otherwise, if you don’t like beans, leave them out. Don’t have any cooked meat on hand? Make a rice, bean, and cheese burrito, etc.
• Grilled veggies like onions, peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, etc. are always a tasty and healthy addition. Just about anytime I have a fire in the grill going, I grill up a bunch of veggies for this (and other) purpose. Just brush with oil and grill.
• The addition of grilled tofu is great for vegetarian burritos -- just brush with oil and lay firm tofu on the grill, just as you would meat.
• Label and date the bags that hold the burritos in your freezer. Try to use within 3 months. Trust me, that won't be a problem.
• Why cooked salsa? Because raw veggies that are frozen emit too much water which will make your burritos soggy.

Related Recipes

• Cheri's Easy Anytime Salsa -- Canned tomatoes make awesome salsa that takes just minutes to prepare. Use the canning juice to make the Spanish Style Rice recipe below. Try adding a canned chipotle to this recipe fro a great smoky flavored salsa.
  
• Spanish Style Rice -- Frugally uses canning liquid from the salsa recipe above to make rice filling for your burritos with extra flavor and nutrients.
• Cheri's Slow Cooker Tomatillo and Green Chile Salsa (pictured)-- Toss some ingredients into the slow cooker and come back to freshly made salsa a few hours later.
• Lora Brody's Slow Cooker Tomatillo Salsa with Peppers -- Bell peppers combine with tomatillos in this easy to make slow cooker salsa.
• How to Cook Dried Beans -- You'll save money, energy and environmental resources by starting with dried beans, although in a hurry you can used canned.
• Cooking Beans in a Pressure Cooker -- A pressure cooker provides one of the easiest and energy efficient ways to cook healthy beans. This tutorial take away the mystery.