Several years ago a friend sent me this recipe for burritos and when the girls were young they quickly became a favorite and a nice change from more “traditional” burritos. They’re not only delicious and easy to make and the ingredients don’t cost a lot. They’re also quite nutritious, and surprisingly low fat (and can be vegan with the cheese left out). They can also be wrapped individually and frozen to reheat later for snacks or a quick meal.
The original recipe called for cooked and mashed sweet potato, but I substituted pumpkin and it worked perfectly. With pumpkin, add the water to the bean mixture gradually though as canned pumpkin tends to be a bit “wetter” than baked sweet potato and the bean mixture doesn’t need to quite so wet (which risks making the burritos soggy). Canned refried beans can be substituted for the kidney beans in the recipe to save on time, although I personally never thought it took all that much time to mash the kidney beans. There’s no reason either why other types of beans, such as black beans or pintos, couldn’t be substituted if you prefer them, and pureed butternut squash or a large can of sweet potatoes (follow the same advice about adding the water) can also be substituted. The spices might seem excessive to some, but I happen to think they’re just enough (and we have also added salsa as well). The friend who sent me the recipe halved the chili powder, cumin, mustard and cayenne pepper and said they still tasted great.
If you do end up with some leftover bean mixture it can be added later to scrambled eggs for a breakfast burrito!
ADDICTIVE PUMPKIN BURRITOS
- 3 tsp vegetable oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 6 cups canned kidney beans, drained
- 2 cups water or less, as needed
- 3 TBSP chili powder
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 4 tsp prepared mustard
- pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
- 3 TBSP soy sauce
- 4 cups cooked and mashed pumpkin puree, sweet potato, or butternut squash
- 12 10-inch flour tortillas, warmed
- 8 oz. shredded Monterey Jack cheese (or Pepper Jack if you’d like a little more spice)
Preheat oven to 350°. Heat oil in a medium skillet, and saute onions and garlic until soft. Add beans and mash well. Gradually stir in water, and heat until thick and warm. Remove from heat and stir in chili powder, cumin, mustard, cayenne pepper (if using) and soy sauce. Divide bean mixture and pumpkin puree evenly between the warm tortillas; place next to the lower edge and top with some cheese. Fold the edge over tightly, then fold up the sides and fold over again to close. Bake for 12 minutes in the oven and serve warm. Chopped green onion and sour cream go well with these burritos.
You can freeze these burritos for later use. Don’t bake them, but wrap each one individually in foil, then place in a bag and freeze. Heat by taking off the foil and microwaving for two and a half minutes, or defrost and bake according to directions.
The Occasional Nomads 
They sound yummy. Will be making these.
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You will find out why “addictive” is in their name! They are very, very good!
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Do you remember restaurant ’Chez Jose’? They had the yummiest sweet potato/peanut sauce enchiladas. Crazy mashup but I never could order anything else when we went. Just made butternut squash/black bean enchiladas with tomatillo sauce for family Sunday dinner. ( Ben and family are vegetarian.)
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Same for me, Joan! That was the only thing I ever ordered there! I got the recipe once but it was very complicated so never got made. But oh those were some very good enchiladas.
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These look amazing. I’m torn between trying them with sweet potatoes or butternut squash and doing the pumpkin and hoping DH doesn’t notice. LOL. He hates pumpkin and I love it. I can’t think of a pumpkin recipe I have tried that I didn’t love. Thanks!
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Same for me with pumpkin – I love it! Costco is supposed to be have cases of organic pumpkin in stock now, but whether ours has it in is doubtful.
These burritos will be good no matter what you choose to use.
Hope you had a safe trip home, or at least are on your way!
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Thanks…the trip home was pretty uneventful actually. I don’t think there were more than 10 customers on my LHR-BOS flight. Never had more attention from the flight attendants in my life. LOL. The domestic flight was a bit more crowded, and I was happy I went with Delta, as all the middle seats were blocked and people were pretty good about social distancing. Loved being there and happy to be home.
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That was how we felt on our trip back from Tokyo, when there was us and one other person in first class. We were SPOILED! Delta is my favorite airline these days – glad to hear that they are still practicing social distancing. I’m sure though that by the time we fly again things will be back to crowded.
Happy to know you had such a good trip!
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I’ll have to try these burritos sometime. The pumpkin apple pancakes were good.
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I’m so happy to read that you liked the pumpkin apple pancakes – I can wait to make them (next week, after we go food shopping). The burritos are very good, and yes, addicting.
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These look great, Laura! Personally, I will substitute black beans for the kidney beans, as I think the flavor profile will work better. Actually, I wonder if this recipe is from the time before black beans became so popular?
And there is no such thing as too much cilantro in my house! 😃😃
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I have made these with black beans and it is a good combination. I sort of thought kidney beans were a weird choice as well when I first got the recipe – pinto beans would have been my first choice.
We love cilantro around here too, but I thought it was funny that so much was scattered over the top of the burritos – I would have tucked it all inside!
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Sounds yummy. Love burritos. When I go back home, I will definitely try making them.
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How easy it for you to find American products in Turkey? Can you find things like tortillas and such. They used to be very hard to find in Japan, but lots of places have them now (of course they are also expensive). Love reading your blog, but can’t comment – WordPress and Blogger still don’t want to get along.
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I am always looking for easy, nutritious and delicious food to make. Thanks for the recipes.
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These are really good burritos – I hope you enjoy them. I also am always looking for easy, nutritious and delicious things to make. I’ll try a complicated recipe once in a while, but prefer ones like these burritos.
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I was going to cube the half of a kabocha pumpkin to freeze but I’ll steam and mash it and try this recipe instead. Sounds delicious!
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At first I was wondering if you could get tortillas or not, but then I remembered there was a whole display of Mexican food items at the supermarket we shopped at in Florence, tortillas and all. We used to look longingly at it but always decided it was a) too expensive; and b) we were in Italy and it was not the time to be eating Mexican food!
I love kabocha! Haven’t seen it in the markets here yet, but it will come. I love to have it Japanese style, simmered in shoyu, mirin, sugar, and dashi – yum!!
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Made the burritos last night for dinner and you are right — they are addictive!
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So happy you liked them!!
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