Burrito Fillings

Shrimp Burrito

In Mexico, meat and refried beans are sometimes the only fillings. In the United States, burrito fillings generally include a combination of ingredients such as Mexican-style rice or plain rice, refried beans or beans, lettuce, salsa, meat, guacamole, cheese, and sour cream. The word burrito means "little donkey" (in Spanish, as a diminutive form of burro, or "donkey"). The name burrito as applied to the dish possibly derives from the appearance of bedrolls and packs that donkeys carried.

Authentic Mexican burritos are usually small and thin, with flour tortillas containing only one or two ingredients: some form of meat or fish, potatoes, rice, beans, asadero cheese, chile rajas (creamy poblano pepper strips), or chile relleno (poblanos stuffed with cheese and deep fried). Other types of ingredients may include barbacoa (grilled meat), mole, refried beans and cheese, and deshebrada (shredded slow-cooked flank steak). The deshebrada burrito also has a variation with chile colorado (beef cooked in a red sauce, mild to moderately hot) and salsa verde.

A Mission burrito (also known as a San Francisco burrito) is a type of burrito that first became popular during the 1960s in the Mission District of San Francisco, California. This innovation involved adding rice, sour cream and guacamole to the standard meat, bean and cheese burrito. It is distinguished from other burritos by its large size and inclusion of extra rice and other ingredients. This type of burrito is produced on a steam table assembly line, characterized by a large stuffed tortilla, wrapped in aluminum foil, which may include fillings such as carne asada (grilled beef), Mexican style rice, whole beans (non refried), sour cream and onion.

The California burrito developed in the 1980s after the Mission burrito. It is a jumbo flour tortilla filled with carne asada (grilled beef), guacamole, pico de gallo, cheese, and—setting itself apart from the bean and rice-base Mission burrito—a big handful of French fries. Frequently confused with the Mission, Cali burritos are also gigantic and have multiple fillings. But they skip the beans and rice and starch up instead with French fries alongside carne asada, guacamole, pico de gallo, and cheese. The Cali originates from the southern end of California, in San Diego.

Bean and Cheese Burrito. Origin: Northern Mexico. Like the burrito itself, pinto frijoles refritos (refried beans) originated in northern Mexico and became popular throughout the American Southwest with the arrival of waves of immigrants in the mid-20th century. Scattered grated cheddar cheese over a thick stripe of molten beans in a tortilla hot out of the comal.

These are just a few of the many ways to fill a burrito. Try them out and then experiment with your own fillings.

Use a 10 or 12 inch flour tortilla. Also see How To Fold a Burrito