My California Burrito Recipe 🌮🥩🍟 takes the San Diego taco shop classic and makes it SO easy to recreate at home! Juicy carne asada made in a skillet with crispy fries, melted cheese, guacamole, and more all wrapped up in a big warm tortilla. This is the ULTIMATE loaded burrito that rivals any restaurant version and it’ll be met with rave reviews!
Easy California Burrito Recipe
- A true California burrito has carne asada and French fries inside the burrito. As a 25+ year San Diego resident, it’s my city’s claim to fame that California burritos originated in San Diego in the 1980s from the laidback surf and skate culture. And they’re one of the BEST things to come out of San Diego’s taco shops! Think of it as a carne asada burrito with built in fries. No complaints!
- P.S. Check out my Top San Diego Restaurants Guide and my Top Fun and Free Things to Do in San Diego if you’re coming to visit or a local.
- For this easy burrito recipe, I marinate and then cook the carne asada in a hot skillet rather than grilling it. That means you can make this ANY time, ANY season, no matter what the weather is doing outside. Of course, you can grill it if you’d like, which is how I make my Carne Asada Tacos but a skillet works just fine to give you a great sear on the steak.
- Stuff it good for the ultimate burrito. You’re going to roll up the tender carne asada with crispy fries, cheese, guac, sour cream, pico de gallo, salsa, and anything else you want to stuff into the tortilla. If you love big, beefy, cheesy burritos you’ve got to try my Loaded Smothered Beef Burritos. They’re one of my most popular Mexican recipes of all time.
- Keep it easy and faster with shortcuts. To make this an easy burrito recipe that’s do-able on busy weeknights, for tailgating, game days, or anytime you’re craving Mexican food in the comfort of your own home, use whatever shortcuts you can for carne asada burritos. No food trucks necessary!
- Hacks to employ. Frozen french fries that you simply bake while the steak cooks, bagged shredded cheese, store bought guac rather than homemade guac, premade salsa rather than homemade salsa – all the little time-saving shortcuts so that you can get the best burritos from marinade to mouth in under 1 hour.
Ingredients in Mexican Carne Asada Burrito Recipe
Carne Asada: Skirt steak or flank steak marinated in a simple blend of olive oil, orange juice, lime juice, cilantro, garlic, cumin, and oregano. The marinade comes together in minutes and infuses the steak with so much flavor.
- Marinate for at least 30 minutes or up to about 4 hours if you have the time. Longer isn’t necessarily better here because the acids in the marinade can almost break down the meat fibers too much which creates mushy meat.
Fries: Frozen French fries are the way to go here. I prefer to air fry them but you can also bake or fry them. If you love homemade oven fries, try my Baked Thick Cut Seasoned Oven Fries that you cut a bit thinner. They’ll get nice and crispy and would work well tucked inside the burrito.
Tortillas: You want to use large or extra large flour tortillas, often labeled as ‘burrito tortillas’ because they’re so much bigger than tortillas used for tacos.
- Flour rather than corn tortillas is the way to go for a classic California burrito – and because flour tortillas are far less prone to ripping or tearing than corn tortillas especially when stuffed so full like these big loaded burritos!
Burrito Fixings: Shredded cheddar cheese, or Colby Jack or pepper Jack cheese, along with guacamole, and pico de gallo are standard. Sour cream or Mexican crema is common but not truly essential and easy to omit if you prefer.
- To save time, use can use store bought guac. But really, homemade guac is as easy as mashing avocados with lime juice, salt, red onions, and cilantro. Check out my Grilled Lime Cilantro Chicken with Guacamole recipe, Loaded Guacamole Nachos, and my DIY Guacamole Bar for variations on homemade guacamole.
- I never skip the salsa and condiments – either store bought or homemade like my Chunky Tomatillo Avocado Salsa or my viral Easy Restaurant Style Blender Salsa. Hot sauce or salsa, always. Avocado crema, mayonnaise, or whatever condiments you love.
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How To Make a California Burrito with Carne Asada
This is such an easy recipe to make at home. You’re searing steak in a skillet, cooking some French fries, and wrapping it all up in a tortilla. The carne asada marinade does all the heavy lifting for flavor and then it’s just a matter of making the other components and assembling them.
- Marinate: Combine olive oil, orange juice, lime juice, cilantro, garlic, and spices. Add your skirt steak and marinate for at least 30 minutes.
- Sear the Steak: Heat a large skillet over medium high heat and cook the steak for 2 to 3 minutes per side. Let it rest, then slice against the grain and cut into bite sized pieces.
- Cook the Fries: While the steak is marinating and cooking, air fry or bake the frozen fries according to the package directions until crispy. Personally I never fry things anymore.
- Assemble: Warm your tortillas, then layer carne asada, fries in a single layer, cheese, guacamole, sour cream, and pico de gallo (diced tomato, white onion, cilantro, lime, jalapeno)
- Serve: Fold, roll up, wrap in aluminum foil to take it on the go, cut in half, and enjoy.
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for step-by-step photos and process shots of the cooking process.
what to serve with burritos
California Burrito Recipe
🌮🥩🍟 My California burrito recipes takes the San Diego taco shop classic and makes it SO easy to recreate at home! Juicy carne asada that's made in a skillet (no grill needed!) with crispy fries, melted cheese, and guac all wrapped up in a big warm tortilla. This is the ULTIMATE loaded burrito that rivals any restaurant version and it'll be met with rave reviews!
Ingredients
Carne Asada
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro, finely minced
- 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 orange, juiced
- 1 lime, juiced
- 4 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 2-3 teaspoons cumin, or to taste
- 2 teaspoons oregano, or to taste
- 1-2 teaspoons chili powder, or to taste
- 1-2 teaspoons kosher salt, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
- pinch cayenne pepper, optional and to taste
- soy sauce and/or Worcestershire sauce, optional and to taste (sometimes I add ~2 tablespoons of one or the other, or both; if that sounds good to you, add as desired)
- 1 ½ to 2 pounds skirt steak, sliced into 6-inch pieces approximately, (or flank steak)
French Fries
- 14 ounces frozen hand-cut French fries
Burritos
- 4 extra large flour tortillas, (labeled as burrito size or extra-large; flour is strongly recommended rather than corn for stability)
- 8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese, (I like medium or sharp cheddar but mild is fine; Monterrey Jack, Pepper Jack, or Colby may be substituted)
- ½ cup guacamole, or to taste (homemade or store bought)
- ½ cup pico de gallo, or to taste
- sour cream or Mexican crema, optional for drizzling and serving
- salsa, homemade tomatillo avocado, restaurant-style, or store bought, optional and as desired for serving
Instructions
- Carne Asada: To a large bowl, add all remaining ingredients, up to the steak, and stir to combine.
- Marinate: Add the steak, toss to coat in the marinade. Cover, refrigerate, and allow the steak to marinade for at least 30-60 minutes; or up to about 4-6 hours. Tip – I don't like marinating this meat longer than 4-6 hours because the acidity of the marinade can break down the fibers in the meat a little too much and the meat can take on a mushy texture.
- Come to Room Temp: Remove the bowl with the steak and marinade from the fridge about 30 to 45 minutes before you plan to cook it and allow it to come closer to room temp on your counter because room temperature steak cooks much better than fridge cold steak.
- French Fries: Cook the fries according to package directions for an air fryer or bake in the oven. Frying in oil is an option if you're so inclined but it's not a method I personally use.Set a timer so you don't accidentally forget about them while you're moving on to cooking the steak.
- Cooking the Steak: To a large, heavy-bottomed skillet (if you have cast iron, it's perfect here; stainless steel is also great), add the steak, discard the marinade, and sear over medium-high heat for about 2 to 3 minutes per side, or until the internal temperature reaches 135F for medium-rare or 145F for medium; noting the temp will continue to rise a bit as the steak rests.Tip – Don't wash out the skillet yet; save the grease and pan drippings. See optional Crisping step below.
- Rest: Allow the steak to rest on a cutting board, off the heat, for about 10 minutes.
- Slice: Slice against the grain into strips, then cut the steak into bite-sized pieces. Fries: By this time they're likely about done.
- Tortillas: Place the tortillas in a stack, moisten a few paper towels, and wrap the burritos in the damp paper towels. Microwave for 20 to 30 seconds, or until just warmed and a bit soft. This technique helps make rolling the burritos a bit easier and makes the tortillas less prone to tearing or ripping. Tip – Don't heat them too long or they'll actually get hard because you're 'cooking' them – just a little bit of heat to warm them up a smidge.
- Assembly: Place each of the 4 warmed tortillas on a clean countertop, evenly add the diced carne asada. Keep everything in the middle of the burrito, leaving a clear margin around the edges for folding up.
- Evenly distribute some French fries to each burrito, noting that you'll likely have more fries than will fit into the 4 tortillas so enjoy the extra fries alongside your burrito. They're the bulkiest item so make sure not to overstuff or you'll have a hard time rolling up the burritos.
- Evenly sprinkle the cheese over all. Evenly add a few dollops of guacamole and pico de gallo to each. If desired, add sour cream or Mexican crema; or salsa now before rolling up. You can also drizzle or dip your burritos into these later if you prefer, or omit.
- Fold the two sides of the tortilla and as much as possible, create a deep "V" or deeper angle as what will be your base, which helps secure the contents a bit better.
- Then bring the "V" up and over the ingredients, tucking as you roll the tortilla tightly into a burrito. Repeat with the remaining 3 burritos.
- Crispier Texture, optional: If desired, for a crispier texture, briefly griddle or cook the rolled burritos seam-side down in the same skillet you used to cook the carne asada (the leftover meat grease is actually perfect for helping crisp up the tortillas), until they are as golden brown on the outside as desired; usually 2-minutes per side is about right.
- Slice: You can wrap these in foil tightly now which is what restaurants do but if you're eating it at home, it's not really necessary. Slice down the middle of each burrito.
- Serve: I like to serve my burritos with a drizzle of Mexican crema or sour cream, salsa, hot sauce, more guac, and more pico de gallo, but it's all personal preference. Since you'll likely have extra fries, they're perfect alongside the burritos.
Notes
Nutrition Stats: It takes into account the full batch of fries and only a few fries are going to be used per burrito so if you don’t have any fries on the side, you’ll save yourself a lot of fat and calories. Also air frying without oil or baking without oil is the way to go. By going low or reduced fat on sour cream (or just omitting it), by being more conservative with how much guacamole you use and also being conservative on the amount of cheese used, you can shave off fat and calories to get the stats down to about 600ish per burrito is my guess and about half the amount of fat. The stats, as written, assume you add and consume the full and complete amount of everything but in reality, it’s easy to make modifications to make these a bit healthier.
Storage: Burritos are best consumed when freshly made. If you are going to make the steak all at once, store it separately from all the other components, and then rewarm the steak, cook the fries, and assemble as directed. Steak will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 3-4 days when store separately.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 915cal, Carbohydrates: 62g, Protein: 45g, Fat: 57g, Saturated Fat: 21g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g, Monounsaturated Fat: 25g, Trans Fat: 0.4g, Cholesterol: 128mg, Sodium: 1947mg, Potassium: 1139mg, Fiber: 10g, Sugar: 8g, Vitamin A: 1090IU, Vitamin C: 35mg, Calcium: 521mg, Iron: 6mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
©averiecooks.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited.
More easy burritos and enchiladas recipes
