The Thanksgiving Burrito with Cranberry Apple Salsa

A lot of people wait until after Thanksgiving to make these types of sandwiches and burritos with all the leftovers. To me, I am more excited about this kind of meal before Thanksgiving! The day after Thanksgiving I am done with Thanksgiving! Plus, if you are just making this burrito with leftovers, you are missing out on what makes it delicious. The cranberry and apple salsa! cran-apple salsa is a very unique way of eating cranberries. It’s super tart and sweet and flavorful!
The origin of the Thanksgiving Burrito
This month at my burrito shop, I created a brand new special- the Thanksgiving Burrito. Basically like something you might make at home the day after thanksgiving, this thing has everything you know and love about the flavors of the holiday. But instead of just tossing corn and cranberry sauce in there, we use our own fresh homemade corn and cranberry salsas to really make it unique. Today I’m gonna show you guys how to make the cranberry salsa, and then the whole Thanksgiving Burrito!
Cranberry Apple Salsa
Most of the photos in this post are about making the cran-apple salsa. I think it is the most unique part of this burrito and is what makes it special. At the burrito shop we made a different salsa to celebrate the seasonal produce of each month, and this was one of my favorites!

Food process the cranberries to mince them but don’t go overboard, you don’t want to end up with cranberry mush.

At first I was just going to make this salsa with cranberries, but I realized it would be super tart. I decided to add some apples to cut the super tart cranberry flavor. These also get food processed. Also, keep in mind that these photos are from me making a huge batch of this salsa at work! You need way less apples if you make it at home.

In with the cranberry and apple, I added minced onion and garlic, as well as lots of honey. The honey is great to balance the tart bitterness of the cranberries. I also added a little jalapeno to this, but kept it light. I think you need to put a pepper in to call it salsa! Plus the jalapeno will tie everything together in the Thanksgiving burrito.

Mix well! Look how vibrant and beautiful this salsa is! After it sits it gets a little more wet and red. I understand calling it “wet and red” might be unappetizing but what words would you use? Damp and saturated? Juicy and vibrant? Yea, let’s go with juicy and vibrant.
Time to make the Thanksgiving Burrito!
Now that the salsa is done, lets make the burrito! You can see the … *Ahem* Juicy and vibrant cranberry apple salsa right on top of this photo below. What else did I put in? Here is the list
- cornbread stuffing – this replaces the rice
- pinto beans – I wanted to keep beans in the burrito, but you can leave them out if you want!
- roasted onion, peppers, and squash – this is like “fajita mix” from a burrito shop, but with squash added
- turkey – use leftovers, or just get sliced turkey from the deli
- corn salsa – roasted corn, scallions, garlic, lime, cilantro, bell pepper
- cheese- I used cheddar!
- sour cream- personally I can’t have a burrito without sour cream
I used store bought cornbread stuffing mix, but if you want to make your own, I like this recipe.

Pile it on and roll up the thanksgiving burrito!

Thes has been a big hit at the restaurant so far. Come and get it before you get sick of all these flavors after next week!

Twists on the Thanksgiving Burrito
I mentioned you could make this with leftovers. Of course you could use the regular cranberry sauce instead of making this salsa. What would be really good too is mixing some chipotle hot sauce in with the cranberry sauce! Other than that, I think it’s important to make this the way you like it! Start with your favorite burrito as a guide and replace some of the ingredients with their thanksgiving counterpart! Some green bean casserole would be fun in here, as well as mashed potatoes!
If you are looking for more unique burrito ideas, check out my mapo tofu burrito, carnitas mac and cheese burrito, or my smash burger burrito!
Thanksgiving Burrito
Ingredients
Cranberry Salsa
- 12 ounces cranberries
- 2 apples chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 lime
- 1 jalapeno stem and seeds removed, chopped
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 red onion chopped
- salt
Burrito
- 1 12 inch tortilla
- 1/2 cup cornbread stuffing
- 1/4 cup pinto beans
- 1/2 cup roasted onion, peppers, and squash
- 3 slices turkey breast
- 2 tablespoons cranberry apple salsa
- 1/4 cup corn salsa
- 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
Instructions
Cranberry Salsa
- Pulse the cranberries and apples in smallish batches in the food processor to mince but not puree. next pulse the jalapeno, onion and garlic. The reason you dice these first, is so they will all get cut up to the same small texture at the same time. Juice the lime. Toss everything into a large bowl and mix well.
- Build the burrito with everything else, staring with the stuffing instead of rice, then the beans, turkey, veggies, salsas, cheese, and sour cream. Wrap and serve.
http://i1.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/005/650/weirdestboner.jpg
I wish I lived on the East Coast.
I second Chris’ comment! I’d be in all the time if I lived closer!
is cafe burrito YOUR restaurant? I’d love to come down, I live in Cape Ann, north shore MA 🙂
I live about two hours away in Western MA, but I’m considering driving there just to try this burrito and then head home.