One of the easiest ways to use leftover beans (here is the recipe for pinto beans) is to throw them into burritos or tacos. As you know, our family loves Mexican food so this re-purposing of beans is a family favorite of ours. The pictured burrito is just brown rice mixed with the beans and then topped with cheese, salsa, sour cream, and some green onions. It was quite delicious.
While that combination is great while you still have leftover beans in the fridge, another option is to make frozen burritos for those busy nights when you don’t have time to make a meal. These frozen burritos allow you to avoid the drive through or store bought frozen burritos which are expensive and contain lots of weird ingredients. My favorite way to make these burritos is to the rice, cheese, and beans together in a bowl until everything is evenly distributed. Then I fill the flour tortillas with the mixture, roll them up, wrap them in foil and stick them in the freezer.(I put the foil wrapped burritos in a freezer safe zip top bag to keep them together and extra protected.) When we are ready to have them, I just stick the wrapped burritos on a sheet pan and bake them at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until the filling is hot. After heating, you can add whatever toppings you would like to the burritos. The flavor is very basic, but it given the basics anyone can tailor these to their liking.
You could definitely add other things to your burritos like some shredded beef or chicken; however, I like to keep it simple with just the rice, beans, and cheese. I have found that this homemade version is yummy and I know all of the ingredients that go into my burritos which is always a plus in my book. The frozen burritos should last a couple of months in the freezer but ours never last that long. 🙂
