Make-Ahead Breakfast Burritos

I’ve made hundreds of these make-ahead breakfast burritos. They take a few steps, but the convenience of a 2 minute meal-on-the-go for busy mornings or for exhausted new parents is worth it. Choose your fillings. I like egg, cheese, sausage and caramelized onions.

Grab one from the freezer and microwave it for a super quick breakfast. Just add coffee 🙂 (and maybe some fresh fruit).

Basic Steps

1. Fry (quick) or caramelize onions (not quick)
2. Grill or pan fry sausage if using (see shortcut)
3. Cook or prep other veggies (optional)
4. Scramble eggs
5. Combine filling and season it
6. Assemble filling plus cheese in flour tortillas.

How to make breakfast burritos

Tips

1. The amounts of ingredients used in the recipe are just guidelines. If you like more eggs, for example, use more.
2. If your tortillas are stiff, warm them in the microwave for a few seconds before filling them. They will be easier to fold.
3. Taste your filling combination and adjust the seasonings before wrapping it in a tortilla. I often add a small drizzle of BBQ sauce, hot sauce or ketchup to the filling.
4. If you like cheese oozing throughout the burrito, mix it directly into the cooled filling.
5. If freezing the burritos, cool the filling before wrapping to avoid a soggy burrito.
6. Label the burritos with a date and type of filling if you have more than one.

Recipe FAQ

Shortcuts

• For the quickest version, just use eggs, shredded cheese and green onions with no other add-ins.
• Instead of caramelized onions (great but long cook time), use quick fried onions.
• Add pre-cooked chopped sausage instead of cooking fresh sausages on your own

Make Ahead Breakfast Burritos

• See recipe notes for storing, freezing and reheating instructions.

Other delicious breakfast ideas to try

• banana French toast
• apple French toast casserole
• baked French toast casserole (sinful!)
• lemon blueberry pancakes
• super moist banana bread (no mixer needed) – our MOST popular recipe
• ricotta pancake recipe with caramelized bananas
• simple Dutch pancake recipe
• sous vide poached eggs (with easy hollandaise)

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Make-Ahead Breakfast Burritos

I've made hundreds of these make-ahead breakfast burritos. They take a few steps, but the convenience of a 2 minute meal-on-the-go for busy mornings or for exhausted new parents is worth it. Choose your fillings. I like egg, cheese, sausage and caramelized onions.

Prep Time30 mins

Cook Time30 mins

Total Time1 hr

Course: Breakfast, meal prep

Cuisine: American, Mexican

Servings: 16 burritos

1x2x3x

Author: Cheryl

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

• 16 medium flour tortillas (8 inch/20 cm)
• 3 cups (345 grams) cheddar cheese, grated (or gruyere or monterey jack)

For onions

• 2 medium onions (or 1 very large)
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• salt to taste
• pinch sugar (optional)

For eggs

• 12 large eggs, Note 1
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon butter
• salt and pepper to taste

Additional fillings (optional)

• 12 -16 breakfast sausage links, cooked and cut into 1/4 inch pieces., Note 2
• Note 3: veggie fillings
• Note 4: seasonings
• Note 5: toppings

Instructions

• COOK ONIONS: Slice onions thinly. Heat large pan to medium-high. heat Add oil. Add onions and stir for 5-6 minutes. You can cook chopped peppers, spinach or mushrooms at the same time as the onions if you are not caramelizing them. 

  °To caramelize: Add salt to taste and a pinch of sugar (which will speed up caramelization process). Lower heat to medium heat or medium-low heat. Cook for about 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onion are browned and caramelized. Transfer to a bowl and let cool. Onions can be made several days ahead and kept in airtight container in fridge.

  °To fry (much quicker): Add a pinch of salt. Keep cooking until onions are soft, translucent, slightly browned (if you like) and moisture has evaporated. Total 7-8 minutes.
• MAKE OR PREP OTHER FILLING OPTIONS IF DESIRED: Eg. sausages, beans, guacomole. Also peppers, mushrooms, spinach (if not cooked with onions), etc. Note 2 and 3.
• COOK EGGS: You are making scrambled eggs – if you know how, feel free to skip this instruction. Crack eggs into a bowl. Add milk. Whisk together. Heat the same skillet to medium-high heat. Add egg mixture. Let set for a minute. Stir. LOWER heat to medium low heat. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook eggs slowly, stirring (and breaking into pieces) occasionally until eggs are set the way you like them (moister or drier), about 5 minutes. Take them off the heat just before fully cooked (they will finish cooking off heat). Don't overcook the eggs or they may become watery when freezing. Let cool to room temperature.
• ASSEMBLE: Mix together the fillings you are using except for cheese. Add seasonings you like (Note 4). Make an assembly line with as many tortillas as you can place on a clean counter. If using refried beans, spread 1-2 teaspoons on lower third of tortillas. Top with about 1/3 cup/75 grams of filling mixture on each, then with about 1/8-1/4 cup/20-28 grams of shredded cheese on each. For each burrito, fold in two sides of the tortilla, then roll up tightly, placing burrito seam side down. Here's a visual on how to fold a burrito. Repeat for rest of tortillas.
• BROWN BURRITOS (OPTIONAL): I only do this if I'm don't plan to freeze burritos for later. Or once I defrost them. If burritos are cold, microwave them first for 45 seconds. Heat a teaspoon or two of butter or oil in a large non stick skillet to medium-high heat. Place as many burritos in skillet as will fit. Fry until golden brown (about 1-2 minutes). Flip and fry another 1-2 minutes on the other side. Repeat with more burritos as needed.

  Serve with salsa, sour cream, hot sauce or taco sauce if desired.

Notes

1. Number of eggs to use: if I use several fillings, I use 12 eggs for 16 burritos. If you like more egg or you are using less fillings, use 1 egg per burrito (e.g. 16 eggs for 16 burritos). You can also add another 1/4 to 1/2 cup milk if you want to stretch the filling. 
2. Sausages or other meats: My go-to is breakfast sausage links (I like maple sausage). I grill them for a few minutes, then cut them up. Or you can remove the meat from the casing and fry them. Other options: bacon, any other type of sausage, peameal (Canadian) bacon, ham, pastrami, corned beef.
3. Other veggie filling options:
   • 8 ounces chopped mushrooms, 1 red pepper or 2 handfuls fresh spinach. You can cook these with the onions (if not caramelizing the onions). Otherwise, cook in a skillet separately. 
   • cooked potatoes, hash browns or tater tots (cook according to package instructions); 
   • cooked spinach (squeeze out the water); 
   • refried beans (from can) or black or pinto beans, rinsed and drained. About 1 cup.
   • if you are not freezing the burritos, you can also add  avocado chunks, guacamole, arugula, salsa. 
4. Flavor/seasoning options: smoked paprika, fresh or dried herbs like cilantro, tarragon or chives, garlic. Start with 1/2 teaspoon dried (or 1/2 tablespoon fresh), then taste and adjust. 
5. Toppings: serve with salsa, sour cream, taco sauce or hot sauce.
6. Make ahead, store, freeze, reheat
   1. To keep hot for an hour. Place on baking sheet, cover well with aluminum foil, then keep hot in a warm oven – 300F/149C for 15-20 minutes. 
   2. To make up to 2 days ahead: Keep burritos in an airtight container like a ziploc bag. To reheat, place in 350F/177C oven for 10-15 minutes. Or, place one or two burritos on microwave-safe plate, covered with a damp paper towel, and microwave on High for 60-90 seconds. 
   3. To freeze: wrap each burrito individually in aluminum foil (or parchment paper or plastic wrap), then place them in a large freezer sealed plastic bag. Freeze for up to 2 months. To reheat frozen burrito, it’s best to defrost first in fridge overnight (or defrost in microwave for 2-3 minutes – remove foil first). You can also microwave it from frozen for 1 minute  – remove foil and loosely cover with a damp paper towel, flip over and microwave another minute or until heated through.

 

Nutrition values are estimates for one burrito made with a flour tortilla, eggs, onions and cheese. Additional add-ins will increase values.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Make-Ahead Breakfast Burritos

Amount Per Serving

Calories 249 Calories from Fat 126

% Daily Value*

Fat 14g22%

Saturated Fat 6g38%

Trans Fat 0.05g

Polyunsaturated Fat 2g

Monounsaturated Fat 4g

Cholesterol 146mg49%

Sodium 562mg24%

Potassium 154mg4%

Carbohydrates 19g6%

Fiber 1g4%

Sugar 4g4%

Protein 12g24%

Vitamin A 417IU8%

Vitamin C 2mg2%

Calcium 225mg23%

Iron 2mg11%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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Make ahead breakfast burritos recipe, originally published in 2018, has been updated with new information, recipe tweaks and updated images.