Beef Burrito

Ingredients

Burrito Seasoning:

1 tsp each onion powder , dried oregano, salt
2 tsp each dried cumin powder , paprika
1/4 tsp black pepper
¼ tsp cayenne pepper , or to taste (optional)

Beef:

1/2 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves
½ onion , finely chopped
500g / 1 lb beef mince (ground beef), I use lean
2 tbsp tomato paste
3 tbsp water

Burritos:

6 - 8 large soft flour tortillas or round wraps (~25cm/10”+) (Note 1)
3 cups cooked rice , warm not piping hot (I use white long grain)
3 cups iceberg lettuce or cabbage , finely sliced (use cabbage if freezing)
1 cup corn kernels (I use canned, drained)
1 cup black beans (I use canned, drained)
3 tomatoes, deseeded and diced
1/2 red onion , finely chopped
Finely chopped coriander / cilantro (optional)
1 1/2 cups / 150g shredded cheese of choice (melting kind)

Directions

1. Heat oil in a skillet over high heat. Add garlic and onion, cook for 2 minutes until onion is lightly browned. Add beef and cook, breaking it up as you go, until it turns from red to brown.
2. Add Taco Seasoning (or use 1 packet store bought) and cook for 1 minute. Then add tomato paste and water, cook for 3 minutes until the water is mostly evaporated but the beef is still juicy, not dried out. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes – piping hot filling will steam the burrito, making the tortilla soggy.
3. Optional: If not warming rolled burrito, warm the tortillas before rolling (per packet directions).
4. Place a burrito on a work surface. Place 1/4 - 1/3 cup of rice just below the centre. Top with 1/4 - 1/3 cup beef, then some lettuce, corn, black beans, tomato,  a sprinkle of red onion, coriander and cheese.
5. Fold up the bottom to cover the filling then fold the edges in (video helpful to see how to do this). Roll up tightly, then wrap in foil. Serve as is or heat per below.
6. HEATING: To warm through, pan fry (dry pan) in the foil over medium high heat for a few minutes on each side to slightly crisp and warm the outside. Or for 10+ minutes on a medium low heat if you want to melt the cheese. Or they can be baked at 180C/350F for 20 minutes in the foil – this will warm them all the way through and crisp up the tortilla slightly. If they are straight from the fridge, they will take around 30 minutes to warm through.
7. Burritos are best served with something to dollop/dip - sour cream (or yoghurt) and some sort of chilli sauce are my usual because it's easy. When I'm making more of an effort, I use  Restaurant Style Salsa or Guacamole.

Recipe Notes

1.  I like to use Mission large soft wraps (see photo in post) because they are slightly larger than burrito wraps sold in the Mexican section of Woolies/Coles etc plus they are slightly softer so less prone to breaking AND they are slightly cheaper. Win, win, win! (PS Recipe author is in Australia 🙂)
2. STORAGE/REHEATING: Burritos freeze / reheat brilliantly as long as you avoid watery vegetables. The combination of ingredients I use (don't use lettuce, use green cabbage) is ideal for freezing. Typically, tomatoes aren't great for freezing but because it's the only "watery" vegetable and not much is used, it works great. To reheat, thaw for 24 hours in the fridge or overnight on counter (as log as it's not super hot where you are) then:

- OVEN: reheat in oven at 180C/350F in foil for 30 - 4o min (place on tray in case there is leakage) until outside is slightly crisp;

- MICROWAVE/STOVE: unwrap then microwave for 2 minutes then crisp in dry pan over medium heat;

- STOVE: Leave in foil and turn over medium heat in dry pan for 10+ minutes until crisp all over (takes a while to warm all the way through).

1. MORE VEGGIES / Great for Freezing: One way to pack more veggies into this and/or reduce the carbs by leaving out the rice is to add veggies into the beef filling. To do this, increase the Seasoning, tomato and water by 50% (use the scaler by hovering your cursor over Servings) then add 3 cups of diced veggies of choice, like zucchini, carrots, celery, capsicum, corn. Use a large skillet, saute these veggies after the onion, then push to the side and add the beef and proceed with the recipe. 
2. Nutrition per serving assuming 10 burritos.