In Spanish, botana means snack. That may be so, but any time I have had this in a restaurant, it was always more than enough for a meal. Thus why I make this Mexican ditty for dinner and not just an appeteaser.
I suppose this dish could be served as an appetizer. If you want to go this route, you would have to use 6″ flour tortillas and they would probably yield four small servings when cut. That works out to 1 quarter per person for a party of four or 2 quarters (half) per person for a party of 2. I suppose depending on what else you are serving it’s doable, but in my house it’s a meal. I save the appetizer category for something a little lighter.
Although many of the elements of this Mexican dish are similar if not exactly the same as some of my other Mexican dishes, there are a few distinct differences. First, this is baked on a flour tortilla that has been prebaked to a crispy foundation; and second, there is more cheese in this dish than any of my other Mexican dishes and this dish uses Queso Fresco, a creamy, soft white cheese. It’s the perfect amount for two, but could definitely be stretched to serve three or maybe four. There’s a lot of substance to this seemingly little guy.
Start by placing a flour tortilla on a parchment lined baking sheet and baking 5 minutes in a 400° oven. Be sure to turn the pan after 2½ minutes and flipping tortilla. Remove from the oven and allow to cool while you prepare the filling.
Add burrito seasoning and water to ground beef, bring to a boil and simmer 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, place refried beans in microwave safe bowl and cook 4 minutes, until warm.
Assemble botana: Spread refried beans over tortilla.
Top with ground beef mixture and diced onion.
Heap all of the queso fresco cheese on top of the meat
and then the Monterey Jack cheese.
Bake 20 minutes, increasing temperature to 400° the last five minutes.
Allow to sit 5 minutes before serving.
Mexican Botana
Ingredients
- 1 – 10-12″ Flour Tortilla
- 1 lb. Ground Beef, browned and drained
- 3 Tbsp. Burrito/Taco Seasoning with ¼ Water
- 10 – 12 Ounces Refried Beans
- ½ Cup Diced Onion
- 8 Ounces Queso Fresco Cheese, shredded
- 4 Ounces Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded
- Sour Cream, Salsa, Green Pepper, Lettuce, Tomato, Avocado, and Jalapeno Peppers for serving
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400°.
- Place flour tortilla on parchment lined baking sheet; bake in oven 5 minutes, turning pan after 2½ minutes and flipping tortilla.
- Remove from oven and set aside; reduce oven temperature to 325°.
- Add burrito seasoning and water to ground beef.
- Bring to a boil and simmer 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, place refried beans in microwave safe bowl and cook 4 minutes, until warm.
- Assemble botana: Spread refried beans over tortilla. Top with ground beef mixture and diced onion. Heap all of the queso fresco cheese on top of the meat and then the Monterey Jack cheese.
- Bake 20 minutes, increasing temperature to 400° the last five minutes.
- Allow to sit 5 minutes before serving.
Cooking Note
If everyone can agree on what to put on the botana, ingredients like green pepper, tomato, avocado, and jalapeno peppers could be added before topping with the cheese.
Recipe by: Tilly Frueh – Simply Grateful Cooking 2018
Mexican dishes are versatile and quick to get on the table. This one is especially filling without a whole lot of effort and for this I am — Simply Grateful.
Simply Grateful Cooking 