Taco Bell Quesarito (Cheesy Beef Copycat Recipe)
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Beef Quesarito combines several Tex Mex favorites into one delicious restaurant meal, made easily at home! Recreate the famous Taco Bell™ Quesarito from scratch and enjoy one anytime!
Experience an explosion of textures and flavor when you bite into a homemade beef Quesarito.
Mexican rice and seasoned ground beef are balanced with creamy sour cream and chipotle sauce.
And, of course, there’s plenty of shredded cheese, plus a gooey nacho cheese sauce!
Once you know how to make a Taco Bell Quesarito at home, you’ll never have to worry if it disappears from the menu!
Even better, you can customize the ingredients and amount to your exact liking. Keep it slim or load it up without any additional cost.
Taco Bell fans rejoice in how simple this popular item is. Forget about ordering off Taco Bell menus and make this simple copycat recipe at home.
If you’re a fan of the fast-food chain, new recipes like this are the best! Read on to find out how to make Taco Bell’s quesarito recipe right in your very own kitchen!
Beef Quesarito
A scrumptious beef Quesarito at Taco Bell includes seasoned ground beef, lots of melted cheese, and Mexican rice that are layered between two warm tortillas and topped with chipotle sauce and sour cream.
Then, everything is rolled up into one deliciously stuffed, portable meal!!
Copycat recipes are always a favorite around here. What’s better than enjoying your favorite restaurant dishes without ever leaving home?
I really love the black bean quesarito copycat, it is packed with nutrients and fiber.
Wash down your homemade Taco Bell beef Quesarito with an ice cold Mountain Dew Baja Blast or a frosty, frozen margarita.
Need a side dish? Try a sweet and spicy Mexican street corn salad, or keep it simple by pairing tortilla chips with homemade salsa and guacamole.
Finish the meal with a sweet dessert, a Taco Bell Caramel Apple Empanada!
How To Make A Taco Bell Quesarito
This Quesarito recipe has several different components that will need to be prepared first. You can find detailed ingredients and instructions in the recipe card below.
Once everything is cooked and ready, this dish comes together in a snap!
- Warm the tortillas. Wrap in paper towels and microwave until soft and pliable, about 10-15 seconds.
- Add some cheese. Spread on a layer of Taco Bell nacho cheese sauce, then top with freshly grated cheese.
Microwave one at a time until the shreds are fully melted. - Top with another tortilla and taco meat. Be sure to mound the ground beef in the center of the tortilla.
- Drizzle on the sauces. Top with more nacho sauce, along with the chipotle sauce and sour cream.
- Spoon on the rice. Spread Mexican red rice evenly over the surface, leaving space around the edges.
- Roll it all up! Fold in about an inch of two opposite sides, then roll it just like you would a burrito.
Tips and Tricks
Adjust the amounts.
For a more authentic Taco Bell quesarito, decrease the amount of meat and rice. We just prefer ours bursting at the seams!
Choose the right tortillas.
Burrito-sized tortillas make stuffing and rolling each beef quesarito much easier.
Use the soft taco size if you prefer them extra stuffed or need to stretch out more servings.
Use up leftovers!
Unless you make additional servings, there will be extra meat, nacho cheese sauce, and rice.
Save them for another meal, or repurpose them for walking tacos or enchiladas. Making new items out of leftovers is one of my favorite things to do.
Sometimes I’ll even make a double portion just so I have some leftover to do this with.
I’ll just add a new layer of cheese, and maybe add some seasoned beef for a whole new flavor and taste.
And don’t forget to add some creamy chipotle sauce as a topping! Good things can happen from leftovers!
Kitchen Tools You Will Need
- Two Skillets – One for the ground beef and another for the rice.
- Medium Saucepan to make the nacho cheese sauce.
- Box Grater – As much as I love buying bagged shreds because it’s easier, freshly grated cheese melts down so much smoother and tastes better too.
- Mixing Bowls – I like to have a variety of sizes on hand, and this set has them all.
Beef Quesarito FAQ
This menu item is typically prepared with ground beef, but you can certainly use thinly sliced steak instead! In fact, it would be just as tasty with some grilled chicken if you’re trying to reduce your red meat consumption.
That would be quite the menu change, and honestly, not a good one. Using the flour tortilla the first time you make it will show you why it’s important to use. Not only is it delicious for your taste buds, but Taco Bell enthusiasts agree that the flour tortilla gives a new chew without breaking apart.
Prep Ahead Instructions
After the individual ingredients are cooked, a Quesarito comes together quickly. So, it is best served as soon as everything is assembled.
However, you do need to have the ground beef, nacho cheese sauce, and red rice cooked and ready to go before putting these together!
Feel free to prepare each dish up to a day or two in advance.
Store them in separate containers in the refrigerator and reheat before layering into each beef Quesarito.
How To Store a Taco Bell Quesarito
Once assembled, this dish should be eaten immediately. The sour cream especially won’t do well when chilled and reheated. Plus, the cheese sauce thickens as it cools.
However, you can store each component separately in the fridge to make more Quesaritos another day.
Everything keeps well stored in airtight containers for 3 to 4 days.
Enjoy!
With love, from our simple kitchen to yours.
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Taco Bell Quesarito (Cheesy Beef Copycat Recipe)
Ingredients
Quesarito Ingredients
- 8 flour tortillas, (see Note #1)
- 1 cup nacho cheese sauce
- 2 cups grated colby jack cheese, or Mexican cheese blend
- 2 cups Taco Bell ground beef
- 2 cups Mexican red rice
- ½ cup sour cream, or to taste
- ½ cup creamy chipotle sauce
Creamy Chipotle Sauce
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon Mexican seasoning
- 1 teaspoon chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, finely chopped
Taco Bell Ground Beef
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons onion flakes
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon beef bouillon
- ½ teaspoon granulated sugar
- ½ cup water
Nacho Cheese Sauce
- 16 ounces Velveeta
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ cup evaporated milk
- ¼ cup pickled jalapeno juice, (brine from can of pickled jalapenos)
Mexican Red Rice
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 medium white onion, diced
- 1 –3 jalapeño peppers, seeded and minced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups long grain jasmine rice
- 2 cups reduced sodium chicken stock
- 14.5 ounces fire-roasted diced tomatoes
- 8 ounces tomato sauce
- 2 tablespoons Mexican seasoning
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
Creamy Chipotle Sauce
- Add all ingredients to a small bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.
Ground Beef
- In a skillet over medium heat, brown ground beef. Use a spatula or a meat chopper to break the meat into small pieces.
- Add the remaining ingredients to the skillet and bring to a simmer. Continue cooking, breaking apart meat, until most of the liquid has been absorbed, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
Mexican Red Rice
- Warm the oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Once you can feel the heat when you hold your hand 6 inches above the skillet, add the onion and jalapeños to the pan and cook until the onions begin to soften, 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the garlic and stir. Continue cooking for 30 seconds.
- Add the rice and stir until it is well coated in the oil. Cook until the rice starts to brown, 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the chicken stock, tomatoes, tomato sauce, corn, seasoning blend and salt. Stir to combine and bring to a boil.
- Cover the pot, decrease the heat to a simmer and cook until the rice is cooked through, 12 to 15 minutes.
Nacho Cheese Sauce
- Cut Velveeta into cubes and place in a medium saucepan.
- Add cayenne pepper, evaporated milk and pickled jalapeno juice.
- Heat over medium-low, stirring constantly with a silicone spatula, until the cheese melts completely and is smooth.
- Taste for flavor and adjust with additional cayenne pepper and/or jalapeno brine.
- Use while hot; sauce thickens as it cools.
Quesarito Assembly
- Place one flour tortilla on a microwave-safe plate. Spread ¼ cup nacho cheese sauce over the flour tortilla. Sprinkle with ½ cup of grated cheese.
- Microwave in 45 seconds bursts, until the cheese melts.
- Top melted cheese and cheese sauce with a second flour tortilla.
- Mound ½ cup prepared taco meat in the center of the tortilla.
- Drizzle more nacho cheese sauce, creamy chipotle sauce, and sour cream over the meat.
- Add ½ cup Mexican red rice on top of the sauces.
- Fold in the sides and roll up the Quesarito like a burrito. Enjoy!
Donna’s Notes
- Use burrito size flour tortillas to make stuffing and rolling the Quesaritos easier – they are well stuffed with the soft taco size tortillas and portions in this recipe.
- You will have leftover meat, cheese sauce, and red rice. Adjust the amounts of the fillings to taste. We like them tightly stuffed, but using smaller amounts of meat and rice and/or larger size flour tortillas will make it a closer match to the way Taco Bell makes them.
- Creamy Chipotle Sauce: 2 minutes
- Ground Beef: 12 minutes
- Red Rice: 20 minutes
- Nacho Cheese Sauce: 8 minutes
Nutrition
All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe’s nutritional value will vary depending on the ingredients used, measuring methods, and portion sizes.
Originally published May 2022, updated and republished March 2024
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Everything separately tasted amazing, and it was even better when it was all put together!
Really delicious! I grilled my burritos in a pan with a little oil so they were a little crunch on the outside. Yummo! Just a note that the written instructions for the rice say to add corn along with the tomato sauce, etc. but corn isn’t on the ingredient LIST. 😉
this recipe is absolutely amazing! so easy to make and tastes just like the real thing. thank you Donna and Chad for another winner from The Slow Roasted Italian!
Hi Michael!
We’re so glad you enjoyed the recipe!
TSRI Team Member,
Devlyn
Loved making this recipe! Added some extra jalapenos for a kick, and it turned out fantastic. Thanks, Donna!
Hi Rachel!
I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe!!
TSRI Team Member,
Devlyn