Frozen Bean and Cheese Burritos

Bean and Cheese Burritos lined up in a pan before freezing.

Frozen Bean and Cheese Burritos

From-scratch Frozen Bean and Cheese Burritos are a delicious make-ahead meal that are extremely budget friendly. These burritos are delicious as a quick and healthy lunch or dinner, making them perfect for busy weeks.

Course Lunch or Dinner

Cuisine Mexican/American

Keyword Bean Burritos, Big Batch Meals, Freezer Meals, Frozen Bean and Cheese Burritos

Prep Time 1 30

Cook Time 3

Refrigeration 12

Servings Burritos

Calories 414kcal

Author Heather

Ingredients

Cooking the Beans

5 cups pinto beans
12 cups water

Making the Refried Beans

3 tablespoons avocado oil *or olive oil
2 1/2 pounds 85% lean ground beef
2 medium brown onion *diced, (aka yellow onions)
1/4 cup coriander *see Note #3a below
1/4 cup cumin
1/4 cup chili powder *see Note #3b below
1 tablespoon oregano *optional, either Mexican oregano or regular
salt to taste *see Note #4 below
8 cloves garlic *crushed, about 3 tablespoons
38 ounce container salsa *see Note #5 below

Assembly

2 batches Homemade Flour Tortillas *see Note #5 below
2 pounds cheese *see Note #6 below

Instructions

Cooking the Beans in Instant Pot (see Note #7 for stovetop & slow cooker instructions)

Add beans to the inner pot of the Instant Pot and cover with approximately 12 cups of water. Pro Tip: The water level should not go over the max fill line.
Secure lid on pot and close pressure valve to “sealed” position.
Cook on bean setting (aka high pressure) for 33 minutes.
Once cooked, let the beans naturally release. Natural release will take approximately 30-40 minutes.
Pro Tip: I have gone as long as 6 hours letting the beans sit in the natural release state before proceeding to make the refried beans.
Drain the beans of the cooking liquid and proceed to making the refried beans filling.

Refried Beans Filling

In a 6 quart or larger frying pan with a lid add oil and heat frying pan over medium-high heat.
Add the ground beef and using a spatula, break the beef up while cooking. Add 1/4 of the spices and cook the beef until fully browned with no pink remaining.
Remove beef from pan and set aside.
Add diced onions to the beef drippings. Sauté over the same heat until onions are golden brown.
Meanwhile, drain the beans of their cooking liquid and transfer beans to sautéed onions. Stir well.
To the bean and onion mixture add crushed garlic, remaining spices and salsa. Stir well and bring to a simmer.
Simmer the beans stirring frequently until salsa as broken down and beans thicken slightly.
Process beans with an immersion blender until mostly smooth leaving a few beans whole.
Take off heat and stir in ground beef. Let cool slightly and then cover with lid. Refrigerate overnight.

Assembly

Grate cheese if purchased in block form and prepare flour tortilla dough.
Once the tortilla dough has rested from Homemade Flour Tortillas recipe, divide the dough into smaller portions weighing 68 grams each. This will ensure that the tortillas are all evenly sized and will be large enough for making burritos.
Shortly before starting the rolling process, start to preheat two pans over medium heat. At this stage 2 people will be needed. One will be rolling the tortillas while the other cooks the tortillas and forms the burritos.
Lightly flour a large flat surface, the rolling pin and your hands.
Place the portioned dough ball onto the floured surface and gently press with your hands to slightly flatten.
Using a steady rolling motion, roll out the dough in one direction and then turn the tortilla halfway and repeat the process until an 8 inch circle is formed.
As soon as the tortilla is formed, transfer to heated pan and cook until bubbles begin to form, about 1- 1 1/2 minutes. Using tongs, carefully flip the tortilla and cook on opposite side.
See Note #9 below if using store bought burrito size flour tortillas.
Once the tortilla is cooked, transfer and lay flat on a large glass plate.
Add approximately 1/3- 1/2 cup of chilled refried beans to the bottom third of the tortilla.
Sprinkle approximately 2-3 tablespoons of grated cheese on top of the beans.
To roll the tortilla, fold the edge that is closest to the beans over the top of the beans. Now fold the sides over the top of the beans and then roll the folded portions until a burrito is formed (see video).
Transfer burrito to a large platter or roasting pan. Repeat the process until all the burritos are formed.

Freezing (see Note #10 below)

Open a large gallon sized freezer bag.
Working one by one, slide the burritos into the bag in a single layer with the seam side facing down.
Each bag will hold approximately 6 burritos. Once filled, remove excess air and seal the bag.
Store the bags flat in the freezer. The bags may be stacked on top of each other. However, to prevent the burritos from sticking together they must be frozen flat.

Reheating

Microwave Reheating
Reheating in the microwave is perfect for a single serving. Remove burrito from freezer and place on a microwave safe plate. Heat on high power for 4 minutes. See Note #11 below.
Oven Reheating
Preheat oven to 350℉. Spray a roasting pan with nonstick cooking spray. Line burritos in a single layer in the pan with about an inch in between each burrito for air flow. Cook until beans are heated, approximately 45 minutes. This method will crisp the outer shell of the tortilla.

Notes

Recipe Notes

Note #1- Depending on the amount of the refried bean filling that is added to each tortilla, this recipe will yield approximately 36-40 burritos.

Note #2- Total Time

Cooking the dried beans will take approximately 2-3 hours.

Making the refried beans will take approximately 1 hour.

Refrigerate the refried beans overnight.

Making the flour tortilla dough will take approximately 30 minutes. Note: Because these burritos are best done with two people, while one is making the flour tortilla dough the other should be grating the cheese.

With 2 people, the assembly will take approximately 1 hour.

Note #3a- Use 1 tablespoon of each coriander, cumin and chili powder to season the ground beef and the remaining spices for the refried beans.

Note #3b-It is important to note that many chili powders are a combination of spices, making it not spicy. When using a chili powder that is a spice blend stick with 1/4 cup total.

However, real chili powder is pure ground chilis, which can be spicy. When using real chili powder, lower the amount to 1/2- 1 tablespoon total and add more if needed for spicier levels.

Note #4- Depending on the type of salt used and personal preferences will determine the total amount needed. I use approximately 1 1/2 tablespoons of Maldon's Sea Salt Flakes.

Note #5- In order to have enough tortillas for these burritos when making Homemade Flour Tortillas, divide the dough into 68 ounce inch portions.

If using premade tortillas, purchase 3 dozen burrito size flour tortillas.

Note #6- For our burritos we use Kerrygold's cheese purchased in block form at Costco. However, Monterey Jack, regular Jack cheese, Queso Fresco or cheddar cheese would all be delicious in these burritos.

Note #7

Stovetop Instructions

Add beans to stockpot and cover with approximately 10-12 cups of water.
Bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, lower to a simmer.
Cook until tender stirring occasionally. The age of the beans will determine how long they cook for. However, it will take approximately 1 1/2 hours- 3 hours.
Once tender, drain beans of cooking liquid and proceed to making refried beans filling.

Slow Cooker Instructions

Place rinsed beans in inner lining of slow cooker and cover with 10-12 cups of water.
Cook on high heat for approximately 8 hours or low heat for 12 hours. It is important to note that slow cookers can vary in heat levels. When cooking on high, check the beans midway through cooking and at the 6 hour mark.

Note #8- Refrigerating the beans allows not only the flavors to marry with one another but also makes for much easier assembly the next day. In other words, cold refried beans stay in place on the tortilla and do not gush all over the place.

Note #9- If using premade store bought flour tortillas it is crucial to warm the tortillas before forming the burritos. This will prevent the tortillas from splitting and breaking while forming. To warm, heat a cast iron or heavy bottomed stainless steel pan over medium/high heat. Cook on each side for approximately 30 seconds. The tortilla should be warm and pliable. Additionally, there is no need for oil to be added to the pan when warming tortillas.

Note #10- When freezing these burritos it is best to form all of them first before attempting to package for freezing. The cold refried beans will cool the heated tortillas, making for easy packaging.

Note #11- Microwave ovens vary in intensity of heat. The average amount of time to heat the burrito through will be approximately 4 minutes. If after 4 minutes the beans are not heated, work in 30 second increments until desired doneness is achieved.

Nutrition