Burrito bowls for a family of 4 costs $50? Might as well just order Chipotle next time, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids are elementary aged, but they share a chipotle bowl (and only eat like 1/4 of it anyways). DH and I can also share it too. Not to be cheap, but more because we can't eat that much (it's like 2k calories).

No offence, but why are you worried about calories for your kid. My 8 year old can tuck an incredible
Amount of food away. But she also spends between 4-8 most nights and a good part of the weekend at activities of being a kid on the trampoline, in the pool, or riding bikes/ scooters with her friends.

It has never occurred to me even once to limit her calories.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any leftovers? Ingredients remaining for another meal?

Lots of dry rice left, salsa, herbs and spices. Salsas will likely expire before we use them again. I guess in theory it’ll be a little cheaper if I made them again. But I won’t! Way too easy to just do a mobile order for nearly the same cost.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any leftovers? Ingredients remaining for another meal?

Lots of dry rice left, salsa, herbs and spices. Salsas will likely expire before we use them again. I guess in theory it’ll be a little cheaper if I made them again. But I won’t! Way too easy to just do a mobile order for nearly the same cost.

You need to learn how to meal plan. You’re wasting food and money. That’s disgusting.

[Anonymous]

I think you have a point, OP. Not the case with every restaurant but Chipotle is a great value especially for my fam where the kids love the kids meals for $5 and I get a burrito bowl that lasts two meals.

[Anonymous]

Chipotle is not a great value, Mexican food is disgustingly cheap to make. You people may not know how to cook.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids love Chipotle so I figured I could easily whip up burrito bowls last night. Family of 4. Steak and chicken. Whole Foods guac. Good salsas. Corn. Rice. Beans. Herbs and spices. Cheese, which I shredded. Onions and peppers. Leafy lettuce. It was over $50, took me well over an hour to prep and cook everything, tons of cleanup, and tasted fine but nothing special. Everyone finished their plates but no rave reviews.

Chipotle is $9-12 per person. And the kids and my husband would prefer it over what I served. Did I do something wrong or does everyone sort of know this and when the family craves burritos or burrito bowls you all order out?

The advantage- your burrito bowls undoubtedly had higher quality, fresh ingredients. There's probably some cost reduction in there- but you used a lot of ingredients, so the cost does not surprise me.

Groceries are so expensive now that in some cases, eating out can be more economical (and obviously less time consuming).

Maybe slightly healthier but flavor was fairly bland compared to theirs. And I sometimes like the shredded beef or pork at Chipotle, which nobody else prefers. I guess I was just shocked that there was basically no savings to make this at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Chipotle is not a great value, Mexican food is disgustingly cheap to make. You people may not know how to cook.

Compared to a lot of take out it is a good value. And, as OP said, we’re also considering the time involved in cooking at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chipotle is not a great value, Mexican food is disgustingly cheap to make. You people may not know how to cook.

Compared to a lot of take out it is a good value. And, as OP said, we’re also considering the time involved in cooking at home.

So you’re lazy, wasteful, AND a bad cook?

Chipotle it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Chipotle is not a great value, Mexican food is disgustingly cheap to make. You people may not know how to cook.

That’s what I assumed but I think it’s only a cheap meal if all the family wants ground beef and/or you make it weekly to use all the leftover ingredients before they expire.

+ or - $10 is not enough savings for me to waste all that time shopping, cooking and cleaning for mediocre burrito bowls once or twice a month.

[Anonymous]

It's cheaper at home, but you have to just pick one main ingredient- not steak + chicken. Add a can of beans to fill it out. Making guac is super easy instead of buying it. Put one of your kids in charge of this. One kind of salsa. This isn't hard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is like making pizza at home. There’s value in both ways, depending on your conditions.

Good point. The “worth it” thing about homemade pizza is you avoid the pizza steaming in a box on the way home. And homemade gourmet pizza can be an entertainment dish when you have a company over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids love Chipotle so I figured I could easily whip up burrito bowls last night. Family of 4. Steak and chicken. Whole Foods guac. Good salsas. Corn. Rice. Beans. Herbs and spices. Cheese, which I shredded. Onions and peppers. Leafy lettuce. It was over $50, took me well over an hour to prep and cook everything, tons of cleanup, and tasted fine but nothing special. Everyone finished their plates but no rave reviews.

Chipotle is $9-12 per person. And the kids and my husband would prefer it over what I served. Did I do something wrong or does everyone sort of know this and when the family craves burritos or burrito bowls you all order out?

Does this need a thread?

Yes, because I figured this was a cheap, easy meal but it's really not. Unless I'm missing something, might as well let the Chipotle workers handle this!

Sure if you like salt bombs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's cheaper at home, but you have to just pick one main ingredient- not steak + chicken. Add a can of beans to fill it out. Making guac is super easy instead of buying it. Put one of your kids in charge of this. One kind of salsa. This isn't hard.

Chipotle offers 4 fresh salsas which honestly adds a lot of complexity to the flavor. If you just have 1 salsa it tastes flat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids love Chipotle so I figured I could easily whip up burrito bowls last night. Family of 4. Steak and chicken. Whole Foods guac. Good salsas. Corn. Rice. Beans. Herbs and spices. Cheese, which I shredded. Onions and peppers. Leafy lettuce. It was over $50, took me well over an hour to prep and cook everything, tons of cleanup, and tasted fine but nothing special. Everyone finished their plates but no rave reviews.

Chipotle is $9-12 per person. And the kids and my husband would prefer it over what I served. Did I do something wrong or does everyone sort of know this and when the family craves burritos or burrito bowls you all order out?

Does this need a thread?

Yes, because I figured this was a cheap, easy meal but it's really not. Unless I'm missing something, might as well let the Chipotle workers handle this!

Sure if you like salt bombs.

Doesn’t avoiding the tortilla help limit a lot of salt?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chipotle is not a great value, Mexican food is disgustingly cheap to make. You people may not know how to cook.

That’s what I assumed but I think it’s only a cheap meal if all the family wants ground beef and/or you make it weekly to use all the leftover ingredients before they expire.

+ or - $10 is not enough savings for me to waste all that time shopping, cooking and cleaning for mediocre burrito bowls once or twice a month.

They’re mediocre because you can’t cook well. If it’s the first time you made it now you should know how to do it better. They’re expensive because you don’t meal plan or know how to shop frugally. You won’t learn to cook or teach your children how to cook or budget or meal plan if you order chipotle every time you want a burrito bowl. Next it’ll be Olive Garden every time you want Italian because you can’t make good spaghetti. Once in awhile fine but as a go to? Not good for many reasons. Next time don’t forget the cilantro and lime juice, both fresh. And salt, you need good salt. Do you have good salt? Try this place:

https://www.jqdsalt.com/

You can do this. Keep trying!