How to Make and Meal Prep Breakfast Burritos (2024)

by Joseph Gavello

Finding time to make breakfast in the morning is tough, especially when trying to make a quick yet filling meal. Enter breakfast burritos! This favorite drive thru order can be swapped for a time- and money-saving recipe that is easy to make in bulk and freeze for later meals. Homemade breakfast burritos check the boxes for being customizable, balanced, portable, and most importantly, tasty!

Things to consider when preparing ingredients

While breakfast burritos can take on a variety of forms and include varying components, there are a few general ingredient tips to follow for meal-prep success.

How to make the best eggs for breakfast burrito meal prep:

• It’s common for breakfast burritos to be a bit soggy after reheating them, so we suggest that you make sure the eggs (and any other hot fillings) cool down before placing them in the tortilla. Cooling the hot fillings releases moisture prior to rolling them in a tortilla—an important step for preventing sogginess.
• Be sure to cool your eggs, wrap your burritos, and pop them in the freezer within two hours to keep everything food safe.
• Avoid overcooking eggs in the pan before adding to your burrito. Rubbery eggs in the pan will only become more rubbery once reheated later. Try this instead – start by whisking eggs in a bowl, then add a fat/oil or cooking spray of choice into a COLD pan followed by the whisked eggs. Turn your pan to medium-low and stir periodically as they begin to firm up. This gentle heat method helps prevent overcooking the eggs.

What fillings can I add to breakfast burritos?

• Prefer not to use eggs? Try out these protein-rich egg substitutes:
  • Tempeh, tofu scramble, seitan, Just Egg
• Cheese
  • Some of the most common cheeses used in burritos include Monterey jack, cheddar, cotija, chile con queso, and queso fresco. Each of these offers different characteristics such as mild creaminess from Monterey jack, or a salty pop from the traditional queso fresco. This is an area to experiment and find out your own preference!
• Beans
  • Like cheese, a variety of beans can be used here. Black and pinto beans are the most commonly used in burritos. It is important to make sure that they are well drained and patted dry to prevent any sogginess.
• Vegetables
  • Our recipe includes onions and bell peppers, both of which are cooked on the stovetop. Outside of sautéing vegetables, roasting vegetables is also helpful to prevent excess moisture. Leftover veggies from last night’s dinner? Throw them into your breakfast burrito prep! Green chilies, zucchini, spinach, and stewed tomatoes are a few ideas to pack in fiber and flavor. If you choose to include avocado or guacamole we recommend leaving it out of the burrito prep and instead adding it in when you’re ready to eat.
• Salsa
  • Save the addition of salsa for the side after the burrito has been reheated. Salsas tend to be more liquid and can result in, you guessed it, sogginess.
• Meat/meat substitutes
  • While breakfast sausage may be the most common meat in breakfast burritos, there is room for creativity here as well. It can be omitted, or ingredients such as meat substitutes or leftover meats can be used in its place.
• Potatoes
  • If you enjoy potatoes in your burrito, try out different varieties or a medley of a few such as sweet potatoes, red potatoes, or russets. Try roasting your potatoes in place of frying them to lower the amount of liquid transferred to your burritos.
  • Tip: To roast potatoes, place your potatoes of choice cut into even-sized pieces on a baking sheet. Spray or toss with about one tablespoon of oil until shiny and evenly coated, and top with a small amount of salt, if desired. Roast at 425°F for 20-25 minutes, rotating the pan half-way through cooking. Remove from oven and cool before adding.

Tortilla:

• Which tortilla should you buy? Classic flour tortillas seem to be the best for easy rolling and holding things together. Whole wheat, spinach, low-carb, low-sodium, or any other flour tortilla can work as well, but you may have to experiment to find which option works the best for you.
• How to roll the burrito:
  • Warm the tortilla on a hot pan for 30 seconds on each side. Or, microwave up to 3-4 tortillas at a time, covered by a damp paper towel, for 20 seconds. This quick warm up helps the tortilla stretch and fold easier! Cold tortillas are less pliable and have a tendency to crack.
  • Place the filling in a line across the center of the tortilla.
  • Fold the left and right sides of the tortilla over the filling.
  • Fold the bottom of the tortilla over the top of the filling, tucking the tortilla tightly in as you roll it forward!

Freezing:

• These burritos will stay good for up to three months in the freezer!
• Ensure that foil is wrapped tightly around the burrito to prevent air from contacting the burrito and causing freezer burn.

Reheating:

• Microwave: Remove burrito from foil and place on a microwave-safe plate. Cover with a paper towel and heat on high for 1-2 minutes or until the filling is fully thawed and heated through.
• Oven: Preheat oven to 350°. Place foil wrapped burritos on a baking sheet and bake in oven for 10-15 minutes or until the filling is fully thawed and heated through.
• Tip: Overcooking can result in increasingly soggy burritos as the ingredients will continue to release more and more moisture with prolonged heat.
• Tip: If you have a food thermometer, you can take the temperature of your reheated burritos to know they are cooked completely when reheated to a temperature of 165°
• If you have some extra time and like a crispy tortilla, you can heat up a pan or griddle to medium heat, use oil or some cooking spray to coat the pan and place your burrito on the hot pan until desired crispiness is achieved.

Breakfast Burrito Varieties

Check out our December 2023 recipe of the month for batch cooking your own breakfast burritos, or consider one of these varieties:

• Black bean, sweet potato and green chile breakfast burrito
• Spinach, tomato, and feta breakfast burrito
• Zucchini, roasted corn and tomato breakfast burrito
• Smoked salmon, cream cheese, spinach, capers, and green onion breakfast burrito
• Tofu scramble with green chile sauce and pinto beans breakfast burrito

Now that you know the how-to of breakfast burritos, experiment to find the varieties and fillings you enjoy most. Make them in batches, freeze them, and enjoy the mornings that you can wake up, reheat one, and thank yourself for the awesome breakfast you have learned to prepare!

Get to Know our Author:

Gavellois from Danville, CA, and is a current second-year Master’s student studying Human Nutrition.

Joseph is interested in Sports Nutrition, specifically when working with teams at an institutional or professional level. He is currently working in the Sports Nutrition department at CSU and enjoys seeing the impact proper fueling has on performance. He is planning on starting his dietetic internship in the Fall of 2024 and taking the subsequent exam to become a Registered Dietitian!

More Information

For additional resources for healthy eating,check out these programs from our registered dietitian nutritionists. Find delicious and healthy recipes on ourRecipes page! More health tips are also available at theCollege of Health and Human Sciences Pinterest board. Lastly, don’t forget tosign up for the KRNC monthly newsletter!