Keeping my freezer stocked with quick fixin’s for lunch or an emergency “what are we going to eat” supper definitely works for me, and this is one of my favorite recipes to use for just that purpose. It’s versatile… add and subtract ingredients and spices to your tastes.
The name Brown Bag Burritos comes from the days when everyone actually carried a brown bag for their lunch. The original recipe (posted by my mother in our hometown church cookbook) says that these are tasty cold and perfect for a brown bag lunch. Um… okay…
Brown Bag Burritos
- 2 lb. ground beef
- 2 cans refried beans (I make my own)
- 1 1/3 c. enchilada sauce
- 1/2 c. water
- 1/3 c. minced onion (I use dried)
- 1 Tbsp. chili powder
- 1 Tbsp. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. dried oregano
- 3 c. shredded cheese (cheddar, Mexican blend, whatever)
- 20 flour tortillas (burrito-size)
Brown ground beef; drain. Add remaining ingredients (except tortillas). Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
Heat 3-4 tortillas at a time. Spoon 1/4 c. beef mixture down the side of each tortilla. (I like to use my cookie scoop for this. Helps me keep everything uniform without any mess.)
Roll up. Wrap each burrito in a paper towel, then wrap in foil. (See my crinkly foil? Because the foil doesn’t really touch the food, it is super easy to save and reuse!)
Refrigerate or freeze. I like to pack them in the tortilla ziplock bag. I can usually fit 10 per bag. Oh, by the way, sure wish I would have looked at the corner of this bag before I bought them. See where it says “Thins?” Not such a good thing for burritos. These tortillas tore too easily. I know I should practice making my own…
When ready to eat, remove foil and microwave for about a minute. The paper towel keeps the burritos moist. If you don’t use a microwave, skip the paper towel and just wrap in foil. Then heat burritos in the oven with foil. For a sit down meal they are nice topped with lettuce, cheese, salsa, and sour cream. If you’re eating on the run, though, just grab and go!
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Hmm. Clever! I think I’ll have to give those a try! They would be great for nights when the babysitter is serving dinner, too.
Yum! I’ll definitely have to add these to the menu.
I really need to try making homemade tortillas here too, someday…
Yeah. Not so sure about the cold burrito thing. *shiver*
That look delish! Sounds oh so easy, too.
Once you make/try a homemade tortilla, you will never go back to store bought. They taste so empty.
Thanks for the recipe, Amy!
I know your family must eat good! You always have great recipes!
-Kim
Thanks for posting this! I’m going to be out of town for a few weeks and have been trying to gather recipes that I can make and freeze for my husband while I’m gone. I think I’ll do a half batch of these (we have a teeny freezer and I don’t want him to think he has to eat them every single day while I’m gone *L*).
I’ve been hoping you’d post this recipe since I first saw it on your menu plan.
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Amy!!! I’m so eager to try this!!!
Kristi:)
This is fabulous! Thank you for sharing. I just bought all the stuffing’s for taco’s and have changed my mind. I have surgery on Friday and just know I won’t be in the cooking mood. Going to throw a bunch of these together today! ty ty ty!!
This look so delicious and easy! I wish more blogs would have directions for freezing/making extra/storing portions like this – I love it and it’s totally going to help me make some and plan ahead!
These sound absolutely scrumptious! I could definitely see freezing these, too, as you recommended.
I make large batches of black bean burritos for our freezer. I agree with you, I don’t think I would like them cold. Yours look really good.
@Jennifer,
I would love your black bean burrito recipe!
Quick , Easy and Healthy Num Num’s can never be bad !! Thank you for sharing.
Oh I am liking the look of this. I never know what to send with my hubby as we rarely have leftovers. This would be perfect. Bookmarked it. Thanks
Mmmm…I shouldn’t have read this before supper. Now, I’m starving! I’m definitely going to try these. Thanks for sharing!
What a fabulous idea! And they look delish to boot. Will have to try these out for sure. Thanks for the great idea and recipe. =0)
Thank you for sharing. These sound very good. I look forward to trying them.
Oh my this recipe looks so yummy. I am always looking for things like this for Wednesday nights as we always eat in the car on our way to a church event. I will be making this up next week.
I was wondering what is enchilada sauce, I don’t think I have heard of this before. Can I make my own?
Thanks again for a great recipe
@Katie,
Yes, you can make your own enchilada sauce. I found my recipe online. I have an enchilada casserole recipe that I make my own sauce for instead of buying the can. So, much cheaper to make my own and I can pronounce all the ingredients that go in it.
In case this helps anyone, I figured out my cost per portion on this and it was (surprisingly to me) .61 a burrito, including costs for paper towels and aluminum foil – so that’s a top end cost.
I know I could get the cost down by using a 1:3 meat:bean ratio, getting a better price on my beef, subbing potatoes for one pound of meat (you’d never know), making my own refried beans, cutting the cheese by 1 cup (not sure you’d really notice) and getting the aluminum foil free after coupons and reusing the aluminum foil. I’m guessing using about all of these means, I could get it down to .42/burrito.
Hope that saves someone the math.
2 # Ground Beef 3.54 1.98
2 cans refried beans 1.98 1
1.33 c. Enchilada sauce 1 1
1/2 c. water 0 0
1/3 c. minced onion 0.2 0.2
1 T. Chili powder 0.05 0.05
1 T. Garlic Powder 0.05 0.05
1 t. salt 0.05 0.05
1 t. oregano or cumin 0.05 0.05
3 c. shredded cheese 1.5 1
20 flour tortillas 2.817 2.8167
20 ft aluminum foil 0.79 0
20 paper towels 0.2 0.2
0.611333333 0.419835
@Mama, WOW! You go. I bet you have read the Complete Tightwad Gazette. You know how to stretch..
I am new to your blog! It has been fun reading your posts. These look great! I love to find recipes that freeze well! I was wondering what your recipe is for your homemade refried beans (if you do not mind sharing it). I love homemade bean but have not come up with a recipe that I love yet. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
I made these this weekend, they were awesome! Much better than the frozen store bought ones. I froze some for dinner later on this month too. Thank You very much for this recipe!
I was just wondering if this would work alright if I substituted the ground beef for ground turkey? Thanks :0
Looks wonderful! great idea!
My hubs loves burritos…I will definetly give thse a try!!
just made the filling and YUM! can’t wait to try it in the tortilla tonight! thanks so much!
These look great. I gave you a stumble!
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! It looks delicious. I’m planning to make it for my lunch today and then send some with my husband to work over the next several days.
Yum! I just made a huge batch of these, and now my freezer is stuffed! I made beef & bean, chicken & bean, and bean & cheese burritos. My kids are thrilled, and I like the idea that I have a few meals made, or even just a snack that the kids can warm up when they are hungry. Thanks for the fantastic idea & recipe!
I am always on the lookout for meals that can be made ahead of time. These sound wonderful! (Although I have to say I will definitely try the hot version!)
I have made these & they are such a great timesaver! Thanks for the recipe. I’m curious though, I send these with my husband to work & he has problems with the papertowel sticking to the tortilla. Have you had this problem? I’ve used two different brands of paper towels with the same results. Any suggestions? thanks
I made these last week, and have already tried a couple. I only had one lb of meat, so I added 2 cups of rice to bulk it up and it turned out great!
I think next time I will use Cilantro instead of Oregano to make them taste more Tex-Mex. I might also add crushed tomatoes and peppers.
@Suzanna, That’s why I love this recipe. You can switch it up and stretch it any which way. Your ideas sound yummy!
I made these and they are awesome! I am going to mix them up with other ingredients. They are a great time saver.
Hey, are you familar with the restaraunt chain called Naugles (not even sure if they are still in business). But anyway my husband swears they taste like their burritos! Which he loves.
@Anne, Thanks! I’ve never heard of that restaurant… interesting!
Yes. Experiment — let me know what you mix in that tastes yummy!
Okay, this all sounded good, but if these burritos taste like Naugles, I’m sold!! It’s what’s for dinner!!
@Laura,
That’s what my husband says. He says “MMMM Naugles!”
I made these last week and they were REALLY good. YUM YUM! We all enjoyed them. I had some leftover meat and bean mixture, so my hubby used some to make burritos for breakfast. He added egg and bacon to the meat and bean mixture. It came out awesome.
Thanks for the recipe.
@Ronni, So glad you liked them. Very clever to use the meat mixture for breakfast burritos. My hubby would be excited about that!
I’m making these right now! Thanks so much for the recipe!
I used this recipe to make 30 fajita size burritos Thursday night. Sat morning I was informed we were getting low on burritos and I needed to make some more. They LOVE them! They taste like the Sonic Frito Chili Cheese Burritos without the Fritos. GOOD!
@Brandy, Thanks so much for letting me know. We’re getting “low” here, too.
These sound really good! I might try making a batch using shredded chicken instead of the ground beef, as well. I have a really good recipe for steak fajitas that can be made ahead and frozen that I should share. I like the idea of spending a day cooking and freezing meals for the month…even though I really hate cooking!
It’d be so nice to know I have meals in the freezer, especially on the nights when I’m tired, don’t feel like cooking and can’t think of a thing to make! Thanks for the recipe! 
Fajitas are one of our favorites!
These are definitely going on my to-do list. I love the idea of having a pile frozen in the freezer.
This may be a crazy question, but how do you make your own refried beans? Do you have a good homemade tortilla recipe as well?! The store bought seem to be going up in price every time I buy them! Thanks for this recipe. Can’t wait to try!
Not a crazy question, but I haven’t posted a refried bean recipe because I kind of “wing it.” I use my cooked pintos, pour them in a skillet with some oil, mash as they heat, adding water as needed and spices (garlic, cumin, etc) I really should pay attention to what I do so I can type it out! I’m not a pro with homemade tortillas either, but I’ve used the recipe over at Kitchen Stewardship with success.
That looks so yummy!!! I am definitely going to make these! Mmmmm! Thank you!
Wow!! These really are good! I happened across the recipe this morning and had everything but refried beans…so off to FoodLion I went. Very easy to make and yummy yummy, had to eat two for lunch! Thanks so much for posting how to freeze ahead!
So glad you like them! Thanks for letting me know.
Well I am about to make my homemade refried beans for this wonderful found recipe. How much of the homemade refried beans do I add??? I am so excited to make these!!! Thanks so much!!
I add about 2 cups.
I love this idea! Perfect for the boys since they can zap them in the micro on their own. I appreciate the idea and love your blog. Thank you!
I made these for my husband and ended up eating them on the run myself! We used ground turkey, and left off the cheese- so it was “guilt free” and SO CONVENIENT! I also recommend making enough to put some away in ziploc freezer bags for tacos- we had a couple of really great family meals this way, as well. Even my toddler (3) liked this one (to our astonishment)! Make a lot of this at one time…. you’ll be glad that you did! Thank you so much for sharing! LOVE LOVE LOVE this recipe!
Thanks for letting me know. So glad you enjoyed them!
I don’t know how to “trackback” to your blog – I’ve made a menu and used this recipe this week – I just added your website in my blogpost so people would come straight to you instead of me typing your recipe into my blog. This is an incredible recipe!!!
@Jessica M., I guess I should have included the link to my blog so you know where I am
http://mikejessimorganfamily.blogspot.com/2010/05/food-storage-round-up-week-three.html
You did it perfectly! When you copy another recipe directly to your site, it’s not only a copyright infringement, but the Google search engines don’t like duplicate content. Thanks for the link!