Chorizo Breakfast Burritos
These chorizo breakfast burritos are loaded with Mexican chorizo, cheesy scrambled eggs, and shredded potatoes wrapped in warm flour tortillas. They’re hearty, savory, and perfect for a weekend breakfast or brunch – and you can make them ahead, too.
Why You’ll Love These Breakfast Burritos
- They’re loaded with chorizo, eggs, cheese, and potatoes for a hearty breakfast all wrapped up in a warm flour tortilla.
- Mexican chorizo adds tons of flavor. You cook the eggs in a little of the rendered chorizo fat, so that flavor carries through the whole burrito.
- Shredded potatoes add texture and make the burritos extra filling.
- They’re great for a weekend breakfast or brunch. These are big, hearty breakfast burritos when you want something more substantial.
- You can make them ahead! Assemble and refrigerate them for an easy breakfast later.
Ingredients
- Mexican chorizo: Be sure to use fresh Mexican chorizo, not Spanish chorizo. Mexican chorizo is raw seasoned ground pork and needs to be cooked before eating. Spanish chorizo is a cured sausage and won’t work the same way in this recipe.
- Shredded potatoes: Refrigerated shredded hash brown potatoes are the easiest option, but you can also shred a russet potato yourself.
- Cheese: I like a combination of cheddar and Monterey Jack. Pepper Jack is a good option if you want a little more heat.
- Eggs
- Cheddar cheese
- Monterey jack cheese
- Butter, salt, and pepper
- Fresh cilantro or parsley
- Burrito-sized flour tortillas
How to Make Chorizo Breakfast Burritos
- Cook the chorizo. Brown it in a skillet, drain most of the rendered fat, and reserve about a tablespoon in the pan.
- Cook the eggs and potatoes. Soft-scramble the eggs with the cheese, then cook the shredded potatoes until golden.
- Assemble the burritos. Layer the potatoes, cheesy eggs, and chorizo on warm tortillas, add cilantro or parsley, and roll them up.
Tips for the Best Breakfast Burritos
- Keep the scrambled eggs soft and creamy. I like to cook the eggs just until they’re softly set. Add the shredded cheese toward the end of cooking so it melts into the eggs without overcooking them.
- Get the potatoes golden and crispy. Spread the shredded potatoes in an even layer in the pan and let them brown before stirring. This gives them crispy edges and a delicious texture.
- Warm the burritos before serving. Once assembled, wrap the burritos in foil and place them in a warm oven for 5 to 10 minutes to heat everything through.
Make-Ahead and Storage Tips
Refrigerator: Cool the burritos, wrap them individually, and refrigerate for three to four days. Reheat them in the microwave or oven.
Freezer: You can freeze them, although the tortillas can become slightly chewy when reheated directly from frozen. For the best texture, thaw them overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
More Hearty Breakfast Recipes
Chorizo Breakfast Burritos
These hearty chorizo breakfast burritos are packed with savory flavor and make a satisfying breakfast or brunch. They're easy to assemble and can be made ahead for busy mornings.
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Servings: 4 large burritos
Ingredients
- 1 (8-oz) package Mexican chorizo
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter divided
- 8 eggs whisked
- 1 teaspoon salt divided
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper divided
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup shredded Monterey jack cheese
- 10 ounces shredded potatoes see note
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley or cilantro optional
- 4 burrito-sized flour tortillas
Instructions
- Heat a large non-stick pan over medium heat. Cook the chorizo, breaking it apart with a spatula, for eight to ten minutes or until it’s cooked through. Drain off all but 1 tablespoon of the fat. Remove the chorizo from the pan (leaving the reserved fat in the pan) and transfer it to a bowl.
- In the same pan, melt one tablespoon of butter. As it melts, stir to combine it with the reserved fat from the chorizo. Pour the whisked eggs into the pan and add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper. Cook the eggs, frequently stirring, for about ten minutes or until the eggs are cooked but still very soft. Add the shredded cheese and stir until it melts into the eggs. Transfer the cooked eggs to a bowl.
- In the same pan, melt one tablespoon of butter over medium-high heat. Add the potatoes and spread them into an even layer in the pan. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper over the top. Cook the potatoes, occasionally stirring, until they start to turn golden and crispy, about 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat.
- To assemble the burritos: It's helps to microwave the tortillas for about 30 seconds to warm them up before you fill them – they will stretch a lot easier. Evenly divide the potatoes, eggs, and chorizo among four tortillas. Sprinkle the chopped herbs over the top of the chorizo, if using.
- To roll, fold the edge of the tortilla over the top of the filling and tuck in the sides. Roll the burrito up. Repeat with the remaining tortillas and filling.
- Wrap the burritos in tin foil and place them on a baking sheet. Pop them in a warm oven for five to ten minutes to warm them through before serving (see notes if you want to make them ahead).
Notes
I use store-bought pre-shredded uncooked potatoes for this recipe, which you can find in the refrigerated section at the grocery store.Â
If you want to make them ahead, they will keep in the refrigerator for three to four days. You can warm them in the microwave or oven when you’re ready to have one. You can freeze them, but when you warm them from frozen in the microwave, the tortilla will get a little chewy in spots.
Nutrition note: It’s difficult to estimate the nutrition for this recipe since a lot of the fat is drained from the cooked chorizo. The nutrition estimate includes all of the fat from the chorizo, so please keep that in mind.Â
Nutrition Estimate
Serving: 1burrito | Calories: 819kcal | Carbohydrates: 50.3g | Protein: 40.5g | Fat: 50.6g | Saturated Fat: 21.8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 22.8g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 463.8mg | Sodium: 2186.2mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 3g
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More Easy Breakfast Ideas
Ready to make some breakfast burritos? I hope you enjoy them!
Happy cooking,
Post updated from the archives. First published in August 2009.
first off, These look amazing and I can’t wait to try! Can you tell me how you reheat them once frozen? Do you take them out of the freezer the night before and refrigerate?
Hi Melissa, I froze mine and then microwaved them wrapped in a paper towel. I think it’s a great idea to stick them in the fridge to thaw overnight – I haven’t tried that, but you could always just stick them in a preheated oven to warm up if you don’t want to use a microwave.
When you freeze leftover burritos in the freezer how do you defrost them/transfer to heating back up? they do they get mushy at all?
Hi Kelly, I recommend wrapping the frozen burrito in a paper towel and microwave them for about a minute and then rotating it and heat again for 30-40 seconds.
I have been making these for years.
I switched to soychorizo a few years ago. Same taste and texture no grease or gristle.
Best to defrost overnight in the fridge. If you go from freezer to microwave heat them on looow for a couple of minutes before upping the temp for final heating.
I microwave mine in the plastic wrap I froze them in, I find paper towels stick to the tortilla and are sometimes difficult to peel off.