Beef and Bean Taquitos – Freezer Friendly!

I have a weakness for taquitos – there, I said it. What’s not to love about all that yumminess wrapped in a warm, crispy corn tortilla then dipped in a heaping cloud of sour cream? It’s the perfect handheld snack!

Sure, you can buy them in the frozen aisle at the grocery store or even at the gas station (gasp!), but after you see how easy they are to make you’ll never go back to any other way. And the bonus of making them at home, besides the obvious money savings, is the ability to control what’s in it.

I like to make taquitos when I have a little leftover protein from a previous meal. Taquitos traditionally don’t have a lot of filling so the littlest bit can be stretched pretty far. A cup of leftover taco meat = taquitos! Shredded chicken = taquitos! A tiny bit of leftover steak = taquitos! You get the drift… Why toss the leftovers when you can create something simple like this?!

All you need for these Beef and Bean Taquitos is a pack of corn tortillas, refried beans, leftover taco meat, and a little cheese. We’re going to be setting this up like one big taquito factory assembly line – so roll your sleeves up now!

Since I already had leftover cooked taco meat, this really is a dump, stir and assemble type recipe. Easy as that!

In a bowl, add your taco meat, refried beans, cheese and stir it up (no need to heat it through). Then you’ll want to put that delicious filling inside of a quart sized Ziploc bag and cut the tip off. Why? Well, remember we talked about this recipe being fast like an assembly line? Surprise- you are the assembler! Having all your mixture in a bag like this allows you to pipe the filling into the shells in a completely mess free way. And trust me, this method is lightening fast. I’m talking 30 taquitos in less than 10 minutes, fast!

At this point you’ll have a bag of cold filling and a pack of corn tortilla shells. If you’ve ever worked with corn tortilla shells before then you know these need warmed in the microwave to make them pliable enough to roll without cracking. I like to work in groups of 6 shells at a time that way I can warm them, fill them, and roll them without them cooling off too much before I’m finished.

With that being said, grab some tortillas and stick them between a few damp paper towels and microwave for about 45 seconds. You’ll want them to be completely flexible.

To assemble, quickly lay out your warm tortillas on a flat surface then pipe the filling onto the bottom 1/3 of the shell. You’ll want the filling not quite reaching the edges because once they are in the oven they will warm up and start expanding to the ends. I know, I know, this doesn’t look crazy appetizing at this stage but stick with me here. The results are going to be good!

Once you’ve got some filling on the shells, roll them up tightly and place them seam side down on your greased baking sheet. You’ll repeat warming the shells in the microwave, filling and rolling until you either run out of filling or shells. The amount of ingredients I used, combined with consistent amount of filling per roll, yielded me exactly 30 taquitos. Talk about quality control right in your very own kitchen!

When all of your taquitos are rolled, space them slightly on the pan and give them a good spray of cooking oil. This will help them get crisp. Now all that’s left to do is pop them in your preheated oven (400 degrees) for 12-15 minutes or until they are golden brown and crispy.

Let them cool off for a few minutes and dig in for a delicious snack or pair them with Mexican rice and a salad for a quick, budget friendly meal.

Cost Breakdown

3/4 lb Ground Beef – $3.59
Taco Seasoning – $0.33
Refried Beans – $0.99
1 cup Shredded Cheese – $0.90
Corn Tortillas (30 pack) – $1.29

$7.10 / 30 taquitos
$0.24 / taquito

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