Thrifty Thursday: Burrito Casserole Recipe

Today is Thursday!  That means that I just have one more night of work until I’m off for the weekend!  Yay!  Over the last two weeks, I have seen traffic increase on the blog and that makes me so very happy!  So, I was brainstorming some clever ways to help bring even more traffic over here.  I really like how Laura at orgjunkie.com does “Menu Plan Monday.”  And Mrs. Flylady calls Wednesday the “Anti-Procrastination Day.”  I really like having a cutesy title for the blog posts, so I came up with a couple of my own.  (Note:  If your blog already has these names for weekly blog posts, my apologies.  Just leave me a quick note and I will definitely give credit where credit is due.  J)

I came up with “Thrifty Thursday” and “Feelin’ Good Friday.”  Aren’t they cute?!?  I will explain Feelin’ Good Friday in more detail on Friday, but for now, let’s explore Thrifty Thursday.

Thrifty Thursday is all about easy and frugal recipes, home management ideas, and any other tidbit that crosses my flighty little brain that I decide to write about.  *Grins*

Today, I am sharing a recipe.  I came up with this recipe during one of my showdowns with the pantry.  It was 5:30, I hadn’t been to the grocery store in over a week, and I was down to slim pickins.  After a few minutes, I realized I could make some random version of a burrito.  Thus, Burrito Casserole was born.  I have shared this recipe with many friends and it always gets rave reviews.  Here it is:

Burrito Casserole

1 pound of ground beef, seasoned and browned
½ of a 1 ¼ oz pkg of taco seasoning
2/3 cup water
16 oz mild salsa, divided
10 oz refried beans
8-10 tortillas
8 oz shredded Mexican cheese (Colby and Monterey Jack)

After browning and draining the ground beef, return the meat to the skillet.  Add water and taco seasoning.  Bring to a simmer and cook until the water has evaporated.  Then add 8 oz salsa and the refried beans.  Mix well.

Place 2-3 tbs of meat mixture on each tortilla.  Top with a sprinkle of cheese.  Roll up tortilla and place in a greased 13x9 pan.  Continue this step until you have used up all the tortillas.  (It usually takes me 2-13x9 pans.)  Top rolled tortillas with the remainder of salsa and cheese.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes until everything is all hot, bubbly, and yummy-looking.  Enjoy!

Cost breakdown (As of 2/21/12)

1 lb 80/20 ground beef       $3.05

Taco Seasoning                   $0.55   (Remember:  You only use ½ of this package!)

Salsa                                       $2.39

Refried Beans                     $1.79

Tortillas                                  $1.29

Shredded Cheese                  $2.39

                        TOTAL           $11.46

This recipe is enough to feed my husband and I two meals a piece, that breaks down to $2.86 a serving.  And it’s super yummy, too!