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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© 2013 – 2016, Anna G. All rights reserved.
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!
Hi Crystal! Thanks for stopping by. Hope your family enjoys the burritos!
This is my very first review and I try lots of internet recipes. Omg! 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. 🙂
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. 🙂
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!
I hope you enjoy it! 🙂
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…!
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 :).
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.
What is “Tomato sauce”?
Sorry but it sounds lie an “American” thing.
It’s just thinly pureed tomatoes in a can, usually with a few spices. We use it to make sauces and soups.
er, “like” not “lie”
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!!
I’m so glad you liked it! 🙂
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.
I’m glad you liked it!
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.
I haven’t eaten at Taco Bell in many years – a bummer to hear that they’ve changed the original!
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.
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!!!!
I’m so glad you liked it, Kar!