Easy Ground Beef Wet Burrito Recipe

Smothered in homemade red enchilada sauce, this Wet Burrito Recipe is filling, hearty, and the perfect dinner. It is easy to put together and ready in just over an hour, it doesn’t get any better!

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Sometimes I just crave a super comforting meal. This Wet Burrito Recipe is total comfort food at its finest. You’d have to be a little bit crazy not to love it.

Let’s bring light to the elephant in the room, I know what you are thinking, aren’t these enchiladas?

Yes and no. Enchiladas are traditionally made with corn tortillas, but we are using flour tortillas in this recipe, making them burritos… the more you know!

They are both baked and covered in red sauce (the color comes from chili powder and tomato sauce). This is my favorite version of easy wet burrito. Whatever you want to call it, this great recipe is a knockout every time.

As you can tell, I’ve made this dinner a time or two. I get asked to make these by the whole family almost weekly, and I always give in because 1. I wanna eat ’em! and 2. they are super easy to put together.

With all that meat, sauce, green chiles, and cheese wrapped in a large flour tortilla, I just can’t get enough.

If you love Tex-Mex Mexican food but want to try making it at home, I highly suggest recreating this Wet Burrito Recipe ASAP.

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Jump to:

• WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
• INGREDIENTS NEEDED (SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST FOR THE FULL RECIPE CARD):
• HOW TO MAKE WET BURRITO RECIPE:
• FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS RECIPE:
• DO I HAVE TO MAKE THE RED SAUCE?
• WHICH CHILI POWDER IS THE BEST TO USE?
• WHAT ARE THE BEST TOPPINGS TO ADD?
• HOW ARE THESE DIFFERENT THAN A REGULAR BURRITO?
• WHAT ARE OTHER CUSTOM OPTIONS?
• HOW TO STORE:
• DANA’S TIPS AND TRICKS:
• Easy Ground Beef Wet Burrito Recipe

1. With simple ingredients, this comes together easily.
2. It makes a lot to feed a crowd, but you can easily double the recipe to feed more.
3. Tons of custom options, including suggestions for using up leftovers- easy wet burritos FTW!

• Unsalted butter
• Cornstarch
• Dark chili powder
• Ground cumin
• Dried oregano
• Kosher salt
• Unsalted chicken stock, or beef broth
• Tomato sauce
• Granulated sugar
• Ground beef
• Diced green chilies
• Taco seasoning
• Shredded cheddar cheese
• Flour tortillas
• Fresh chopped cilantro

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1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. 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. Stir in the chili powder, cumin, oregano, and salt, and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds.
4. Slowly stream in the chicken stock while constantly whisking until combined.
5. Add the tomato sauce and sugar, and stir it in. Cook until thickened, 4-5 minutes. 
6. Add ½ cup of the sauce to the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish and set aside.

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7. 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.
8. Stir in the diced green chilies and taco seasoning until combined. 
9. Stir ½ cup of the cheese into the meat mixture until melted, and take off the heat.

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11. 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.
12. Repeat with the remaining tortillas and filling.
13. Spread the remaining sauce on top. Top with the remaining shredded cheese.
14. Cover with foil and bake in the 350 degree f 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.

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DO I HAVE TO MAKE THE RED SAUCE?

Nope! You can purchase store-bought red enchilada sauce and use that as your wet burrito sauce.

Just make sure you purchase the larger can, around 28 ounces. The spice level you purchase is totally your call.

You can find it in the international aisle at the grocery store or purchase it on Amazon here.

If you can though, I really think you should give our flavorful sauce a try!

WHICH CHILI POWDER IS THE BEST TO USE?

I like to use dark chili powder; I feel like it has a more concentrated flavor, and it helps to give that deep color to the enchilada sauce that I love.

However, you can use whatever chili powder you prefer.

WHAT ARE THE BEST TOPPINGS TO ADD?

Changing things up is sometimes the best part! Use your favorite toppings you would normally use for tacos.

Generally, I just put out various ingredients and let everyone serve themselves. These are the items I serve for our toppings bar:

• Sour Cream
• Green Onions
• Pico de Gallo
• Finely chopped white onion
• Cilantro
• Guacamole
• Green peppers
• Diced tomatoes
• Sliced black olives

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HOW ARE THESE DIFFERENT THAN A REGULAR BURRITO?

Regular beef burritos are not baked and you don’t normall pour sauce on them or cover them in cheese.

Everything is stuffed into a large flour tortilla, rolled up, and usually eaten by hand.

Today’s recipe is a smothered burrito or burrito mojado, meaning we make the burritos, place them in a baking dish and cover or “smother” them in our homemade red sauce and topped with cheese.

WHAT ARE OTHER CUSTOM OPTIONS?

You can switch out many ingredients or add other items to make this recipe your own version.

Switch out the ground beef for another protein such as:

• Ground chicken
• Shredded chicken
• Grilled chicken, chopped into small pieces
• Ground turkey
• Grilled skirt steak, chopped into small pieces
• Leftover shredded pork
• Carnitas
• Shredded beef (I love to use leftovers from our Slow Cooker Shredded Beef Tacos)

Instead of cheddar cheese, use:

• Quesadilla cheese
• Monterey Jack
• Mexican blend cheese
• Colby Jack
• Pepper Jack

Some ideas for additions:

• Black beans
• Refried beans
• Spanish rice
• Green bell pepper or red bell pepper

Also, you can use green enchilada sauce instead of red if desired.

You can also add your favorite homemade taco seasoning.

I also love throwing in whatever leftovers I have hanging out in the fridge. Sauteed zucchini with onion? Throw it in!

Peas and carrots from last night’s dinner? In they go!

I think it’s not only a great way not to waste food, but it gives some extra flavor to the dish.

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Allow leftover wet burritos to come to room temperature and place in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the fridge.

Next time you have a craving, cover with foil and bake until warmed through or in the microwave.

Freeze for up to 3 months.

Place leftovers in a freezer-safe airtight container and place them in the freezer. To thaw, place the dish in the fridge overnight. Warm through before serving.

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I know you are looking for that easy recipe you can throw together any night of the week.

Our Wet Burrito Recipe is so hearty and filling that you’ll be asked to make it weekly; you can’t go wrong with this easy recipe!

If you’ve tried this WET BURRITO RECIPE, let me know how it turned out in the comments! You can follow me over on PINTEREST, INSTAGRAM OR FACEBOOK to find some more of our mouthwatering recipes!