When my sister and I were about 10 and 13, we’d take our paper route money and walk to the nearest Taco Bell. I’d have two bean burritos, pintos & cheese, and a cinnamon twist (okay, two cinnamon twists). We’d saunter home, very full and satisfied. I don’t miss much about being 13, but those trips are something I remember with a smile. (That lightning fast metabolism was pretty nice, too.)
Nowadays I rarely have fast food. But this taco bell bean burrito recipe, so simple and inexpensive to make, takes me back to that little Taco Bell on the corner.
Copycat Taco Bell Bean Burritos
makes about 5 burritos
- 1 can fat-free refried beans
- 1 cup shredded cheddar
- 1/3 cup chopped onion, optional
- 5 flour tortillas
Sauce: (slightly modified from this recipe)
- 1 8-oz can tomato sauce
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/4 tsp chili powder
- 1 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic salt
- 1/4 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1. Begin the sauce by putting all of the ingredients in a small pot. Stir well. Simmer at a very low temperature for about 15 minutes.
2. While the sauce is simmering, sauté the onions (if using) in a little olive oil until tender.
3. Warm the refried beans on the stove.
4. On each tortilla, spread about 1/3 cup refried beans, just over 3 tbsp shredded cheddar, and a bit of sautéed onion.
5. Add sauce.
Does that list of spices seem a little crazy? Trust me, it works. (So far my kids have opted out of the sauce and have their bean burritos plain.)
I love this recipe when I’m short on groceries, because I usually have the ingredients stocked in my pantry. My kids love it with Near East Spanish Rice. Now if anyone can find a copycat for that recipe, I’d love to hear about it!
Nutrition Information: (using white flour tortillas at 120 calories each)
- 298 calories
- 10 g fat
- 38 g carbohydrates
- 6 g fiber
- 14 g protein
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Crystal & Co.
We LOVE Taco Bell’s bean burritos! The little kids do not like the sauce and just get bean and cheese, but the rest of us love the sauce!
Thanks for linking up. I am going to share this over on my How to Meal Plan Facebook Community. AND, this will be on my meal plan very soon!
annageig
Hi Crystal! Thanks for stopping by. Hope your family enjoys the burritos!
Jennifer
This is my very first review and I try lots of internet recipes. This tastes just like the red sauce. Not the stuff you can buy at the store. I used to work at Taco Bell and I still love their bean burritos. Thank you so much. I’m one step closer to making them from scratch. 🙂
Anna Geiger
I’m glad you like them, Jennifer! We had them just the other day. I’d like to match these from scratch too… learning to make my own tortillas is on my “some day” to do list. 🙂
Tei
Hello, I have been looking for a long time a recipe for the red sauce that taco bell puts on their bean burritos. Thank you so much for posting this, I can’t wait to try it! =)
Merry Christmas!
Anna Geiger
I hope you enjoy it! 🙂
Shelley Parker
Hi my question is: Is this the sauce they use in the bean burrito or the red sauce in the packets to me it seems like a different sauce. I would love to make a batch of this would be so easy and when I have no ride I can keep these stapples. I am allergic to raw onion so I use to get bean burritos extra sauce extra cheese because it seems to not be enough for the bean burritos I may be weird doing it this way but takes me back to my child hood too…. 🙂 ty so much for sharing…!
Anna Geiger
Hi Shelley! This is intended to be the sauce that goes in the bean burritos. I’ve never actually eaten the sauce in the packets; this is the flavor I remember from the burritos… but it has been a looong time since I had a Taco Bell bean burrito :).
Art Knight
Because the Taco Bell Bean Burritos are so dry now, I have to use 2-3 sauce packets on each one. Maybe someone will find this helpful.
The Taco Bell Four Sauce Review
Art Knight
February 20, 2017
Taco Bell offers 4 different sauce packets. They are: Mild, Hot, Fire & Diablo. They all contain water, so to differentiate them the first 3 ingredients after that are as follows.
Main Ingredients:
Mild: vinegar, tomato paste, food starch
Hot: jalapenos, tomato paste, and vinegar
Fire: jalapenos, tomato paste, vinegar (same as Hot, but with more jalapeno)
Diablo: tomato paste, vinegar, and tapioca starch
Taste:
Mild: The 4th ingredient is chili pepper and also contains cumin, so it tastes like chili. Not bad, but if I want to taste chili, well, I’ll eat a bowl of chili.
Hot: Tastes like a decent jalapeno-based sauce. It is tasty!
Fire: As the key ingredients are the same, this tastes like Hot, but hotter and sexier!
Diablo: This one is simply weird! It has no pepper in it, therefore, no heat. I find that strange for a sauce called “Devil.” What it does have is a thick, mucous-like consistency that feels disgusting and sickly-sweet. The 6th ingredient is sugar. Another ingredient is garlic. Those are two ingredients that should never meet.
Conclusion:
Hotter than Hot, and well constructed, Fire is the best.
Michael
What is “Tomato sauce”?
Sorry but it sounds lie an “American” thing.
Anna Geiger
It’s just thinly pureed tomatoes in a can, usually with a few spices. We use it to make sauces and soups.
Michael
er, “like” not “lie”
Cre
I tried this sauce the other day and thank you! It is very good and very much like the sauce on TB bean burritos. Love it!!
Anna Geiger
I’m so glad you liked it! 🙂
Trilby
Thank you so much for this post! Just made it for my husband, who loved them and said they tasted identical to the “real” ones.
Don’t hesitate to try this recipe. Even the sauce, exactly as written.
Anna Geiger
I’m glad you liked it!
Art Knight
I’m late to the fiesta, but I intend to try your recipe. I am so disappointed that they have changed the recipe. The original bean burritos were saucy and filled with onions and cheese. Now they are basically re-hydrated pinto beans and a tiny bit of cheese. A frozen microwave burrito is better. Shame.
Anna Geiger
I haven’t eaten at Taco Bell in many years – a bummer to hear that they’ve changed the original!
Art Knight
I don’t eat there much either. I got sick from it a few years ago and stayed away. I look forward to trying your recipe, especially the sauce. I could not detect any sauce at all in the TB Bean Burrito the last few times I tried it. I don’t even think it has onions. It is simply the very dry beans (they receive them dehydrated now, like instant mashed potato flakes and mix them with water in a bucket) and a tiny bit of cheddar cheese. They don’t leave the one end open anymore, they fold both in, which of course reduces the required filling and hides the fact that it is almost entirely dry bean paste.
Kar
Just made the sauce. Yes it DOES taste like Taco Bell’s! Thanks! I stay away from fast food these days but it is nice to have that homemade likeness! It helped my otherwise “boring” vegan bean burrito!!!!
Anna Geiger
I’m so glad you liked it, Kar!
Marilynn
Really good recipe. I haven’t been to Taco Bell in many years, none close enough. I always liked that onion sauce and sad to hear the beans and sauce are not being served like that anymore. Was thinking about this taste recently and wondered if there was any recipe like it and found yours straight away. The only change I made was had to use tarragon vinegar which has a white vinegar base but it worked fine. Thanks for this idea it will be a regular for me and guess I don’t have to wish for somebody to travel to Taco Bell for me!
Paul
Looks like the “Near East Rice Pilaf” is no longer available. While I’ve never tried it, the ingredients sound like any basic Spanish rice recipe.
Side note, as a quick-and-dirty Spanish / Mexican rice side dish, just mix a bit of salsa into the rice after it’s cooked, and voila. Experiment with different salsas to find one you like.
Erica
Hello. Would you bake the burritos after you add the sauce and fold them up? Can’t wait to try!
Anna G
I personally wouldn’t, because it will make the tortillas too soft for me. But you could try it!