Quick and Easy Mexican burritos for all the family

This is one of our family favourites that I wanted to share with you as I make it in 20 minutes, and it is one of our go-to meals for a quick tea!

It is also a great meal to adapt to different tastes in out experience and I simultaneously make my vegetarian option and the chicken option in the 20 minutes so it is definitely super quick and easy.

Choosing your ingredients

I always use microwave-type pouches of Mexican rice. We have tried a variety of brands which are all nice. We usually use the Asda Mexican-style rice as it is just as good as the Ben’s brand and cheaper. If you would like to make it spicier without adding extra spices, then opt for the Spicy Mexican Ben’s brand rice, which is a little hotter. If you have more time or prefer homemade, then this recipe for Instant Pot Mexican Rice would be perfect, too.

Buying pre-chopped chicken can make it a little quicker however, I find the pieces to need still chopping down a little as they are quite large.

You can use whichever peppers you have in the fridge. I would recommend wonky peppers as they are cheaper and get chopped up anyway! While I wouldn’t advise using all green peppers as they can be a little bitter, this is a great recipe to use a few green peppers that you have left after making other meals such as my double pepper soup.

I prefer this recipe with red onions, but there is no reason at all you couldn’t use white or brown onions. It is entirely up to you.

The tortilla wraps you choose can make or break this recipe! I always use the large wraps that are around 25cm in diameter. Whilst there is no reason you couldn’t use smaller tortillas, they are more fiddly to make, and you won’t get as much filling in them, so it is not as easy but not impossible. I would also advise experimenting with different brands of tortillas, as some are thicker than others, and the thinner ones can easily tear when wrapping them into burritos.

The cheese can also make quite a difference to the taste of the burritos. I prefer Red Leicester or mature cheddar to get the best flavour, but you could experiment with different cheeses and even try a Mexicana spicy cheese for a hotter burrito!

Tips for making them even quicker!

I use a chopper to chop the veggies quickly. In my opinion, it is one of the best gadgets I have ever bought for the kitchen and gets used so frequently that it has more than made the cost back in time saved. I love that it chops the onions and peppers into perfectly sized pieces for the burritos, and I never manually dice the vegetables anymore!

My recommended chopper

4-in-1 Vegetable Chopper Plus Onion Chopper Food Manual Spiralizer – Salad Veg Dicer – Potato Cutter – Kitchen Multifunctional

Buy Now →

An alternative could be to buy prepared onions and peppers, this is just as effective but if I am honest, the cost adds up and in the long run, I think a chopper like the one I have above would soon be better value.

To speed up the chicken cooking drastically, you can buy cooked chicken, either fresh or frozen, and use that instead. Just be sure to check it is fully heated with a food thermometer if you are unsure to avoid food poisoning!

A vegetarian alternative idea

As a vegetarian, I have made my Mexican burritos with Quorn chicken-style pieces and Quorn Steak-style strips, but I prefer chunks of vegetarian sausages (I love the Richmond meat-free ones). If you choose to use any of these options, simply ensure they are thoroughly cooked before serving.

If you wanted to make the recipe vegan, it would be pretty easy, too; just use vegan tortillas and vegan cheese!

Easy flavour alternatives to Mexican burritos

If you fancy changing your burritos up a little, you could use mixed grains like the ones made by Merchant Gourmet, quinoa or couscous for a different take on this recipe.

Another option you could consider is the different flavours of rice. There are Caribbean rice options, curried rice, and more, so why not play around with the flavours and see what you come up with?

Different sauces can also alter the flavours significantly. Perhaps you could use sweet chilli, guacamole, sour cream or salsa instead of BBQ sauce. Whatever you choose, you will come up with a nice flavour combination you can make easily on a busy evening.

Wrapping your burritos

We prefer our burritos wrapped into square parcels, but you could easily make more tube-shaped burritos if you prefer; it really is up to you.

Simply put some grated cheese and bbq sauce in the middle of your tortilla and top with a couple of spoons of the mixture.

Folding the sides of the tortilla inwards, make a parcel in your chosen shape and use a small amount of water to help seal the parcel, then fry for a few minutes in a dry pan (do not use oil. It is unnecessary). Keep turning your burrito until all sides are browned nicely, and then serve immediately.

The below image shows how I make my Mexican burritos into simple square parcels for quick easy burritos before frying.

This is the level of crispiness we like for our burritos, but you can cook them as much or as little as you like.

Alternative ways to fold and cook your Mexican burritos

A Crimpit is a great gadget to help you make burritos in a semi-circle shape by simply folding the tortilla in half with the filling inside and then crimping the edges. Is this something that would work for you?

Print