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Beef and Bean Chimichangas

September 10, 2009 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom 28 Comments

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beef and bean chimichanga

Today is Thursday. That means I’m doubling up the dinner recipe and putting half in the freezer! I plan to do this every Thursday until baby boy #3 arrives. I chose Thursday because its my “lightest” day and I can spend some extra time in the kitchen.

This recipe from Carrie at Carrie’s Cooking called for a ground beef, green peppers and onions mix…so I decided that I’d kill 2 birds with 1 stone and brown up some extra ground beef mix and freeze it for an easy spaghettti sauce or a skillet dinner post-baby…or even pre-baby!!! And what’s even more perfect…green peppers were on sale (their lowest price around here!) for $.50 each this week!

So tonight I was able to get an extra meal, plus 6 portions of ready-made ground beef mix into the freezer!

freezer-ground-beef-mix

The recipe below is the “single” dinner recipe for 4. I noted the freezer directions below as well.

beef and bean chimichanga
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Beef and Bean Chimichangas

Easy and freezer friendly!
Prep Time15 minutes minutes
Cook Time55 minutes minutes
Servings - 4 servings

Ingredients 

  • 1 lb lean ground beef
  • 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
  • 1 green bell pepper, diced
  • 1 cup frozen corn, thawed
  • 15 oz can tomato sauce
  • 2 tsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1/4 cup dried black beans
  • 8 burrito size flour tortillas
  • 2 cups of shredded Mexican cheese blend
  • 1 Tbsp butter or dairy free margarine, melted
  • Shredded lettuce
  • 1 tomato, diced

Instructions

  • Soak beans overnight or for at least 2 hours in HOT water. Drain, rinse and then add to saucepan and cover with 2 inches of water. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to medium. Cook for 1.5 - 2 hours, or until beans are soft. Drain juices. Substitute 1 15 oz. can of black beans if prefer.
  • Brown the ground beef with green pepper, onion and corn. Drain.
  • Stir in the tomato sauce and chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, salt and pepper. Cook for 4-5 minutes, allowing flavors time to mingle. Add cooked black beans.
  • Lay the tortillas flat and spread the meat and bean mixture onto each of the tortillas. Top with shredded cheese.
  • Roll up the tortillas, and place them seam-side down onto a baking sheet. Brush the tortillas with melted butter.
  • Bake at 350 for 30 to 35 minutes, or until tortillas turn golden brown.
  • Serve Beef and Bean Chimichangas with Lettuce and Tomato Salad.

Freezer Meal Instructions

  • After rolling up the tortillas place in freezer safe container and place in freezer. When ready to cook defrost in refrigerator overnight, then brush with melted butter and bake as directed above.

beef-and-bean-chimichangas

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Filed Under: Beans Recipes, Beef Recipes, Budget Friendly Recipes, Dairy Free Meal Ideas, Freezer Recipes and Freezer Meal Plans, Recipes from the Garden Tagged With: corn

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Comments

  1. Susie's Homemade says

    September 10, 2009 at 8:08 pm

    That looks REALLY GOOD!!!

    Reply
  2. Steve says

    September 11, 2009 at 5:29 am

    This dish looks good and I would like to cook it .. thanks!

    Reply
  3. Alta says

    September 11, 2009 at 7:08 am

    These would be family pleasers for sure!

    Reply
  4. Melissa says

    September 11, 2009 at 7:43 am

    Looks delicious! Great idea about freezing the browned ground beef. It’s also useful in the slow cooker–for chili, spaghetti sauce, etc.

    Reply
  5. Rebecca says

    September 11, 2009 at 9:29 am

    This recipe sounds almost the same as the “Mexican Rice casserole” we just tried for a freezer meal for when we add a baby in 17 weeks. Its pretty much the beef and bean stuff mixed in with cooked rice and baked, but cheese goes on top. I have heard brown rice holds up better to the freezing process. But it sounds genius to just cook up the rest if the mix then sever on rice, or in tortillas, or whatever and it takes less space! Thanks for the great idea! I am going to make notes and follow suit.

    Reply
  6. Preparedness Pro says

    September 11, 2009 at 10:48 am

    That looks absolutely delicious! Thanks for the inspiration, I’ll have to give this recipe a try.

    Reply
  7. Mama4x says

    September 12, 2009 at 12:06 pm

    That does look like a delicious recipe, I’m going to make it this week! I just discovered your site and am having a blast planning meals for the whole month! I, too, did what you did, stocked up the freezer when I was pregnant w/ baby #4, made the dinners so much easier after the baby arrived!! Thanks again for this site! 🙂

    Reply
  8. Mrs Marcos says

    September 12, 2009 at 2:45 pm

    I made this on Wednesday (although I substituted refried beans for the black beans and used 2 cups of taco sauce instead of tomato sauce). We loved it! Great recipe, we’re adding it to our ‘rotation!’ Thank you!

    Reply
  9. Jennifer Laxson says

    September 16, 2009 at 8:26 am

    OMG…I just came along this website…And might just help me become a smarter person…I’ve been wanting to learn how to cook ( yes cook, I’m 29 and no one ever taught me) and freeze meals…This recipe will be made sometime in the next week…And I will be subscribing to your site!!! Yummy!!!

    Reply
  10. Dawn Kastner says

    September 16, 2009 at 8:40 pm

    Sorry if I missed it, but what tempurature do have your oven set at for this recipe. I can’t wait to try this recipe.

    Reply
  11. LisaE says

    June 2, 2010 at 12:55 pm

    I didn’t know what to make for dinner tonight using ground sirloin so I came to this site. I will be making this tonight though I don’t know if I have any beans so might have to make this without-I am sure it will be tasty! Thanks for the great inspiration once again!

    Reply
  12. Mel @ Trailing After God says

    January 9, 2011 at 8:38 pm

    Fabulous! I have all of these ingredients! Thank you! I know what’s for dinner tomorrow night!

    Reply
  13. Suzanne says

    January 20, 2011 at 6:45 pm

    $1.39 for a pound of lean ground beef!! That is insanely cheap! I have never in my life seen a pound of beef ever that cheap here in Canada (I’ve also never seen a coupon for beef).
    I’m making this meal tonight and I figured it is costing me about $16 and that is with my trying my best to bargain shop.

    Reply
  14. Suzanne says

    January 23, 2011 at 7:42 pm

    This ended up making about 10 Chimichangas which is definitely 2 meals for us. So $8 isn’t so bad! Plus my 2 year old loved them!

    Reply
  15. Katie says

    August 2, 2011 at 9:02 pm

    It cost me about $6 to make this recipe tonight. Like Suzanne, I made ten. I loved the idea of getting the crispy shell by baking instead of frying them. It was a nice change from burritos.

    Reply
  16. Nicole says

    March 23, 2018 at 7:39 pm

    I made this tonight. All 3 kiddos loved it! I did leave the beans out because my 10 year old has an aversion to them. It made 11 chimichangas, one was tiny for our toddler. That’s enough for dinner & lunch for my husband tomorrow.

    Reply

Trackbacks

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    October 25, 2010 at 7:29 am

    […] ~ Beef & Bean Chimichangas ($5 Dinners recipe) and […]

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    November 1, 2010 at 7:31 am

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  4. Italian Sausage Soup Recipe and Weekly Menu Plan | Hoosier Homemade says:
    November 7, 2010 at 8:18 pm

    […] Thursday ~ Beef & Bean Chimichangas (done, frozen from a double batch in Oct) […]

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    […] […]

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  6. Making Your Food Keyboard-Friendly « Sweep. Sew. Stir. says:
    August 30, 2011 at 3:35 am

    […] still in the midst of Mexican Fortnight. And it’s been so yummy. The chimichangas are definitely my favorites so far. I could eat them every […]

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  9. Menu Planning Monday: Week of 12/5 « Romance on a Dime says:
    December 5, 2011 at 8:59 am

    […] Sunday: Beef and Bean Chimichangas (I’m doubling the recipe and freezing half of it.) […]

    Reply
  10. Menu Planning Monday: Week of 12/12 + Waffle Cookies! « Romance on a Dime says:
    December 12, 2011 at 1:05 pm

    […] Sunday: Beef and Bean Chimichangas (I’m doubling the recipe and freezing half of it.) […]

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  11. Menu Plan Monday: Week of August 20th « Romance on a Dime says:
    August 20, 2012 at 7:02 am

    […] Wednesday & Thursday – Bean Chimichangas […]

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  12. Menu Plan Monday & blog hop! « Romance on a DimeRomance on a Dime says:
    September 9, 2012 at 10:48 pm

    […] to the RSS feed. I would love to get to know you better and see you here again!We loved the Bean Chimichangas (we took out the Beef from the recipe) from last week (well, maybe I loved it more than my […]

    Reply

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