April 10, 2012

Homemade Chipotle Burritos - Take Two!


Nick and I love Chipotle. As much as I love researching new places to eat at, reading all the blog and yelp reviews of it, and finding something that fits our preferences in terms of budget and flavor, I also love just taking it easy sometimes. Just getting good grub because we’re really hungry. And when we’re in one of those moods, Chipotle never fails to satisfy. Big, flavorful, bang for your buck, and relatively not too bad for my health (it may be calorie-laden, but it doesn’t feel super greasy and fatty to me), Chipotle is a tried and true winner.

I tried to replicate Chipotle burritos at home once before and I was disappointed. Of course, there’s always something particularly delicious about homemade food (because you can tailor it to your tastes) but I wanted that knock-off recipe to taste JUST like Chipotle. It was good (I mean, how can you go wrong with homemade guacamole, salsa, cilantro rice, and slow cooked meat tossed in a tortilla with cheese and sour cream?) but not nearly as good as the real one. And it was a LOT of work. Making all those parts separately takes two nights of preparation. Of course, it does last a long time (at least 4 full meals for me and Nick) so it pays off but it was a project that wasn’t altogether too successful in my opinion.


I tried again. I must have forgotten what a chore it was last time because I went into this one with glee. I loved the new tomatillo salsa recipe I tried (double it and it makes enough to fill an applesauce jar and then some). The meat, however tender and tasty, wasn’t like Chipotle’s barbacoa. It’s okay; we still devoured it with friends, and when the desire comes again for Chipotle, it’s easy to satisfy since there are locations almost everywhere. In fact, I think my two failures make me like Chipotle even more…their food is THAT good. No one can seem to replicate it! 



Since I followed these recipes exactly, I'll just give you the direct links. I'd definitely make the salsa again and again...but the meat leaves something to be craved if you love Chipotle's version of barbacoa :) 


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