Vegan Black Bean Burrito
You’re going to love this vegan black bean burrito recipe! They’re a delicious and healthy meal option that can be enjoyed by everyone, even kids. The foolproof recipe is simple to make and the filling can be used for more than just a burrito!
Originally Published: May 20th, 2018
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This vegan dinner recipe is quite filling, flavorful, and savory! Just like this vegan pasta salad recipe, sweet potato curry, and avocado quesadilla.
And not to mention, these burritos are super affordable, as the main ingredients are rice and beans. Which also means they are high in fiber and protein, while they can be prepped ahead for a quick lunch or dinner!
This meal was also a part of the A to Z healthy snack series, you can find it in 5 Snacks For Kids That Start With The Letter D. For the snack version, I simply made very small portions!
Why you’ll love this vegan black bean burrito recipe
- Simple and easy to make
- Uses mostly pantry ingredients (minus a few veggies0
- 100% dairy free and plant-based
- Great for quick lunches or dinners
- Filling
- Delicious
- Can be made to your own liking!
Vegan Black Bean Burrito Ingredients
*The full recipe is available to print down below on the ‘recipe card’, including ingredient quantities and all steps!
Brown Rice: Brown rice was chosen for this recipe because of it being a whole grain and much more filling than white rice.
Black Beans: This is a black bean burrito, so black beans are in the recipe. I use canned black beans, for ease of use, but feel free to use black beans you’ve cooked.
Red Onion: Red onion is used in this recipe for the color, the sweeter flavor, and honestly, because I always have them in my home!
Bell Pepper: Bell peppers are the best type of pepper to use in this recipe, especially if making it for kids who do not like spicy foods. Bell peppers are more sweet than spicy or hot, so it’s a natural choice in my own home.
Corn: Sweet canned corn is usually used in this recipe. You can also use frozen or fresh. You would need anywhere from 1 ½ to 2 cups of corn for this recipe. 1 can of corn is 15.5 ounces (including the liquid), 16 ounces is 2 cups.
Tomato: Vine ripe or roma tomatoes are best for this recipe, but other types of tomatoes can be used.
Salsa: I personally use mild salsa in this recipe, but choose the one your family loves.
Garlic Salt: Garlic salt is amazing! It brings a salty, garlicky flavor to the whole dish. If you’re changing up the spices and going a more spicy root, then totally up to you if you use this or not.
Cumin: Cumin adds a bit of flavor, without being overwhelming, it’s a very mild taste, but I love adding it to burritos, stews, and more.
Black Pepper: Black pepper is really the only ‘spicy’ spice in this recipe, and only a small amount is used.
Nutritional Yeast: Nutritional yeast can help provide some vitamin B12 to your diet (please note that it ‘adds’ it to your diet, it is not enough to rely on this as your sole B12 provider if you are vegan or whole food plant-based).
This is also what adds a somewhat cheesy flavor to the dish. It can be omitted if you don’t have it.
Flour Tortillas: We need something to wrap everything up in, and in my home, that is 8 or 10 inch flour tortillas!
Ingredient Substitutions
White Rice: This recipe can be made with white rice or another type of rice.
Other Beans: This is a black bean burrito, but if you prefer another type of bean, then go for it! I don’t think there’s a ‘wrong’ bean to use in burritos, even chickpeas taste good in them. I would try cannellini in these burritos.
Other Onions: You can 100% absolutely sub out the red onion for another type of onion, such as a white, cooking, sweet. Just not a green onion, as those aren’t even the same shape or texture as other onions.
Other Peppers: Other peppers have not been tested in this recipe, but feel free to experiment with other types if you like spicy food!
Other Spices: Other spices can be used in this recipe, I like to keep things a bit mild, as my family does not like spicy foods. But, by all means, if you like spicy food, then spice it up!
Other Tortillas: If you can’t have gluten, then feel free to use gluten free or corn tortillas. You can even use mini tortillas to make this a snack, just use less filling.
How to Make a Vegan Burrito
Step one: Start by getting out all of your prepped ingredients OR if you haven’t prepped your ingredients, start by making the rice and chopping your veggies.
Step two: Sauté the diced onion and bell pepper until the onion starts to look almost see through.
Step three: Add the beans, corn, and rice onto your pan and stir until everything is warm. This should take anywhere from 3 to 5 minutes.
Step four: Stir in the tomato, salsa, and spices to the mixture until well combined.
Step five: Turn off the heat and gently stir in the nutritional yeast.
Step six: Get your tortillas ready, remove the mixture from the heat, scoop about a half of a cup of the mixture onto the bottom ⅓ of a tortilla forming a horizontal line. Fold in the sides of the tortilla and then roll like, like a burrito.
Step seven: Continue filling and rolling the tortillas until you run out of the filling.
Step eight: Cook the burritos on the stove on medium heat for about 2-3 minutes, flipping halfway through, until both sides start to golden.
Step nine: Allow to cool slightly and enjoy with more salsa!
Expert Tips
Some things will make this vegan black bean burrito recipe easier to make, such as:
- Having your rice made ahead of time.
- Chopping most of your veggies ahead of time.
- Using canned beans, or at least having your home cooked beans ready to go before starting the recipe.
*How to make beans from dried beans:
- Soak the beans overnight in plenty of water.
OR
- Quick soak them by bringing them to a boil in plenty of water on the stove, then turn off the heat and let sit covered for a few hours.
THEN
- Cook them in 3 times their water for at least an hour.
- Taste test every so often for softness/doneness.
OR
- Make in an Instant Pot if you have one.
Alternative Ways to Make this
If you don’t want to prepare all of the filling in the tortillas as burritos, that is perfectly alright!
The filling for these vegan black bean burrito recipe are also great in:
- Quesadillas (put twice as much filling on top of one tortilla, then add a second tortilla on top and cook on medium heat)
- As a pizza topping (seriously, it’s good!)
- As a dip with tortilla chips
- Or in a bowl by itself (this is how my middle child used to devour it when she was just a toddler!)
I also love to prepare these burritos, as in make all 12 of them at once, and then freeze them as easy lunches or dinners for the coming week(s) or month(s). There’s no way my kids and I will eat 12 in one day, and it’s a great healthy meal to help keep me eating healthy during our chaotic weeks during the school year!
How to Serve
You can serve these burritos with salsa, or at least that’s how I like to eat mine!
Feel free to serve with other ‘toppings’ or eat as is, up to you.
Storing Vegan Burritos for Later
Fridge: Store in the fridge for up to 4-5 days in an airtight container. You will have to reheat these on the stove, oven, or air fryer. Heating them up in the microwave is not recommended as they may get soggy in the fridge and we want to crisp them back up slightly before eating.
Freezer: Freezing the burritos is the best way to save any leftovers. They can last up to 3 months in the freezer if wrapped in foil or plastic and then in a freezer bag. However, I only place mine in a silicone freezer bag and eat them over the next couple of weeks and they are perfect!
Make sure they are 100% cool before placing them on a cookie sheet in the freezer, then once frozen, place in a freezer bag.
To reheat from frozen:
- Oven: bake for about 20 minutes at 350℉, cut in half and make sure the middle is warm.
- Air fryer: 400℉ for 5 minutes, then cut in half and heat in the air fryer for another 5 minutes, or until warm in the middle.
- Stovetop: heat on medium heat until warm all through out again (I don’t recommend this way, never works well for me)
- Microwave: not recommended as it heats things up so unevenly.
Vegan burritos are made of tortillas, usually rice and beans, some veggies, and some spices. They’re actually quite simple to make, with simple ingredients.
Of course! Making burritos at home means you get to control what you put into it, and if like with this recipe, you add only healthy ingredients, then the burrito will be healthy?
Using an instant pot to cook your rice (and beans if you’re starting with dried beans) would help significantly for speeding up this recipe.
You could also, in theory, use a food processor on ‘pulse’ to chop your veggies to your desired size.
Or, you could simply prep the rice and veggies ahead of time and use canned beans, like is suggested in this recipe.
My goal is to always make recipes in the simplest way possible, using the least time. I have 3 kids and run a business at home, I don’t have hours per day to be spending on making food!
This truly depends on the kids ability to cook. For example, my oldest child could probably make this with barely any supervision (she’s 10 and I started teaching her to cook as a toddler). However my 7 year old would need a bit of help, and I wouldn’t even imagine letting my 4 year tackle this recipe.
But, if your child can chop veggies and use the stove, then there’s no reason to not let them help, or make it by themselves WITH SUPERVISION.
Absolutely, feel free to make the filling up to 2-3 days prior to making the burritos. This would be a great way to meal prep, yet feel like you’re eating freshly made food!
More Recipes You’ll Love
- 7 Easy Vegan Simple Recipes for Beginner Vegans
- Easy Vegan Pasta Salad
- Homemade Vegan Spaghettios
- Quinoa Stew
- Vegan Sweet Potato Chickpea Curry
- Black Bean Burgers
Vegan Black Bean Burrito
Shawna ClapperEquipment
- Large Skillet (Or large fry pan or pot)
- Spatula
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups cooked brown rice
- 1 red onion diced
- 1 bell pepper diced
- 1 can (15.5 ounce) black beans drained & rinsed
- 1 can (15.5 ounce) corn drained
- 1 vine ripe tomato diced
- ⅓ cup salsa mild
- 1 teaspoon garlic salt
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 12 large flour tortillas
Instructions
- Cook the rice in the water and dice all of the veggies, if they aren’t already chopped.
- Saute the onion and bell pepper on medium to high heat for 5-7 minutes, or until the onion is starting to become translucent.
- Add the beans, corn, and rice and cook on medium to low heat until warm, about 3-5 minutes.
- Stir in the tomato, salsa, and spices.
- Turn the heat off and stir in the nutritional yeast.
- Remove from the stove and scoop a little over ½ cup of the filling into the middle to 1/3rd bottom of a tortilla, fold in the sides, and roll up into a burrito.
- Repeat step 6 until you run out of filling or tortillas.
- Cook the burritos on medium to high heat for about 2-3 minutes, flipping halfway through, or until golden on both sides.
- Allow to cool slightly and enjoy with some more salsa.
You know and instant pot makes the rice and probably the rest of the ingredients in a flash of time and you only have 1 pot to clean up! Also think this would be a nice filling for stuffed peppers!
Now you’re making me want an instant pot! And you are absolutely right, it does make a good filling for stuffed peppers!