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side view of a chimichanga with browned edges, topped with thinned Greek yogurt and diced tomatoes on a bed of chopped lettuce with jar of salsa in the upper left and guacamole on right side and a second chimichanga in the back all on a wooden cutting board

Beef and Bean Chimichangas

Skip the deep fry and go for a lower-oil option of pan frying these delicious chimichangas. Garnish with loads of fresh vegetables and toppings to make it a complete meal!
5 from 2 votes
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Total Time 27 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine American, Beans and Legumes, Beef, Mexican
Servings 3 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup onion, diced (any type)
  • 3 large garlic cloves (use my method for peeling garlic)
  • ½ teaspoon olive oil
  • 1 pound lean ground beef
  • 15.5 ounces pinto beans, low sodium (1 can, drained)
  • ¾ teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 3 ½ teaspoon ground cumin seed
  • ½ teaspoon chili powder
  • 2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 2 tablespoon tomato paste, no salt added
  • 3 large tortillas (burrito size)
  • 1 ½ cups shredded cheese (Mexican cheese blends, Monterey Jack, Colby jack, mozzarella, or cheddar)
  • olive oil for pan frying

Garnishes

  • diced tomato, onion, lettuce, jalapeno. Salsa, guacamole, Greek yogurt drizzle.

Instructions
 

  • Set out your tortillas so they’re room temperature.
  • Strain out pinto beans from juice and partially mash them so they’re half blended, but still chunky with some whole beans. You can use a fork or potato masher. Set aside.
  • Heat a large skillet on medium heat with ½ tablespoon olive oil.
  • Dice the onions, peel and finely dice garlic, and add to hot skillet. Sauté for 2 minutes, then transfer to a bowl.
  • Drizzle a little olive oil in your hot skillet and break up the ground beef into the skillet. Add sea salt, garlic powder, ground cumin, chili powder, and oregano. Cook meat until browned (about 5-6 minutes) and turn off heat. Add tomato paste, mashed beans, and the sautéed onion/garlic. Combine all together and transfer to a bowl.
  • Shred cheese.
  • Scrape out the skillet as best as possible. Return skillet to medium heat with 2 tablespoons olive oil.
  • While skillet heats up, prepare your chimichanga by laying out 1 tortilla. Fill with about 1 ⅓ cups meat filling and ½ cup shredded cheese.
  • Fold the tortilla by folding in the short ends. Before folding in the edges, I add an extra small fold to the corners, then fold over the long edge. Repeat on the other side by folding in the corners, then the long edge up and over to close it all off. Option to pierce the fold with a toothpick to help it stay closed, but I don’t find this necessary.
  • Hold the burrito closed tightly and lay sealed-side down un the heated skillet. Let cook for 1 minute, then use tongs to gently flip for another minute. Don’t forget to grill all the edge so use your tongs to rotate the chimichanga to grills all remaining edges for about 15-20 seconds each. Once nicely browned on all edges, transfer to a plate lined with a paper towel to absorb any excess oil.
    Using tongs help to hold the chimichanga close as you're rotating it and frying on all edges.
  • Repeat with 2 remaining tortillas. TIP: drizzle more oil in your skillet so there’s always oil moving and it doesn’t dry up. If you’re empty skillet it smoking too much while you’re prepping your next burrito, you can remove the skillet from heat, but make sure it’s back on and heated to temp before placing in your burrito to fry.
  • Once you’ve fried all 3, prepare your garnishes:
    Chop lettuce, dice tomatoes and fresh onion. Enjoy with guacamole, salsa, optional jalapeno, and sour cream. I like to replace my sour cream with Greek yogurt. If you don’t want it so thick, mix in a little milk to thin out the yogurt.
Keyword beef and bean burrito, beef and bean chimichanga, chimichangas
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