Chimichangas – A Beautiful Mess

I love a homemade chimichanga! In case you don’t know, a chimichanga is essentially a deep-fried burrito. It’s a classic Tex-Mex style recipe that you can customize any way your family likes. I personally much prefer to bake these in the oven—they are still crispy! But I’ll share two methods for making this chimichanga recipe.

And while I like to use burrito sized tortillas you could also use smaller sizes to make mini chimichangas as a part of a larger meal or as appetizers for a party.

Related: Next up try my homemade enchiladas or tostadas. Yum!

Ingredients

• Ground beef
• Taco seasoning
• Refried beans
• Cheese
• Flour tortillas – burrito size
• Oil – canola, vegetable or other cooking oil

I like to serve these with iceberg lettuce for the crunch along with salsa, sour cream and hot sauce but it’s totally up to you what to serve with your chimichangas.

How to make Chimichangas (Oven Baked)

In a large skillet cook the ground beef over medium heat, seasoning with taco seasoning, until no pink remains. Remove from heat and stir in the refried beans.

In a tortilla shell add the beef and bean mixture along with the shredded cheese. Roll into a burrito.

Brush a baking sheet with a little oil. Add the chimichanga, seam side down, and brush the remaining sides with oil. Bake at 400°F for 15-18 minutes, flipping half way through the bake time.

Serve hot along with lettuce, salsa, sour cream and any other condiments or sides you want.

Pan Fry Method

To pan fry these follow the directions above until you have rolled up the burrito. Next 2-3 tablespoons of oil to a large skillet and heat over medium/high heat.

Once hot, add the chimichanga to the pan seam-side down. Pan fry for 1-2 minutes and then flip to the other side. Pan fry for another 1-2 minutes. Remove to a cooling rack so excess oil can drip off. Serve hot.

Tips and Substitutions

• You could use other ground meats in place of beef for this recipe like ground turkey or ground chicken. You could also use a shredded meat, like shredded chicken or carnitas. Or you could also replace the meat with black beans or other beans for a vegetarian option.
• I like to use shredded cheddar cheese for this, but any melting cheese would work well (pepper jack, mozzarella, etc)
• Whether I bake or pan fry these I use tongs to flip and handle the chimichangas when hot.
• I prefer the texture of the baked chimichangas here, the opposite of how I feel about homemade quesadillas. Another reason I like to bake this recipe is you can easily make multiple chimichangas at once, making it easier to feed a family or larger group.

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