If you want a filling, vegetarian meal that pleases all palates, try creating an easy burrito bar! It’s easy, delicious, versatile — and fun for the whole family!
It may be the day before Halloween and I may truly love all things Halloween — including food and treats — but I’ve been having a different kind of food craving lately. Let me ask you something. Do you ever have a craving for restaurant food but you:
a) don’t want to spend the money
b) don’t want to drive to said restaurant or
c) don’t like the idea of all the added saturated fat and sodium from restaurant food?
Yeah — me too.
I’ve been incessantly hungry ever since I finished my fourth marathon a little over a week ago. My appetite has slowly tapered off but for a while I felt like I could eat everything in sight and still not be full and satiated. One such craving I had was for a big, fat burrito. But let’s face it — I’d really rather not have to go wait in line at the store, and I also didn’t want to experience that disgustingly full feeling either. But when a food craving hits, there’s little to do about it, am I right?
I told my husband my conundrum — and how I planned to indulge my tastebuds. After I explained my plan of attack to create an at-home version of the coveted burrito, he was skeptical but agreed. We got to work and the result was just fantastic.
We created a make-your-own burrito bar and our burritos turned out AMAZING! And we had enough leftover ingredients to have burrito night again. I think that’s my favorite part of this meal — you get the most bang for your buck by creating your own easy burrito bar with leftovers so spare! Plus no disgusting-overly-full feeling either.
Intrigued? You can make this at your house, too. Check it out:
Versatile and Easy Burrito Bar
Ingredients
- 1 package burrito size tortillas
- 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 cups baby spinach or kale, thin sliced
- 16 oz medium salsa
- 8 oz sour cream
- 12 oz Mexican-style shredded cheese
- 1 package Lightlife Chick’n Style Strips, optional
Directions
Start by placing ingredients in separate bowls on the counter. (This greatly speeds up the process of burrito-making — an important aspect when you’re super hungry!)
Heat one tortilla at a time for about 5 seconds per side. Do NOT overheat the tortillas or they will turn crunchy. If you have extra salsa, a crunchy tortilla isn’t necessarily a bad thing but save the experimenting for last.
Place the warmed tortilla on a large plate. If you choose to use chick’n strips, start with those. Just a couple pieces here. Then move on to the beans, then greens, etc. Continue moving down the line until all the ingredients you prefer are in the center of the burrito, taking care not to go overboard with any one ingredient.
To wrap: bring the bottom of the tortilla to the center. Fold over the right side and then the left side. You’ve now created a pocket for your ingredients with the top open. If you’d like to close the top as well, carefully tuck it under the two sides. Start munching and enjoy!
I swear this is the easiest and most versatile burrito bar you’ll ever create. The options are truly limitless. For our first go, we used a three-bean blend of pinto, black, and kidney beans. It was magical. We had two different salsas available — a traditional mild salsa, and then a peach mango salsa. It was also magical.
Homemade burritos taste delicious, they contain a fraction of the sodium you’d get at a restaurant, and they’re fun to make, too! This easy burrito bar is perfect for busy weeknights and laid back weekends as well.
Need more ideas for dinner, dessert, or just something to nosh on? Check out more of my recipes here!
xo
Let’s talk!
What’s your favorite burrito add-in?
Do you like your salsa spicy or sweet?
Linking up for Meatless Mondays with Annmarie and Deborah!
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72 Comments
We love make your own burrito bars around here-everyone is happy that way! Thanks for linking up and have a great week
Exactly — something for everyone!
Yes! That’s my go-to during busy weeks. Love that it makes it easy to mix and match so you don’t end up with repetitive meals.
It’s so easy! And there’s something for everyone!
Yum! I love Mexican food and it is so simple and easy to put together either a burrito or taco bar. That way everyone can make their own unique plate. Thanks for sharing!
Yes exactly. So easy for everyone to enjoy!
Love a good burrito bar (we do that too sometimes!)…. you can use up everything you have in your fridge and everyone can make their individual burrito just the way they like it!
I love my salsa spicy! And my favorite add-ins are black beans, ground turkey, and zucchini cubes.
Ooooh zucchini cubes! What a great idea. I’ll have to try that!
Yum, sounds delicious! Veggie tacos are a staple for us, and I love entertaining with this type of bar set up. People can all choose to add what they want and it’s so easy.
We usually celebrate taco Tuesday but Burrito Friday was a lot of fun. 😄
Mmmm burritos…me want!
Burritos are amazing!
I could go for a burrito bar right now. Do you deliver?
I do. For a very large fee. 😄🤔
Love this idea! My kids would be all over this!
Precisely why we went the burrito route… 😄😄😄
These look like total yum!
Burritos are always total yum!
love love burrito bars! what a fun way to eat dinner?!
For sure! Kids and adults love burrito bars!
Who doesn’t love burritos? This is one of the best foods for a party as everyone can customize it to their tastes and dietary needs!! Happy Meatless Monday!
Burrito bars are so much fun. And delicious. 🙂
I definitely need more burrito bars in my life! These look awesome
Haha, I could say the same! Thank you. 🙂
I love burrito bars, we have them all the time. So many fun ingredients and you can’t go wrong with Mexican food!
The options are truly endless!
YUM!! LOVE burritos…and everything Mexican flavored. How fun to customize your own!
Burritos are simply amazing.
I love these types of make-your-own meals and burritos are always welcome!!
I agree! Make your own meals are so much fun. You can’t go wrong.
What a fun idea!! I love this!
So much fun!
Love a tasty vegetarian meal!
It’s filling and flavorful. 🙂
I love meal bars of all kinds, it makes it so easy for everyone to make their food how they love it best!
It’s particularly helpful with little ones who don’t always love all the “ingredients” in a recipe.
I’m pretty sure I could eat burritos every day without getting tired of them. This looks great! I use a variety of “meats” in my burritos, from seitan, to jackfruit, even Morningstar Farms new “pork” shreds. Obviously I’m a burrito pro! 🙂
I considered jackfruit but wasn’t sure how it would taste with everything else. I should try it next time!
Oh yum! I love this idea, because yes, I frequently crave restaurant-style food but I’m not about spending a ton of money on it all the time and even more importantly, I’m too lazy to go out and get it 😛 And I definitely want to avoid that overly full feeling that inevitably comes with restaurant burritos. They are oh-so-good but it’s hard to feel good after eating one. Mark and I will have to try thing soon. Thanks for sharing!
Ok you caught me. I’m actually too lazy to go too. 😂 But burritos…. mmm…
We do a burrito bar often! I love how easy it is to cook, and it offers such a fun variety we can have it frequently!
I agree! It’s so so easy and tons of variety.
I’m in marathon training right now and I need this. My favorite add-ins are ground turkey, black beans, and bell peppers.
Those are yummy add ins! I kinda miss marathon training. 😉
I love the DIY bar. So great for families and parties. Will have to get one going again soon!
Our kids loved it and so did we!
How fun is this? We do this with tacos at our house. I put out all the ingredients on the table and everyone fills their tortillas. No complaints.
Isn’t it so much easier?! We do it for tacos too but burritos are so much more fun for some reason. Maybe because they’re giant. Haha.
mmmm i love tacos – in any form. Love my taco salads 🙂
Taco salads are my fave! But definitely different from a burrito!
I love guac! Great idea to have some thinly sliced greens – that’s usually missing from our line-up.
Definitely didn’t have guac this time but I love it, too!
We used to make burritos for dinner all the time for our family, maybe it’s time to get into the burrito groove again. So easy and healthy when you make it yourself at home. I have all the same feelings about eating out, I don’t need the extra sodium, grease, expense or hassle either.
What it comes down to for me is pure laziness. 😉 Okay and the sodium part. And the expense. All of it, pretty much! Homemade burritos for everyone!!
i have done something similar with tacos but burrito bar sounds like a fun dinner option too.
We usually have Taco Tuesday so switching it up was nice!
I love the idea of a burrito bar. I’m looking for creative food ideas for my son’s birthday party in December, and this is definitely a good possibility. Thanks!
Oooh, yes! A burrito bar would be awesome. Maybe a taco bar would be better for a big crowd just in case not everyone wants a big burrito. You could do the same thing except switch the sizes of tortillas. 😉
Such a simple group of ingredients but it packs the punch for flavor. Love a great ‘bar’ of food for people to make their own.
For sure! It’s so easy!
I cannot wait to make this! I am seriously always craving Mexican, I have it about 3 times a week, but am always looking for new options! Can’t wait to try this soon!
That’s a lot of Mexican! We eat a huge variety of food but tacos usually show up once a week. 🙂
We do mini taco bars occasionally, but may need to upgrade to the burrito bar! Haven’t tried that meatless meat either – I’m curious about it now!
It’s pretty good! I also use the soy crumbles when I make chili. Can’t even tell the difference.
This is such a fun idea! My kids will love this!!
It is really fun. And they’re super delicious, too. 😉
About once a week we have a burrito, taco or nacho bar for dinner. It’s a family favorite for dinner.
We do, too! Usually tacos for us. 🙂
I love food displays like this because it just makes life easy and everyone gets WHAT they want!
EXACTLY!! And yummm…
I am all for burrito bars! :D! This looks awesome! (I’m super hungry right now so not sure I’d be able to share this, ahaha. *-*)
Hahaha!