I think you need to be more specific about what bean burrito means to you: rice and beans, just beans, beans and beef (ground beef, shredded beef, etc), pork and beans with a chili verde sauce? Around here (New Mexico) burritos are incredibly flexible and are often a way of using up what you have on hand with the addition of chile sauce (chile Colorado or green chile sauce, or less often salsa verde, etc) so the main thing would be having good components. In that vein, black beans are great in burritos.

We always have WW tortillas in the frig. for easy/quick lunches. Add beans (black, cannellini, northern) lettuce, avocado, shredded cheese and some salsa or tomatoes. Heat briefly in microwave or skillet. Can also add meat.

This post was edited by lizbeth-gardener on Wed, Feb 4, 15 at 13:52

I do not use black beans in burritos - they are too tough or chewy. Here's my recipe:

Texas Bean Dip

In addition to being a dip, you can also use it to make tostados or burritos.

1-1/3 cup dried pinto (or red) beans (about 2 cups cooked)
1/2 large onion, coarsely chopped
2 tbsp cumin
1 bunch of cilantro, about 2/3 cup chopped
1 can Ro-Tel tomatoes (10 oz.) or similar tomatoes, diced with green chilies,
3-4 Serrano chilies, coarsely chopped, seeds removed
6 tbsp chopped fresh oregano (or 2 tbsp dried oregano)
1 tbsp soup base - vegetable or beef (can substitute salt to taste)

Cook beans your favorite method; I use a pressure cooker and follow the instruction that came with it. Drain the beans and discard the cooking liquid.

Place all of the ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth. If needed, add a bit of water to thin, which is usually not necessary.

Use Jalapenos instead of Serrano chilies, if you want it milder.

Serve warm or cold with tortilla chips.

Bean Burrito

Bean dip, from above
flour tortillas
Cooked potato or rice (optional)
Grated Cheddar cheese
Sliced avocado (optional)
Shredded lettuce (optional)

To make the burritos, spread bean dip on a flour tortilla and add a small amount of potato or rice. Top with grated cheese and place in a hot cast iron or heavy skillet. Cook over medium heat, covered, for about 5 minutes, depending on the pan. Add the avocado slices and lettuce, and roll into a burrito. I make mine crisp, but it you like them soft, use a lower heat and heat just until the cheese melts. I usually add a bit of olive oil to the pan before adding the tortilla, but it is not necessary with cast iron.

Lars

Cuban style black beans are good in a burrito, but you have to be very careful about the moisture content. When you're removing them from the pot, use a flat slotted spoon and really let the wet drain out. There should still be enough sauce left for the flavor and texture. Too much wet and the burrito will fall apart. Oaxaca cheese pairs well. It's melty but more solid than some cheeses.

Your basic, street style (SoCal), bean burrito is made with refried pinto beans, white flour tortillas, and sometimes a little Mexican rice (toasted, lightly fried and seasoned) or white cheese, and grilled. This is the palm sized burrito, not the big kind that's served on a plate. Traditionally, both the tortilla and the beans were cooked with lard, but for many decades they've been just as likely to be vegetarian.

If you're using wet ingredients (like vegetables), lightly toasting your tortilla before you assemble can help keep it from falling apart. You want it to still be very pliable, but somewhat dried out. Otherwise, just lightly warm it to make it more pliable for rolling.

As to recipes beyond that, it's look in your fridge, see what needs using up that'll taste good together, balance the moisture and seasoning, go easy on the quantity of filling if you want to be able to pick it up (it's way easy to overstuff a burrito), and grill on all sides on a plancha or frying pan. If you're serving on a plate with a fork and knife, you can cover it with any sauce you have handy, guacamole, etc. A good burrito, however, is moist enough inside not to need sauce, but not so moist that the tortilla collapses with sogginess.

There really isn't anything more to making burritos.

Do you need bean recipes?

Thank you everyone from a bean lover. Pillog: Any T&Ts for beans are always welcome. Thank you.

I've seen recipes to mash the black beans and use it as a spread on the tortillas, then add the veggies. That makes sense to me.

Jasdip, mashing the beans is a good way to control the moisture, but the point of black bean burritos is that the beans are small and the sauce is goopy, so they work well without mashing, and give something to bite into besides moosh. If you can get the moisture right.

PWM, I don't have T&T, per se (I was asking to make sure what you were asking for). Beans is one of those things that I just cook. :) El Chavo has great step by steps for the "real" way (SoCal) to cook beans and frijoles. The pages are hard to read, but you can change the font size and background color in your browser, or just copy over to Word or something to make it easier to read. (There is also some profanity, but the pictures are very good.)

I always put a lot of onions in my beans, sometimes minced, sometimes long skinny strings, every once in awhile chopped. Also, I put in a lot of peppers. This is after the basic cooking.

A trick I learned recently is to bring them to a hard boil, as usual, then put them into a not too hot oven (325-350°, depending on the oven) for an hour. Or less, if the beans are good and fresh.