Cheap Freezer Burritos with Beans, Rice and Cheese

Why This One Works

A freezer burrito is only a bargain if it is big enough to be the whole meal, so these are built large: a full cup of filling in every tortilla, with rice and beans doing the filling work and cheese making it taste like a treat instead of a compromise. Mashing part of the beans is the trick that holds everything together, so the filling stays put when you bite in and reheats creamy instead of crumbly. One batch of eight turns a single cooking session into eight future meals that cost less than the change in a coat pocket.

Ingredients

• Large flour tortillas, one 650 g packabout $3.79
• Long grain rice, 400 gabout $1.95
• Canned beans, two 540 ml cansabout $3.40
• Block cheese, 200 g, gratedabout $2.82
• Frozen corn, 150 gabout $0.75
• Onion, 150 gabout $0.51
• Spices and oilabout $0.35

Method

1. Cook the rice in about 800 ml of salted water until tender, about 15 minutes. Fluff it and let it stand covered for 5 minutes.
2. While the rice cooks, heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat and cook the onion for about 4 minutes, until soft.
3. Add the beans, cumin, chili powder and garlic powder with a few spoonfuls of water. Warm through for about 3 minutes, then mash roughly a third of the beans with a potato masher so the mix turns creamy in spots.
4. Stir the corn into the beans and warm for 2 minutes more. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the cooked rice. Salt to taste.
5. Warm the tortillas briefly so they bend without cracking. Divide the filling among them, about a cup each, and top each with a share of the grated cheese.
6. Fold in the sides and roll each burrito up tight. Place them seam side down in a hot dry pan for about 1 minute a side, until the seam seals and the outside takes a little colour.
7. Cool the burritos completely on a rack. Wrap each one in foil, pack them into a freezer bag, and freeze for up to 3 months.
8. To eat from frozen, unwrap, wrap in a damp paper towel, and microwave about 3 minutes, flipping once. A few minutes in a hot pan afterwards brings back the crisp outside.