This Genius (and Delicious) Trick Will Keep Your Burritos From Unraveling

Anybody who tells you that securely wrapping up a burrito is an easy, straightforward task is simply lying. They are not to be trusted. I personally feel that the folks at Chipotle or any other local burrito shop don't get enough credit for the difficulty that is safely and neatly wrapping up a hearty burrito. If you're like me and you also find yourself struggling to fold up a burrito, I hope you find comfort in the fact that it truly is one of those niche kitchen skills that takes a few attempts to nail down.

First, you need to make sure that you're adding the right amount of ingredients — too many fillings and you'll never get the burrito to close, too few and you'll have a tortilla-heavy bite (tortilla-to-filling ratio is important here). Then, you need to make sure to handle the burrito gently so that you don't tear the tortilla on the spot and ruin any chance you have of getting this burrito wrapped up properly. The sides need to be fully tucked in or else you'll have some serious spillage issues when you try to eat this thing.

However, for me personally, the most pressing dilemma when it comes to successful burrito wrapping is how to get the seam of the burrito to stay tightly wrapped. The solution to this predicament? The same solution to literally every problem ever — CHEESE. This idea came to me when I was recently answering a strong urge to make a breakfast burrito. I laid my tortilla out on the cutting board and piled all of the filling components onto said tortilla (make sure to always scatter the ingredients lengthwise so that you get a bite of every ingredient with each bite). As I began to wrap it up, folding the sides in and then wrapping it up from the bottom to the top, I thought to myself, "This burrito needs some sort of glue to hold everything in." Since I am on a strict no-glue diet, I opted for melted cheese, the closest edible thing to glue.

Here's how it's done. Sprinkle an extra handful of shredded cheese right along the seam where the end of the tortilla meets the length of the burrito. Quickly maneuver this seam side directly into a hot pan over medium heat and gently press the burrito down with the back of a rubber spatula. This motion might seem tricky and a bit awkward at first, but the key here is to move swiftly and with plenty of confidence. If a ton of the filling is falling out, you might have overstuffed your burrito. Pull out some of the ingredients and try again, young grasshopper. If this is your first time trying this technique, make sure that your tortilla is on the larger size, as it will be much more forgiving than a smaller wrap. There's no need to warm the tortilla up ahead of time, as it will only make it more difficult to handle, and you're throwing it in a pan anyway.

Once your burrito is seam-side down in the pan, wait until you can see that the cheese is melted/oozing out of the seam, and the burrito is sealed to perfection. Turn over your burrito and gently press the other side for another golden brown sear. Not only is this cheese-at-the-seam tactic amazing because it closes up your burrito, but crispy cheese is one of life's greatest pleasures, so your burrito now has melty cheese on the inside and crispy cheese on the outside. If you're feeling like a baller, go ahead and crisp up some cheese on the non-seam side of the burrito for two times the crispy, cheesy goodness. That is some next level stuff right there.

While I would love to take full credit for this burrito epiphany, it turns out that I'm not the first person to have this tortilla revelation. Crisping up a burrito on the outside is called "dorado style," and I fully believe that this is objectively the best way to wrap up and prepare a burrito. It's not only extremely tasty, but it's the only way that I can pack my burritos to the brim without worrying about them unraveling. Because remember, this stuff is not easy. And don't let anybody tell you that it is.