Beef and Bean Chimichangas

Isn't that a pretty picture? I like pretty food.  These were fun to make and delicious to eat.  I love, love, love mexican food and luckily for me, most in my house agree.  We had a bunch of these leftover and they were awesome for lunches for several days.  They refrigerate well.

I added a can of black beans.  Because I often add a can of beans to things.  (good thing I don't make a lot of cheesecakes, huh?) 

I also skipped the cheese. I've found that if you make the meat sauce flavorful enough, you just don't need the cheese.  Unless you put a TON on and make it really cheesy but then you are doubling the calories and it's just not worth it. To me.  So there.  Feel free to add cheese.  I won't judge you.  :-)

Beef and Bean Chimichangas

Adapted from Between the Lines

1 lbs. ground turkey (or ground beef)
1 large onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 1/2 cups corn
1 - 16 oz. jar taco sauce (about 2 cups), I used mild
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 tbsp. chili powder
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. cumin
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper to taste
1 can refried beans (I used a little less than a can)
10 - 100 calories whole wheat tortillas
1 tbsp. butter, melted
shredded lettuce
1 tomato, diced
Sour cream


Brown the ground turkey in a pan. Drain grease if needed, add onion, pepper and corn. Cook for 5 minutes or until veggies are tender. Stir in the taco sauce, beans and seasonings. Cook until heated through. Remove from heat.


To assemble chimichangas: Spread about 2 tbsp of refried beans onto each of the tortillas. Spoon a slightly heaping 1/2 cup of the beef mixture down the center. Roll up the tortillas and place them seam side down onto a baking sheet. Brush tortillas with melted butter. Bake for 30 - 35 minutes in oven at 350 until golden brown. Serve with lettuce, tomato & sour cream.


Total calories = 2997 calories
10 servings = 300 calories per chimichanga without tomato, lettuce and sour cream


1 chimichanga with lettuce, tomato and light sour cream = 350 calorie dinner

I thought about having another half of one of these but one was quite filling and did the trick!  Go ahead and make rice or something if you want, we're just not rice people.

Calories calculated from calorieking.com. Some numbers are approximate and rounded.