Better For You Burrito

There has been a surge in burrito popularity lately. They’re filling, inexpensive fast food, and with ingredients like rice and beans, people think they’re healthy too. Places like Q’doba, Anna’s Taqueria, Bocca Grande, and Chipotle are popping up everywhere, touting fresh ingredients. But when massive amounts of those fresh ingredients plus cheese, sour cream, refried beans, oily veggies, and guacamole are rolled up into a 2+ serving size tortilla, you wind up with a burrito that is about the size of a small child, and could feed a small army.
A typical burrito with all the fillings could clock in at almost 1,000 calories – that’s more than ½ of most people’s daily calorie needs! Sure picking up a burrito on the way home from work makes for a fast meal, but you could make this pretty fast at home too, while saving your wallet and your waistline.

Here’s what my burrito looked like last night:
1 whole wheat tortilla (120 calories)
½ cup brown rice (about 100 calories)
¼ cup black beans, rinsed (about 60 calories)
¼ cup broccoli (maybe 10 calories)
1T salsa (maybe 10 calories)
about ¼ cup soy cheese (70 calories)
chili and chipotle powder to taste

Twenty minutes of prep time later, my total was: about 370 calories. That’s almost 1/3 of the fast food burrito’s calories!

I rolled up all of the ingredients and put my burrito in the toaster oven for about 20 minutes. The fun thing about making your own burritos is that you can fill them with anything! Have leftover tofu or meat? Toss it in. Have bagged salad that’s about to go wilty? Add it for some crunch. You really can’t go wrong with a DIY burrito. It’s a meal I recommend to my clients all the time as one that is portion controlled, fast to make, and fun to eat. Leave Chipotle, and it’s 600+ excess calories behind, and not on your behind.