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Both enchilada and burrito are traditional Mexican dishes. As the origin of the two is the same, it is easy to get confused between the two. They are also kind of similar in their overview. But they are two different food items with different fillings and tastes.

Key Takeaways

  1. Enchilada is a Mexican dish made by filling tortillas with meat or beans, rolling them, and covering them with chilli sauce and cheese. At the same time, Burrito is a Mexican dish made by filling a tortilla with beans, meat, rice, and cheese and rolling it into a cylinder.
  2. Enchiladas are baked in an oven after filling and rolling, while Burritos are grilled or heated on a griddle.
  3. Enchiladas are served with sour cream, while Burritos are served with guacamole or salsa.

Enchilada vs Burrito

The difference between an enchilada and a burrito is that an enchilada is made with a corn tortilla with dripping sauce, whereas a burrito needs a flour tortilla and does not need to be soaked in sauce. An enchilada is also smaller in quantity than a burrito. Enchilada is drenched with sauce and needs a fork to eat, but the burrito is commonly eaten by using the hands.

Enchilada vs Burrito

Enchilada is a Mexican dish made with thin corn tortillas, mostly stuffed with chicken or mutton and drenched with sauce. The sauce is the distinction of this dish. This dish has a layer of sauce on top. This saucy dish is enjoyed with a fork.

Burrito is a mixture of stuffing covered with flour-based tortillas. It is a Mexican dish too. The mixture is made with beans, meat, and other various ingredients. The ingredients vary due to preferences. This cylinder-shaped roll can be eaten easily with hands.

Comparison Table

Parameters of ComparisonEnchiladaBurrito
DefinitionIt is a saucy dish, tortillas filled with stuffing covered with sauce and cheese is called enchilada.Burrito is not saucy. It is a dry roll-shaped dish filled with heavy stuffing.
TortillaThe corn tortilla is used in an enchilada.The flour tortilla is used in a burrito.
SauceEnchilada is soaked with sauce.Burrito is neatly wrapped and not soaked with sauce.
Manner of eatingOne can eat enchiladas by using a fork.Burrito can be eaten with hands.
FillingUsually, enchilada is stuffed with chicken or mutton.Burrito is stuffed with beans and meat, and rarely shredded beef is used.
SizeEnchilada is smaller in size than a burrito.A burrito is bigger than an enchilada.

What is Enchilada?

This Mexican dish is traditionally a thin corn tortilla folded around the filling of chicken or mutton and soaked with chilli sauce. May 5th is celebrated as National Enchilada Day. Nowadays, the filling has variety. It can be made with seafood and vegetables as well.

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The filling is adjustable according to the choice and craving. One can be creative and make enchiladas even from the leftovers. Enchiladas are served with other side dishes. Enchiladas as not a lot when it comes to quantity. Enchiladas have toppings and dressing as well.

Enchiladas are an old dish, and they have evolved over time. The term enchilada comes from Spanish, which means “decorated with sauce”. These stuffed corn tortillas are covered with sauce, topped with cheese, and then baked.

Sauce bursts the mixture of flavours in one’s mouth. This is the reason this saucy dish is impossible to eat with hands. One needs to use a fork in order to eat it.

enchiladas

What is Burrito?

Burrito is a Mexican dish as well. In this dish, flour tortillas are used instead of corn tortillas. These tortillas fold and cover the filling. The stuffing can be made with various ingredients. Mainly it contains beans and meat.

Ingredients of the filling depend not only on personal preferences but also determined by places. As in Mexico, a burrito fill is made of beans and meat. It can also contain Mexican rice.

But in the US, lettuce, avocado, salsa, sour cream, and cheese are mixed with basic beans and meat. The stuffing is not fixed in the recipe, and there is always a window for experimenting with the taste.

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As a matter of size, the burrito is large. One burrito can equal three enchiladas. Burrito is heavy, and one burrito is enough to make one full. Burrito does not need a great deal of sauce. It is folded with foil, and it can be eaten easily with hands by unwrapping the foil.

burrito

Main Differences Between Enchilada and Burrito

  1. Enchilada is a dish in which the filling is wrapped with corn tortillas, whereas a burrito is a dish in which its filling is wrapped with flour tortillas.
  2. Enchilada is wrapped and soaked with sauce; it is always drenched with sauce. But the burrito does not need to be soaked with sauce; it is always neatly wrapped.
  3. As enchilada is essentially doused with sauce, it can not be eaten without a fork and knife. But Burrito, being neatly wrapped, is eaten with hands.
  4. An enchilada is smaller in size when compared with a burrito. A burrito is bigger. In general, One burrito equals three enchiladas.
  5. As the stuffing of enchilada, mainly chicken or mutton, is used, whereas burrito contains the filling of beans and meat, and rarely, shredded beef is used.
  6. Enchilada has layers of toppings on the filling stuff, and then it is soaked in sauce. But in a burrito, the stuffing is mixed with sauce and then rolled with the flour tortilla, enveloping the stuffing.
Difference Between Enchilada and Burrito
References
  1. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=4Fl-DwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA207&dq=Enchilada+and+Burrito&ots=zjXM4EQnXe&sig=0J9vAWd9WwznlCPmcP3l7u5musU
  2. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=avFXqIIomuwC&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=Enchilada+and+Burrito&ots=ms0SBZkjPc&sig=9yRCQ9jsMAoQGhb9c8Ziu5DjCaY

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By Sandeep Bhandari

Sandeep Bhandari holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Computers from Thapar University (2006). He has 20 years of experience in the technology field. He has a keen interest in various technical fields, including database systems, computer networks, and programming. You can read more about him on his bio page.