---
title: 'Is Chipotle a Waste of Money?'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=bkXCrGhWB04'
video_id: 'bkXCrGhWB04'
date: 2026-07-23
duration_sec: 953
channel: 'Ethan Chlebowski'
---

# Is Chipotle a Waste of Money?

> Source: [Is Chipotle a Waste of Money?](https://youtube.com/watch?v=bkXCrGhWB04)

## Summary

This video compares the cost and time of ordering a Chipotle quesadilla versus making it at home. The creator tracks all expenses and time spent for both methods, revealing hidden costs and benefits of each approach.

### Key Points

- **Cost of Chipotle Quesadilla** [00:01] — A Chipotle quesadilla with guac costs $15.75.
- **Debate: Eating Out vs. Cooking at Home** [00:15] — Some argue eating out is cheaper and easier, while others say cooking saves money and time.
- **Chipotle's Quesadilla Folding Method** [01:23] — Chipotle folds the quesadilla into a square to prevent spillage and allow for dipping sauces.
- **Chipotle Quesadilla Weight** [03:44] — The Chipotle quesadilla weighed about 215-220 grams.
- **Total Time for Ordering Chipotle** [04:09] — Ordering Chipotle took 33 minutes and 30 seconds.
- **Grocery Cost for Homemade Quesadillas** [05:05] — Groceries cost $47.64, enough to make six larger quesadillas.
- **Cooking the Barbacoa Beef** [07:23] — The chuck roast was braised overnight and then cooked for several hours, with 8 minutes of active prep.
- **Cost per Homemade Quesadilla** [10:59] — Each homemade quesadilla costs about $7.94, or $6.35 adjusted for weight.
- **Time per Additional Quesadilla** [11:15] — After the first batch, each additional quesadilla takes about 8 extra minutes.
- **Homemade Quesadilla Weight** [12:48] — The homemade quesadilla weighed 280 grams, significantly larger than Chipotle's.
- **Final Verdict** [14:55] — The homemade quesadilla wins on taste, cost, and customization.

### Conclusion

While ordering Chipotle is convenient, cooking at home can be cheaper and more satisfying, especially when making larger batches. The homemade version offers better value and taste.

## Transcript

This Chipotle quesadilla with a side of guac cost me $15.75. Now, if I took $15.75 into this grocery store behind me, there is absolutely no way that I would be able to buy all the ingredients I need to make Chipotle at
home. And even if I do buy all the ingredients, I still need to do the prep Now, some people may see this and argue that, yeah, eating out is often times much cheaper and easier than cooking at home. However, other people will say
that grocery shopping and cooking at home will save you time and lots of money. I [music] mean, guac does cost extra. arguments can be [music] correct depending on the context. And that's
depending on the context. And that's what I want to figure out in this video. So, I'm going to keep track of all the related time and monetary costs to make time it takes me to order versus planning a list, driving to Chipotle
versus the grocery store, picking it up versus the prep work, the cooking, and video, I hope to provide you with a transparent cost and time comparison between cooking and ordering out because honestly, there are a lot of hidden
costs to both approaches. And of course, we'll do a final taste test to compare as well. Because when I saw the quesadilla and how they make this, I was actually very impressed with the method because it solves the two biggest
problems that I have when making quesadillas at home. So, Chipotle's quesadilla is made by first layering down the cheese on a large 12-in tortilla and layering the meat right on top. Now, instead of folding it into a
half moon or stacking another tortilla over it, they fold it into a square. And that's the key. By folding it this way, there are no open edges. This way, you can really load it up with as much cheese, meat, and fillings as you want
spilling out like a traditional fold over quesadilla. And the second clever part is how they serve it with sauces on the side. Because of the form factor, it actually holds together when you go in for the salsa, your sour cream, or
your guacamole. It's clean, controlled, and built to dip. Now, the only issue is you may or may not have a Chipotle near you. And as we'll see, for $14 or $15, I feel like I'm getting skimped on the beef compared to how I would make them
at home. And there may be more time involved than you think when consider ordering and driving to get it. Okay, so by the time I got all the everything, that was probably 60 to 90 seconds or so. And I'll show you exactly
what I got. The beef barbcoa quesadilla with tomato, red chili, salsa, sour cream, and the guac, which yes, is extra. But with this method, it's an need to wait in line when we get there, which is something that you might have
to do. All I need to do is now drive there, pick it up, and then we can eat. Now I actually need to go get it. And yes, everyone's Chipotle will be a different distance away. Mine happens to be a 15-minute drive. Again, I'm just
showing what I would actually do. So, I drove to Chipotle, parked, walked in, and grabbed the order. Let's call that 2 minutes in total, then drove the 15 minutes back home. I like to eat in my own kitchen, maybe throw in a YouTube
from walking to my seat to actually sitting down with the food. Okay, so do the final tallies of timings in just a second. And yes, it did get a might accidentally knocked it when it was in the seat a little bit, but this
should still taste good. So, let's kind of see what we're working with. And I do see. Okay, so it's like 120 g there. And I want to see how much this quesadilla weighs.
solid amount. Um, yeah. Yeah, like I said, got a little gnarled up in there, but I think this should still taste pretty solid.
seasoned. And then I think this for me is why this is kind of like a genius way to serve it. It's cuz like you have the dipping trays, you can add guac, add the sour cream, your salsa, whatever you want. For our final tally, ordering
want. For our final tally, ordering Chipotle once came out to $15.75 in about 33 minutes and 30 seconds. And on a one-off basis, especially if you're like on the way home, this can feel pretty reasonable. However, I think the
we do this on just kind of a one by one basis, it's easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. Because if we zoom out and look across multiple days, for example, like a 5-day work week, that means there are nine more lunches and
dinners to cover. And sure, you could definitely order Chipotle nine more doing that, but some probably are. But I bring this up because most of us are probably already going to the grocery store anyway. And as we're about to see,
grocery shopping and cooking at home will almost always have significant more upfront cost in both time and money. But it might not be as much as you think. And I was surprised that I was able to spend less than $50 on groceries to not
just make more quesadillas, but also bigger quesadillas, too. Mine ended up being about 60 g heavier because I loaded them with more meat and more cheese. So, let's head to the store and cook. Okay, to start, I had to put
need, which took me 4 minutes. And after taking 13 minutes drive to the grocery store, I'm ready to shop. My produce items were avocado, cilantro, garlic, jalapenos, lime, and white onion. For the meat, I got a big prime chuck roast,
then some Monterey Jack for the cheese, Mexican crema, some store-bought salsa, and then I bought some cumin and smoked paprika from the bulk section, and a jar of ancho and guajillo chili powder. And after checking out with every item,
about 11 minutes to do the shopping. Then I drove 13 minutes back home to be greeted by Hopper. And my total grocery cost ended up being $4764.
if you want to check out the very granular details, but this is the full sticker price on all these items except these four, which are salt, some dark oil. I've had these for months now, so I feel like it's pretty fair to just use
the itemized cost for those. Now, what's interesting about this cost is that the five most expensive items make up around 80% of the total cost. And here they are. First up, we have the prime chuck roast, which was $19.34 or $7.99 per
roast, which was $19.34 or $7.99 per pound. Next, we have red salsa at $5.52. to probably make a red salsa from scratch. Maybe it would have been a time didn't feel like it was going to be worth it. Third, we have a block of
Monterey Jack at $4.99. Fourth, we have a pack of large 12-in tortillas, which were $4.58. And lastly, we have the Mexican Crama, which was $3.69. 69. And really, these are all core items you have to buy if you want
good chance you may have some of the other items like the spices, the garlic, onion, and things like that. Now, from a monetary perspective, we're looking quesadillas, and I want you guys to guess how many we'll be able to make.
But we do still need to factor in the time, and we're not looking so good from there. We're over 40 minutes, and we haven't cooked anything yet. So, let's change that. So to start, we need to turn this chuck roast into a beautiful
brazed barbcoa style beef. This is an optional step, but I decided to take 90 before tossing it in the fridge overnight. Then the next morning at 7:14, I got the lights on, added a little oil to the Dutch oven, and let
that heat up for a minute or two before sliding in that chuck roast, which while water for the brazing liquid. And to that, I added a big spoonful of the beef uan, a little splash of dark soy sauce for color because I've been wanting to
the beef over to let the other side cook, a squirt of tomato paste. Then I aromatics. I tossed in four big cloves of crushed garlic. Then I dumped in basically the entire container of chili powder, all of the cumin, and all of the
this bloom up for a second before pouring in the brazing liquid. And just look at the rich color on that. Lastly, add the beef back in with the lid over the top and into the oven it goes at 225° F. Now, obviously, this brazed beef
is going to take several hours, but in terms of active time, it only took me 8 the oven, then another 2 and 1/2 minutes of cleaning up before Hopper was ready for his morning walk. Then, at around 3 p.m., I decided to check on it. And as
you can see, when I twist my fork, those fibers easily start to lift up, which the beef out and decided to give it a rough chop, but as you can see, it's so tender, it's kind of just falling apart. Anyway, of course, make sure to add a
couple spoonfuls of the fatty, juicy bracing liquid so it gets into all those little nooks and crannies of the shredded beef. Now, I did weigh this out and I had 800 g of usable beef, which if we use a standard Chipotle scoop at 4 oz
or 113 g, this means we'll have enough beef to make seven quesadillas worth. enough cheese for seven. We're going to need to weigh it out. But anyway, this to another 5 minutes for the shredding and another 3 minutes and 30 seconds to
clean up. And lastly, before assembly, we need some guac. I'm keeping mine super simple by just adding a couple of avocados to a food processor with some lime juice and salt and blending that until it's smooth. Then I diced up the
those in after blending. So there's a couple of crunchy bits in there. And that's it. We've got all the components we need to make a chipotle style quesadilla at home. So, let's cook this thing. And really, this is where the
magic of the brazed beef shines because if you prep that ahead of time and store have one of these quesadillas in ounces of the beef and just warmed it in the microwave. And instantly, we've got
that glorious, luxurious, rich, juicy sheen that you get from good fatty brazed beef and our seasonings. Then, for the cheese, I use 75 g, which I think is the sweet spot. And that's enough to make six quesadillas in total,
forward for the numbers. So to assemble, it's simple. Lay down a base layer of cheese first. Add the beef on top. Fold. square. And then sear it on both sides
you do want to help get that golden brown, I do recommend weighing this down cooking, I got my sauces ready, the guacamole, the red salsa, and the sour cream all lined up on the tray. And by the time I check back, that quesadilla
was beautifully browned on both sides. And I've got to say, ours is looking a little bit nicer than the ones from Chipotle. Now, I cut it in half. And just look at this cheesy juiciness inside. It's perfectly melty. The
perfect texture of the quesadilla. And before we do the taste test, let's take a look at the final numbers. So, for the homemade quesadilla, the grocery cost came to $47.64. And if we divide that by six, that's
going to be about $7.94 per serving. However, I did mention mine are bigger. So, if we adjust by weight, it's going to be closer to $6.35. But, we'll just keep the $7.94 number. Then, for the time, this kind of depends
making a big batch of beef and then using it up throughout the week, you're probably only adding about eight extra minutes for each one after you make the first one. And I actually vacuum-sealed and froze half of my beef so I could use
it for quick reheatable meals. And I don't need to start from scratch. Now, there are some hidden costs that don't show up in the math comparison here. I effort. You need to plan your grocery list. You might need to start the braze
before work so dinner is ready later tonight. While ordering out is easier. You don't have to think, you just go. And I think that's the big reason a lot of us do it. It's the convenience when we haven't planned or prepped anything.
But I do have to mention there are also hidden benefits to cooking because even if these did cost the exact same, personally I just have more fun cooking most often. When that braze beef is simmering away in the oven, I get the
anticipation when I'm sitting at my desk. And there's nothing that I like more than sitting down to eat something that I have created to see how it tastes. So with that, let's do our final taste test between the two. Okay, so
we've made it to the final taste test. Let's get into these things. So, one of the biggest I think visual and I'm think differences you can see is kind of the um the meat to cheese ratio. I feel like uh Chipotle really kind of skimped us
these out. I'm kind of curious. The first one I weighed was like 220. first one I weighed was like 220. Yeah, 215. I'm almost guaranteeing I I think ours are the one that I made I think is significantly heavier and
and meat into it. Yeah, 280. So, 280 g versus uh 215 to 220 gram. So, also it's a bigger quesadilla and on a per unit it costs
less. But, of course, we've got to do the actual taste test and see kind of are. Like I said, the first one I had was pretty solid. Um, but I'm interested was pretty solid. Um, but I'm interested to compare it.
good. It's classic. I will say this one does feel kind of tortilla forward. Um, they kind of got to work through, which is why I'm excited to get into the one that I made right here. Let's go plain first.
Immediately, the ratios are much better in this one. beef packed in for sure. And like I said, I really do love the way that
make this. It's just like a really enjoyable way to eat a quesadilla.
Let's do the little trifecta bite with all three all three dippers. too. I feel like if I do go to Chipotle, this is typically what I'll get.
Cuz really, you could even pocket it open that way. Add in a little bit of the corn. Come in with our sour cream
you wanted to. Okay, I got to stop myself before I get carried away. Let's do a final key takeaways and then I would love to hear from you guys down in the comments. So, for me, the homemade one just hands down wins. I mean, put a
little bit more care and effort into it. Got those ratios right where I like them to be rather than having to rely on someone else make it for you. And then different variations with that beef. I can make more quesadillas, burritos,
rice bowls, things of that nature really is comforting from like a home cooking perspective. And obviously ordering out Chipotle is going to be easy. You don't do it. You get your food for the night. So like I totally get, you know, I still
go to Chipotle. I will still go to Chipotle after this video. But if you do want to turn in and make something special, I think it is very easy to justify that this is going to cost less. And if depending on how you're cooking,
it could even take less time. But yeah, very, very interesting. Anyway, this is down in the comments. What did you think of this comparison? And let me know if that's going to wrap it up for me in
this one. I will catch you all in the next one. Peace y'all.