# What's in YOUR burrito? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 7, 2013, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-burrito/652296 "2013-03-07T16:35:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-burrito/652296/21 "2013-03-07T22:27:50Z")
Many smaller burritos, with even smaller burritos inside each of those. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-burrito/652296/22 "2013-03-07T22:45:08Z")
My absolute favorite is the Jumbo Pork burrito from “Super Burrito,” a small hole-in-the-wall place on Waterman Avenue in San Bernardino, CA. If I’m brave, I’ll order it with their green sauce. That stuff is so dynamite, the try to talk you OUT of ordering it! Oh, damn, I’m hungry! ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-burrito/652296/23 "2013-03-07T23:04:44Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Am I the only person around here who _likes_ rice in burritos? Nope! I’m making black bean and rice burritos for the family tonight. ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-burrito/652296/24 "2013-03-08T01:01:08Z")
I am currently enjoying my annual vacation on the Mayan Coast and also beginning to wonder what, exactly, has been in my burritos. I really like to get down with the home crowd here so I do a lot of eating at ma and pa places and from the street vendor carts. Everything’s tasty and I use some disgression concerning cleanliness and temperature of food. But I’ll give a lot of different new foods a try. What looks like beef sometimes doesn’t seem quite like beef to my taste. So, I’m feeding some bread to a family of tejones (coatis) in the bushes at the edge of town and two taxi drivers are watching the gringo chick with some amusement, I suspect. Caught with the thought that a tejone would make an interesting pet I holler over in Spanish if they ever caught them and brought them home. “_Si_,” they answer, all smiles. “They make good pets, then?” “_No. They make good dinner._” Extra big smiles. Generally my burritos are very Minnesotan - ground beef, beans, sour cream, salsa, lettuce, tomatoes and onions. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-burrito/652296/25 "2013-03-08T01:22:35Z")
> [@Tethered\_Kite](#): > > Generally my burritos are very Minnesotan - ground beef, beans, sour cream, salsa, lettuce, tomatoes and onions. Tell me you at least season the ground beef! (As I said, I make ground beef burritos. But I use extra seasoning.) . ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-burrito/652296/26 "2013-03-08T01:32:55Z")
> [@cuberdon](#): > > Potatoes, eggs, chorizo or bacon, and green salsa. Guacamole is acceptable but NO RICE! _**[I couldn’t agree more.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=211444)**_ ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-burrito/652296/27 "2013-03-08T02:51:57Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > _**[I couldn’t agree more.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=211444)**_ Oh, rice has its place in a burrito. It’s a cheap filler that, while it does attenuate the glorious flavour of the meat, doesn’t actually impart any _nasty_ tastes. And it’s cheap. Wait… You mean from the _customer’s_ viewpoint! ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-burrito/652296/28 "2013-03-08T03:24:49Z")
Roast pork, onions, rice and beans. ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-burrito/652296/29 "2013-03-08T03:53:38Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Tell me you at least season the ground beef! > > . Yes, I do at least season it. Usually I dump a package of hot taco seasoning into it and add a little water to cook it down some. Then stir in some refried black beans, Nothing fancy but it’s only been in the last ten years or so that I could even find black beans in town, Good grief. I really murdered the spelling of “discretion.” ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-burrito/652296/30 "2013-03-08T03:55:49Z")
Are we talking burritos or “burritos”? 😉 Assuming the former, I’m a big fan of breakfast burritos with scrambled eggs. ---
**Author:** ![Apocalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Apocalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apocalypso)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-burrito/652296/31 "2013-03-08T05:50:24Z")
I never used to like rice in my burritos but there are a couple of restaurants in the city (Pittsburgh) that changed my mind. I do not like any kind of beans though, and always ask that they be left off my food. When we make burritos at home ground beef, steak strips (usually sliced bottom round or flank steak), or shredded chicken extra sharp cheddar chopped onions chopped jalapenos salsa verde on the outside and sometimes lettuce and tomato on top ---
**Author:** ![JerseySwamps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9a140/32.png) [@JerseySwamps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerseySwamps)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-burrito/652296/32 "2013-03-08T06:16:09Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > I find burritos indistinguishable in flavor from tacos or enchiladas or fajitas. I know that they look different but to me it’s just a matter of the order in which you layer the same ingredients. So said Jim Gaffigan. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-burrito/652296/33 "2013-03-08T06:17:42Z")
Meat\* Beans corn sometimes bell peppers sometimes onions but see salsa Rice optional, but I like it most times. Salsa fresca No guac No sour cream No fromage ETA: tortilla 🙂 \*mostly chicken. Beef, carnitas etc. are for sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-burrito/652296/34 "2013-03-08T14:36:21Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > I find burritos indistinguishable in flavor from tacos or enchiladas or fajitas. I know that they look different but to me it’s just a matter of the order in which you layer the same ingredients. Not that I don’t enjoy them regardless of combination. They are all quite different, in my opinion. I usually don’t like burritos because they tend to be overstuffed with a bunch of crap I don’t want and (almost never) put on my taco, like the beans and rice, for instance. I’ll very very occasionally have beans on my taco. There’s just usually too much damned stuff in a burrito. Enchiladas are en-chile-ed. Meaning, they are either made with dipping the tortilla into a chili sauce or in the case of enchiladas potosinas, the chiles are put in the masa used to make the tortillas. AFAIK, traditionally, that’s all they were: torillas dipped in sauce, no fillings, but they’ve more typically become a baked dish made with meat (or vegetarian filling) in a rolled tortilla that’s been dipped in chile sauce. They usually are stuffed pretty plainly, without beans, rice, or things like that. Sometimes, you’ll get a white sauce on top, too, in enchiladas suizas. These are eaten with a knife and fork. Fajitas were originally just skirt steak tacos. Fajita means “skirt steak.” That’s it. Now, the word means, got knows what. Seems to be meat or vegetarian filling served on a sizzling platter, cooked with onions and bell peppers, with tortillas on the side. It’s basically just another kind of taco. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-burrito/652296/35 "2013-03-08T14:42:13Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > I find burritos indistinguishable in flavor from tacos or enchiladas or fajitas. I know that they look different but to me it’s just a matter of the order in which you layer the same ingredients. Not that I don’t enjoy them regardless of combination. I’m curious; are you in one of those places where a ‘soft taco’ is made with a flour tortilla, and fajitas are served with flour tortillas by default? > [@Tethered\_Kite](#): > > Yes, I do at least season it. Usually I dump a package of hot taco seasoning into it and add a little water to cook it down some. I had to wonder because you said they were Minnesotan. Hormel, maker of SPAM®, is in Minnesota. ‘SPAM’ is a contraction of ‘SPiced hAM’. It seems that ‘spices’ in Minnesota means salt and sugar. 😛 We do the taco seasoning for burritos at home because it’s fast and easy. Since I do know how to cook (the SO says the best Mexican food she’s found up here is the stuff we make at home), I feel like I’m cheating every time I make these. But they taste good, and I’m not trying to fool anybody. There was a taco truck near the office that got a lot of business from the Mexican consulate. They had ground beef tacos. They were ground beef was just ground beef, salt, pepper, and chopped onions cooked together, served on a soft corn tortilla with a little pico de gallo. (I’ve made tacos like this at home, only I add Tapatio during cooking.) ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-burrito/652296/36 "2013-03-08T18:01:10Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I had to wonder because you said they were Minnesotan. Hormel, maker of SPAM®, is in Minnesota. ‘SPAM’ is a contraction of ‘SPiced hAM’. It seems that ‘spices’ in Minnesota means salt and sugar. 😛 You’re cruel, **Johnny L.A.** My mother-in-law had chili powder, nutmeg, cinnamon and galic salt. Of course she was from Iowa. One of the reasons I stay away from the fancy-dancy tourist restaurants down here is they all have that peculiar notion that Northerners don’t like spicy food. And what they serve is even more bland than MN cooking. Flour tortillas aren’t used much here. Most everything is some version of corn masa which I much prefer to the flour ones which are a little too much like lefse for my taste. But the Maya make their tortillas quite a bit smaller here than what we are accustomed to in the states. They are hardly suited to burritos. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-burrito/652296/37 "2013-03-08T18:19:04Z")
> [@Tethered\_Kite](#): > > You’re cruel, **Johnny L.A.** I’m a _little_ cruel. 🙂 > [@Tethered\_Kite](#): > > One of the reasons I stay away from the fancy-dancy tourist restaurants down here is they all have that peculiar notion that Northerners don’t like spicy food. And what they serve is even more bland than MN cooking. Food here in Washington seems, for the most part, to be not as highly spiced as it is in L.A. And if you want hot spicy? I carry a little piece of paper with ‘Spicy like Thai people eat’ in Thai so that the restaurant near the office gets the point. > [@Tethered\_Kite](#): > > Flour tortillas aren’t used much here. Most everything is some version of corn masa which I much prefer to the flour ones which are a little too much like lefse for my taste. > > But the Maya make their tortillas quite a bit smaller here than what we are accustomed to in the states. They are hardly suited to burritos. I’ve been caught out at least twice when I’ve ordered fish tacos, and they unexpectedly came with flour tortillas. It seems that flour tortillas are the default. Fine for burritos, but everything else needs corn. The taco trucks use the tiny corn tortillas for their tacos, as they should. Their burritos tend to be massive. I think I’ll get the chorizo out of the freezer so I can make _chorizo con papas_ burritos this weekend. Gotta remember to add extra peppers, as the chorizo is never hot enough around here. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-burrito/652296/38 "2013-03-08T21:29:57Z")
For me mission-style burritos are so much my norm that I tend to forget that other kinds exist and my first reaction is always “EXCUSE ME, BUT I BELIEVE I ORDERED A BURRITO!!!” I don’t eat mammals so at most places my meat options are limited to chicken. Beans (refried or black whole), rice, chicken, sour cream, maybe cheese. No cilantro as that shit’s nasty. Vegetables if they have them. Salsa on the side, not in it so that I can pour it on as wanted without it making the whole thing a soggy mess. If it weighs less than my head, it isn’t a burrito. As for the corn/flour taco debate. I prefer flour for chicken soft tacos. I prefer corn for seafood soft tacos. I really don’t care for crispy corn taco shells so never eat crispy tacos. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-burrito/652296/39 "2013-03-08T21:50:40Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > They are all quite different, in my opinion. I usually don’t like burritos because they tend to be overstuffed with a bunch of crap I don’t want and (almost never) put on my taco, like the beans and rice, for instance. I dislike rice in a burrito almost as much as I dislike the absence of black beans in a burrito. Once you’ve gotten rid of the rice and added a bunch of black beans, everything else is negotiable :). ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2013, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-burrito/652296/40 "2013-03-09T16:35:04Z")
Black beans! I never cared for beans until I tasted black beans. Something about the way they chew. They’re satisfyingly meaty. Add corn and squash and you have a healthy combination. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-burrito/652296.md?page=1)