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Wet Burrito Recipe is the smothered, fork and knife Mexican restaurant classic you can make at home, seasoned ground beef burritos covered in a 10 minute homemade red sauce and a blanket of melted cheddar, and the first time I pulled a pan out of the oven on a busy Tuesday night Lizzie asked if we could have it every week. If you love our smothered beef burritos, this saucier cousin is calling your name.
One pan, one homemade sauce, and dinner for eight is on the table.
Wet Burrito Recipe Quick Look
- 🕒 Prep Time: 15 minutes
- 🌡️ Cook Time: 60 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- 🍽️ Serving: 8 servings
- ⚡ Calories: 434kcal
- 🌶️ Flavor Profile: Savory taco seasoned beef in a mild homemade red chili sauce
- ✋ Difficulty: Easy, on par with our copycat Chipotle chicken burrito bowl
Quick Answer
Roll taco seasoned ground beef and cheddar cheese in flour tortillas, then place them seam side down in a sauced 9×13 baking dish. Cover the burritos with a quick homemade red chili sauce and more shredded cheese, then bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, covered for 30 minutes and uncovered 5 to 10 more, until bubbly and melted.
Jump to:
- Wet Burrito Recipe Quick Look
- Quick Answer
- Why This Recipe Works
- Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Key Ingredients
- Variations and Substitutions
- How to Make Wet Burrito Recipe
- Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Serving Ideas and Suggestions
- Wet Burrito Recipe FAQs
- Other Recommended Mexican Inspired Recipes
- Easy Wet Burrito Recipe (with Ground Beef)
Why This Recipe Works
Click to see the technique science
- The homemade red sauce takes 10 minutes. A quick butter and cornstarch roux bloomed with chili powder, cumin, and oregano builds an enchilada style sauce that clings to every burrito.
- Cheese goes inside the filling, not just on top. Stirring cheddar into the hot beef binds the filling together, so the burritos slice cleanly instead of spilling.
- Sauce under and over the burritos. The layer of sauce in the bottom of the dish steams the tortillas soft while the top layer bakes into that signature smothered finish.
- Foil first, then uncovered. Covered baking heats the burritos through without drying the tortilla edges, and the uncovered finish bubbles and browns the cheese.
- Seam side down keeps everything rolled. Gravity and the sauce hold each burrito closed, so there is no toothpick wrangling.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It is a fork and knife dinner that eats like your favorite Mexican restaurant plate, no takeout required.
- The filling comes together while the sauce simmers, so the whole pan is assembled in about 25 minutes.
- Leftovers reheat beautifully, and just like our crack chicken tacos, the seasoned filling is good enough to eat by the spoonful.
Key Ingredients
Pantry staples build the sauce, and the filling needs just a handful of ingredients.
- Ground Beef: One pound of 80/20 gives the filling flavor without swimming in grease. Drain it well after browning.
- Dark Chili Powder: The backbone of the red sauce. Standard American chili powder works, just use a fresh jar for the best flavor.
- Flour Tortillas: Soft taco size, 8 inches. They roll tight and hold up to all that sauce without tearing.
- Sharp Cheddar Cheese: Grate it yourself. Pre shredded cheese is coated in anti caking starch and never melts as smoothly.
- Diced Green Chilies: A small can adds gentle warmth and that southwest flavor without real heat.
See recipe card for exact quantities.
Variations and Substitutions
Wet burritos are endlessly customizable. Here are the swaps we reach for.
- Different protein: Shredded chicken, leftover carnitas, or shredded beef all work in place of the ground beef.
- Add beans: Stir a cup of refried beans or drained black beans into the filling to stretch it further.
- Shortcut sauce: Two 10 ounce cans of red enchilada sauce stand in for the homemade version when you are short on time.
- Turn up the heat: Use hot diced green chilies, add cayenne to the sauce, or top with sliced jalapenos.
- Slow cooker filling: The shredded chicken from our slow cooker chicken burritos makes an incredible wet burrito filling.
How to Make Wet Burrito Recipe
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Start the sauce by melting the butter in a skillet over medium low heat, then whisk in the cornstarch and cook for 1 minute.
- Stir in the chili powder, cumin, oregano, and salt and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Slowly stream in the chicken stock while whisking constantly until the sauce is smooth.
- Add the tomato sauce and sugar, stir them in, and cook until thickened, 4 to 5 minutes.
- Spread 1/2 cup of the sauce in the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish and set it aside.
- In a large skillet over medium high heat, brown the ground beef, breaking it into crumbles, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain the grease.
- Stir in the diced green chilies and taco seasoning until combined.
- Stir 1/2 cup of the cheese into the meat mixture until melted, then take it off the heat.
- Spread about 1/4 cup of the filling down the center of a tortilla and sprinkle with about a tablespoon of cheese. Roll it up tightly and place it seam side down in the prepared pan.
- Repeat with the remaining tortillas and filling.
- Spread the remaining sauce over the top of the burritos, then top with the remaining shredded cheese.
- Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes, then remove the foil and bake another 5 to 10 minutes until bubbly. Garnish with cilantro and serve with your favorite toppings.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Warm the tortillas first. Ten seconds in the microwave makes them flexible so they roll tight without cracking.
- Do not overfill. A quarter cup of filling per tortilla keeps the rolls snug and the pan fits all eight.
- Drain the beef well. Extra grease thins the sauce and makes the bottom tortillas greasy instead of saucy.
- Grate the cheddar fresh. It melts into that smooth, glossy blanket the restaurant version is famous for.
- Let the pan rest 5 minutes. The sauce settles and the burritos firm up just enough to serve cleanly.
- Double the sauce if you like them extra wet. The recipe makes enough to coat, but sauce lovers will want more for the plate.
- Make it ahead. Assemble the pan, cover, and refrigerate up to a day, then add 10 minutes to the covered bake time.
Serving Ideas and Suggestions
Load up a toppings bar and let everyone finish their own plate. Sour cream, guacamole, pico de gallo, sliced jalapenos, shredded lettuce, and a squeeze of lime are the classics around here.
For the full restaurant spread, start with chips and our queso dip or crispy southwest egg rolls, and ladle up bowls of Chili’s chicken enchilada soup on chilly nights.
If your crew loves this pan, rotate in our rotisserie chicken enchiladas next week. Same cozy red sauce energy, totally different filling.
Wet Burrito Recipe FAQs
A wet burrito is a rolled burrito that is smothered in red sauce and melted cheese, then eaten with a fork and knife. The style took off in Michigan and California restaurants, and the sauce soaked tortilla is what separates it from a handheld burrito.
Size and tortilla. Enchiladas use small corn tortillas dipped in sauce before rolling, while a wet burrito uses a large flour tortilla with the sauce poured over the top. The wet burrito also holds a heartier, fully seasoned filling.
No. Two 10 ounce cans of red enchilada sauce work as a shortcut. That said, the homemade sauce takes about 10 minutes with pantry spices and tastes noticeably fresher, so we recommend trying it at least once.
Sour cream, guacamole, pico de gallo, diced tomato, shredded lettuce, sliced jalapenos, and fresh cilantro are all winners. A squeeze of lime over the melted cheese brightens the whole plate.
Cool the burritos, then store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat individual portions in the microwave, or cover the dish with foil and warm it in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for about 20 minutes.
Yes. Freeze the baked and cooled burritos with their sauce in freezer safe containers for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat covered in the oven. The sauce keeps the tortillas from drying out in the freezer.
Want another set it and forget it dinner? Our slow cooker chicken marsala turns chicken thighs and mushrooms into a rich, creamy dinner with almost no hands on time.
Easy Wet Burrito Recipe (with Ground Beef)
Ingredients
For the sauce
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons dark chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 & 1/2 cups unsalted chicken stock or beef broth
- 1/2 cup tomato sauce
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
For assembly
- 1 pound ground beef
- 4 ounce can diced green chilies
- 1 & 1/2 tablespoons taco seasoning
- 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese divided
- 8 8-inch flour tortillas
- fresh chopped cilantro for garnish optional
- favorite toppings
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Make the sauce first by melting the butter in a skillet or small saucepot over medium-low heat. Whisk in the cornstarch, and cook for 1 minute.3 tablespoons unsalted butter, 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- Stir in the chili powder, cumin, oregano, and salt, and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds.2 tablespoons dark chili powder, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1 teaspoon dried oregano, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- Slowly stream in the chicken stock while constantly whisking until combined.1 & 1/2 cups unsalted chicken stock
- Add the tomato sauce and sugar, and stir it in. Cook until thickened, 4-5 minutes.1/2 cup tomato sauce, 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- Add ½ cup of the sauce to the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish and set aside.
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown the ground beef, breaking it up into crumbles with no pink left. About 8-10 minutes. Drain grease.1 pound ground beef
- Stir in the diced green chilies and taco seasoning until combined.4 ounce can diced green chilies, 1 & 1/2 tablespoons taco seasoning
- Stir ½ cup of the cheese into the meat mixture until melted, and take off the heat.2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- Spread about ¼ cup of the filling ingredients down the center of a tortilla and sprinkle with about 1 tablespoon of the cheese. Roll it up tightly and place seam side down into the prepared pan.8 8-inch flour tortillas
- Repeat with the remaining tortillas and filling.
- Spread the remaining sauce on top. Top with the remaining shredded cheese.
- Cover with foil and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake an additional 5-10 minutes until bubbly. Top with optional cilantro and serve with any additional toppings you desire.fresh chopped cilantro for garnish, favorite toppings
Notes
- This makes a large batch, but you can easily double it to feed more or halve the recipe.
- Tons of custom options, see my tips above on that.
- Leave out the green chiles if you don’t like spicy food.
- This freezes well, see my tips above on how to store.
- Great way to use up leftovers.
Nutrition
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