These Instant Pot Chicken Barbacoa Freezer Burritos are perfect for weekly meal prep and something to easily grab, heat and go in minutes!
How many of you meal prep or as it was called in the olden days “make too much and have a boatload of leftovers”? I’ve always done this to be honest; partially by how I was taught how to cook and also because I work A TON so I needed to have delicious foods on hand at all times. With 8 mouths to feed in one house plus at least 4-5 additional friends/family members/neighbors nightly Mom made foods in quantity. Enough to feed a crowd AND enough for at least one more full meal. Mom was literally the freezer/canning queen of the neighborhood!
The way I create recipes is I like to give you an amazing base recipe. And from that, I give you ways to transform that into new, delicious and exciting meals. I call those “Follow on” recipes. Think of this as an inspirational recipe.
For example, I’ve given you recipes on how to make both Instant Pot Chicken Barbacoa and Beef Barbacoa. I’ve even given you recipes on how to make these into tacos, nachos and so forth. But you guys have asked about ‘freezer meals’ or how to freeze stuff like this. Honestly, I do this all the time personally. As a Chef/food blogger I’m constantly making TONS of food that there is no way we can humanly possible eat in one setting. I’d need a family the size of a football team to handle that so I freeze… A LOT. “Future meals” are things that I tend to nosh on while I’m working on new recipes.
Easy Peasy Freezer Burritos
Okay seriously, this takes MAYBE 30 seconds to a minute each to make. This whole recipe is based on the assumption you’ve already made your 10 minute chicken barbacoa. Once that’s all done and cooled, I added in some black beans and charred fresh corn. You can easily substitute in canned (drained) Mexican corn.
Next just set up the assembly line. This is a great recipe to get the kids involved! Show them how if they cook once, they can eat for a week with recipes like this!
This recipe doesn’t involve a lot of ingredients. I HATE when a burrito is jam-packed with 37 different items and it’s the size of a fireplace log! Seriously, that’s just crazy stuff right there. So no, this recipe won’t be like that (though if you really wanted bigger ones you could totally go with the 12-14″ round burrito shells). for me I went with the 10″ ones as those are a the perfect size for us and a better portion-control item.
So above, you have the dish of already made up chicken barbacoa. Now you could totally go with just that but I love beans and corn in my burritos. You could put your own spin on it by adding chick peas, tofu or more heat. Jalapenos would be a great addition.. Below is just some freshly grated sharp cheddar and picante sauce.
Like I mentioned above, I went with 10″ round flour tortillas as I find those freeze better than corn tortillas.
Now the assembly is pretty straight forward – cheese goes down first. However please remember your goal is to NOT over stuff these. Just a tablespoon or two is enough in a tortilla this size. I’m the Queen of Cheese but trust me, you want to be able to roll these up AND close them without stuff spilling out all over the place.
*Note – what will help with rolling is that the tortillas are fresh from the bag and pliable. 
Just a few teaspoons of picante. You can totally do salsa or something else but I like picante more than salsa – it’s the whole chunk thing.
Since the chicken barbacoa is the star of the dish you can add a few tablespoons of that but again, you need to be able that you can roll it shut without breaking apart or spilling.
Also, see how I placed the stuff in the lower third of the tortilla, that’s the key to rolling these.
A simple fold up on each side and then a roll up and over the filling and you’re good to go!
Repeat until all of the filling is used up.
Pretty simple, huh?
Since these are going into the freezer, you need to wrap each one individually. I double wrap mine in plastic wrap and then put them all in a freezer bag. On the outside of the bag I write what they are, how long to reheat them at and the temperature. That way if Mr. Fantabulous is starving and I’m not home to cook for him, he can fend for himself and easily heat up one of these.
If I plan ahead I’ll take a few out and let them thaw in the fridge before baking. However if I forgot, not a big deal. I just have to reheat them longer. And for that you have two options; you can totally just reheat in the microwave OR bake them until hot on the inside and the tortilla is slightly crisp. It’s totally your choice.
Other recipes that you can use in freezer burritos
- Instant Pot Beef Barbacoa
- Instant Pot Pulled Pork
- Pulled Beer & BBQ Chicken
- Spicy Three Meat Banana Pepper Meatballs with Sauce and Cheese
Instant Pot Chicken Barbacoa Freezer Burritos
These Instant Pot Chicken Barbacoa Freezer Burritos are perfect for weekly meal prep and something to easily grab, heat and go in minutes!
Ingredients
- 1 recipe for Instant Pot Chicken Barbacoa
- 1 jar picante sauce or salsa
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- 1–2 ears of corn kernels (charred) *can you use 1 can drained Mexican corn
- 1–15 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1–2 cups shredded cheddar or cheese of choice
- 15–20 10″ soft flour tortillas
Instructions
- To the chicken barbacoa add the beans, corn and additional cilantro; stir to combine.
- To one soft flour tortilla, in the lower third of the tortilla add 2 teaspoon of cheese in a horizontal line leaving 1″ gap on each side of the tortilla. On top of that add 2 teaspoon of picante. Next, add 2-3 tablespoon of the chicken mixture.
- To roll grab each side and fold in, and over, the filling (the sides should not touch). Next, grab the bottom of the tortilla (side closest to you) and fold that up, and over top of the filling, tucking the sides in. Roll until the seam is on the bottom. No filling should be exposed. Set aside and finish with the rest of the tortillas.
- Double wrap each one in plastic wrap then place in a freezer-safe container.
- To reheat you can thaw each one (wrapped) in the fridge overnight and then place in a pre-heated 350F oven on a foiled and sprayed pan for 10-15 minutes or until heated through. If heating directly from the freezer, unwrap, place on foiled and sprayed pay and bake for 15-25 minutes or until heated through.
- For a crispier tortilla, lightly spray with olive oil and broil for about 30 seconds.
Notes
If you have extra chicken barbacoa left over after making your freezer burritos, you can freeze that for another meal.
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