Bean & Cheese Tortillas
Bean & Cheese Tortillas
Tortillas do not crush, do not go stale quickly and roll into a meal you can eat one-handed while driving or hiking. Add canned beans and a hard cheese and you have a genuinely filling meal for pocket change, hot from a camp pan or cold from a pack.
- Prep time
- 8 min
- Cook time
- 4 min
- Servings
- 4
- Cost
- Very budget
Check before you fly: Cheese is restricted or prohibited in Australia, New Zealand and several Asian destinations. Canned beans and tortillas usually pass when declared.
Ingredients
Serves 4 · amounts shown in metric units
- Flour tortillas4 large (25 cm)
- Canned refried or black beans, drained400 g
- Hard cheese, grated or sliced(Cheddar, gouda or queso)120 g
- Ground cumin2 g
- Smoked paprika or chilli powder2 g
- Hot sauce10 ml
- Oil for the pan10 ml
Global ingredient guide
- Refried beans → any mashed canned bean: black, pinto, kidney or borlotti.
- Hard cheese → processed cheese slices, which survive heat far better than fresh cheese.
- Tortillas → chapati, roti, lavash, pita or any local flatbread.
Preparation steps
- 1
Mash the drained beans with the cumin, paprika and hot sauce until spreadable.
- 2
Spread a quarter of the bean mix over half of each tortilla and top with cheese.
- 3
Fold the tortilla over into a half-moon and press down firmly.
- 4
Heat a lightly oiled pan over a camp stove or hob and cook each one for about 2 minutes per side until the cheese melts and the outside is spotted golden.
- 5
Cool for a minute, cut in half and wrap in parchment or foil.
- 6
No stove? Skip the cooking — a cold bean and cheese wrap is still a complete meal.
Travel tips
- Cook a full batch the night before and wrap each half in foil — they reheat on a dashboard or eat fine cold.
- Tortillas travel flat against the back panel of a backpack without breaking.
- Canned beans are heavy: for backpacking, swap in a dehydrated refried bean packet and rehydrate with hot water.
- In an RV, this is a one-pan meal with no draining, no boiling and no washing up beyond a single pan.
Cooler storage guidance
- Cooked wraps keep 3–4 days at or below 4°C / 40°F in a cooler with fresh ice.
- Wrap each one individually so you open only what you eat.
- Keep cheese and cooked wraps low in the cooler where it is coldest.
- Unopened bean tins and sealed tortillas need no cooler space at all.
Food safety advice
- Cooked wraps left at ambient temperature should be eaten within two hours, or one hour above 32°C / 90°F.
- Reheat only once, and reheat until steaming hot throughout.
- Discard cheese that has become oily and sour-smelling after a warm day.
- Drain and rinse canned beans with safe drinking water only.
Nutrition (per serving)
- Calories
- 380 kcal
- Protein
- 16 g
- Carbohydrate
- 44 g
- Fat
- 15 g
- Fibre
- 9 g
- Sodium
- 610 mg
Estimated values. Actual nutrition varies with local brands and substitutions.
