Make-Ahead Breakfast Burritos (Freezer-Friendly)
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).
My son-in-law, Brandyn, inhales these burritos. I started making them when he and Jenna had their first baby. I wanted to help out by packing their freezer with some homemade goodies. These breakfast burritos were a huge hit.
What to expect
Basic steps – As I said, there are a few steps involved (especially if using several fillings), but totally worth the effort for quick breakfasts or snacks.
- Fry (quick) or caramelize onions (not quick)
- Grill or pan fry sausage if using (see shortcut)
- Cook or prep other veggies (optional)
- Scramble eggs
- Combine filling and season it
- Assemble filling plus cheese in flour tortillas.
I make a vegetarian version for kook Jenna with mushrooms or sweet potatoes, spinach and black beans. She loves hers with Gruyere cheese.
When I have the time, I amp up the flavor with sweet caramelized onions. Really good, but they do take more time. You can, of course, just do a quick sauté instead.
Bottom line: If you’re looking for meal prep recipes, make-ahead breakfast burritos is a good one. Nutritious, versatile, delicious and super convenient. Breakfast is ready in 2 minutes.
Ingredients – tailored to your taste
There are a ton of variations you can try. Use whatever else you love.
For non-vegetarians, I use eggs, onions, cheese, sausage. For vegetarians, I use eggs, onions, cheese, mushrooms and black beans. Or keep it super simple with eggs, cheese, and green onions. Here are some other ideas:
- Cheese: I prefer cheddar cheese. Other good options are Monterey Jack, Mozzarella and Gruyère.
- Tortillas: I use flour tortillas but corn tortillas are good too.
- Vegetable options:
- fried or caramelized onions (the best!) and/or green onions
- sautéed mushrooms
- fire roasted tomatoes
- sautéed peppers
- cooked spinach (squeeze out the water)
- black beans (rinsed and drained) or canned refried beans
- cooked potatoes, hashbrowns or tater tots
- if you are not freezing the burritos, you can add avocado chunks, guacamole, arugula, salsa
- Meat options:
- My go-to is breakfast sausage links (I get maple sausage for my son in law – his fave). I grill them for a few minutes, then cut them up. Or you can remove the meat from the casing and fry them.
- More options: bacon, any other type of mild or spicy sausage, turkey sausage, peameal (Canadian) bacon, ham, pastrami, corned beef.
- Seasonings: smoked paprika, fresh or dried herbs like cilantro, tarragon or chives, garlic. I often add a little spicy salsa or a drizzle of BBQ sauce, hot sauce or ketchup to the filling.
Step by step instructions
Tips
- Don’t use watery ingredients that release a lot of moisture, such as fresh tomatoes or sour cream, as they can make the burritos soggy when thawed.
- Cool Filling Before Assembling: Let cooked fillings cool completely before assembling the burritos. This helps prevent the tortillas from becoming soggy.
- To soften tortillas, warm them in the microwave for a few seconds before filling them. They will be easier to fold.
- Label the burritos with a date and type of filling if making more than one combo.
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
- See recipe notes for storing, freezing and reheating instructions.
Recipe FAQs
This depends on what you add to them. With a filling of eggs, cheese and onions, they are low in calories and have a good deal of protein and calcium.
Don’t overcook or overheat the scrambled eggs (they can become watery). When adding cooked veggies such as mushrooms, spinach and onions, make sure you evaporate all the excess liquid. Cool the burritos before freezing them. And don’t add watery ingredients like salsa. Use salsa as as a topping or for dipping.
No. Pan frying makes a lovely crispy finish, but if you plan to make freezer breakfast burritos, there is no need other than appearance. I usually don’t bother.
What to serve with breakfast burritos
Serve with salsa, sour cream, ketchup, taco sauce or hot sauce.
As a brunch item, they are a great complement to other brunch dishes like:
- Gordon Ramsay scrambled eggs
- lox and bagels
- berry crumble (no bake)
- apple crisp (no peeling)
- tropical fruit salad
- super moist banana bread (no mixer needed) – our MOST popular recipe
- simple Dutch pancake recipe
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Make-Ahead Breakfast Burritos
Ingredients
- 16 medium flour tortillas (8 inch/20 cm)
- 3 cups cheddar cheese, grated (or gruyere or monterey jack)
For onions
- 2 medium onions (or 1 very large)
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- salt to taste
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/63 mm 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 onions: 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 onions 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 skillet to medium-high heat. Add egg mixture. Let it 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 in the skillet except for cheese (unless you like cheese oozing throughout). 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 tortilla, then with about 1/8-1/4 cup/20-28 grams of shredded cheese on each. If desired, drizzle on (or mix in) a little ketchup, salsa or hot sauce before wrapping. To wrap: 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.
Recipe Notes
- 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.
- Sausages or other meats: I use breakfast sausage links (I like maple sausage). I grill or pan fry, 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Toppings: serve with salsa, sour cream, ketchup, taco sauce or hot sauce.
- Make ahead, store, freeze, reheat
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
