Turkey and Brown Rice Taco Burritos

Fill your freezer with these turkey and brown rice taco burritos. Healthy, delicious, easy to make, they’ll become a lunch and dinner staple!

Like I always say, if you’re going to make eight burritos, you might as well make 80. Burritos freeze fabulously and are perfect to keep on hand every minute of the day.

If you do so, you can even fake your family into believing you actually thought about dinner in advance.

When really, you got to 6:00 p.m., panicked because that magical and mysterious dinner angel refused to appear AGAIN, opened the freezer in desperation and spied the glorious burritos. And perhaps we can all agree that mysterious dinner angels take many forms, hmmm?

My mom always had homemade super cheesy beef and bean burritos in the freezer. It was a staple for those late night second dinners as a teenager (I’d kill for that same metabolism now, BTW) and weekend lunches.

A love of burritos, frozen burritos, was instilled in me from a young age.

That’s why I love this recipe and this one and why there are always burritos in my freezer.

Plus, you never know what your kids will choose to tell you while sitting at the kitchen island devouring a heated up burrito. Burritos bring everyone together.

Today’s burrito is a delicious change – taco style. I use my homemade taco seasoning blend in this recipe (see the notes below) but I’m guessing storebought would work just fine, too.

I also use brown rice because I’m addicted to making it in the Instant Pot (1 cup rice + 1 1/4 cups water or broth + pinch of salt + 22 minutes high pressure + natural release = brown rice perfection). But again, you could play around with a different type of rice (and cooking method).

We smother these healthy and hearty burritos with all the taco toppings our little hearts desire, which differs by family  member.

I’ve learned that what one chooses to put atop their burrito tells a lot about them. Brian and the kids looooove (another word for endure) my therapeutic dinner evaluations.

And if you just can’t handle the making of large quantities of burritos, never fear, these taco burritos make a delicious and simple weeknight dinner.

No one will care if you don’t 16X the recipe. Banish the guilt and eat a burrito instead.

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Turkey and Brown Rice Taco Burritos

Yield: 8 burritos

Prep Time: 20 minutes mins

Cook Time: 15 minutes mins

Total Time: 35 minutes mins

5 stars (3 ratings)

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Ingredients

• 1 pound ground turkey, can substitute ground beef
• ½ cup chopped onion
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• 1 ½ teaspoons cumin
• 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
• ¼ cup low-sodium chicken broth or water
• 1 (15-ounce) can black or pinto beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 cups cooked brown rice (see note)
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• Chopped cilantro to taste
• Shredded cheddar and/or Monterey Jack cheese, about 2 cups
• 8 burrito-sized, 10-inch flour tortillas, white or whole wheat
• Taco toppings like tomatoes sour cream, salsa, olives, lettuce, avocados

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Instructions 

• In a large, 12-inch nonstick skillet, cook the ground turkey, onion, salt and pepper over medium heat, breaking the meat into small pieces, until the meat is fully cooked. Drain any excess grease, if needed.
• Add the chili powder, garlic powder, oregano, paprika and cumin and stir well to combine. Stir in the tomato sauce, chicken broth and beans. Simmer for 5-6 minutes.
• Stir in the rice, lime juice and cilantro until the mixture is evenly combined. Cook until the rice and other ingredients are hot and bubbling, 2-3 minutes.
• Fill each tortilla evenly with the hot meat and rice filling. Top with cheese and roll the tortilla up burrito style, tucking in the ends.
• Serve immediately (or keep warm in a 200 degree oven until ready to serve) smothered with any and all taco toppings your heart desires.

Notes

Spices: I took the spice makeup from my favorite homemade taco seasoning, so if you have some of that on hand, omit the salt, pepper, chili powder, garlic powder, oregano, paprika and cumin and instead use that (or you could try subbing in packaged taco seasoning although I haven’t tried it).

Brown Rice: this recipe calls for already cooked brown rice. My favorite (favorite!) way to cook brown rice is in the pressure cooker. In the InstantPot (or other electric pressure cooker), combine 1 cup brown rice with 1 1/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth and a pinch of salt (you can sub water but the broth gives it great flavor). Cook at high pressure for 22 minutes and let the pressure naturally release. For stovetop pressure cookers, do the same but cook for 20 minutes.

Burritos: this recipe makes large burritos but you could definitely use smaller tortillas and get more out of the batch. The assembled burritos can be frozen (I like to wrap each burrito in plastic wrap and then pack them in a gallon-size ziploc bag) and reheated in the oven or microwave.

Author: Mel

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Method: Stovetop

Serving: 1 Burrito, Calories: 469kcal, Carbohydrates: 55g, Protein: 30g, Fat: 15g, Saturated Fat: 7g, Cholesterol: 56mg, Sodium: 1280mg, Fiber: 7g, Sugar: 5g

Recommended Products

12-Inch Nonstick Skillet

Wooden Spoon

Box Grater

Recipe Source: from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe

Other Recipes Like This:

Turkey {or Chicken} and Brown Rice Soup {Instant Pot or Stovetop}

Instant Pot Perfect Brown Rice Pilaf

Skillet Sweet Potato Black Bean Burrito Bowls

Veggie Turkey Taco Lettuce Wraps