Mexican Food Recipes
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Easy Bean and Cheese Chimichangas
These chimichangas are quick to make because none of the ingredients need to be cooked, only heated up. The combination of two kinds of cheese, refried beans, salsa, and cumin makes a simple yet delicious chimichanga filling and the homemade guacamole served on the side is the perfect accompaniment to this tasty dish. Maybe you have tried vegetarian chimichanga recipes before and, if you liked those, you will love this one.
If you like, you could make up a package of Spanish rice, divide this between the tortillas as well as the bean, and cheese mixture. If you are going to do that, you will need a couple more tortillas. Use the big flour tortillas, whether or not you are going to use Spanish rice. You can either fry and bake these chimichangas or just bake them. While they are in the oven, you can make the guacamole. Fried chimichangas are more traditional but finishing them off in the oven ensures they are hot all the way through, crisps them up and gives you time to work on the guacamole.
Guacamole, salsa, and sour cream are typically served with Mexican chimichanga recipes, so serve them on the side and let people serve themselves to their preferred accompaniments. Some chimichangas are deep fried but you can shallow fry these in a skillet and they will still be hot through. Make sure the oil is hot before you add the chimichangas - they might go soggy otherwise.
A Great Chimichanga Recipe with Cheese and Beans
Ingredients -
1 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese
1 cup grated Cheddar cheese
2 lbs canned refried beans
⅔ cup plus 3 tablespoons mild tomato salsa
1 avocado
¼ teaspoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons lime juice
2 teaspoons ground cumin
8 flour tortillas
½ teaspoon salt
Sour cream, for garnish
Oil, for frying
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F.
Mix the cheese, beans, cumin and ⅔ cup of the salsa together, and then use this mixture to fill the flour tortillas.
Fold them up like envelopes and fry them in the oil until golden brown all over.
Bake for 10 minutes.
If you would prefer not to fry these chimichangas at all, you can just bake them for 15 minutes.
While they are baking, peel the avocado and mash it with a fork.
Add the garlic, salt, lime juice, and remaining salsa and mix well.
Serve the chimichangas with the avocado mixture, as well as some salsa and sour cream on the side.
(Makes 8)
Photo Description:
This chimichanga recipe with beans and cheese is deceptively simple. You might not have thought that using a few basic ingredients like tortillas, beans, cheese, cumin, and salsa could result in such flavorful chimichangas but this is a winning formula. The guacamole, sour cream, and salsa are traditional ingredients to serve with chimichanga recipes and the hot, crunchy chimichangas are great for dipping in such cool, creamy dressings. If you like to try different chimichangas recipes, you will enjoy this bean and cheese variety. Chimichangas are just as good for dinner as they are for lunch or even as appetizers, a lazy weekend brunch or a mid-afternoon snack.
