Who remembers the Frito Burrito? Yes, from Taco Bell. Hey, I had my fast food days. Though, back in that day, ordering a drive-thru burrito without the meat got you the same thing that asking the kid behind the counter to explain a Mandelbrot set would: utter bewilderment. Followed by a quick glance around the room, as if expecting to be told he was on Just For Laughs.
Nope, no punch line. Not for meat-pushing Taco Bell kid serving up the Frito Burritos, and not for you either, waiting to see if I’m joking about this excursion into the culinary slums. I’m not. I love Fritos. I love burritos.
(Truth is, sometimes I think I’m less a girl than most others with my chromosomal composition because, given the choice between chocolate and Fritos, I’d almost always opt for the salty chips. Though a thought now occurs to me: might they pair well with kakao…?)
Honestly, there’s something deeply satisfying about the crunch that Fritos give to a burrito. Aside from the fact that you can’t get them at Taco Bell anymore, there are some perks to making them at home. You have a kaleidoscope of choices for tortillas, including a healthier whole wheat option, or corn for those celiacs among us. Ditto with cheese – Monterey, Mexican queso, it hardly matters actually. The big benefit here is that it’s real cheese! Then there’s the blow-you-a-new-nostril salsa, which, no matter how hot they say it is, it never really is in restaurants (correct me if you know otherwise).
Or, say, you can use heirloom beans.
The recipe
Burritos are so easy that this would hardly count as a recipe if I weren’t going to hand over my technique for refrying beans. I even use a packaged burrito seasoning mix – it wouldn’t taste like fast food if I went to all the trouble of making my own.
Refried is really a misnomer for this style of beans. In Spanish they are frijoles refritos, which literally means well-fried beans. Probably it was simply mistranslated into English. Traditionally it’s made with pinto beans and fried in lard. Of course I broke with tradition on both counts.
The heirloom I went with is the Santa Maria Pinquito bean. Though there’s not much info about this bean’s history, a quick internet search turned up tons of recipes involving barbecue (Santa Maria is actually a style of barbecue), smoked foods, jerky and salsa. A perfect burrito bean. The color and size of pebbles, the Santa Maria Pinquito is quick cooking and meaty. It also has a bit of a dusty, earthy flavor.
Before mashing the beans, I scooped some out and set them aside for rolling into the burritos. It seemed sacrilegious to render all of these heirlooms unidentifiable.
As for the Fritos, it will only do to use the real deal. I’m a brand loyalist when it comes to my junk food.
Refried Beans
3 ½ cups cooked Santa Maria Pinquito beans, plus one cup of their cooking water
1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup white onion, finely diced
5 cloves fresh garlic, minced
½ jalapeno, seeded and minced
1 teaspoon sea salt
In a heavy skillet, on medium heat sauté the onion and garlic in the olive oil until translucent, about 5 minutes.
Add the beans to the skillet and stir well to mix in garlic and onion. Heat slightly and then mash the beans with a potato masher or the back of a wooden spoon. Add the cooking liquid, working it in 1/3 cup at a time, until the mash is moist and smooth. Continue to heat, stirring frequently, until the beans are a thick paste. At this point you can refrigerate them for up to five days, or you can turn them into burritos.
Frito Burrito
Santa Maria Pinquito refried beans, plus the unmashed beans
1 package Taco Bell taco seasoning
1 large tomato, diced
1/3 cup diced jalapeno-stuffed green olives
1 package of extra-sharp cheddar cheese
6 whole wheat flour tortillas
A generous handful of chili-cheese Fritos
1 ripe avocado, sliced
Salsa (you pick the heat level) for garnish
Sour cream for garnish
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
On stovetop on medium heat, stir packaged burrito or taco seasoning into the refried beans. Mix well.
In each tortilla, spread a generous layer of the refried beans. Sprinkle on some of the whole Santa Maria Pinquito beans. Add the diced tomato and olives, dividing them between the burritos. Add a generous amount of sharp cheddar to each, and then wrap them up, folding in sides and then rolling them over themselves. With seam down, place each tortilla in a sheet of aluminum foil and wrap tightly. Place in oven to heat through until cheese is melted, about 10 minutes.
Remove burritos from oven, and place each one on a plate. Unwrap them carefully and add a handful of chili cheese Fritos to each one. Roll them back up again, and garnish with avocado slices, sour cream and salsa. For good measure, scatter extra Fritos on top. Comida!
Tags: frito burrito, refried beans, santa maria pinquito beans
Hi Becky,
You’re not the only vegetarian who gave those kids at Taco Bell fits! A friend used to order her beanless burritos at the drive-thru and then, when the inevitable “HUH?” came back, she’d reply, “You know, frijoles!” And I would just laugh, because she her well-meaning “translation” confused them all the more.
Incidentally, at homes in Mexico the leftover refried beans will be fried again for each meal (morning, noon and night) until they’re gone, so I always thought the name was pretty apt.
I definitely remember the Frito Burrito. I was a big fan, and am looking forward to making them at home. For some reason that never occured to me!
That’s a cool photo, of the beans floating in water.