There are two problems with a single New Yorker trying to recreate a Chipotle burrito at home in a manner that is cost-effective: 1. You make more than $20/hour 2. You do not have the benefits of scale There are a bunch of ways to square this circle. One is to love cooking and enjoy it on its own… - ThreadSky

stephenjacobsmith.com • 34 days ago

There are two problems with a single New Yorker trying to recreate a Chipotle burrito at home in a manner that is cost-effective:

1. You make more than $20/hour
2. You do not have the benefits of scale

There are a bunch of ways to square this circle. One is to love cooking and enjoy it on its own…

Comments

johnericson.me•32 days ago

How much housing do we need to build before

a. You can easily find a unit to rent without a kitchen but with a bathroom

b. there is a really cheap buffet in walking distance from 80% of apartments?

?

johnericson.me•32 days ago

Too much worrying about "luxury apartments" (fake, marketing), not enough worrying about luxury restaurants (not even trying to not be labor intensive)

slucy.bsky.social•34 days ago

Your "you make more than $20/hr" logic applies to picking it up versus getting it delivered.

(Scale argument too -- one dude on a bike with 10 burritos making an efficient route)

johnericson.me•32 days ago

If your whole neighborhood coordinated what to order for dinner (or the restaurant did it for them by having a limited menu that rotated), this would be closer to being true.

stephenjacobsmith.com•34 days ago

You can work takeout into a trip you’re otherwise making (coming home from work, or simply getting your steps in).

stephenjacobsmith.com•34 days ago

I’m always surprised at how little scale there often is in burrito tacos. I don’t think they’re taking 10 with them. More like three.

slucy.bsky.social•34 days ago

By that logic you can use your burrito making time for listening to podcasts.

slucy.bsky.social•34 days ago

In general I'm skeptical of the "you make more than $X per hour" arguments because most people can't arbitrarily scale their work hours every week.

If you're off at 5pm, you're off at 5pm whether you spend 6pm-7pm making a burrito or scrolling instagram doesn't matter from an income perspective.

maaikeverbruggen.bsky.social•34 days ago

Even if you get paid by the hour AND can just scale up your hours, no one has infinite energy

stephenjacobsmith.com•34 days ago

To actually recreate something as elaborate as a Chipotle burrito twice a day for lunch and dinner would take WAY more than an hour. I spend maybe 1.5 hours cooking and cleaning for myself and have never made anything remotely as time-intensive as a Chipotle-spec burrito

stephenjacobsmith.com•34 days ago

I don’t think it’s really necessary to listen to that many podcasts, but most people could desperately use another 2,000 steps

rkerth.bsky.social•34 days ago

I feel like this is smuggling in an assumption that restaurant-quality is part of the equation, when in fact most of us either can't afford or choose not to eat restaurant-quality food at all meals

houserdave.bsky.social•34 days ago

Unless you are using said freed up time to go work additional hours at a job paying you by the hour, the $20 per hour opportunity cost metaphor is just dumb.

stephenjacobsmith.com•34 days ago

To actually recreate the variety of dishes you can eat in a week living the Manhattan single-guy lifestyle, you will need to quit your job and cook full time. You’re doing sous vide egg bites for breakfast, Mission-style burrito for lunch, Thai for dinner. On Tuesdays. Wednesdays are something else.

karvellas.bsky.social•34 days ago

Thai is actually pretty workable for this lifestyle, assuming you take shortcuts that AIUI Thai people often do, eg buy fresh rice noodles, curry pastes, and tamarind concentrate from a store

biknmusicmama.bsky.social•32 days ago

The horror of actually just eating a burrito for lunch like 2 or 3 days in a row!

cutebrute.bsky.social•34 days ago

make a big batch and freeze em my man

djsoubise.bsky.social•34 days ago

it's crazy that make-at-home is the suggestion. cut out the taxi part! he's in nyc, walk one block and the burrito is much cheaper

mdasilva.bsky.social•34 days ago

I mean it’s plenty easy to make large batches of burrito fillings in advance and freeze them.

And as far as single-size meals go lots of restaurant-quality pasta dishes like Amatriciana and stir fries like pad gra prow are quick and easy.

ryanhassett.bsky.social•34 days ago

Does that burrito qualify as the same or comparable quality, though?

dasdoak.bsky.social•32 days ago

Yes, if you freeze it properly and are selective and knowledgeable about what to freeze vs. what to prepare fresh. There are a bunch of pre-mixed and pre-cooked meal components that freeze *extremely* well - non-emulsified sauces and things that aren't veggies - and others which decidedly do not.

dasdoak.bsky.social•32 days ago

As an example, we did Nacho night at my house a few days ago, and both the vegan nacho sauce (which we make at home - great recipe that's amazingly healthy and delicious) and the pre-cooked ground beef were reheated from frozen stuff which had been prepped weeks ago.

cstarks.bsky.social•33 days ago

There is an age you hit when you no longer desire chipotle burritos, and this whole problem goes away

zoecoombes.bsky.social•34 days ago

Counter argument: purging flavor complexity from time to time is good for maintaining reasonable appetite. Make that one dish that fills all needs that you can make on high repeat with little time and little prep. Too much restaurant food (ubiquitous in cities!) makes you too food focused.

stephenjacobsmith.com•34 days ago

…terms (this comes closest to my strategy). The other is to eat something else entirely – for example, a burrito that tastes disgusting and nothing like a Chipotle burrito.

christosilvia.bsky.social•32 days ago

Home burritos aren't disgusting. Just make normal rice, black beans from a can, basic chopped salsa, and sour cream. It's delicious!

stephenjacobsmith.com•34 days ago

If you disagree, you need to post the dried chiles you have in your cabinet. Here are mine. Without this, your opinion is invalid.

dynasaurarmoir.bsky.social•32 days ago

Love it. I have arbols, chipotles, guajillos, and New Mexicos in my cabinet RN, and every word of what you wrote is true. No way to possibly make an affordable Chipotle-style burrito at home. My issue is the tortilla, it is really hard to find flour tortillas large enough to make Mission burritos.

dynasaurarmoir.bsky.social•31 days ago

I use these guys for carnitas, and various sauces, or grind one up if I run out of chili flakes

nilo.bsky.social•34 days ago

Haha what if I have some dried and some from a can? Or are the latter invalid.

stephenjacobsmith.com•34 days ago

Like a chipotle en adobo?

nilo.bsky.social•34 days ago

Yeah that.

kthos.bsky.social•34 days ago

😹

stephenjacobsmith.com•34 days ago

Real Mexican food knowers will know that this is a pretty being starter pack, but at least I’m building in public. Can’t say the same for some of these discourse-engagers.

kthos.bsky.social•34 days ago

love it

michaelhamilton.bsky.social•34 days ago

Finding a flour tortilla with the correct texture and sufficient size is also a big obstacle to making a burrito at home.

stephenjacobsmith.com•34 days ago

I’ve also found that store-bought tortillas (at least the corn ones, maybe flour is different) don’t keep in the fridge that well…they seem to dry out very quickly.

michaelhamilton.bsky.social•34 days ago

Yes, they ideally need to be used within a day or two of being opened. And even then they need to be heated quite a bit to taste good/be pliable.

troutgirl.bsky.social•34 days ago

I don't disagree, except have you noticed the vast majority of Chipotle customers just get the pico -- which doesn't require any dried chiles? Here's my stash btw:

defaultvalue.bsky.social•34 days ago

Look I’m not trying to get branded a heretic but I’m also not trying to walk upstairs and explain to my spouse that I’m taking pictures of my peppers for a guy on the internet, but I do want to say that The Burrito Taxi Discourse needs a pressure-cooker offshoot.

mikecherepko.bsky.social•34 days ago

C-Town sells them in bulk and they seem good enough.

aceckhouse.bsky.social•34 days ago

don't feel like taking pics but I've got a big bag of japones, a jar of guajillos, and a smaller jar of smoked poblanos

stephenjacobsmith.com•34 days ago

Do you disagree with anything I’ve said?

aceckhouse.bsky.social•34 days ago

I think you're generally right (I don't make burritos at home, I enjoy cooking as an activity, delivery is an indulgence & even takeout is a treat)

mostly just wanted to chile-post

aceckhouse.bsky.social•34 days ago

further chile-posting: really into gochugaru right now

stephenjacobsmith.com•34 days ago

The chile-havers know

stephenjacobsmith.com•34 days ago

There IS another way to acquire a Chipotle-quality burrito for less then $28 without doing a bunch of wildly expensive free labor or lying to yourself that your gross unseasoned leftovers in a stale tortilla is just like Chipotle: walk or bike or drive your ass to the store and pick it up for $16.

bananapantz.bsky.social•34 days ago

Unpossible

wrecka.bsky.social•34 days ago

walking is labor

meanderingemu.bsky.social•34 days ago

actually, walking is free gym session.

wrecka.bsky.social•34 days ago

in that case, cooking is a free gourmet meal

optovichok.bsky.social•34 days ago

Excuse me sir, that's ableist.

letterdletterk.bsky.social•34 days ago

I agree but if you're batch prepping burrito fillings & play your cards right, it's not very active labor. I could knock out a chili colorado, beans, and say, a poblano or tomatillo salsa for the week while doing my sunday cleaning.

akgerber.bsky.social•34 days ago

We are also approaching taco trucks on every corner in 2020s NYC and it's very easy to walk to pick up a good burrito for $10-$12 now

stephenjacobsmith.com•34 days ago

In less snarky terms: food has a broader context, and the food that you can buy at restaurants or that families of six in middle-income countries ate at home in the 1990s are not going to be that easy to recreate for an upper-middle-income single American in 2025. If you want to cook at home and…

hikoukihikouki9.bsky.social•34 days ago

Tbh it’s kinda interesting how in America we just don’t have as much of a dividing line between “food that scales well you’re supposed to order in a restaurant and/or buy frozen from a factory” and “food that doesn’t scale well that you enjoy at home.”

birdsortrains.bsky.social•34 days ago

I think it’s cause our diet is so meat heavy honestly.

tankengine.bsky.social•34 days ago

This explains so succinctly why youtube home cooking channels are of zero interest to me. Ain't nobody got time to make birria tacos for 1 or 2 people. Even if you're halfway good at cooking to begin with, which most people are probably not

mdasilva.bsky.social•30 days ago

Why aren’t you inviting friends over for dinner?

stephenjacobsmith.com•34 days ago

…have working taste buds, a better option might be to look to cuisines developed for modern, high-income societies like the one you live in. Italian is a good one. It is more realistic to make spaghetti alla carbonara and a side of broccoli rabe in your 1BR apartment than to make a birria burrito.

hikoukihikouki9.bsky.social•34 days ago

lol Japanese cooking forums are great because people will be like “I don’t like that this recipe calls for an ultra-processed, pre-packaged ingredient. What’s an authentic alternative” and the response is “the authentic ingredient is the ultra processed modern one”

willthomas-usa.bsky.social•34 days ago

I almost think the most important division is to find a few individual dishes you can realistically make decently at home—I have never been able to make a burrito easily at home, but I can make very good soups and chili that reheat very easily, or air fry salmon & veggies, etc.

crzwdjk.bsky.social•34 days ago

If you are in Mexico the way you make a birria burrito is first you go to the birria stand at the market with your bucket to get some birria.

lauretig.bsky.social•34 days ago

On the "Italian food" point, there was a great essay in the @financialtimes.com explaining that most "traditional" Italian food was invented in the post-war 40s and 50s: https://www.ft.com/content/6ac009d5-dbfd-4a86-839e-28bb44b2b64c; some is even more recent!

ellenteapot.ca•34 days ago

Pasta is my go-to meal when living solo. It’s very easy to freshly prepare just enough for one serving, and a jar of red sauce keeps in the fridge long enough to finish

jacobgarchik.bsky.social•34 days ago

As a san franciscan who has been in NY for 30 years: Burrito is harder to do well In the east. Taco, especially a good simple one with protein, cilantro, onion, much easier. Burrito, like espresso, pencils out in huge quantities. CA burrito joints have big staff and lots of customers all day.

lobodemonte.bsky.social•34 days ago

but i literally made birria for my dinner party in my 1 bd apartment in nyc :^3

mostlydiff.bsky.social•33 days ago

I make my own delicious quasi-burritos. Sautéed chicken or beef, onions, peppers, tomatoes, garlic, and a ton of spices. Enough for 3 dinners in a batch. Accompany with potato, rice, or a big salad.

IMO tastes better than Chipotle.

notthegiraffe.bsky.social•34 days ago

I have a particular vice for burritos and cooking but the number of times I've made them at home can be counted on one finger. The ingredient list is such a hassle, and there are other dishes like tacos or quesadillas that it's still delicious but more amenable to home cooking.

nicoleamurray.com•32 days ago

my brother visited from FL and bought tomatoes to make salsa and the tomatoes alone were like. $20

biknmusicmama.bsky.social•32 days ago

You can make salsa from canned tomatillos for like $4.

nicoleamurray.com•32 days ago

WOW NO WAY

mandatorytopic.bsky.social•34 days ago

Worth noting that you're going to spend a nonzero amount of time acquiring the burrito either way

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