Being a Taco Bell fan is a tumultuous position to be in. You fall in love with a menu item, become accustomed to it being a part of your regular life, rely on it to bring you fast food comfort whenever you need it, only to have Taco Bell suddenly snatch it away. It’s happened to so many fan favorites — the Double Decker Taco, the Mexican Pizza (we got that one back!), the Meximelt… and of course, the beloved Enchirito. It’s come back as a special addition here and there, but when you want something that’s not quite an enchilada and not quite a burrito, there’s only one thing you can do — make your own. These beefy Enchiritos are pretty spot on!

What is an Enchirito?

A great question. If you’re never had the pleasure of actually trying one at Taco Bell (and I’m so sorry for you, if that’s the case), it’s kind of a mashup of a burrito and an enchilada. It uses a flour tortilla like a burrito, a little more filling than a traditional enchilada, and is topped with zesty red enchilada sauce. (And cheese, of course.) It’s delicious.

What Do You Need to Make Enchiritos?

It’s a pretty simple list. You’ll need:

• Flour tortillas. Soft taco or fajita size, not burrito-size.
• Ground beef.
• Refried beans.
• White onion.
• Enchilada sauce.
• Cheddar cheese.
• Sliced black olives.
• Taco seasoning. Taco Bell brand if you can find it.

How Do You Make Enchiritos?

Luckily, it’s a very easy process, which means that you can have Enchiritos as often as your heart desires. The only stovetop cooking you need to do is to brown your ground beef and then simmer it with water and taco seasoning. If you can find Taco Bell branded taco seasoning, then that will help mimic the authentic Taco Bell flavor more closely, but any taco seasoning works well.

While your beef simmers, you’ll want to heat up your tortillas just to make them easier to roll. I like to do this by wrapping them in a clean but damp kitchen towel and then microwaving them for 30 seconds to a minute. You can use the stovetop as well, but you don’t really want to brown the tortillas, just soften them, so use a low heat.

Spread a couple of tablespoons of refried beans down the center of the tortilla, top that with some of the ground beef, and sprinkle that with some diced raw white onions. Roll it up and place it seam side down in the baking dish.

Once all those tortillas are lined up, pour the enchilada sauce over the top. (It’s a lot of sauce — just go with it.) Top that with cheddar cheese and bake it until it’s nice and bubbly.

For an authentic Taco Bell experience, you don’t really want your cheese to be browned. You do want to top it with sliced black olives, definitely. Enjoy! Live Más! Think outside the bun! Run for the border!