Baked Baja Beef Chimichangas

Submitted by Northwest Lynnie

"This is an authentic 40 year-old recipe, and the filling will not taste the same as fast food style chimichangas. The only thing Americanized here is that the chimichangas are baked instead of fried. Caution: If you use leanest ground beef, the filling will seem dry. Serve lots of lettuce, tomatoes and other garnishes listed below with each chimichanga - they are important to this dish's all around flavors and textures."

 

• Ready In: 33mins
• Ingredients: 15
• Serves: 5

ingredients

• 10-12 flour tortillas
• 88.74 ml melted butter
• 907.18 g lean ground beef
• 59.14 ml distilled white vinegar
• 113.39 g can diced green chilies
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 4.92 ml dried oregano
• 4.92 ml ground cumin
• 2.46 ml crushed red pepper flakes (more or less to taste)
• 2.46 ml salt (more or less to taste)

• Garnishes

• shredded lettuce
• chopped tomato
• grated cheese
• sour cream
• salsa

directions

1. Wrap tortillas in foil and warm in a 300* oven while making the filling.
2. Brown ground beef and drain.
3. Mix in vinegar and seasonings to the drained meat, but do not cook the mixture further.
4. Remove tortillas from oven and increase oven temperature to 500*.
5. Brush each side of tortilla with melted butter.
6. Spoon about 1/4 cup ground beef filling onto center of each buttered tortilla.
7. Fold in sides, then roll up tortilla from the bottom.
8. Place seam-side down on a foil-lined and rimmed baking sheet.
9. Bake at 500* for 8-10 minutes, until golden brown.
10. Serve on a large bed of shredded lettuce and chopped tomatoes.
11. Top with sour cream, shredded cheese, and salsa.

Reviews

[ChefMom]

This is soooooo good! I did cook the garlic in the meat towards the very end. I also added a little picante sauce, just to make it a little more saucy. I only added a little so I don't think it made much of a difference so I won't do that again. Added some cheese to the inside then also some on the top after they came out.<br/>These were very simple and quick to make, I had dinner done in about 30 mins.<br/> I have 6 kids and some very picky eaters and everyone of them ate all of their serving and came back asking for more. <br/>We will be making these again that is for sure!

 

[clevergirl3]

Man! I really liked these! Halfed the recipe. Garnished with chopped lettuce, tomatoes, grated cheese and guacamole. Next time, sour cream and black olives in addition to the above. The addition of the vinegar was the ticket. Very tasty. And, they are crispy without frying. Try 'em!

 

[Melissa Hinman]

We live in Texas so I added a little bit of the local flavors to the meat mixture - chili powder and paprika. We are very blessed to have an HEB grocery store that makes the best flour tortillas. I added some pinto beans that I had made earlier in the week, slivered fresh jalapenos (slightly sauteed) and cheese in addition to the meat mixture before wrapping up these little beauties. Drizzled with a little enchilada sauce after baking and served with sliced tomatoes and avocado. Very good in deed :)

 

[adopt a greyhound]

Very good and easy. I did have to bake them for 12 min. to get light brown. Loved them with all the extras.

 

[KadeWag]

This recipe is SO good & very easy! It's an interesting tangy, slightly spicy sauce but very authentic. We had leftover BBQ'd tri tip and used that as the meat for the filling. This recipe would be great with any meat, not just beef. We added some cheese to the the inside and guacamole and olives to the garnishes. This recipe is definitely a keeper! I'm anxious to try the sauce for other Mexican recipes!