Veggie Burritos with Roasted Poblano Sauce

These veggie burritos are packed with pinto beans, cilantro lime rice, sautéed peppers, onions and corn, so you already know they are good. But then you smother them in this roasted poblano sauce that is rich and creamy and now they’re next-level burritos. You guys. The poblano sauce- its so good. Slather these burritos (and everything?) in this sauce, you won’t regret it.

The poblano sauce is obviously the star of the show here. The burrito, albeit delicious, is really just a means to get this delicious sauce in your mouth. Poblanos aren’t spicy, just super flavorful. It’s so good on this burrito. But don’t stop there! You could put this sauce on anything. Tacos, a dip for chips, taquitos, flautas, a burrito bowl, I mean really the options are endless.

When I first imagined this burrito, I I was thinking about the sauce. Something creamy, with poblano. In my head it was just a normal veggie burrito but as it developed, peppers and onions made more sense and the corn just felt right. I also tried it as a chimichanga (fried burrito) which was delicious, but I actually don’t think the frying is necessary here- just a good grill to the burrito once its assembled is perfect.

We’re using canned pinto beans here just because there are other steps involved, namely making the poblano sauce, so the simpler we can make the rest, the better. If you prefer home cooked beans, you do you. Also we’re using white rice. Feel free to use brown if you want, just adjust the timing.

This recipe serves 3-4 burritos (with sauce leftover) depending on how big you make your burritos. The sauce keeps for about 3 days, but I doubt you will have it around that long! My husband swore it got better the next day.

Recipe

Veggie Burrito with Roasted Poblano Sauce

pinto beans, cilantro lime rice, and sauteed veggies all wrapped up in a grilled burrito and smothered in magic roasted poblano sauce.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Mexican

Author Larissa Wilson

Ingredients

Burrito

1 cup white rice
2 cups water
½ tsp salt
1 lime
1 tbsp cilantro, chopped
1 cup frozen corn
1 tbsp oil, such as olive or avocado
½ yellow onion, sliced in strips
1 green bell pepper, sliced in strips
1 can pinto beans
4 large tortillas

Roasted Poblano Sauce

1 poblano pepper
¾ cup raw cashews
1 tbsp oil, such as olive or avocado
½ yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
¼ cup cilantro
1 lime
½ cup water, plus more if needed

Instructions

Boil 2 cups of water for rice.
Once boiling, add 1 cup of white rice plus ½ tsp salt.
Bring rice to a boil, then lower to simmer. Cover and cook for 15-17 minutes.
In the meantime, roast the poblano over an open flame for about 5 minutes, turning often. If you don't have a gas range, you can do this in the broiler of your oven.
Once skin in charred, put in a bowl and cover with aluminum foil or something else to steam the pepper. Set aside.
Heat oil in a pan. Add onions and garlic with a pinch of salt. Sautee for about 5 minutes, until onions are translucent.
Remove poblano pepper and scrape off charred skin using the back of a spoon. Cut the pepper open and remove the stem and seeds.
Add cashews, onion and garlic mixture, poblano pepper and remaining sauce ingredients to a high speed blender.
Blend on high until smooth, adding more water until desired consistency is acheived. Set aside.
In the same pan you cooked the onions and garlic, heat another tbsp of oil. Once hot, add the remaining sliced onions and peppers. Sautee until peppers are soft and onions are translucent.
While peppers and onions are cooking, heat beans. I rinse mine and add fresh water with a pinch of salt as I buy unsalted- do not add salt if your beans have salt added.
Once peppers and onions are done, set aside. In the same pan, add frozen corn with 1-2 tbsp of water to heat.
Once rice is done, squeeze juice of one lime and add choppped cilantro, fluff with a fork.

To Assemble:

Once sauce and all filling ingredients are ready, assemble burrito. Heat tortilla over a griddle or a pan.
Add rice, beans, veggies, and corn to tortilla and roll into a burrito.
Put burrito back onto grilled or pan to grill the burrito, then flip to grill the other side.
Once grilled, serve with side of poblano sauce.