Wet Burritos – Grandma Beatty’s Red Sauce Recipe
Craving a restaurant style wet burrito? Smothered in smooth, spicy red sauce and mountains of melted cheese??
My grandma Beatty, (who was actually biologically my great aunt, but that’s a story for another day, families are fun aren’t they?!) was quite a lady. She was the epitome of sassy, right up to her very last days she was putting people in their place and speaking her mind. One thing I have in common with Grandma Beatty other than the occasional sassy episode was that she loved feeding people, and she loved Mexican food! When she made wet burritos she would always let us know, and insist we come over. She was hard to say no to. And well, saying no to one of these burritos is basically just loco, so there you go!
This recipe makes a lot, so you sort of want to either plan on freezing some of it, or having a wet burrito party. The sauce can be made ahead of time and reheated, as well as the meat, and all the toppings can be prepped ahead too. So it’s basically the perfect party food! Add some chips, pico de gallo, guacamole and you are basically the best party thrower everah!
I’ve made a few adjustments over the years, I think when grandma gave me the recipe she was reciting it from memory so this recipe card isn’t what you want to follow, follow the printable version below. As you can see I’ve penned in a few adjustments.
Start with flour and shortening whisk together in a large path until crumbly and starting to brown, then add in 4 cups of beef stock until smooth and thick.
Next add in the mole and all the remaining ingredients and whisk until smooth, if it seems too thick just add more water 1/2 cup at a time. Once sauce is smooth from a vigorous whisking, turn your heat down as low as it will go, cover pot, and simmer for 1 hour, occasionally stirring to make sure sauce isn’t burning on to the bottom of the pan.
Sauce should slowly drip off spoon, not run. This is more like a gravy or thick spaghetti sauce consistency.
Well isn’t that a lovely photo? Meat is hard to make look pretty in a picture, then add beans, and a brownish red sauce and well……lets move on.
The meat is easy.
Gather all your ingredients, flour tortillas, meat, sauce, cheese, and any other toppings or add ons you like and start the assembly line!
I like to make each burrito to order.
Cover with sauce and cheese and melt in the microwave.
I let my peeps top with their favorite toppings, and now sink your fork into that bad boy!! Sooo good, makes me want to sing. But I won’t because that would totally ruin everybody’s appetite.
However I don’t always have time for all the special order stuff, so then I make the burritos smaller (more like enchiladas) lay them in a baking dish smother them with sauce and cheese and bake them. Voila! Good both ways!
So below is Grandma Beattys Burrito recipe, I’m entrusting it to you. It’s near and dear to my heart so treat it well, love your peeps with it, and in remembrance of Grandma Beatty get a little sassy while your cooking it, let your inner Beatty free! Say it like it is, no holds bar, get down with your badself! You know these burritos are good, because we (the family) despite grandma being a bit of a pill, all came running when she called and said she was making wet burritos. LOL. She loved us. Her words may not have shown it, but her food did! She also made Kens favorite peanut butter pie. I do miss her.
Wet Burritos
Equipment
- 1 large sauce pot
- 1 12' deep skillet for meat filling
Ingredients
Red Sauce
- 3/4 cup all purpose unbleached flour
- 1/2 cup Crisco Shortening
- 3 tbsp mole sauce can be found in grocery store, near Mexican foods, it comes in a jar
- 4 cups beef stock
- 3 tbsp chili powder
- 1 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp ground oregano
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground pepper
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 cups tomato sauce 1 16 ounce can
- 1 6 ounce can tomato paste
- 2 cups water
Burrito Meat filling
- 2 pounds lean ground beef
- 1 cup diced onion yellow, or vidalia variety works best
- 1 pkg taco seasoning I prefer trader joes, any brand will work.
- 2/3 cup red sauce 2 ladles works too!
- 1 can refried beans
Assembly Ingredients
- 12 large flour burrito tortilla shells
- 5 cups shredded cheese cheddar, monterey jack, colby jack, any variety you prefer for your burrito works here as long as it melts well
Instructions
Sauce
- Melt shortening in large pot (6 quart is what I use). Whisk in flour, let flour and shortening get bubbly and start to brown. This is called a roux. This will take about 5 minutes. Gradually whisk in beef stock, lower heat and whisk until smooth. Add in mole, whisk until smooth and allow to cook for 5 minutes.
- Add in chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, ad pepper, milk and whisk again until smooth. Also be sure to scrape sides and bottom of pan with spatula to make sure sauce is completely incorporated and not burning at all on sides of pan.
- Whisk in tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Turn burner down to lowest heat and allow to cook for 1 hour. Stir occasionally making sure sauce is not burning or sticking to bottom of the pot. **sauce can be made up to 2 days in advance, store in refrigerator. Any leftover sauce also freezes well. Freeze in zip loc storage bags. Keeps up to 3 months.
Burrito Meat
- Brown ground beef with onion, making sure to break up as it cooks, meat should be a small crumble consistency. When meat is completely cooked add taco seasoning, red sauce, and refried beans. Combine well and allow to simmer over medium low heat for 10 minutes. **You could also cool meat and freeze for later along with red sauce. Or you can assemble burritos wrap individually with plastic wrap and store in a large freezer zip loc, place in freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw burritos in refrigerator reheat in microwave.
Burrito Assembly - you can do this two ways. 1.assemble and bake together on a baking sheet or 2. assemble individually per each persons taste and microwave to melt cheese on top.
- -Remove burrito tortillas from plastic and, heat individually, in microwave for 10-15 seconds, or in a pan just enough to heat and allow shell to become easier to work with.
- -Lay tortilla on a flat surface, place a large spoon full of burrito meat in the middle of tortilla, spread out slightly. **Feel free to add cheese, onion, lettuce, tomato into your burrito. Get creative per your tastes.
- -Fold bottom of tortilla up over meat, fold sides in (kind of like a diaper), then roll tightly upward so that the seam is on the bottom.
- -Place on a baking dish or if making individually place on a plate. Ladle sauce over top, sprinkle generously with shredded cheddar cheese.
- -Cover (so your microwave doesn’t look like a massacre scene) and microwave for 1 minute. OR bake at 350 degrees until cheese is melted and bubbly.
- Serve with sour cream, extra cheese, guacamole, pico de gallo, and tortilla chips.
Notes
Oh one more thing I should tell you, especially if you are from Grand Rapids, is that Grandma claimed this to be the secret wet burrito recipe from the Beltline Bar, so if you are a fan of the Beltline Bar burritos well then guess what? Today is your lucky day!
Feliz Cinco de Mayo!
Sheila
