Copy Cat: Cheesaritos

The Copy Cat series will be an ongoing series in which I attempt to re-create mine and others favorite restaurant foods.  There are always exceptions, but generally food cooked at home is more affordable than food ordered out - and often times more healthy.  Learning to create the foods we crave can save dollars and sometimes calories!

It should come as no surprise to my regular readers that I love cheesaritos.  I have been making these at home for years, but I thought I would do the work to create them as closely to the original as possible.  That is why this is called the copy cat series.

What you will need

Drain about half the juice off from the can of tomatoes, sprinkle in at least a teaspoon of chili powder, a touch more if you like it spicy.  I probably did a teaspoon and a half.  Once you've mixed in the chili powder add a splash of taco sauce and optional (hot sauce).  

I don't know what it is about seasoned cheese... but I think it has something to do with cheese. Yum.

I used what's known at the store as "seasoned pepper".  It's a salt-less blend of different kinds of pepper and some other "stuff" - and more or less a staple at our house.  Along with garlic.  Of course.

Spread both the tomato mixture and the cheese mixture onto a flour tortilla.  Notice how perfectly round this one is (hint: I didn't make it myself).  

mmm... Melty-licious cheese.  

Fold these into a roll. 

Now compare to the original.

or just eat.

So true story: I ate two of these, before I decided I should probably make them more "filling".   While they are savory, they are not exactly nutrient rich.  I added black beans to the - urm - third.  Also note: leftover tomato mixture saves in the fridge for a few days.  


Recipe:
Cheese Mixture

• 1 Cup Cheese / 1 Tbs Seasoning

Tomato Mixture

• 1 Can Tomato / 1 tsp Chili Powder
• 2 Tbs of Taco or Hot Sauce

1 flour tortilla

1.  Mix up both Cheese and Tomato mixtures separately.  Ensure that seasoning is mixed throughout the cheese as evenly as possible for best results.  

2.  Layer 2 Tbs (or whatever amount you feel like) on both mixtures onto the flour tortilla.  

3. Microwave for 30 to 60 seconds per cheesarito.

4. Roll it up and enjoy. 

Serving Analysis (1 Cheesarito):
1 flour tortilla - $0.11 - 140 kcal
2 Tbs Cheese - $0.30 - 111 kcal
2 Tbs Diced Tomatoes - $0.13 - 13 kcal
2 Tbs Taco Sauce - $0.05 - 3 kcal
A tiny bit of Chili Powder - $.02 - 1 kcal
A tiny bit of Seasoning - $.02 - 1 kcal
Total - $0.63 - 269 kcal

Taco Bell version - $1.29 - 328 kcal

My only guess as to why there are fewer calories in my version would be difference in the size of the tortilla shell.  Taco Bell shells are much larger.