Hi Nancy,
A member at the Kitchen Table posted her wet burrito recipe and several others have tried it and rave about it. I haven't tried it yet, but it is in my to-try binder.

Julie's Wet Burritos

I don't know what "perfect" for a burrito means to you but i sure have convinced lots of people that this one is awfully good!

filling

1 1/2 lb ground beef
1 can refried beans
chopped onions
1 package of dry taco seasoning mix
flour tortillas

brown beef and onions. add seasoning and at least half of a large can, all if you'd like, of refried beans.
Put a couple spoonfuls of meat mixture in tortillas, roll up and place in 9x13 pan that you have placed a little bit of sauce in the bottom.

sauce

1 can diced tomatoes
1 jar of beef gravy
1 small can of enchilada sauce (i use mild)

8 oz shredded cheese or more to taste

mix all together, except cheese, and put a little bit in the bottom of the pan to keep tortillas from sticking. place filled and rolled tortillas in pan and pour sauce mixture over all. cover with lots of shredded cheese, i use med cheddar or mexican blend.

bake at 350 for about 30 min.

serve with chopped tomato and lettuce over them........sour cream if desired.

makes about 10 medium sized burritos or use less filling in each and make more.

I use this recipe all the time.
I also change out the ground beef for chicken.

Beef Enchiladas with Spicy Red Sauce

Prep Time:
45 Min
Cook Time:
1 Hr 50 Min
Ready In:
2 Hrs 35 Min

Original Recipe Yield 8 enchiladas
Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
4 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon dried oregano
3 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried cilantro
1/2 cup prepared salsa
1 (6 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
2 cups chicken broth

1 pound ground beef or shredded chicken
3/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 cup prepared red enchilada sauce
1/2 cup beef broth
1/2 cup shredded Mexican-style cheese blend

cooking spray
8 (6 inch) flour tortillas
2 cups shredded Mexican-style cheese blend
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

To make the spicy red sauce, heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, and cook and stir 1/2 cup of onion until the onion is softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in 4 teaspoons of garlic, and cook and stir until fragrant, another 3 to 5 minutes, watching carefully to avoid burning the garlic. Stir in the oregano, 3 1/2 teaspoons of chili powder, basil, salt and black pepper, 1 teaspoon of cumin, the dried cilantro, salsa, tomato sauce, tomato paste, and chicken broth until the sauce is smoothly combined.
Bring the sauce to a simmer, reduce heat to low, and simmer about 30 minutes, stirring often, until the flavors have blended and the sauce has thickened slightly.
While spicy red sauce is simmering, cook and stir the ground beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat until the meat is evenly browned. Break the meat up into crumbles as it cooks, and drain off excess grease. Mix in 3/4 cup of onion, 1 tablespoon of garlic, 1/2 teaspoon of chili powder, and 1/2 teaspoon of cumin into the meat, and cook and stir until the onions are softened and the meat mixture is fragrant with spices, 5 to 10 more minutes. Stir in the enchilada sauce and beef broth; simmer for 5 more minutes. Stir in 1/2 cup of Mexican cheese blend, and allow the cheese to melt into the meat sauce. Reduce heat to low, and simmer the meat sauce for 30 more minutes to thicken.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
Spray both sides of each tortilla with cooking spray, stack up the tortillas with a piece of aluminum foil between each tortilla, and wrap the stack with aluminum foil. Place the tortillas into the preheated oven to warm, about 10 minutes.
Spread about 1/2 cup of the spicy red sauce over the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Fill each tortilla with the meat sauce, reserving about 1/2 cup of the meat sauce; roll the tortillas into enchiladas, and arrange in the baking dish, seam sides down. Pour the remaining spicy red sauce over the enchiladas. Sprinkle with the reserved 1/2 cup of meat mixture, and top with remaining 2 cups of Mexican cheese blend.
Bake until the cheese topping is golden brown and the sauce is bubbly, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with cilantro to serve.
(From All Recipes)
Linda

You wanted just a sauce recipe, right? Here is my recipe for Adobo Sauce, which is great with burritos:

Adobo Sauce

Ingredients:

2 whole chipotle chilies
2 whole Pasilla chilies
1 whole Ancho (or Guajillo) chili
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1-1/2 cups water
1 tbsp tomato paste (can use tomato powder instead)
1/2 to 1 tsp cumin (to taste)
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

Slit the chilies down one side and remove all seeds (and attached membrane). Combine chilies, onion, garlic, and water in a sauce pan. Simmer for 1/2 hour until the chilies are very soft. Remove the chilies with 1/2 cup cooking liquid, blend them with a stick blender, and then put them through a food mill or sieve to remove the skins. Return the pureed chilies to the pan and cook for 30 minutes more with the rest of the ingredients. Puree the entire mixture with a stick blender. If you want it a bit thicker, you can add tomato powder.

To make a milder sauce, use Guajillo chilies instead of Chipotle, but it will not be Adobo sauce - more of an enchilada sauce. You can use all Ancho chilies, if that is all you can find, or any combination of Ancho, Guajillo, and Pasilla - all of which are compatible with each other. New Mexico chilies will also work, but I do not use them. If you want to use fresh chilies, then use ones that are ripe and saute them first.

Lars

I make the burrito filling close to Linda's recipe and am looking for a sauce to put over them.

Thanks Jasdip, I prefer to make my own sauces from scratch. Not much into a jar of this and a can of that...

Linda and Lars...both sound good. Thanks.

Nancy

Never thought of that Nancy, of course! I was just going by the popularity of the recipe. Sorry about that.

I make enchilada sauce when I make Tyler Florence's enchilada sauce, is there any difference between a burrito and enchilada sauce?

jeesh, I meant to say, "when I make TF enchiladas"
I'm going to quit posting now... :)

LOL, jasdip.

I just use a jar of my homecanned salsa and then add cheese to the top for "wet" burritos". It's good, but I'll watch here for a sauce recipe to see what else I could do. I end up scraping the salsa off anyway....

Annie

Ok, now I'm wondering what "wet burritos" are. Sound like enchiladas, and there are some enchilada recipes showing up in this thread.

If they're one and the same (or close) I recommend CI's recipe. Here's the sauce itself:

Heat 1.5T veg oil in saucepan over med/hi, add 1 medium onion, minced, and cook until softened and lightly browned. Stir in 1T minced or pressed garlic, 3T chili powder, 2t coriander, 2t cumin, 1/2t salt, 2t sugar and cook, stirring constantly, about 30 sec or until fragrant. Add 2 8oz cans tomato sauce and 3/4 cup water and simmer about 10 minutes, stirring occassionally. Run sauce through a strainer.

Please correct me if I'm wrong....

A burrito uses a wheat flour tortilla and an enchilada uses a corn tortilla. That's the only difference I've ever heard of.

The sauces all sound good, I'm having to watch the spices these days, so I'll have to go easy on the chili powder...

Off to the kitchen I go...

Thanks all!

Nancy

nancy, that's my understanding too, that a flour tortilla is used for burritos and a corn tortilla for enchiladas. If you fry the burrito, you get a chimachunga. At least here, and although we're a long way from Mexico, we have a large hispanic population due to the agriculture.

Annie

Is it a wet burrito because it has a sauce on it? Here they are all just called burritos, sauce or no. I've never heard the term "wet" burrito. Enchiladas are more of a casserole with the rolled tortillas and fillings cooked side by side smothered in a sauce and cheese, flour tortillas or corn - in my mind.

Another difference between enchiladas and burritos (and possibly the main one) is the filling. Enchilada fillings are simple and are generally chicken, beef, or cheese or a combination of both - I have not seen pork enchiladas, but they may exist - beans and rice are served on the side. Burritos are much bigger around (hence the need for large flour tortillas) and contain beans, rice, and meat with seasonings and possibly cheese. Northern versions often substitute potatoes for the rice. If a burrito only had cheese in it, it would be a quesadilla, and if the cheese is in a corn tortilla, it is an enchilada. I have never seen a cheese burrito, but those may exist now also.

What is really strange is that taco salads are made with fried flour tortillas, and tacos in Mexico are always made with corn tortillas that are soft. A fried taco in Mexico would be a taquito (and uses a rolled up corn tortilla), and if it is made with a flour tortilla, it is a flauta. (I've eaten in hundreds of restaurants all over Mexico, but mostly in the 1970s and 80s, when I used to spend my winters there, to escape the cold and damp of San Francisco. The names of some dishes change from one region of Mexico to another, and empanada means one thing in SE Mexico and something else in central Mexico.

Lars

I'm pretty much with you, Eileen and Lars. To me, a burrito is a wrap, eaten in hand, full of everything you want it to be full of. Enchilada is baked and smothered. So the "wet" in wet burrito threw me off.

Lars, your mention of taco salads reminds me of one of my favorite commercial from Bud Light's Real Men of Genius series. "Is your taco salad healty? Of course it is. It's a salad isn't it?"

Here is a link that might be useful: Mr. Giant Taco Salad Inventor

I'm also looking for a recipe for a "wet burrito sauce" that I would get, only in a restaurant. Either served with chile rellanos or a burrito.

Lynn

Wet Burritos are great - a northern dish mostly.
I make my sauce two ways.

1 can enchilada sauce mixed with cream of chicken soup and 1/2 can water. OR

Make actual enchilada gravy. 1/4 cup butter, 1/4 cup flour, cook until tight, then whisk in a can of enchilada sauce and 1/2 can water. Whisk until well blended. Heat throughly before pouring over burritos.

I double both of these recipes as I usually make 8 large burritos and need lots of sauce.

I'm another one that's never heard of wet burritos. Since burritos are meant to be eaten with your fingers, like a wrap, not a fork, I don't understand the whole wet thing. It sounds very messy to me.

It sounds like a marketing ploy to me, renaming enchiladas so that they can sell two dishes that are basically the same, but give them a different name.

Sally

Sally, it's just a burrito covered in a sauce to be eaten on a plate with a knife and fork.

I think calling it a "wet burrito" is a regional difference. Here in California it's just a burrito with a sauce.

Wikipedia: Wet burrito

Wet burrito style

A wet (or enchilada style) burrito is slathered with a red chili sauce similar to enchilada sauce with melted shredded cheese on top. It is typically eaten off a plate with a fork and knife, rather than hand held.[27] When served in a Mexican restaurant in the U.S., a melted cheese covered burrito is typically called a burrito suizo (suizo meaning Swiss, an adjective used in Spanish to indicate dishes topped with cheese or cream)

I have eaten often at the restaurant in the link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Burrito.

As for pork in Mexican dishes, it's usually either carnitas or chili verde, but I've never heard it called just "pork". And yes, you see both in enchiladas around here.

And for enchilada fillings, don't forget shrimp and crab, again around here.

Well, they do sound delicious. But that name, almost sounds, well, nasty. lol

Sally

In my lexicon....a "wet burrito" is an enchilada.....which is different from a chimichanga....which is a deep fried wet burrito served without sauce. And a tostada is a flat burrito served with lettuce.

Call it whatever you want! :)

I called it a wet buritto because that's what it's called at Mexican Resturants around this area and that's what I wanted to make.

I used a combination of the sauce recipes that Linda posted and that FOAS posted. The flavor turned out perfect.

I posted the pic on the WFD thread but here it is incase someone happens upon this thread in the future.

Nancy

That looks great, Nancy!

Sally

Our local Mexican restaurant serves a wet burrito.
DH's favorite is the Pork Verde.
Huge (13") flour tortilla filled with spicy pork, beans and cheese. Rolled and smothered in Verde Sauce and a little cheese melted on top! Delicious, if a little spicy for me.

Just to be ornery.....and if the definitions of burrito and enchilada are determined by the type of tortilla, someone explain to me why my Chicken Enchilada recipe uses flour tortillas and what the heck is soft taco?

Seriously, I'm being a smart aleck, it doesn't really matter as long as it tastes good, right? :)
I think another of those interesting language issues.

Deanna

As I said above, the definitions of burrito and enchilada are determined more by the filling than the type of tortilla, although a burrito will always use a flour tortilla. Enchiladas normally use corn tortillas, but in the north, flour tortillas are sometimes substituted. A soft taco is what you get in Mexico using soft corn tortillas - usually two per taco. The crispy fried taco is an American invention - I believe Mr. Bell of Taco Bell invented it in southern California around 1950.

Since Mexican food is now becoming more common in more regions in the U.S. than it used to be, it is adapting itself to U.S. regional preferences. Also, there are great regional differences within Mexico, and Oaxacan food is very different from what you will find in the Yucatan.

BTW, where did you get your chicken enchilada recipe?

Lars

Wet Burritos have been popular in SW Michigan for many years. If you google it, you will find many sites or pictures and many from Grand Rapids. Of course they are eaten with a fork, and they are delicious. I make mine almost exactly as Julie's.

I posted the pictures backwards, but you get the idea, lol.

My wet sauce recipes are above. I don't make my sauce the same as Julie, but her's is good also.

SW Michigan, Hellion? You're in good company here. Wizardnm is from Northern Michigan. I'm NW Michigan but my husband lives in Jackson. Sheshebop is southwestern Michigan too, as is lakemayor. dukerdawg and Rita are both in the Detroit area and bunnyman is in the Thumb. Peppi is from Chicago, but we've adopted her, LOL.

Ann T. the Beltline Bar still has awesome wet burritos.

Annie

Wow a lot of Michiganers. I'm in SW Ontario (3 hours from the border.....used to go to Port Huron often).

Thanks to this post Annie, I realized that Nancy is in Michigan, I thought the NM was New Mexico! Actually, in my head I ALWAYS read it as WizardMom. Don't ask me why.