14 Tasty Ways To Upgrade Frozen Burritos

Don't you just love frozen burritos, folks? We sure do. Store-bought frozen burritos may not always stack up to the restaurant versions, but when you're in a pinch and need a quick breakfast, lunch, or dinner, they're reliable, tasty, and easy to prepare — and not as easy to ruin as homemade frozen burritos. If you've had too many store-bought frozen burritos in your time, though, you might find that they start to get a little boring. Luckily, these freezer staples are surprisingly easy to upgrade, to improve their flavor and texture and make your next meal an utter sensation.

Store-bought frozen burritos are surprisingly versatile flavor-wise, and are well-suited to being paired with additional ingredients that bring out their smooth, savory, and creamy notes. Their smaller size and compact shape also makes them perfect for tucking into a casserole or wrapping with other foods to make a more substantial meal. Frozen burritos are also surprisingly adept at being cooked in alternative ways than just popping them in the microwave. By throwing them in a panini press, an air fryer, or even a pan of bubbling fat, you can totally transform them.

Catering for a crowd and have nothing at home, but a freezer full of store-bought burritos? You can take them and upgrade the heck out of them by making a simple but delicious burrito casserole. By tucking frozen burritos into a casserole dish and baking them with your favorite sauce, you can make an enchilada-style meal that takes minutes to prepare, adding flavor to the burritos and making them way more filling. This upgrade is particularly useful if you've recently bought a multipack of frozen burritos and need to free up some space in your freezer, and it's a great way to feed the family on a budget.

Simply take your favorite casserole dish and coat it with oil before pouring in enchilada sauce. Pop your frozen burritos in the dish, and then top them with the remaining sauce. Here, you can also add any other toppings you like: Bulk things out even further by throwing in some extra protein, or mix some sliced veggies into the sauce to add some nutrients. Bake the dish at 375 degrees Fahrenheit until everything's looking cooked and browned, and then sprinkle on some shredded cheese before finishing it off in the oven.

Microwaving store-bought frozen burritos is a tried-and-tested method of preparing them. It takes just a couple of minutes to warm your burrito through, it's virtually foolproof, and it just takes a few presses of a button. You know what else takes a few presses of a button, though? The air fryer — and we guarantee that it makes your frozen burritos way more delicious.

The super-hot rapidly-circulating air in the air fryer both cooks your frozen burritos through and browns them on the outside, giving them a crunchy exterior and a way more interesting flavor. It also doesn't take much longer than popping them in the microwave. Frozen burritos can cook in the air fryer in as little as 12 minutes, and you can put multiple burritos in at the same time. Just make sure that you don't crowd your air fryer basket, as this will cause your burritos to cook unevenly, and may leave you with a few glued-together burritos at the end of it all. It's also a good idea to spray them lightly with cooking oil, so that they don't char.

While some frozen burritos go big on flavor, others can be, for want of a better word, bland. Instead of trying to add flavor to their insides, which risks you ripping the burrito apart and being unable to put it back together again, it's usually easier to add it to their outsides. However, that doesn't mean you have to smother them in sauce. Give your frozen burrito a parmesan breadcrumb coating, and you can add both flavor and a crispy texture to this meal.

Parmesan gives your frozen burritos a funky, savory, salty note that complements pretty much anything they're filled with. It also retains its firm texture when cooked, and can crisp up nicely when exposed to dry heat — which means it's perfect for pairing with breadcrumbs. To make parmesan breadcrumbs, you simply mix regular breadcrumbs with shredded parmesan. Then, coat your frozen burrito in an egg wash, roll it in the breadcrumb mixture, and then pan-fry it. It's best to thaw your burritos fully before doing this, so you can focus on crisping them up and don't have to worry about them being partially frozen when they come out of the pan.

Store-bought frozen burritos aren't exactly what we'd call gourmet — but with a few tweaks, you can make them fancier. One of our favorite ways to do this is by dressing them up with some garnishes. Crema and pickled onions are our favorite combo here, especially for spicier frozen burritos. The crema adds a fresh, rich, sour flavor to the burrito, and compliments any cheesy flavors that are tucked away inside. If your burrito doesn't have cheese, it adds that all-important note of flavor, and can help to temper any overpowering spiciness.

Pickled onions fill out the flavor even further. As well as sourness, they give your burritos a salty kick and a vegetal burst of flavor. Red pickled onions also add some all-important color to your plate. They're a great choice for folks who prefer a milder garnish, but if you want some more fieriness, replace them with jalapeños. If you don't have crema, feel free to use some Greek yogurt or crème fraîche. You can add in extra flavor notes, too: Hit your frozen burritos with some cilantro for some herbal freshness, a peppery undertone, and some much-needed greenery.

Okay, so we're gonna start this one by stating the obvious: You probably shouldn't be deep-frying your frozen burritos every time you make them. However, this luxurious method of preparing them is undeniably novel, and delicious too. Deep-frying frozen burritos gives them a deliciously crispy exterior which then perfectly contrasts their gooey, soft insides. While the method isn't the healthiest out there, submerging the burrito in fat also gives it a rich, deep flavor that then highlights its filling even more.

It's surprisingly easy to deep-fry a frozen burrito. You don't have to coat it in breadcrumbs or batter (although you can if you wish, to give it even more crispiness), just pop it straight into hot oil and cook for four to six minutes, checking it every minute or so to ensure that it's not going too brown. Crucially, you should always defrost your burrito before deep-frying it. If you cook it from frozen, you run the risk of burning its outside before the interior cooks all the way through.

Have you ever found the inside of your frozen burrito somewhat lacking? It's no secret that the pictures on the packaging of these items don't always match what you actually get when you eat them. Frozen burritos that promise a cheesy inside, for example, may leave you wondering where the cheese actually is, with it frequently melting into the general mush of their interior.

One way to solve this problem for good is by using cheese sticks. Unwrap a few cheese sticks, and then insert them into your burrito. This can be a little tricky, and you need to be careful here: If you're not, you can end up ripping the tortilla or poking holes in it. You should only do this when your burrito has fully defrosted, too, so you're not trying to merge them with a frozen block of food.

Once you've added the cheese sticks in, microwave as normal or put your burrito in the air fryer. When you pull it out, the cheese will have melted, giving you a rich, cheesy interior and a cheese pull that's worthy of any pizza. This upgrade is also a great way to make your burritos way more filling — and we all want that, right?

They may not seem it, but frozen burritos can often be pretty dry. While their insides are usually pretty reliably soft and gooey, when that's contrasted with the soft tortilla, things can get a little bit chewy — leaving you reaching for a glass of water to wash things down, or else having to scrape food off the roof of your mouth. This can be easily avoided by whipping up a dip to go with your burritos, which has the added advantage of giving them way more flavor.

Our favorite is homemade ranch dip, and it's super easy to make: You just have to combine buttermilk, mayo, and a few seasonings, and you're good to go. It's also wonderfully versatile, and can go with basically any frozen burrito flavor that's out there. Plus, it adds a pleasingly creamy, lightly herbal note to your burritos, which often isn't present in the filling itself. If ranch isn't your thing (which is something we really don't understand, but hey, you do you), you can serve it with any other dip or condiment you like. Ketchup, mayo, Thousand Island, even yellow mustard — the world's your oyster!

Frozen burritos generally have one texture going for them: They're soft. Now, this isn't necessarily a bad thing — sometimes, you just want something pillowy and chewy — but we often find ourselves missing the crunch factor. While you can crisp up your frozen burrito's exterior in a number of ways, we prefer to add some contrast by throwing on some tortilla chips. All you need to do is crumble up some chips and scatter them over the top of the burrito. If you want, you can add a little salsa to the top of the burrito beforehand, to help them stick.

Don't be tempted to buy new tortilla chips for this, either. You can do so if you wish, but this upgrade is a great way to use up any leftover ones. If they've gone stale, never fear: A quick hack will make tortilla chips crunchy again. You just have to pop them in the microwave with some paper towel and blast them for a few seconds, and you'll quickly find that they develop a premium crunch once more. Then, you just have to crush them up, scatter onto your burritos, and chow down.

Frozen burritos can be pretty difficult to make more exciting, simply because most of the flavor has already been added into them. Try to add in extra ingredients, and you risk ruining the structure of the burrito itself, and therefore your whole meal. We'd encourage you to be brave, though, and slash your burrito open with wild abandon to make loaded burritos. Similar to a loaded baked potato, this upgrade builds on the burrito's original foundations with extra toppings to make a hearty, delectable meal.

Here's how you do it. Take a frozen burrito (you can use any type or size you want), and slice it down the middle lengthways. Make sure it's totally thawed before you try this, otherwise you'll be sawing at it for a while. Place each side on a baking sheet, with the filling side up. Then, top the burritos with anything you like. You can add grilled pork, chicken, or beef for some extra meat, making a nacho-inspired affair with some chips and sour cream, or just put whatever you've got in your fridge on there. Broil or bake until everything's hot and crispy, and then get ready to eat.

If you thought that frozen burritos were healthy, we've got some bad news for you. It's not that all of them are terrible for you — it's just that there are a lot of unhealthy store-bought frozen burritos out there, and they can leave you craving some goodness. That's why we love making burrito bowls out of our frozen burritos. You simply take the filling of your frozen burrito and tumble it into a bowl, before adding any fresh ingredients you like. If you've got a burrito that has rice in it, it's likely already pretty substantial, and it'll work as a bed for any chopped vegetables or additional proteins that you want.

We prefer to make a quinoa burrito bowl with our frozen burritos, and it couldn't be simpler. Grab yourself a frozen burrito that doesn't have rice in it, scrape out its contents, and spoon them onto a bed of warm quinoa. Then, add some additional black beans and corn for some fiber and freshness. Finish it off by popping on some sliced avocado and fresh tomatoes. If you want, you can also add some sliced chicken sausage for a salty, slightly spicy flavor and some extra meat.

Is your frozen burrito lacking cheese? Is this something that's getting you down? Don't worry — Swiss is here to rescue you. By scattering some Swiss cheese onto your frozen burritos and broiling them for a few minutes, you can give this freezer staple a salty, lightly funky flavor and a gooey, moreish texture. As the Swiss melts, it'll drip down the sides of your burrito, coating it in cheese, and will simultaneously bubble and brown slightly, increasing its nutty flavor notes.

If you don't have Swiss cheese in the fridge, don't worry. There are plenty of good melting cheeses out there, with all of them giving your burritos a slightly different taste. If you want something especially punchy to go with your burrito, crumble over some blue cheese (which melts way better than you think) or pop on some slices of brie. If you're in the market for something milder, go for a fresh asiago or the humble, yet always effective mozzarella. Broiling your burrito will also have the added benefit of developing some crunchiness at its ends, where the tortilla folds in on itself.

The plumpness of a frozen burrito is a huge part of its appeal — but if you're willing to take a different approach to its shape, you could be rewarded. Putting your frozen burrito in the panini press is a great way to maximize crunch across its surface area, creating a great textural contrast. As with a regular panini, your panini press will flatten the burrito while simultaneously cooking its sides, crisping it up, and warming it through.

To do this, you'll need to make sure that your frozen burrito is totally thawed. You can do this by leaving it in the fridge until it melts, or by nuking it in the microwave for a few minutes. If you don't have a nonstick panini press, make sure you grease each side lightly before putting your burrito in, so that it doesn't end up glued to the machine. You should also make sure you're pushing the sides down gently, and avoid cramming it down too quickly. If you do, you run the risk of your burrito bursting.

We're all about experimentation in the kitchen, which is what makes this next upgrade so exciting. By making a Chicken Parmesan frozen burrito, you can enjoy the best of both worlds: A well-stuffed, well-spiced burrito topped with a savory, tangy sauce and loads of cheese. It's best to use a frozen chicken burrito here, to make it as close a match as possible to a regular chicken parm. Having said that, you can use pretty much any type you like and it'll still taste good, although we'd recommend steering clear of types that are too spicy or fiery, as these flavors will just overpower the dish.

It's also best not to try and flavor the tomato sauce too much here, and to whip up a fairly simple marinara sauce (or use a jarred one). As your burrito will give you a lot of flavors, throwing too many ingredients into your sauce will just make the dish chaotic. You can either broil or bake your burrito, but for best results, we'd recommend baking it. Not only will this help your burrito warm through fully, but it'll also generate more crispiness across its surface area.

If you're in the market for a serious upgrade to your frozen burritos, it's time to get wrappin'. Wrapping your burrito in bacon may not win you any health awards, but it's an easy (and pretty fun) way of adding a huge amount of flavor to the dish. This is a great way to get your bacon fix with frozen breakfast burritos that might not contain it, and it also works with frozen burritos intended for lunch or dinner, with the bacon pairing easily with the spicy fillings.

It's worth bearing in mind that some frozen burritos can be fairly high in sodium, and bacon's usually pretty salty too. It's therefore best to try this upgrade with burritos with lower sodium levels, so your dish isn't completely flooded by salt, which will just ruin its flavors. You'll likely need between three to five slices of bacon to ensure that your burrito is totally covered, so make sure you buy enough. Then, fry your burrito on each side for a few minutes until your bacon is browned and crispy. Oh, and make sure your burrito is thawed before doing this, or it'll likely still be frozen on the inside when it comes out of the pan.