Ground Beef Smothered Burritos — Mexican comfort food that’s loaded with seasoned ground beef, refried beans, rice, and smothered with sauce and CHEESE!! Tastes BETTER than from a restaurant, plus these burritos are freezer-friendly and so EASY!!
Table of Contents
Smothered Burrito Recipe
There is something so comforting about a warm Mexican burrito that’s loaded to the max with ground beef, onions, refried beans, rice, cheese, smothered in more cheese, and covered with red enchilada sauce.
If you’re looking for easy comfort food that the whole family will love, look no further than this smothered burrito recipe! These ground beef burritos taste even better than what you get at a Mexican restaurant.
This beef burrito recipe takes less than an hour to make, and most of that time involves baking the smothered burritos! Because this recipe makes so many burritos, it’s a great recipe to have on hand when you have friends coming over.
Looking for a Vegetarian Version?
These Smothered Veggie Burritos are vegetarian and just as easy to make as the ground beef version!
Ingredients in the Smothered Baked Burritos
To make these homemade burritos, you’ll need:
- Olive oil
- Ground beef
- Sweet Vidalia onion
- Taco seasoning
- Flour tortillas
- Refried beans
- Pre-cooked rice
- Mexican shredded cheese blend
- Red enchilada sauce
- Fresh cilantro (optional, for garnishing)
Scroll to the end of this post for the full recipe card with ingredient measurements.
How to Make Beef Burritos
This is such an easy recipe for beef burritos! Here’s an overview of the cooking process:
- Brown ground beef with some diced onion and season with a packet of taco seasoning.
- Then, add the beef mixture along with a generous smear of refried beans, cooked rice, and cheese to large flour tortillas.
- Roll up the burritos and place them in a large skillet before baking for 25 minutes.
- Add red enchilada sauce on top of the beef burritos and top with more cheese.
- You’ll want to continue baking the smothered burritos until the cheese melts and the sauce is bubbly, about 15 minutes more.
How to Wrap a Burrito
Not sure how to wrap a burrito? Check out this tutorial on how to wrap a burrito. I made 7 big burritos. You could probably stretch it to 8 or 9 depending on how full you fill your tortillas.
Recipe Tips
Rice: To save time, use a package of precooked rice. I’m fond of this Spanish Rice in the burritos.
Taco seasoning: I used medium heat, reduced sodium taco seasoning for the ground beef and medium heat enchilada sauce. Dial the heat up or down in the burritos overall based on your choice of mild, medium, or hot versions of taco seasoning and enchilada sauce.
Tortillas: I also recommend using large, 10-inch flour tortillas that are specifically made for burritos. The burritos are stuffed to the max, so it’s important to have a tortilla big enough to hold everything.
Skillet: Most importantly, keep in mind you will need a very large skillet. I used this Lodge 15-inch cast iron skillet and my skillet was packed with 7 burritos. Maybe I could have fit 8 or 9 smaller burritos in it, but I didn’t test it.
Make-Ahead Instructions
You have a few options when it comes to prepping this beef burrito recipe in advance:
- Burrito filling: Assemble the beef burrito filling, let cool slightly, then refrigerate for up to 5 days.
- Rice: If not using pre-cooked rice in a packet, you can cook the rice up to 3 days in advance.
- Fully assembled: You can also opt to fully assemble the burritos, then cover them before storing them in the fridge. Wait to add the sauce until you’re ready to bake the burritos!
What to Serve with Ground Beef Burritos
These burritos are packed with so many ingredients that you can keep your sides super simple. The burritos have beans and rice in them, so stick to something light, like a side salad or veggies. Trust me, these will be the star of your dinner table!
Here are some of my favorite sides for homemade burritos:
- Borracho Beans
- Baked Tortilla Chips
- Grilled Avocado Corn Salad
- Grilled Mexican Corn
- Avocado Black Bean Salad
- Mexican Corn and Zucchini Salad
- Mexican Wedge Salad
And of course you have to wash down these burritos with a homemade margarita!
Storage Instructions
For the best burritos, I recommend eating them as soon as they come out of the oven. However, leftover ground beef burritos may be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Can You Freeze Burritos?
Yes! You may not need 7 or 8 big burritos all at once — no problem!
To freeze burritos, you’ll need to individually place them in freezer-safe containers and pull them out when you need a fast lunch or dinner on the fly.
How to Reheat Frozen Burritos
To reheat the frozen burritos, either microwave them for 1-minute bursts, or bake them at 350F for 30 minutes, or until heated through.
You won’t need to buy store-bought frozen burritos or even go out to a restaurant when you can make your own. They have so much flavor and are much more cost efficient!
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Loaded Smothered Beef Burritos
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1 lb ground beef, I used 90% lean
- 1 small sweet Vidalia or white onion, diced small
- one 1-ounce packet taco seasoning, I used medium heat, reduced sodium
- 7 large flour tortillas, 10-inch, burrito size
- one 16-ounce can refried beans
- one 8.5-ounce package precooked rice, I used Spanish Rice
- 1 ½ cups + 1 1/2 cups Mexican shredded cheese blend, divided
- one 15-ounce can red enchilada sauce, I used medium heat
- cilantro, optional for garnishing
Instructions
- To a large skillet, add 2 tablespoons olive oil, beef, onion, and cook over medium-high heat for about 7 minutes, or until beef is cooked through and onions are soft and translucent; stir and crumble intermittently to ensure even cooking.
- Add the taco seasoning and stir to combine; set skillet aside off the heat.
- Preheat oven to 350F and drizzle the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil into a large oven-proof skillet; set aside.
- Lay the tortillas out on the countertop, evenly smear each with about 2 tablespoons of refried beans down the center, evenly distribute the rice (about 2 to 3 tablespoons) to the center of each tortilla, evenly top with the beef mixture down the center, and evenly distribute 1 1/2 cups of cheese down the center of each tortilla.
- Roll up each burrito and place in the prepared skillet, seam side down. Bake for about 25 minutes.
- Remove skillet from the oven, slowly and evenly drizzle the enchilada sauce over all the burritos, evenly sprinkle the remaining 1 1/2 cups cheese over the top of all the burritos, return skillet to the oven, and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until cheese has melted and sauce is lightly bubbling. Optionally garnish with cilantro and serve immediately. Extra burritos will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 4 months.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Beef Mexican Recipes:
Ground Beef Taco Salad —This taco salad is loaded with crisp romaine lettuce, sweet corn, juicy tomatoes, and more! It comes together in just 20 minutes and is topped with the most incredible cilantro lime dressing.
Baked Cheese and Beef Taquitos — Craving Mexican food? Make these EASY taquitos made with seasoned ground beef, melted cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, salsa, and baked to crispy perfection!
Ground Beef Taco Salad Bowls — Making homemade taco salad bowls is so easy and they’re perfect for holding this family-favorite taco salad including seasoned ground beef, black beans, cheese and more!
Easy Carne Asada Tacos — EASY carne asada at home that rivals your favorite restaurant!! Tender juicy beef that’s seasoned to perfection and topped with pico de gallo and salsa make these carne asada tacos INCREDIBLE!!
Beef Totchos — Crispy tater tots topped with taco-seasoned ground beef and melted cheese is a DELICIOUS and fun twist on nachos!! EASY, ready in no time, and perfect for PARTIES!!
Loaded Skillet Nachos with Beef — EASY, ready in 15 minutes, and LOADED with taco-seasoned ground beef, black beans, corn, cilantro, and lots of CHEESE!! Great for parties, game days, after school snacks, or a cheat night dinner!!
Beef Taco Pie — In this taco pie, a crescent roll crust is topped with a mixture of crushed tortilla chips, ground beef, tomatoes, sour cream, and loads of glorious cheese! It’s the ultimate Mexican comfort food!
Originally posted November 7, 2018 and reposted April 21, 2021 with updated text.
A great recipe, I’ll have to recreate it at home! I feel that burritos are so fun to make and extremely delicious to have alone or with friends! I hope you’ll also be able to check out my recipe: https://nyamwithny.com/nyam-recipes-burritos/ It’s a little more spicy! Some of my favourite ingredients to add are cheese and green chillies. What about you?
I’m making these for the first time tonight, and it’s just myself, my husband and my two little kids. I plan on freezing at least 2-3 burritos. Question – do you freeze them after they’ve baked in the sauce, or do you pull them out before you add the sauce? I feel like they would get a little soggy and I don’t know how they would reheat. Thanks!
I freeze everything together. Maybe they are a little softer this way but I can’t be bothered with trying to separate sauce, or add it later, if my daughter is reheating things on her own, she needs it all-in-one and all together so that’s what I do.
Can I make these a day ahead of time? I dont have a skillet so i am going to make them in a glass pan. Would the sauce make them too soggy? Thanks in advance!
A little bit, yes, but as long as you know that going in, I think it’s fine. We enjoy these as leftovers and they’re aren’t too soggy.
I haven’t got a skill. Can I use a normal glass baking tray?
Yes that would be fine I’m sure as long as it’s large enough.
Made this for dinner tonight, was absolutely delicious! My husband and I loved them! Was better than any smothered burrito I’ve ever gotten in a restaurant. Was very easy to make and assemble. Will definitely be making again. Thx for the great recipe.
Made this for dinner tonight, was absolutely delicious! My husband and I loved them! Was better than any smothered burrito I’ve ever gotten in a restaurant. Was very easy to make and assemble. Will definitely be making again. Thx for the great recipe.
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad they were better than any you’ve gotten in a restaurant and that you’ll be making them again!
Sometimes I google a recipe I want to make and choose the best looking picture to find the accompanying recipe. This looks fantastic. I’ve found that Mexican inspired dishes keep me plenty warm during the cold winter months without having to rely upon heavier and less healthy traditional winter fare. One thing that I enjoy seeing on recipe sites is the step by step process including pictures rather than picture after picture of the same finished dish. Otherwise what a wonderful post and thanks for sharing that. I am looking forward to trying these.
Step by step photos is incredibly!!!! time consuming during both the cooking phase, stopping and starting for all those photos, then editing them all, uploading them all, they slow down page load times and I get complaints. So not a direction I will go in. Plus not having a handheld guide will make everyone a better cook in the final analysis. Glad you enjoyed the burritos!
I was thinking about adding guac and sour cream to the burritos but Woody it will not bake well. Has anyone tried?
You would want to use those as toppings when serving them, not during baking.
When you put the burritos in the oven the first time, are they covered or uncovered? And the second time?
I do it uncovered both times.
Bought the pan and love it! Burritos were the best EVER!
Bought the pan and love it! Burritos were the best EVER!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad these were the best ever!! And great that you bought the pan, too!
I like the concept of this but it did get a little soggy. Also, the enchilada sauce you choose could make or break the results, so get one you really love. We just got something random and it was overpowering.
I agree that the sauce is everything, definitely pick one that you like, and always add it to taste. If you don’t like it as juicy, add less than directed.
Looks delish – gonna have to try it! Can I use a regular baking dish? I don’t have any iron skillets.
As long as what you’re using is oven safe that should be fine.
I was wondering the same thing as Becky. What possible use could there be for a 15″ skillet, except to use for a baking dish or cooking over a camp fire. The burners on my glass top wouldn’t heat the outer parts of this massive pan. Still, $26.00 delivered is a great price, and cast iron would probably conduct heat better than a glass or thin metal baking dish. Me and my wife love your recipes, Averie!
You could always halve the recipe or divide it into two skillets and see how that works. I haven’t done those things so cannot speak from experience on the results.
hey girl- these look so yummy! have a great weekend!
Sounds like a yummy recipe to try this weekend–and you know how I love having leftovers! Score!!
They will be perfect for the weekend and I know it’s only you two (unless you are entertaining his daughter or others) and so you will have leftovers for the week or the freezer, which always can come in handy!
Sounds like a great dinner!
And it makes a lot of food so I had leftovers which I appreciated for the next day!