Cheeseburger Burrito

I love anything in a burrito format – sometimes I call them hot wraps if there isn’t any rice. This one was such a winner and a great way for beloved flavors in winter, on the go, or just to shake things up. I did Thanksgiving inspired ones and a Chicken & Broccoli with rice one, and Chicken, Bacon & Ranch ones too.

Cheeseburger Burrito - The Three Bite Rule

These are a great use for small quantities of leftovers: like rice and ground meat. They can always become rice bowls too.

Cheeseburger Burrito:
Ingredients: (for 2)

1/2 pound ground meat
2 strips of bacon, chopped
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce or liquid smoke
1/2 cup prepared rice
2 cups arugula, spinach, or baby kale
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 tomato
pickles, ketchup, mustard

Directions:
Pan fry the ground meat and bacon and drain the grease. Add in worcestershire sauce/liquid smoke and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.
Cover (with plastic wrap or lid) and warm the rice.

Cheeseburger Burrito - The Three Bite Rule

Chop the tomato, greens, and pickles.
Lay out the tortillas and top with rice, cheese, ground meat and bacon, greens, tomatoes, pickles, and drizzles of ketchup and mustard or toppings as you wish.

Cheeseburger Burrito - The Three Bite Rule

Warm a pan to medium heat and a drizzle of oil or non-stick spray.
Fold two opposite sides and roll the burrito onto itself and keep tucking the sides in.
Pan fry the burritos, seam side down first, until warmed through and toasted until golden on the outside. Use tongs to keep them rolled while toasting.

Cheeseburger Burrito - The Three Bite Rule

Enjoy!

I loved this. The smaller amount of meat is nicely balanced with rice and fresh elements in this way versus as a tiny slider. I love the warm parts and melty cheese with fresh greens, tomatoes, and pickles.

Cheeseburger Burrito - The Three Bite Rule

Ultimate Breakfast Sandwich

Be fully awake before indulging in these breakfast sandwiches. They are flavor packed with a smoky bacon aioli, soft and garlicky Texas toast and some fresh arugula because, well, I can’t help myself. Arugula goes with everything for me.

Ultimate Breakfast Sandwich
Ingredients: (for 2 sandwiches)

1 slice of bacon, crumbled (or bits)
2 teaspoons mayo
1 teaspoon maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
4 slices of Texas Toast Garlic Bread
2 eggs
2 slices of cheese
1-2 cups baby arugula (or spinach, or sliced tomato)

The Three Bite Rule - Ultimate Bfast Sandwich

Directions:
Mix together the crumbled bacon, mayo, maple syrup, and liquid smoke.

The Three Bite Rule - Ultimate Bfast Sandwich

Toast the Texas toast- both sides are flavored with the butter & garlic so be sure to flip once.
Optional: chop the arugula/greens and dress it in oil/vinegar, if desired.
Pan fry the eggs and top with cheese to melt.
Assemble with the Texas toast, arugula, egg and cheese, and a spread of maple bacon aioli.

The Three Bite Rule - Ultimate Bfast Sandwich

Enjoy! I love the gooey cheese and the crunch from the greens. The Texas toast is greasy from the butter spread so I broke the yolks to keep it from being messier.

Breakfast sandwiches are my love language (just see here) and I made one on Texas toast circa 2016 but this one is majorly upgraded. It is so so good and easy enough to have the Texas toast on hand in the freezer and to mix the up aioli in advance if you wanted to! We had leftover slices with Pizza Beans another night.

Liquid smoke is also great in chili, pulled pork, bbq sauce, burgers, sloppy joes, and anything with a plant-based meat substitute. It lasts forever and you only use a little at a time. Or for this one a substitute of Worcestershire sauce would be good instead!

Better Eggplant Parm Subs

These eggplant parm subs are show-stoppers. They’re better than average – not because I made my own breaded eggplant, ohh no, but because there’s so much flavor and texture here. Arugula adds the freshness and crunch this needs and fresh mozzarella gives some bite and some melty pull you will just love.

The Three Bite Rule - Eggplant Parm Subs

Breading eggplant is tough to get right – I find it frozen at Trader Joe’s and Aldi, sometimes it is prepped in refrigerated areas at Wegman’s, and Costco has had it, but not regularly.

Eggplant Parm Subs
Ingredients:
(for 2 subs)
~4-6 small slices per sub breaded eggplant
2 small sub rolls
~1/2 cup tomato sauce
~4 oz fresh mozzarella
2 cups baby arugula
2 tablespoons Italian dressing

The Three Bite Rule - Eggplant Parm Subs

Directions:
Preheat the oven, toaster oven, or air fryer to 400-degrees. Bake/air fry the eggplant until golden brown and well crisped – about 10 minutes.
Warm the sauce, slice the cheese, and toss the arugula in dressing.
Slice the roll and spread some tomato sauce onto it then layer on the eggplant and fresh mozzarella.
Return to the oven/toaster/air fryer to melt the cheese.

The Three Bite Rule - Eggplant Parm Subs

Then top with greens and enjoy!

I loved this. As takeout, it is always so soggy. The sauce, crispy eggplant and the cheese make it comforting but the fresh crunchy greens with bright dressing bring life to it! Don’t skip the fresh mozzarella – it elevates this really nicely.

The Three Bite Rule - Eggplant Parm Subs

Subs are great to make one or two – all in the toaster oven or air fryer! I wouldn’t make them in advance, but everything but the greens could be frozen.

Gyro-style Wrap with Chicken

{originally published in 2017 and updated in 2021}

We love Mediterranean flavors so these wraps are inspired by a gyro, or souvlaki – using chicken sausage or this time- flavored ground chicken. The fries inside make it so fun.

Gyro Style Wraps with Chicken Sausage

Ingredients:  (for 2 wraps)

2 chicken sausages or ~1/3 pound ground chicken
2 cups/handfuls of frozen seasoned fries
2 wraps: tortillas, pitas, etc
1/2 of a cucumber
~3 tablespoons hummus
tomato
optional: lettuce, roasted red peppers, creamy caesar drizzle, feta

Directions:

Bake the fries, according to the package.
Pan sear the chicken sausages or the ground chicken into patties. Then slice.

Lay out the wrap and spread with hummus. Then top with tomatoes, chicken sausage/chicken burger pieces, and fries.

Roll and enjoy!

Wrap the bottom in wax paper or foil for street-food eatability. Is eatability a word? WordPress seems to think so and isn’t correcting me!

I liked the seasoned fries in there. It was a great use for an itty bit in we had in the freezer. These totally hit the spot and I think the fries + chicken sausage + hummus makes this – at least us grown ups thought so. The littles each ate elements disassembled. We had them with some orzo salad too. The fries only needed 20 minutes so in the time I plopped them into the oven, I then just cooked the meat and prepped the filling and they were done. Poof! Din-din!

Thanksgiving Hot Wraps

Thanksgiving flavors are even more appreciated away from the holiday, don’t you think?! Burrito-izing the wrap, as in, wrapping and cooking on the griddle, makes the deli turkey, cranberries, stuffing, and arugula so delicious.

They’re special-enough to be dinner (I mean, anything can be dinner) but these are like a special lunch or easy-but-fun-dinner while hitting a few food groups.

The Three Bite Rule - Thanksgiving Hot Wraps

Thanksgiving Hot Wraps
Ingredients: (for 1)

1/2 cup stuffing mix
1/2 cup chicken broth
sprinkle of garlic powder & dried sage (optional)
1 flour tortilla
2-3 slices turkey
2 tablespoons cranberries (canned whole berry)
1 cup arugula (or spinach)

The Three Bite Rule - Thanksgiving Hot Wraps

Directions:
Prepare the stuffing according to the package. Add in the garlic powder and sage- if using.
Assemble the wraps with turkey, a smear of mayo if you wish, arugula, cranberries, and stuffing.
Preheat a skillet over medium heat with a drizzle of olive oil.

The Three Bite Rule - Thanksgiving Hot Wraps

Fold the sides inward, about 1-2 inches, then roll from the bottom away from you, tucking the sides in as you roll away.
Place the rolled wrap into the skillet, seam side down. Hold with tongs if it starts unrolling. Cook for ~2 minutes and rotate on each side.

I loved this! The stuffing makes it decadent. I wouldn’t be against some sharp white cheddar in there but I kept it quite traditional this time. Cooking the wrap is the game changer. The turkey and the stuffing want to be warm, right?

The Three Bite Rule - Thanksgiving Hot Wraps

Have leftover stuffing? Make:
Stuffing Waffles – freezes well too!
Thanksgiving Burgers – also uses your cranberry sauce!
Thanksgiving Meatballs

Have leftover cranberry sauce? Make:
Thanksgiving Nachos – with a cranberry crema
Thanksgiving Burgers – also uses your stuffing!
Turkey, Cranberry & Brie Melts Or ham would work well here too

My kiddos can eat their weight in jellied cranberry sauce so they wouldn’t care if it were alongside anything. I don’t know if they can be fooled with this canned whole-berry sauce, but we’ll probably give it a go for the leftovers – I think we grabbed it by accident.

I loooove these hot wraps. I did one with chicken, broccoli & rice and one with chicken, bacon, ranch and think they hit the spot – especially for dinner since they’re warm!

The Three Bite Rule - Chicken, Broccoli & Rice Warm Wraps