This vegan burrito recipe is simple to make and super hearty with mashed pinto beans and a “meaty” vegan substitute flavoured with herbs and spices. Add your favourite sauce and toppings for a delicious hand-held meal!
Are bean burritos vegan?
It depends on how they’re made.
If they have whole beans and the other ingredients are vegan (cheese, sour cream, etc.) then chances are that they’re vegan.
Where you need to watch out is if they have refried beans.
Refried beans are often made with lard, making them neither vegan nor vegetarian!
When buying a can of refried beans, be sure to read the ingredients!
If they’re labeled vegetarian, they shouldn’t contain lard. If they’re labeled fat-free, they could be vegan but it’s impossible to know what’s in the “natural flavourings”.
A cheaper and easy solution to ensure that your refried beans are vegan is to just make them yourself.
You can take a shortcut and use canned beans sauteed with some aromatics and then mashed into a paste.
I adapted the beans in this recipe from Cookie and Kate’s Easy Refried Beans, shortening the cooking time because I prefer them more on the creamy side and leaving out some seasonings since we’re adding them to favour-packed burritos.
These simple mashed beans are tasty and great for these burritos as well as tacos, vegan enchiladas, with nachos, or in 7-layered dip!
How to make a vegan burrito
For this recipe you’ll prepare two main fillings, both of which are super simple: the creamy beans and a “beefy” vegan meat.
The beefy meat is made with tvp, which is my favourite vegan ground beef substitute because it’s so cheap and you can season it however you like depending on the recipe you’re making.
If you’ve never used tvp before, check out my post on vegan tvp recipes.
First you rehydrate the dried tvp. While that’s happening, fry off some onion and garlic in one pan for the beans.
Add the beans, some spices and water. Let them simmer to soften then mash with a fork or a potato masher until creamy.
That’s the beans done!
While the beans are simmering, in a separate pan fry off the other half of the onion and garlic then add the drained tvp, cherry tomatoes, spices, herbs and tomato sauce.
Mix it all up and let it fry to simmer off any excess water in the tvp and heat through.
And that’s the meat done!
Now you can build your burritos with the beans, meat, and your choice of sauce and toppings.
What to put in a vegan burrito
It’s up to you! Here’s what I put in mine: salsa, jalapeños, cilantro, and lettuce.
Other options are:
- guacamole
- vegan sour cream
- cilantro lime sauce
- creamy chipotle sauce
- salsa verde
- pico de gallo
For the toppings you could choose from:
- diced or sliced avocado
- black or green olives
- sweet corn
- red or green pepper
- red or green onion
- white rice, brown rice, Spanish rice, cilantro-lime rice
- vegan shredded cheese
How to roll a burrito
Okay, now you’ve got your burrito filled, let’s roll it up!
A burrito is easier to roll if you warm up your tortilla first. You can do this one by one in a dry pan or wrap them all in a tea towel and microwave them for just a few seconds.
Add your fillings, being careful not to overfill!
Then take the bottom of the tortilla and fold it over so that it covers the fillings. Gently pull the tortilla back, squeezing the fillings inside.
Now fold in the left and right sides.
Finally, continue rolling up from the bottom to form your burrito.
Easy, right?
How to store vegan burritos
If you plan to make these ahead, think about how you layer your fillings so that neither the sauce nor a wet ingredient (like tomato) is against the tortilla.
I put the beans on the bottom and the lettuce on top to act as a buffer. This will prevent the tortilla from becoming soggy.
- Refrigerator: Wrap your vegan burritos in foil, plastic wrap or a ziplock bag and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
- Freezer: Avoid any fillings that will get gross in the freezer such as avocado and lettuce. Wrap them in foil or freezer bags and freeze for up to 2 months.
Vegan Burrito
Ingredients
For the creamy beans
- 1 tablespoon olive oil – $0.10
- 1/2 medium onion finely diced – $0.08
- 1 fat clove of garlic minced – $0.04
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder – $0.04
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin – $0.02
- 1 (19 oz / 540 gr. can) pinto beans (about 2 1/4 cups of cooked beans), drained and rinsed – $0.79
- 1/2 cup water – $0.00
- 1/2 teaspoon salt – $0.01
For the meat
- 1 cup (75 gr.) tvp – $1.53
- Water as needed – $0.00
- 1 tablespoon olive oil – $0.10
- 1/2 medium onion finely diced – $0.08
- 1 fat clove of garlic minced – $0.04
- 10 cherry tomatoes quartered – $0.59
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika or as needed – $0.36
- 2 teaspoons cumin or as needed – $0.12
- 2 teaspoons oregano or as needed – $0.20
- 2 teaspoons chili powder or as needed – $0.15
- 1 teaspoon salt – $0.02
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons plain tomato sauce – $0.36
For the burritos
- 4 large tortillas – $1.59
- Your choice of sauce and toppings: salsa, guacamole, vegan sour cream, lettuce, jalapeños, cilantro, vegan shredded cheese, diced avocado, corn, squeeze of lime, etc.
Instructions
- Put the dried tvp in a bowl and cover with water. Allow to rehydrate while you prepare the beans.
- Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat and fry the onion until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and fry until fragrant. Add the chili powder and cumin and fry for 30 seconds more to release the aromas.
- Add the beans and water and cover the pan with a lid. Reduce the heat to a gently simmer and cook for 5 minutes.
- Remove from the heat, add the salt and mash the beans with a fork or potato masher until creamy. Recover with the lid to keep warm.
- While the beans are simmering prepare the meat. Drain the rehydrated tvp in a sieve. Heat the oil in a medium pan over medium heat and fry the onion until soft. Add the garlic and fry until soft.
- Add the tomatoes, drained tvp, spices and herbs, salt and tomato sauce. Stir together well and heat for a few minutes until any excess water has evaporated from the tvp and it is heated through. Taste and adjust the seasonings if necessary.
- Make your burritos. Optional: heat the tortillas for a few seconds in the microwave or in a dry pan to make them more pliable.
- Spread some creamy beans down the middle of each tortilla. Top with some of the tvp mixture and any sauces and toppings you like (I put salsa, jalapeños, cilantro and lettuce in mine).
- Take the bottom of the tortilla and fold it up over the filling. Gently pull in back to squeeze in the filling. Fold over the left and right sides and continue rolling the tortilla up from the bottom.
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