Recipe: Campfire Burritos
August 06, 2026In its basic form, the burrito is basically a vehicle – a means of transporting a large quantity of good things from pan to mouth with minimal fuss and maximum satisfaction. It originated in northern Mexico, where flour or corn tortillas became the practical wrapper of choice for field workers and travellers who needed a meal that was portable, filling, and easy to eat without crockery. The word itself is thought to derive from burro – donkey – and the comparison to a loaded pack animal, while unglamorous, isn’t entirely unfair. A well-built burrito carries a lot.
The campfire version has a particular logic to it: if you’ve already made a pot of our fiery campfire chilli, burritos are the natural follow-up. The chilli does the heavy lifting. Everything else – the guacamole, the sour cream, the griddled wrap – takes minutes to pull together, and the whole assembly is well suited to cooking outside, where the laid-back, build-your-own nature of the dish matches the pace of an evening around the fire. It’s also, practically, one of the more sociable things you can cook outdoors: put the components in the middle and let everyone build their own.
The keys to a good burrito are warmth, generosity, and restraint in roughly equal measure. The tortilla needs to be lightly toasted over direct heat until it’s pliable and just catching colour. The fillings should be hot and plentiful, but not so overfilled that the whole thing becomes impossible to close. And the guacamole – properly made, not just mashed avocado (see our recipe below) – earns its place as the cool counterpoint to the heat of the chilli. Get those three things right and the rest takes care of itself.
Ingredients:
- All the ingredients to make our fiery chilli con carne
- Large flour or corn tortilla wraps
- 1 can of refried beans, if you can get them
- Sour cream
- 2 avocados
- ½ small red onion
- 1 fresh red chilli
- Fresh coriander if you have any
- Plum tomatoes
- 1 lime
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Optional toppings: grated cheese, hot sauces and jalapeños
Method:
- Make our fiery chilli con carne.
- Whip up some guacamole by roughly chopping the avo, tomatoes and coriander. Finely dice the half red onion and chilli and mash together with a fork. Add the juice of a lime and a drizzle of oil.
- Gently heat the refried beans on a cooler part of the campfire.
- Lightly toast a tortilla wrap to give it colour and a slight crunch. A cast-iron griddle plate or skillet is ideal.
- Build your burrito with a dollop of sour cream, a generous helping of chilli, some refried beans and a spoonful of guacamole.
- Top with a sprinkling of cheddar cheese, your favourite hot sauce and a handful of jalapeños.
- Fold your burrito. If you’re not sure how, the Huffington Post has got your back.