Lightened-Up Smothered Burritos

Lightened-Up Smothered Burritos are pure Mexican comfort food—but without all the guilt!

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The inspiration for my lightened-up smothered burritos was a recent visit to a local Mexican restaurant.

Our picky eater ordered a plain beef burrito with nothing on the side.

The burrito arrived drenched in sauce and greasy cheese.

When I had a taste of the sauce, it reminded me of the stuff on SpaghettiOs. YUCK-O!

After that experience, I challenged myself to create a smothered burrito that would satisfy our VPE (very picky eater).

I used seasoned ground beef wrapped in a perfectly browned flour tortilla.

I used my Quick, Smoky Enchilada Sauce for the smothered burrito sauce, then topped with grated cheddar.

The result?

Two enthusiastic thumbs up.

Then the realization set in that filling a burrito with nothing but seasoned and sauced beef—while being just hunky dory with our VPE—is an absolute calorie bomb.

Thus, my new smothered burritos recipe got a near-instant makeover.

What makes Lightened-Up Smothered Burritos lighter?

Of course, you can choose to go with the "full figured" version of smothered burritos (ground beef taco meat, tortilla, sauce and cheese). 😛

But here's how I like to lighten them up and give them a little more nutritional oomph.

The filling

My new-and-improved filling for this healthier smothered burritos recipe is also far more budget-friendly than the original.

Meat

I use ground turkey for my smothered burritos.

Ground chicken is another lower-calorie option. Or, you can choose to use ground beef (the highest calorie option).

Regardless of the protein, just brown the meat then add a little broth or water with a tablespoon or two of our no-salt taco seasoning.

Black beans and sweet potato

Lots of smothered burrito recipes mix rice into the ground meat.

You can choose to go that way too: simply add about 2–3 cups of cooked rice to your browned and seasoned meat (depending on how much rice-to-ground-meat you prefer).

But I chose black beans and sweet potatoes for a few reasons:

• Black beans and sweet potato have higher protein and lower glycemic index than rice.

That means that while they offer more nutritional value, their carbohydrates are more complex and more slowly absorbed.

Thus, they won't cause the blood sugar spikes and crashes that are typical with simpler carbs.

In this case, we already get simple carbs from the flour tortilla (or see below), so I like mixing in low-glycemic-index ingredients.

• Black beans are loaded with:
  • potassium
  • fiber
  • folate: a B-vitamin that, among other things, is important for cell division and in making DNA and RNA (check out this folate fact sheet from the National Institutes of Health for more info)
• Sweet potatoes—in addition to being chock full of vitamins and fiber—contain antioxidants, which combat DNA damage and inflammation.

(NOTE: to cook the sweet potato, simply stab it a few times with a paring knife and microwave for about 5 minutes, or until soft [listen carefully for squealing and turn the microwave off to prevent the sweet potato from exploding!])

Plus, as far as flavor, black beans and sweet potatoes are a match made in heaven—not only for each other, but also for the smoky flavor of the enchilada sauce. Speaking of that...

The sauce

If you use my Quick, Smoky Red Enchilada Sauce in this smothered burritos recipe, it's delicious and low-calorie.

Even better, it takes less than 20 minutes—and you can make it in advance.

If you decide to opt for a store-bought sauce, be sure to check the calorie content.

The tortilla

For this smothered burritos recipe, I used a regular burrito-sized flour tortilla.

However, if you want to lighten up your burritos even more, there are lots of lower-calorie options out there, like whole wheat and various low-carb tortillas.

How to make smothered burritos

You can follow along in the photo collage below!

First, brown the ground meat, drain, and mix with seasonings.

While the meat browns, peel and cube the cooked sweet potato.

Next, mix the ground meat, sweet potato, black beans, and enchilada sauce.

At this point, you can store the mixed filling and reheat when you're ready, OR move on to rolling the burritos.

Assembling the burritos

Place the filling (about 1 cup each) on the tortilla.

Fold the sides of the tortilla inward over the filling.

Then, holding the sides in place, fold the bottom of the tortilla up and over the filling and roll until you have a tight burrito.

Rub the tortilla sparingly with olive oil, then lightly brown the burrito in a non-stick skillet over medium heat.

Finally, top the burrito with sauce and cheese, then set under a broiler until the cheese is melted.

I love to serve my lightened-up smothered burritos with shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, sliced scallions, sliced avocado, chopped cilantro, and a lime wedge to squeeze over the top.

Other possible serving options are sour cream, your favorite hot sauce (ours is Cholula), and thinly sliced radishes.

Work-ahead ideas

As mentioned in the instructions above, you can prepare the filling in advance.

Simply refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 2 days. The same goes for the sauce.

I always meal-prep the lettuce, scallions, and tomatoes, then refrigerate them in screw-top containers.

The same is NOT true of avocados: since they start oxidizing the minute you cut into them (that's what makes them turn yucky brown), I slice these just before serving (while the burritos are under the broiler).

That's all there is to it!

This is a quick, easy meal—especially if you use the work-aheads. I hope your family adores these lightened-up smothered burritos! For more Latin American-inspired recipe ideas, check out my Mexican-Inspired Recipes for Cinco de Mayo!

—xoxo Michelle

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Recipe

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