How to Make Healthy Burritos

Don't you just love burritos? A soft tortilla filled with meat, cheese, beans, and sometimes even rice. It's enough to make your mouth water. But, how healthy is that fast food burrito? A regular bean burrito from one of the most popular fast food chains has 350 calories, 9 grams of fat, and 1190mg of sodium. It's not exactly what most people want to put into their body. That doesn't mean that burritos can't be healthy though. In fact, homemade burritos can be healthy, filling, and incredibly delicious.

When making healthy burritos, it's important to start with a healthy tortilla. Whole wheat tortillas are a great option. Just make sure the ingredients label says "whole wheat" rather than "enriched wheat". Whole wheat tortillas are made with healthy carbs, while the traditional white tortilla is made with the type of carbs that cause health problems.

The meat you use in your healthy burrito should be as lean as possible. Replace fatty cuts of steak with healthy pieces of sirloin. When adding ground meat, you can use 98% lean chicken or turkey or you can also use 93% lean ground beef. If your favorite burrito has pieces of chicken, use boneless, skinless chicken breasts and avoid dark meat. The dark meat of a chicken has the most fat and calories.

Most burritos have cheese in them. Of course, not all cheese is healthy. You can use a low-fat cheese in your burritos, but it won't melt very well. If you want a melted texture, I suggest using a one ounce serving of your favorite cheese. It may be a bit high in fat, but a one ounce serving of cheddar cheese has only 114 calories. Plus, it has 7 grams of protein and 20% of your daily calcium.