Beef Chimichanga - Spice up your dinner with baked beef chimichangas! Filled to the brim with a delicious and cheesy beef and bean filling topped with spinach and baked until the tortillas are golden and crispy on the outside.
This ground beef chimichanga recipe is made with a warm, cheesy beef and bean filling with fresh spinach wrapped in a flour tortilla. Baked until crispy and golden on the outside, it’s best served with Mexican white sauce or sour cream and extra cheese!
It’s slightly spicy, but you can adjust it to your liking, so it’s definitely a kid-friendly meal. Whip this up for the whole family during the week or get a head start with meal prep and make the filling on the weekend!
What is a chimichanga?
A chimichanga is a burrito that is either deep-fried or baked to get the tortilla shell crispy and golden. It’s usually filled with rice, cheese, beans, and either carne asada, shredded chicken like I use in my 30-minute chimichanga recipe, or, in this case, ground beef!
We add green chile peppers, pepper jack cheese, spinach, and refried beans to ours, then we fold it into a rectangle and bake it. There are plenty of options for serving, but my favorite is Mexican white sauce and extra cheese. However, you could also do sour cream, salsa, or guacamole!
Why You’ll Love Beef and Bean Chimichanga
- Leftovers make the best lunch!
- These are baked, not fried, so you’re not dealing with heavy oils or messy splatter.
- They’re quick to make and have so much flavor.
- Everyone loves a beefy, cheesy filling.
- You can customize the spice level to your liking.
Recipe Tips
- For a quick shortcut, use leftover grilled carne asada meat, shredded chicken, or ground beef to make these chimichangas. I’ve even made flank steak and cheese chimichangas!
- You can omit the green chiles to make them milder.
- Make these low carb by using low carb tortillas or keto-friendly tortillas.
- Warm the tortillas before wrapping them. It makes them easier to fold without breaking. You can do this by microwaving them in a stack for about 30 seconds. Keep them covered with a damp paper towel as you work through them.
- To make air fryer beef chimichangas, place them in the air fryer basket. You can either brush them with melted butter or spray them with cooking oil, then air fry for 8-10 minutes at 400°F.
Ingredients for Beef Chimichanga
- Ground beef: I try to use grass-fed beef wherever possible. I suggest lean ground beef so you’re not worrying about excess fat in your filling.
- Onion and garlic: For tons of aromatic flavor.
- Chopped spinach: I always like to add some extra nutrients when I can!
- Seasoning: Taco seasoning, salt, and pepper.
- Refried beans: Use your favorite store-bought can, or if you make your own refried beans from scratch, even better!
- Green chile peppers: Diced for some heat. Use poblano, jalapeño, or serrano peppers, depending on the spice level you prefer. For less intense heat, remove the seeds!
- Tortillas: I use large, burrito-sized, flour tortillas. They are large enough to hold the filling and soft enough to fold.
- Pepper Jack cheese: You could also use a Mexican blend, Colby Jack, Cheddar cheese, or whatever your favorite melty cheese is.
- Butter: We use the melted butter for brushing the tops of the chimichangas to help them brown.
- For serving: Fresh tomato salsa, sour cream, diced tomatoes, and chives.
How to Make Chimichangas
Step 1: In a skillet over medium-high heat, sauté the ground beef and chopped onions while stirring and breaking apart the meat with a wooden spoon as it cooks. Once the meat is no longer pink, drain any excess grease.
Step 2: Add chopped garlic and taco seasoning, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine and then add the green chiles and refried beans. Stir and blend and then turn off the heat. Cover with a lid to keep the filling warm.
Step 3: Place a warm tortilla down on a plate or a clean work surface. Add ½ cup of the ground beef mixture into the center and top with cheese and chopped spinach.
Step 4: Fold two opposite sides in towards the center and then fold the top and bottom sides over the top. It should form a rectangular chimichanga. Place it onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, seam side down, and repeat with remaining ingredients.
Step 5: Brush the tops with melted butter and bake in a preheated 400°F oven for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Serve with all your favorite toppings!
What are some good sauces to serve with chimichangas?
As mentioned above, I love to make an authentic Mexican white sauce to drizzle over my chimichangas. You can also use red enchilada sauce, green enchilada sauce, a poblano cream sauce, a green chile sauce, sour cream, salsa, or a queso sauce.
Storing Suggestions
Fridge: Keep leftover beef chimichangas in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Freezer: Once completely cooled, you can also freeze them for up to 3 months. Keep them in an airtight, freezer-safe container or freezer bag. I would also recommend wrapping them individually in plastic wrap or foil before placing them in the container.
Reheat: Thaw frozen chimichangas in the fridge overnight and then bake at 400°F for 15-20 minutes until heated through.
Recipe FAQs
No, a chimichanga filling is cooked first before adding it to the tortilla. If it’s raw, there is no guarantee it’ll be cooked all the way through, plus you’re missing the flavor you get from browning the meat first.
Lean ground beef (80/20) works well for chimichangas, as it provides enough fat for flavor without being too greasy.
Make sure to drain excess fat and moisture from the filling, and avoid overfilling the tortillas. You can also lightly toast the tortillas before filling them.
Cook chimichangas in the air fryer at 375°F for about 12-15 minutes, flipping halfway through, until they're crispy and golden.
More Mexican-Inspired Recipes
- Homemade Nachos with Ground Beef
- Slow Cooker Pot Roast Tacos
- Easy Cheese Quesadilla
- Buffalo Chicken Taquitos
- Smashed Tacos
When YOU make this ground beef chimichanga recipe please tag us @munchkintimeblog on Instagram, we would LOVE to see your creation!
If you tried this beef and bean chimichanga recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a * star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. Thanks for visiting!
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Easy Beef Chimichanga Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef grass-fed
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons Taco Seasoning
- salt & pepper to taste
- 16 oz. refried beans
- 4 oz. green chile peppers diced
- 6-8 tortillas
- 1 cup spinach chopped
- 2 cups Cheddar Jack Cheese grated
- 1 tablespoon butter melted for brushing
- 2 roma tomatoes peeled & cubed
- salsa for serving
- sour cream for serving
- chives chopped, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F and line baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Using a skillet, add ground beef and chopped onion. Saute over medium high heat, stirring few times and breaking the meat into small pieces with a wooden spoon. Saute until ground beef is browned, about 7-10 minutes. Drain grease.
- Next, add finely chopped garlic, taco seasoning, salt and pepper to taste. Give it a good stir with a spoon. Stir in green chilies and refried beans until well blended. Turn off heat, cover with a lid.
- Place warm tortilla on a plate and add about a ½ cup of the ground beef mixture onto the center. Add Cheddar Jack cheese and chopped spinach.
- Now, fold left and right side of the tortilla over the filling, then fold in top and bottom sides of the tortilla over the filling forming a chimichanga.
- Brush top of chimichanga with melted butter and bake for 15-20 minutes or until top of chimichangas turn golden brown color.
- Serve Beef Chimichangas with salsa with fresh tomatoes, cubed tomatoes, cheese, chopped spinach, sour cream and finely chopped chives. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- You can also use left over grilled Carne asada meat, or shredded chicken to make these chimichangas.
- Warm tortillas before wrapping them, I like to warm them in the skillet on a high heat for few seconds. It makes wrapping so much easier when tortillas are warm.
- Freeze Chimichangas in air tight container or freezer friendly zip bag for 2-3 months.
- To reheat frozen chimichangas - thaw completely, then bake at 400F for 20 - 25 minutes or until heated through.
Nutrition
Thank YOU for YOUR Comment, Share & Recipe Review!
Quote of the Day
Happy Cooking!
A great recipe! Used chopped canned jalapeños since I didn’t have green chilis which gave it a nice kick. Also used low carb tortillas. Topped with chopped cabbage and lettuce, tomatoes and sour cream.
Thank you Kathryn for your awesome recipe review, love how you added canned jalapeños sounds so good!
Loved this recipe! My husband said it was better than what he has had at our Mexican restaurant. I didn’t have any refried beans on hand but did have black beans so used those, besides that didn’t change a thing! Thanks for a great and easy recipe ☺️
Rachel
Oh WOW, thank you Rachel! I am so happy you and your husband liked these beef chimichangas!
Made these last night and shared on my Insta story and people were going crazy asking for the recipe. In all honesty they exceeded my expectations--I was worried I'd not care for the spinach in them but I never tasted it really. They were a little slice of heaven. I adjusted things to fit my families likes because they like a bit more kick and then topped it with red enchilada sauce instead of salsa and used sour cream and guacamole for the topping and it couldn't have been a bigger hit. Thank you so much for sharing! Your blog was a new find for me last week and I've been on here all the time. You have beautiful photos and recipes that are very appealing and not difficult!