An easy and inexpensive dinner idea for vegetarian lentil burritos! These are hearty, nutritious, gluten free, and budget friendly – what else can you ask for?!
Lentil Burritos
Yield – 4 servings
Preparation Time – 15 minutes
Cooking Time – 40-60 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 cup white or brown rice ($.20-$.40)
- 2 1/2 cups of water or chicken broth
- 1 cup lentils, any color ($.30)
- 1 can Rotel diced tomatoes with green chiles ($.37) Purchased on sale with coupon!
- 1 tsp garlic powder ($.05)
- 1 tsp ground cumin ($.10)
- Salt/pepper
- 6-8 tortillas ($.69-$1) Use corn to stay GF!
- 1 cup shredded cheese ($.83)
- 2 boxes frozen spinach ($1.50) On sale this week, plus coupon!
Directions
- Cook rice: In saucepan, bring 2 1/2 cups of water or chicken broth to boil. Add 1 cup of white or brown rice. Return to boil. Cover and reduce heat to simmer. For white rice, cook for 20 minutes. For brown rice, cook for 50 minutes.
- Cook lentils: In saucepan, add 1 cup of lentils plus water to cover lentils by an inch. Bring to boil and then reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes, until lentils are soft. Drain any excess water.
- Combine rice, lentils and can of Rotel diced tomatoes and green chiles. Stir in garlic powder, ground cumin, salt and pepper.
- Lay tortillas (corn or flour…whichever you prefer!) out and spoon rice/lentil mixture into the tortilla. Sprinkle with cheese and roll up. Place burritos in 8×8 baking dish.
- Place lentil burritos in a warm oven (250 degrees) for about 20 minutes, giving cheese time to melt. Don’t leave in too long or the tortillas will get crispy!
- Cook spinach according to package instructions. Jazz up the spinach with a little parmesan cheese or hard boiled egg!
- Serve Lentil Burritos with Spinach!
Cost $4.04
great idea! wondering if my hubby would go for that! looks great.
Oh, this looks just great! I think I’ll add it to next week’s menu! Thanks for the inspiriation … I’m a big lentil — and burrito! — fan. 🙂
You’ve given me a recipe I was looking for and didn’t even know it. I love lentils and rice, and this is a great new way to enjoy them. Thanks heaps!
These sound awesome, I know what we will be having for Mexican Night next week! My little guy will love them =)
I just made these for lunch and they are very yummy!
Thank you! I am always looking for recipes using lentils.
My 16 month old LOVED these- as did my husband! This is a definite keeper of a meal!
This made it onto my meal plan for the week. I’m going to have to push it back a few days, but I’m looking forward to it.
Just started using the meal plan. I am going to make this recipe this week.
Thanks
Hi, have been looking for a lentil recipe that my husband would eat, yours fits the bill! Thanks
These look really good! Lentils seem to be the ‘forgotten bean’ lol but we LOVE them. Never thought of putting them in a burrito! Thanks!
made these again because they are always a hit. I added half a cup more of rice AND lentils, because my husband said last time that he LOVED them and he wanted more. This time, it made enough for us to have again for dinner tomorrow! What a way to stretch the grocery budget, and make it easier on me 🙂
We made these burritos last night, and they were fan-freakin’-tastic!!! What a great and simple recipe. I love your website and applaud your dedication to delicious, yet economical meals. You certainly inspire me. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
I made the burritos tonight. They were *devoured* by my teen. Thanks for the recipe!
Since I didn’t have rotel I used a can of diced roasted tomatoes (muir glen freebie) and a small can of chopped chiles (old el paso free with sale+coupon). Left over lentils were mashed, chilled and added to ground beef to extend the amount needed for hamburgers and meatloaf. A good evening over all!
I started following your blog last year, sometime in the spring, and somehow missed this blog. I’ll make your version just for me, and sneak some pureed lentils into a batch of taco meat (that also has whole pintos mixed in) for my picky teen DD.
You wrote that you served the burritos with a side of spinach. LOL, I would put it inside the burrito, dollop on some sour cream, spoon on some salsa (or fresh pico de gallo, yum), toss on some shredded cheddar, and munch away! OK, it’s almost 1pm and I’m even more famished than I was. Lunch time!