Chipotle has more than 3,000 restaurants in North America, with plans to open 4,000 more. With so many, there’s a high chance you’ve gotten a few of their burritos and needed to warm them up later. But what’s the best way to do so?
If you’ve been looking for tips on how to reheat chipotle burrito meals, we’re here to help. Read on for four easy methods to reheat your Chipotle burrito in no time at all!
Prepare Your Burrito
The first thing you want to do is get your burrito ready to heat up. It isn’t as simple as tossing it into a microwave (mostly!) The first thing you’ll want to do is make sure that nothing hazardous is on the burrito.
For example, if you’re microwaving it, remove the burritos from the metal foil. The same goes for if you’re using a burrito bowl and have the metal lids! When placed in a microwave, these items can cause fires and other severe hazards.
Now that you’ve passed the safety check, you need to separate your ingredients. Your burrito’s ingredients can’t all get warmed at the same time. Your protein will take longer to heat than ingredients like lettuce or guacamole. Heating all of these ingredients can create a soggy, unenjoyable meal.
Open your burrito and remove cold ingredients. Lettuce, guacamole, and sour cream are the main ingredients to remove here. Salsas are also good to remove! Once you’ve taken the cold ingredients off, rewrap your burrito.
This step isn’t mandatory, but you’ll enjoy your burrito much more if you do it! Otherwise, the lettuce can become wilted and textureless, while other ingredients suffer. It depends on what’s on your burrito, but removing anything you don’t want warm is an important step.
How to Reheat Chipotle Burrito in an Oven
With many reheatable foods, ovens can provide the best results. Ovens are great for maintaining the crispiness of food, especially fried or baked items. While it isn’t as quick as microwaving, the food often comes out much better!
Once you remove all of your cold ingredients, make sure to wrap your burrito well. Wrap the burrito in aluminum foil to help better distribute the heat and ensure your burrito warms thoroughly without pockets of cold ingredients.
Preheat your oven to around 200 degrees Fahrenheit or low heat setting. Once it’s finished warming, place your burrito in the oven in an oven-safe dish. You can also lay it flat on the oven grill, but this isn’t advisable, as it could lead to your burrito spilling into the oven.
Check your burrito occasionally, but warming should take about twenty minutes. Once this time has passed, your burrito should be warm, crispy, and as good as the moment it was handed to you.
The main drawback of this method is how long it can take. Preheating your oven takes 5-10 minutes, and the warming takes another 20, making this a half an hour heat-up. Still, it’s easy to do, and your burrito comes out perfectly.
How to Reheat Chipotle Burrito in a Microwave
If half an hour feels too long to warm up a burrito, there are plenty of alternatives. Unarguably the easiest way to heat your food is using a microwave!
As before, ensure you’re not using any foils or anything that could cause a hazard in the microwave. Place your burrito on a microwave-safe dish and place it in the center of the microwave.
Cooking times vary by microwave. Some have higher power, and some are weaker, making it difficult to say precisely how long you should microwave your burrito. You also run the risk of drying out your burrito, as the microwave tends to have that effect.
To counter overcooking and drying out, check your burrito occasionally to see how much longer it needs. You also can sprinkle water over the top of the burrito to help keep it moist. Just make sure you aren’t using much water to sprinkle over the burrito, or you may end up making it soggy!
The microwave is quick and easy, but the food can sometimes become unenjoyable. The tortilla won’t crisp up and may begin to fall apart, and evenly heating everything without reopening the tortilla and stirring is difficult.
The microwave has gained popularity only because of its ease and simplicity. Do your best to check on the food often to ensure the best result.
Reheating Your Chipotle Burrito on the Stove
If you don’t want to use the microwave, but the oven takes too long, the best thing you can use is the stove! Using a stove top to heat your burrito is easy, but burning is much easier, so be careful.
As always, remove any cold ingredients. You also won’t need foil for this method, but you should ensure that you wrap your burrito tightly. You’ll move the burrito during this method, so a loose wrapping can lead to your burrito spilling out into your pan.
Pick your favorite pan (cast iron is a great option here) and heat it to low or medium heat. You can add a small amount of oil to make sure you don’t burn your tortilla. Make sure not to add too much oil, or your burrito will soak it up and become oily.
Once your pan has warmed up, place your Chipotle burrito in the pan. You can also press down with a light pressure on the burrito for a minute or so to help it begin warming up. Once you press down, put a lid on the pan.
Check the burrito now and then to make sure it isn’t burning and that the heat isn’t too high. After about five minutes, flip the burrito to the other side. You likely made your burrito crispy and firm!
Cover the pan again and wait another five minutes. Afterward, remove the burrito from the pan and make sure that the ingredients are all warmed. Serve when ready!
The main downside of this method is that adding the cold ingredients back in is tricky. Heating your burrito with the pan may crisp up the tortilla, making it harder to open up and re-wrap. If this is the case, simply replace the tortilla with another and transfer the freshly-warmed ingredients.
Using a Grill to Heat Your Chipotle Burrito
Our final method to discuss is using a grill! You may not think about firing up a whole grill to reheat food instead of having a cookout, but it’s one of the best methods available.
The first step is to heat your grill, but this depends heavily on your type of grill. We’ll assume you’re using a charcoal or wood grill, but gas or electric grills are perfectly fine! In that case, you can skip the steps about preparing your grill and substitute them for your grill’s needs.
Allow your grill to burn down to low embers and evenly disburse them around the grill. Once that’s done, wrap your burrito in foil. Doing so will help it heat evenly and prevent it from spilling out into the grill.
Place the burrito over a section of low-burning embers. You want to avoid putting the burrito over a flame or direct heat, as this can burn or overcook the burrito. Somewhere with fewer embers or smaller ones is ideal.
Turn your burrito every few minutes to make sure it’s heating fully. After about 20 minutes, check the temperature of the burrito and make sure that it’s properly warmed up. Once it’s to your liking, remove it from the grill, unwrap the foil, and enjoy your meal!
The grill works excellently on a functional level but is the least convenient of the four options. Heating an entire grill to reheat one burrito is a hassle and a waste of fuel. However, if you have several things to reheat or are already cooking on a grill, this is a great way!
The second drawback is how long it can take. If you’re waiting almost half an hour, using the oven is easier. Again, the grill is best if you’re working in bulk, as it is otherwise the worst reheating method in terms of convenience.
Best Way to Reheat a Chipotle Burrito
With all four methods, what’s the best way to reheat a Chipotle burrito? As you may suspect, that comes down to preference.
For convenience, the microwave is undoubtedly the best method. You can have a warm burrito within a few minutes, and if you’re in a rush or just don’t feel like doing a more complex method, this is invaluable. However, it can also lead to lackluster food, whereas the other methods prepare a better meal.
If you’re trying to restore your burrito to its best quality, the oven is likely your best choice. It’s also just as easy to reheat the oven, place an item inside, and let it sit while you go about your day. Just make sure that you aren’t walking away!
Overall, all four methods are great ways to reheat your Chipotle burrito. Whether you’re after flavor or convenience, all four of these methods tie for first place.
Wrapping Up
Learning how to reheat Chipotle burrito meals is an easy task that will reward you with great food. If you’ve been looking for the best methods, we hope this guide has been helpful to you! Make sure that you’re cooking safely and removing any hazards before using the microwave.
If you’d like more information on reheating your food or culinary advice, be sure to browse our informational website to learn more!