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 ยฝ 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:
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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.
Making these right now for Cinco de Mayo!! My house smells amazing right now! I did omit the beans though because my family isnโt a big fan of them. I added a little extra cheese and rice. Canโt wait to try these tonight!
I am sure your family loved them and hope you had a great Cinco de Mayo!
I made this for dinner tonight. This was my first time trying it out – my family loved it. Thank you for a great recipe!! Iโm
I made this for dinner tonight. This was my first time trying it out – my family loved it. Thank you for a great recipe!! Iโm
Thanks for the 5 star review and I am glad that your family loved it!
great
5 stars!!!! I made these tonight and my partner loved them. ย Iโm always looking for quick & easy recipes and this was a huge hit. I will definitely make these again and again. Thank you.ย
5 stars!!!! I made these tonight and my partner loved them. ย Iโm always looking for quick & easy recipes and this was a huge hit. I will definitely make these again and again. Thank you.ย
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad you loved these and will make them again and again!
This recipe is amazing! This was my first time making beef pot pie and it exceeded expectations!! We are also offering online meat delivery Services. please visit: https://www.beckandbulow.com
These smothered burritos are delicious. I substitute gluten free shells using Siete cassava grain free tortilla shells. I also bake these in a 9 x 13 casserole dish. They turn out wonderful! Great recipe. Thanks!
These smothered burritos are delicious. I substitute gluten free shells using Siete cassava grain free tortilla shells. I also bake these in a 9 x 13 casserole dish. They turn out wonderful! Great recipe. Thanks!
Thanks for the five star review and I am glad they turned out wonderful! Great to know that GF wraps worked well and the 9×13 casserole dish, too!
These burritos look delicious! Iโm going to be making them today and I will also be freezing several of them for future dinners.
I have a couple of questions though. 1). Do you heat up the refried beans before adding them ย with the other fillings?
2). Can you add sliced olives to the filling if youโre going to be freezing some of the burritosโฆor would it be better to just use them as a topping?
Thank you for the awesome recipeโฆI canโt wait for dinner tonight!
1. no
2. yes – either way in mixture or topped
great
5 stars all the way! I used enchilada seasoning pkg and added green chilies. But making more just for freezing, as 1st batch was gone! Great recipe.
Hearty meal. Easy instructions. Loved by my 14 year old son. I used a glass dish since my skillet wasn’t big enough. In general, I find Averie’s recipes to be creative, tasty, and made with ingredients that can be found in your a
Hearty meal. Easy instructions. Loved by my 14 year old son. I used a glass dish since my skillet wasn’t big enough. In general, I find Averie’s recipes to be creative, tasty, and made with ingredients that can be found in your a
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad your son loved these!
Thanks for this compliment because this is what I strive to do with my recipes and website ” In general, I find Averieโs recipes to be creative, tasty, and made with ingredients that can be found in your a…” Thank you!
A great recipe!
A great recipe!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad they were great!