Confession: I was a big time Taco Bell addict before I gave up meat. As a kid, I never really liked most fast food. Cheeseburgers totally weren’t my thing. But I was all about beefy burritos. A few years ago I recreated the 7 layer burrito for this blog, but that wasn’t actually my favorite menu item. I was totally partial to the plain old beef & bean burrito. It’s about time I went and made a vegan version of that one!
Vegan “Beef”
Seitan is my go-to vegan substitute for beef. It’s hearty and savory like beef, and if you make your own using my homemade seitan recipe, you can even include specific flavors to create a beefy seitan. Not up for making your own seitan? No worries! The store-bought stuff does a great job of replicating beef in this recipe too!
How to Make Beefy Vegan Burritos
You’ll need two main components to construct these burritos.
1. Vegan Refried Beans
Good news! I posted a recipe for them last week. You can find that here.
2. Vegan Beef Crumbles
For this, we’ll need to transform our seitan into crumbles, which isn’t too tough. First, mince your seitan super finely. You want the texture to be close to cooked ground beef or meatless crumbles you might find in the freezer of your supermarket. I use a big chef’s knife and chop away until my seitan is super fine.
Heat up some oil in a skillet and add an onion. Cook the onion for about 10 minutes, until it begins to soften and brown. Now add your seitan, and cook everything for a few minutes more, to start browning the seitan. Next you can add some garlic and spices: cumin and ancho chile powder. Cook everything for about a minute more, and add some tomato paste and water. Bring the liquid up to a simmer and let everything cook for a few minutes to thicken up the sauce.
Give your seitan mixture a taste and season it with some salt and pepper, as well as some hot sauce.
How to Roll a Burrito
Grab a large flour tortilla. Make sure you’re using a big one! It’s nearly impossible to fit everything into a tortilla that’s too small. The key to rolling a burrito is to not overfill it. Use less than you think you need: about ½ cup of beans and ½ cup of the seitan mixture. Add some vegan cheese if you like, and a few leaves of fresh cilantro. Fold the edge closest to you over the fillings. Now fold the sides in, over the fillings. You can push the fillings back with a spoon at this point to make sure your burrito is nice and tight. Now just roll everything away from you. Voila!
Is there a substitute for seitan? I’m not sure! I haven’t tried making these burritos with any substitutes, but I think Butler Soy Curls, soaked in broth and finely chopped, would work well. Can these burritos be made gluten-free? Maybe! Try substituting soy curls for seitan, as described above, and using your favorite gluten-free tortillas. How long do leftovers keep? How should they be stored? Wrap your burritos in foil or parchment paper and store them in a sealed bag or container. They’ll be good in the fridge for up to 3 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Variations! Feel free to make this recipe your own. Not into refried beans? Double up the seitan mixture. Not into tortillas? Cook some rice and make burrito bowls.
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