Cheesy Baked Burritos
Want to break out of the ‘dinner rut’? Then put these Cheesy Baked Burritos on the menu! Topped with an easy, homemade cheese sauce, these burritos are the perfect comfort food for chilly days!
This Cheesy Baked Burritos post is sponsored by Cabot Creamery, but the recipe and opinions are entirely my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that support Spiced!
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As a kid, my job in the kitchen was the Official Cheese Shredder. Ok, so maybe ‘official’ is getting a bit carried away, but I was always the one who shredded cheese before dinner. We had one of those rotary-style cheese shredders where you put a block of cheese in and turned the crank to shred it. And my favorite part about that job? Shredding a little too much so I could eat a bite of the shredded cheese!
Fast forward, oh, 25 years, and not much has changed. I still love to shred cheese, and I still love to steal a few fingerfuls of shredded cheese from the top of the pile. I promise you I only stole a tiny bit of this shredded cheddar – the rest was destined for a cheese sauce for these Cheesy Baked Burritos!
Robbie, our 5-year-old son, has really taken an interest in the kitchen over the past year. Perhaps it’s sheer boredom from being home all day, but whenever I head into the kitchen to cook or bake, Robbie is close behind. He’s my official ‘salt and sugar taster’ whenever a recipe needs salt or sugar. (You know, just in case the salt or the sugar has gone bad…) He also loves measuring anything and everything. Truthfully, he’s a pretty good assistant in the kitchen. And you should see how proud he is when the finished recipe comes out of the oven!
Cheesy Baked Burritos
While I shredded the cheese for these Cheesy Baked Burritos, I’m thinking that job might get handed off to Robbie one day soon. We have a rotary grater stashed somewhere in the cupboard, so I need to find that. I suspect he’ll love turning the crank and seeing the cheese come out!
Let’s turn our attention to these burritos, though. Holy cow, are these delicious! The filling for these cheesy baked burritos is packed with all kinds of good stuff – ground chicken, tomatoes, diced chilies, black beans, refried beans…yum! But the shining star of this recipe is the easy cheese sauce.
This cheese sauce comes together in just a couple of minutes, and I made it while the ground chicken was cooking. (And I might have dipped a tortilla chip or two into it – you know, just to make sure it was good!) I used Cabot’s Medium Yellow Cheddar Cheese for this sauce, and it was the perfect amount of sharpness. Cabot’s Medium Cheddar is a fan-favorite for sure. I like to nibble on it by itself, but I have to say that it’s even more amazing when melted into a cheese sauce!
If you aren’t familiar with Cabot Creamery, then you should check out some of their cheeses! Cabot makes a variety of dairy products, and as a co-op, they are owned and operated by farm families throughout New England and New York. I personally love their sharp cheddar cheeses as well as their vanilla Greek yogurt. At any given time, you can count on finding multiple flavors of Cabot cheese hanging out in our fridge. (My sister-in-law always talks about how much she loves coming to visit us – and it’s because of the Cabot cheese in our fridge. I kid you not!)
These Cheesy Baked Burritos are a cross between small burritos and a casserole. They are more of a fork-and-knife kinda meal, but if you want to go in hands-first, then I’m not stopping you! Some of the cheese sauce gets mixed straight into the filling, and the rest gets poured on top before you serve it. Talk about the perfect comfort food for cold winter days! And I have to say that this recipe might be even better as leftovers! That’s a win-win for me: delicious dinner that produces delicious leftovers? Sign me up!
If you’re looking for a fun dinner idea, then put these Cheesy Baked Burritos on the menu. And if a little bit of the shredded cheese disappears in the process? No problem – your secret is safe with me!
Speaking of the cheese, I noted above that I used Cabot’s Medium Yellow Cheddar for this recipe. However, you could certainly use other Cabot cheeses – perhaps a Habanero Cheddar Cheese for a spicy kick or Vermont Extra Sharp for a sharper flavor. In fact, now I want to make this recipe again and play around with different flavors of Cabot cheese. Sounds like a good winter project to me!
Other Ways to Use Cheese Sauce
This cheese sauce recipe could be used in multiple ways. I want to try it with enchiladas, but I also think it would be great as a cheese dip for nachos. Grab some chips and top ’em with seasoned ground beef and this nacho cheese sauce – yum! Another idea would be to drizzle this cheese sauce over broccoli. Simple, but delicious!
Curious what Cabot products are available in your area? Check out their product finder here!
Did you make these Cheesy Baked Burrito recipe at home? Leave a comment, or snap a photo and tag me (@Spicedblog) and Cabot (@CabotCheese) on Instagram. We’d love to see your version!
Cheesy Baked Burritos
Ingredients
For the Cheese Sauce
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- 3 cups 2% or whole milk
- 2 cups 8 oz. shredded Cabot Medium Yellow Cheddar Cheese
- 1 tsp kosher salt
For the Filling
- ½ cup uncooked brown rice
- 2 lbs. ground chicken
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 2 Tbsp taco seasoning
- 1 15-oz. can diced tomatoes, drained
- 1 7-oz. can diced green chilies, drained
- 1 15-oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 15-oz. can refried beans
- 16 small fajita-sized flour tortillas
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
Instructions
For the Cheese Sauce
- Using a large saucepan, add butter and place over medium-low heat.
- Once butter has melted, add flour and whisk constantly for 2-3 minutes.
- Gradually add milk, whisking constantly while you pour. Continue cooking, stirring often, for 5-6 minutes or until mixture begins to thicken.
- Remove saucepan from heat and add shredded cheese and salt; stir until well combined.
For the Filling
- Cook brown rice according to package instructions. Once cooked, set rice aside.
- Spray a 9”x13” casserole dish with nonstick baking spray; set dish aside.
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Place ground chicken in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 6-8 minutes, or until chicken is fully cooked. Drain excess liquid from skillet and transfer cooked chicken into a large mixing bowl.
- Place skillet back over medium-high heat and add butter and olive oil.
- Once butter has melted, add diced onions and sauté, stirring occasionally, for 4-5 minutes, or until onions have begun to soften.
- Add minced garlic and taco seasoning; stir until well combined. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, for 1-2 more minutes.
- Add tomatoes, green chilies, black beans, refried beans and cooked rice; stir until well combined. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, for 2-3 minutes, or until no extra liquid remains in skillet.
- Remove skillet from heat and stir in ¾ cup of cheese sauce (from above). (Note: Keep remaining cheese sauce warm for later.)
- Spoon ~¼ cup of filling down center of each tortilla. Fold sides of tortilla over and place seam-side down in prepared casserole dish.
- Bake at 400°F for 10-12 minutes, or until tops of tortillas are golden brown.
- Remove from oven and spoon additional cheese sauce on top.
- Sprinkle with chopped cilantro before serving.
Looking for more cheesy recipes? Check out these other favorites, too:
Bacon-Wrapped Breadsticks with Queso
These are fabulous. I love anything cheesy. Unfortunately. If only cheese wasn’t caloric….
I’m with ya, Mimi – I love all things cheese!
Mmm these cheesy baked burritos look like the perfect hot comfort food for this winter wallop that we’re having! Yum!
Tell me about it, Michelle – this winter has been a rough one. I just told Laura this morning that I wouldn’t be surprised if we wind up hitting 2x our normal yearly snowfall. I’ve got several inches of snow and ice out there waiting for me to shovel later this morning. Either way, these cheesy baked burritos are a great comfort food for cold days!
These burritos really are a great way to break out of a weeknight dinner rut. They look SO cheesy and delicious!
I’m all about cheesy and delicious on these cold winter days! Thanks, Marissa! 🙂
A little extra cheese is always a good thing in my book! This cheese sauce looks so tasty and is a perfect topper for these burritos. This is a perfect dish to make this week.
This cheese sauce is amazing, Kathy! It’s so easy to make, and I thought it was quite tasty to pour over these baked burritos before serving. Tasty winter comfort food for sure! 🙂
My husband would love these burritos. He is both a cheese lover and burrito lover and this is perfect treat for him. How cute that your little boy is showing interest in cooking! Just like his father, he will become a great cook/chef someday. Maybe he is already? Have a great time with him every moment. They grow so fast.
Ah, if your husband likes burritos and cheese, then these baked burritos would be a huge hit! We really enjoyed these, and the leftovers were fantastic, too. (The leftovers didn’t look as pretty, but they tasted just as good!) You make a great point about enjoying cooking with Robbie – I just realized the other day that we don’t have any photos of us cooking together even though we do it almost every day. I’ll have to get Laura to take some of us! 🙂 Thanks, Holly!
Wow, David! These look amazing! They do look fork-necessary, but only because of that glorious cheese sauce! I’m definitely a fan of anything cheesy, and love the idea of making this with the habanero version of the cheese! Yum!
Yes to the habanero cheese sauce! I really want to try that out – which means I need to make this recipe again. We really enjoyed this one, and the leftovers are fantastic, too! Thanks, Laura!
that’s funny. shredding is something we do to paper:-) we grate cheese. Shredding is a much more violent action here:-) language is so funnny. Love your burritos. how delish do they look?!
Interesting! I kinda use grated and shredded interchangeably – although we do buy bags of shredded cheese here. You don’t really see bags of grated cheese. Whatever you call it, I can attest that these burritos are 100% delicious – and the leftovers are even more fantastic! Thanks, Sherry!
You had me at ‘cheesy’! We always have cheese on hand too! All kinds of varieties because we love it so much. These baked burritos look like a must try. It’s just the kinda comfort food we’ve been craving lately with all the cold weather! Hope you are doing well 🙂
I’m with ya, Dawn – cheese is the best, isn’t it?? 🙂 I do highly recommend these baked burritos – so much flavor going on in this recipe. And the cheese sauce on top? It’s the best part!!
If I become the official cheese shredder, half of the cheese would go in my stomach so better double up on the ingredients. Those burritos looks so cheesy which I love
Haha – I second that, Raymund! Forget the rest of the ingredients…just give me the shredded cheese. 🙂
Haha, when it comes to cheese shredding, I can totally relate. We have a simple cheese grater, and you probably can imagine that some small pieces (soft cheese – it’s easy with hard
types) that tend to stick to the grater, are basically impossible to collect and grate. And they’re also too big to be used in a dish, too. So what can you do with those leftovers? I guess you know the right answer!
Anyway, these baked burritos loaded with cheese look utterly delicious and comforting!
Haha – those pieces of cheese that get stuck in the grater are the best! As you noted, they are too small to grate but too big to put into the recipe – so they have to go somewhere. Yum! Thanks, Ben!
This sounds like one of things I could make on a snowy Saturday, and just hunker down in my warm house while I watch the snow fall.
Ah, I think you’re right, Jeff. This is the ultimate comfort food for snowy days!