With the best parts of a burrito and an enchilada in one, this on-again, off-again Taco Bell menu item is perfect for big appetites looking for big flavors.
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Table of Contents
About the Taco Bell Enchirito
Taco Bell is well-known for mixing and matching classic Mexican and Tex-Mex dishes to create delicious combinations, like the quesarito, a burrito rolled up with a cheese quesadilla as the tortilla. But one of the chain’s original fusion menu items is the enchirito, which combines the best parts of a burrito and an enchilada.
The dish, made up of a traditional beef, bean, and cheese burrito smothered in red enchilada sauce and topped with shredded cheese, first appeared on the chain’s menu in the 1970s. But whether or not you’ll find it on the menu may vary, as it’s been discontinued and reintroduced several times since.
Luckily, if you’re craving one, there’s no need to worry whether the Enchirito is currently available at your local Taco Bell or even about trying to order it off the “secret menu,” for that matter. It’s easy to make at home and just as mouthwatering as the real thing.
Why This is the Best Recipe for a Taco Bell Enchirito
With relatively simple ingredients, the enchirito gets its authentic taste from the spice mixture that seasons the beef and sauce. This combination perfectly mimics the real taco seasoning from Taco Bell.
In addition, it’s simple to make in both small and large batches and provides an easy, affordable, filling dinner or meal prep lunch. Plus, who can turn down the intense cheesy, beefy, saucy flavor, one of the heartiest dishes to ever grace Taco Bell’s menu?
Why You Won’t Want to Miss this Delicious Taco Bell Treat
The Sauce – I think the sauce really makes the difference in this recipe. The original Taco Bell sauce has good flavor and just the right amount of spice without being overly hot.
You may even want to double the portion of the sauce so you will some on hand to pour over tacos or to use with your other favorite Mexican recipes. I love to use this sauce when I make homemade nachos.
Enchirito Ingredients
The list of ingredients in the Taco Bell enchirito recipe may be long, but don’t let it stress you out. Most are likely already in your pantry or spice rack, and others are easy to find and typically affordable.
For the burrito’s seasoned beef filling:
- Ground chuck
- Masa harina
- Chili powder
- Onion powder
- Garlic powder
- Seasoned salt
- Paprika
- Ground cumin
- Garlic salt
- Sugar
- Dried minced onion
- Beef bouillon powder
- Water
For the enchirito sauce:
- Canned tomato sauce
- Water
- Chili powder
- Cumin
- Minced onion
- White vinegar
- Garlic powder
- Garlic salt
- Paprika
- Sugar
- Cayenne pepper
For assembling the enchiritos:
- Soft flour tortillas
- Refried beans
- Shredded cheddar cheese
- White onion
- Sliced black olives
Using fresh, high-quality spices is critical for best results, as the seasoning blend does a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to flavor. Mixing the spice blends ahead of time can make the cooking process quicker and less stressful than in the moment.
Ingredient Substitutions
Masa harina, a traditional Mexican flour made of dried ground corn treated with lime, is the best choice for a binder and thickener in the seasoned beef. If this isn’t available, cornmeal or corn flour (not corn starch) can fill in if necessary.
While the spice blend is optimized for the best flavor, those sensitive to heat can skip the cayenne or reduce the chili powder. On the flip side, add a bit more of these spices or toss a few pickled jalapenos into the filling for additional heat.
The filling is also easy to tweak to your needs. Instead of ground beef, you can use chicken, chorizo, or even vegetarian options like tofu. Likewise, the refried beans can be swapped for black beans and cheddar for pepper jack, colby jack, or any other shredded cheese you desire. The enchirito can even be made gluten-free by replacing the flour tortillas with corn or other non-wheat flour alternatives.
How to Make Taco Bell Enchrito
The first step is making the seasoned beef filling:
- Add the spices and masa harina to a small bowl and stir to combine.
- Brown the crumbled beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Drain the excess grease and rinse the cooked beef with water.
- Return the beef to the skillet and add the seasoning mix and water.
- Cook until the liquid has mostly evaporated, and then remove from the heat.
Then make the enchirito sauce:
- Place all the sauce ingredients in a saucepan or skillet. Stir to combine.
- Cook over low heat for 20 minutes.
Finally, all that’s left is to assemble the enchiritos:
- Warm the refried beans in a small pan over medium-low heat. When warmed, spread over the tortillas.
- Add a scoop of ground beef on top of the beans along the center of the tortillas.
- Roll up the burrito and place it seam-side-down in a baking dish.
- Spoon the enchilada red sauce over the burritos, and then sprinkle cheese, diced onion, and olive slices on top.
- Bake at 350°F for about 15 minutes.
Fun Toppings for Your Enchiritos
The preparation above is the most faithful to the way you’d find the enchirito at its home restaurant. But luckily, your home kitchen has more options than Taco Bell. Try these additions:
- Sour cream
- Guacamole
- Pico de gallo
- Green onions
What Goes Well with the Taco Bell Enchirito
Make it a true Taco Bell-inspired Mexican feast by pairing your enchirito with a Taco Bell Soft Taco or a double decker taco, with a soft outside surrounding a crunchy inside shell. Since you’ll already have some on hand, refried beans are a great choice for a side, as is Spanish rice or corn salsa.
How to Store Enchiritos
To store these and maintain their quality, follow these guidelines to store in the refrigerator.
- Allow enchiritos to cool, but don’t leave them at room temperature for more than two hours for food safety reasons.
- Place the Enchiritos in an airtight container. You can use a plastic container with a tight-fitting lid or a glass container with a lid. Alternatively, you can wrap them individually in aluminum foil or plastic wrap.
- Store them in the refrigerator. Properly stored enchiladas will last for 3 to 5 days in the refrigerator.
What’s the Best Way to Reheat an Enchirito
The best way to reheat enchiritos is the same way you cooked them to begin with, in the oven.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Remove your enchiritos from the fridge and let them come to room temperature as the oven heats up.
- Place them in an oven-safe container. You can use the one they’re currently stored in if it’s safe for the oven.
- Cover the dish with aluminum foil to prevent the enchiritos from drying out.
- Heat in the oven for 20-25 minutes until completely warmed through to 165°F (74°C).
- Remove the dish from the oven and let the enchiritos cool for a few minutes before enjoying.
While there’s no denying it takes longer than popping it in the microwave, using the oven helps preserve texture and flavor far better. If you’re in a rush, they can be heated up in the microwave on a microwave-safe plate, covered by a lid, or another microwave-safe plate. Heat them one to two minutes at a time until they’re heated through.
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Taco Bell Enchirito
Ingredients
Beef
- 1 1/2 tablespoons masa harina
- 4 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon dried minced onion
- 1/2 teaspoon beef bouillon powder
- 1 1/3 pounds ground chuck
Sauce
- 8 ounces tomato sauce
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 1/2 teaspoons minced onion
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Assembly
- 4 tortillas
- 1 cup refried beans heated
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/4 cup chopped white onions
- sliced black olives optional
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine all the ingredients for the beef, except for the beef itself, and mix well.
- Crumble the ground chuck into a large skillet (preferably nonstick) and brown, stirring well. Remove from the heat and drain the grease from the beef.
- Return the beef to the pan and stir in the spice mix and 3/4 to 1 cup of water. Simmer uncovered on medium-low heat for 20 minutes, until most of the moisture has cooked away. Remove the pan from the heat before the meat is completely dry.
- To make the sauce, combine all the ingredients for the sauce in a saucepan and mix well. Simmer at a very low temperature for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- To assemble the Enchirito, spread 1/4 of the heated refried beans onto a tortilla, followed by 1/4 of the ground beef. Roll up the tortilla and place it seam-side down in an ovenproof dish coated with non-stick spray. Repeat with remaining tortillas. Cover with the prepared sauce, cheese, chopped onions, and black olives, if desired.
- Place the Enchiritos in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes, or until the cheese melts.
as I remember them, the chopped onions go *inside* the Enchirito. should be beans then onions (press in with back of spoon) then beef, and rollup in that corn tortilla! I liked that chopped onion pressed into the bean so much that i do that everywhere! Source: me in the seventies monchin’ enchiritos on the daily!
1. There is something wrong with your video feed, it starts to play the Taco Bell Enchirito video and then moves to a different video.
2. The original enchirito used a corn tortilla.
Other than the flour tortilla this is pretty close
To watch the video, I believe you need to click on ‘Stay’ when it comes up, otherwise you get moved to another video. I think the original had a tortilla that was a mix of both flour and corn. Those style of tortillas are a little harder to find though.
Hubby said can sauce would be good. I said no, this recipe looks fantastic. So we made two batches- one with canned sauce, the other with this sauce. Hands down, this is what I remember of the Enchirio, and I bet I ate 100 of them!
I will thin the sauce next time, actually next week when I make it again, I followed the recipe and Taci Bell’s was more thin, but the taste is so true!
4 and a half teaspoons of chili powder ? Is that right ? Plus along with alllll the other spices seems like an awful lot!
I am sorry if you feel this is a lot, the recipe is correct as written from my side. I would suggest using McCormick’s chili powder, it isn’t spicy, it’s full of flavor.
Have a question. I made sauce & beef & will assemble & bake tomorrow. The ingredient wording that says “seasoning salt”; does that mean “ season with salt” or is there a special product I don’t know about? Will post again after my family weighs in.
Seasoning salt is a product like Seasonal, or other type of seasoned salt. I hope this helps.
Way too many ingredients. This seems to be a problem with copy cat recipes. Maybe it’s needed to mimic the taste, but I’d rather have less ingredients that are easy to remember. (That’s why I don’t watch Rachael Ray… too many ingredients.)
Thank you for letting me know. If you want something super easy, buy a couple of large bottles of Ortega sauce and use that for the sauce, and use your favorite taco seasoning. That would cut down a lot on the ingredients. I am sorry you didn’t like that I tried to shoot for more authentic food over making something easy.
Well, if there are too few ingredients, then it won’t taste similar to what you are trying to copy / duplicate. So, it’s important to have enough ingredients where you get the distinct and as-close-as-possible taste to the original. To me / us, we don’t mind a list of ingredients, because it sure won’t taste bland and might teach us a thing or two — as we learn from expert chefs like Ms. Copykat.
Thanks, Stephanie, for each and every recipe. We do learn from your experience.
This is actually as close of a recipe in taste as I’ve been able to find anywhere (and I’ve tried a LOT of other recipes). I think the problem here is not her recipe but possibly your lack of motivation? I have more ingredients in my homemade ramen seasoning than Stephanie has in this recipe so I would say this recipe isn’t too complicated overall and the outcome is fantastic! Thank you Stephanie, for all these different and inspiring recipes that have made our lives just a tad bit more enjoyable and much, much tastier! Keep it up, hun!
Thank you for this recipe! My husband really missed Taco Bell Enchirtio’s and he said this was really good. Easy to make and the sauce is delicious. Will definitely be a staple for us!
I made this before, for my husband, I used taco flavored beef, small corn tostada, jalapeno Velveeta cheese, melted, w/diced tomato and onion, he loved it !!!! Of course a large burrito tortilla.
Loved & missed Enchiritos
Put back on the menu !!!
The amount of ground beef you used was never mentioned. Should I assume a pound and have you ever tried it with ground turkey?
I mentioned 1 1/3 pounds of ground chuck, I have not tried it with ground turkey, I am not that fond of the texture of ground turkey.
Um, it’s in the ingredients list…1-1/3 ground chuck. Sure it’ll work with ground turkey, chicken, pork, ostrich, buffalo–customize it any way you want.
Hmmmm… ground ostrich? I’m curious as to what that tastes like. Is it more like chicken or turkey..? Hahaha
Made this a few times and love it. I believe it even better than the original.
I am making this tonight…can’t wait! Why couldn’t you just get bean burritos at taco bell open them up and put the meat mixture and onions in it. Wrap up and pour the sauce over it, add onions ,cheese and olives on top? Let ya know if it works
That should work.
Red sauce used on the food in their kitchen is NOT the same as taco sauce in the packets. Red sauce is milder and has a fuller texture and taste. It’s called enchilada sauce.
I just made your sausage. It was great, thank you for all your hard work. It’s easy to get one from Taco bell. order bean burrito, have them add beef to it, and order a side of their red sauce that they use in the burrito. Viola you have your self and enchirito
Can you use taco bell seasoning packet for the beef as a shortcut ?
Yes, you can.