Last week I posted a recipe for {Baked} Creamy Chicken Taquitos. Between the chicken taquitos and the {Baked} Beef & Bean Taquitors I'm sharing today, these are two recipes that appear on our dinner menu every month. I like them because they are easy, healthy, TASTY and pretty slick to make. My husband says he prefers these over the chicken ones. But for me it's kind of a toss up. I like them both A LOT!
The filling of the taquito is mainly beef, bean and cheese. The spices, onions, and garlic give it the perfect "pop" to make your tastes buds happy!
Last week I mentioned that my 2 year old loves the chicken taquitos. She also loves these beef and bean taquitos. And still 3 or months in a row this is the ONLY kind of thing she will eat meat in! So maybe that is one more reason why these little beauties appear on our dinner table more than once a month. I like to scramble the beef really fine. The fine bits of cooked beef mixed with the bean and cheese is easy for my little lady to eat - and I like it that way too. My daughter usually asks for more after devouring a whole one! I love when I can get her to eat something good for her!
We enjoy these dipped in salsa, sour cream, and/or guacamole!
I hope you'll love them as much as we do!
{Baked} Beef & Bean Taquitos
Printable Version
Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
3 cloves garlic (or 1 teaspoon garlic powder)
⅓ cup onion, diced
¾ cup refried beans
3 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
2 green onions, chopped
½ teaspoon cumin
⅛ teaspoon cayenne
¼ cup red or green salsa
1 cup monterey jack cheese, grated
small flour or corn tortillas (I prefer the flour since I love them, and always have them on hand)
kosher salt
cooking spray
Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 375-400 (my oven is pretty hot, so I do 375) and line a baking sheet with foil and lightly spray with cooking spray..
In a skillet cook ground beef with onion and garlic until no longer pink and cooked thoroughly. Drain excess fat and add to a medium-sized mixing bowl. Add beans, cilantro, green onion, cumin, cayenne, salsa, and cheese. Mix until combined well.
If you are using corn tortillas work with only a few at a time. Do this by heating them in the microwave until they are soft enough to roll without cracking. It is helpful to place them between damp paper towels. 20-30 seconds should be enough time. If they are cracking, try heating them just a little warmer. If you are using flour tortillas there is no need to do this. I usually use the uncooked flour tortillas (they taste much better, I think), so I quickly brown them before filling them. I’ve do it without doing this and it doesn't turn out as good since the bottom where the tortilla will overlap when rolled doesn’t cook crispy like the rest of the taquito. But if you are in a hurry you can use uncooked tortillas.
Scoop 2-3 tablespoons of the beef mixture and place it on the lower third of each tortilla, keeping it about ½ inch from the edges. And then roll it up as tight as you can.
Place the seam side down on the baking sheet. Lay all of the taquitos on the baking sheet and make sure they are not touching each other. At this point you can stick them in the fridge and keep them there until dinner time. I do this a lot so I can have a quick meal come dinner time. Before baking, spray the top of each taquito roll lightly with cooking spray and sprinkle some kosher salt on top.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and the ends start to get golden brown.
Dip them in salsa, sour cream, guacamole, etc. I like sour cream mixed with salsa! :)
Makes 8-10 on flour tortillas, and more like 12-16 on corn tortillas.
Freezer Meal Note:
I assemble these the same as the recipe except for I don't spray them with grease or salt them. I like to freeze them until solid on a foil or wax paper lined cookie sheet and then transfer them into a gallon-size freeze bag and freeze til ready to use. The day I want to use them I pull them out and put them on a greased foil lined cookie sheet for easy clean up - and let them thaw in the fridge if I think about it in the morning, or I let them thaw on the counter an hour or two before I want to bake them. When they are ready to bake I lightly spray them with spray grease and sprinkle a little bit of kosher salt on them and bake as directed in the recipe.
Recipe Source: Leesh & Lu's Recipe Box, by Lu
