Looking for a simple dish that’s packed with bold flavors and a hint of spice? My Huevos Rancheros recipe brings a classic Mexican breakfast straight to your kitchen in just a few easy steps that anyone can handle!
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Traditional Huevos Rancheros starts with a great ranchero sauce. Making your own is surprisingly easy and adds a ton of flavor to this classic Mexican breakfast. Plus, it’s easy to adjust the heat to your liking, making it as mild or spicy as you want. Once you've made it, you'll wonder why you ever settled for store-bought versions!
Assembly is a breeze, starting with warming your tortillas in a pan and cooking the perfect fried eggs, which takes just minutes. I always start by spreading some of my flavorful homemade refried beans on the tortillas, followed by a runny egg. The creative part is adding your favorite toppings. Fresh cilantro, a squeeze of lime, avocado, and some crumbled cotija or queso fresco can take your huevos rancheros to the next level. Mix and match your favorite ingredients to make it your own!
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Ingredients
Below are the ingredients I used to make this classic Mexican breakfast dish. You can swap things out for your favorite toppings and I also have some common substitutions. Let's go over everything together:
- Corn tortillas - Corn tortillas are traditional for huevos rancheros, as they add a more authentic flavor and texture. I use small corn tortillas, the size I would use for breakfast tacos. However, if you prefer flour tortillas, they work too—just keep in mind that the taste will be different. I like my tortillas warmed, but still soft but crispy tortillas would be great too.
- Refried beans - I just love the flavor of the easy refried beans that I make with my homemade charro beans, but you can also doctor up canned refried beans. You can also skip the beans entirely. Some variations of the dish don’t include beans at all, focusing instead on the eggs, sauce, and tortillas.
- Ranchero sauce ingredients - Cooking some tomatoes, onion, jalapeno pepper, and garlic, along with broth and some herbs and seasonings in a frying pan is all it takes to make a simple and delicious homemade salsa ranchera, but you can use store-bought sauce, or make an easy tomato salsa or roasted tomatillo salsa.
- Cilantro - I use cilantro in the ranchero sauce, but if you don't like cilantro, you can substitute with a good dried mexican oregano or fresh parsley.
- Toppings - I like to keep it simple with some cilantro, some lime juice, avocado slices, a crumbly Mexican cheese, and jalapeño slices, but you can garnish with whatever you want. Pico de gallo or homemade salsa and fresh guacamole would be delicious.
Scroll to the bottom of this post for the full recipe.
Have extra avocado? Treat yourself and your friends and family to an awesome avocado toast board! With different textures of avocado, thinly sliced vegetables, some meats, and some cheeses… it's not just brunch. It's an occasion!
Variations
Here are a few ways to play with these ranch style eggs if you feel like having a little fun!
- Scrambled huevos - Instead of making fried eggs, try topping your tortilla with fluffy scrambled eggs.
- Sandwich - In place of the tortilla, build your huevos rancheros on one of my homemade English muffins, for a fun take on a breakfast sandwich.
- Tostada - Try cooking your corn tortilla in a little bit of oil until crispy and then topping and enjoy a handheld crispy huevos rancheros tostada.
- Meaty - While huevos rancheros is typically vegetarian, you can add cooked chorizo, crispy bacon, or shredded chicken to the dish for extra protein and flavor.
Equipment
I prefer to use my cordless immersion blender to puree the ranchero sauce after cooking, but you can also leave it chunky, or use a simple potato masher if you prefer. If you don't have a hand stick blender, but you still want a smoother sauce, check out my blender safety tips and directions below the step-by-step instructions.
Step-by-Step Instructions
This authentic huevos rancheros recipe is divided into 3 easy steps; making the ranchero sauce, seasoning your refried beans, and actually assembling the huevos rancheros by warming your tortillas and frying an egg. Let's break it down:
Making Ranchero Sauce and Refried Beans
Step 1: Coarsely chop your tomatoes, onion, and jalapeño, removing the seeds and inside membrane of the peppers if you are spice sensitive. Smash a couple of garlic cloves with the side of your knife or the heel of your hand.
Step 2: In a large pan, heat one tablespoon of oil over medium heat until it starts to shimmer. Add the tomatoes, onion, jalapeño, garlic, one teaspoon of salt and some black pepper.
Step 3: Cook the veggies, stirring every now and then, until they get really soft, about 15 to 20 minutes. Add the cilantro and cumin and simmer another 5 minutes, or until the cilantro is wilted and the sauce is fragrant.
Step 4: Pour in ¼ cup of vegetable or chicken broth.
Step 5: Purée the mixture for about 20 to 30 seconds or until it looks like a thick tomato sauce. If you want a thinner sauce, add more broth. Set aside. See storage instructions below in the FAQs if making ahead.
Step 6: In a small saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons of bacon, fat, lard, oil, or butter. Add in one 16 ounce can of refried beans and heat until bubbly. Season with ¼ teaspoon cumin, and kosher salt and black pepper to taste.
Making Huevos Rancheros
Step 7: Heat a nonstick pan to medium high heat and add 1 teaspoon of oil. Place one tortilla in the pan and cook for about 15 seconds on each side, until softened and with crispy edges. Do the same with the rest of the tortillas, adding more oil to the pan as needed.
Step 8: In the same pan, cook your fried eggs the way you like them, then sprinkle them with salt and pepper.
Assembly: Place a lightly fried corn tortilla on each plate. Spread with a layer of refried beans and spoon ranchero sauce on top. Add a fried egg and more of the warm salsa. Garnish with cilantro, jalapeño slices, and cotija cheese if you'd like. Enjoy!
Expert tip: Using a blender to puree
Blending hot liquids can be dangerous because the heat creates steam, which builds up pressure inside the blender. If the pressure gets too high, it can force the lid off and cause hot liquid to splatter, which could burn you or make a mess.
To safely purée your hot ranchero sauce in a blender, let the sauce cool slightly and only fill the blender halfway. Remove the center cap to allow steam to escape, cover the lid with a towel, and blend in short bursts on low speed. Check the consistency and blend in batches if necessary to avoid spills and pressure build-up.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, if you prefer to skip the refried beans, you can still enjoy huevos rancheros. Some variations of the dish don’t include beans at all, focusing instead on the eggs, sauce, and tortillas.
The refried beans and the ranchero sauce can be store separately in the refrigerator for up to 4 to 5 days. If you have a larger batches, you can also freeze them in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.
Refried Beans:
To reheat refried beans, transfer them to a small saucepan and heat over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until warmed through. You may need to add a splash of water or broth to loosen them. You can also microwave them in a microwave-safe dish, stirring every 30 seconds until hot.
Ranchero Sauce:
Reheat ranchero sauce in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until hot. You can also microwave it in short bursts, stirring every 30 seconds until hot.
Then, just warm your corn tortillas, fry your eggs, and assemble your huevos rancheros.
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📖 Recipe
How to Make Huevos Rancheros
Ingredients
Ranchero sauce
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil or vegetable oil
- 1 pound tomatoes chopped
- 1 small onion diced
- 1 jalapeño seeded and chopped, plus thin slices for garnish
- 2 cloves garlic smashed
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt plus more to taste
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ cup vegetable broth or chicken broth
- ½ cup cilantro a small handful torn from the top of a bunch
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
Refried beans
- 16 ounce Refried beans 1 can
- 2 tablespoons bacon fat lard, butter, or oil
- ¼ teaspoon cumin
- Salt and pepper to taste
Huevos rancheros
- Avocado oil or vegetable oil
- 6 corn tortillas
- 6 eggs
Garnish
- Cilantro
- Cotija cheese
- Lime wedges
Instructions
Make ranchero sauce
- Coarsely chop your tomatoes, onion, and jalapeño, removing the seeds and inside membrane of the peppers if heat sensitive. Smash a couple of garlic cloves with the side of your knife or the heeal of your hand.
- In a large pan, heat 1 tablespoon of oil over medium heat until it starts to shimmer. Add the tomatoes, onion, jalapeño, garlic, and 1 teaspoon of salt.
- Cook the veggies, stirring every now and then, until they get really soft, about 20 to 25 minutes.
- Add the cilantro and cumin and simmer another 5 minutes, or until the cilantro is wilted.
- Pour in ¼ cup of broth.
- Use a hand blender, or place contents in your blender, and blend the mixture for about 20 to 30 seconds until it looks like chunky tomato sauce. Set aside.
Season refried beans
- In a small saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons of bacon fat, lard, butter, or oil. Add in one 16 ounce can of refried beans and heat until bubbly. Season with ¼ teaspoon cumin, and kosher salt and black pepper to taste.
Assemble huevos rancheros
- Heat a nonstick pan over medium heat and add a small amount of avocado oil.
- Place one tortilla in the pan and cook for about 15 seconds on each side, until it puffs up a little and the edges get a little bit browned. Do the same with the rest of the tortillas, adding more oil to the pan as needed.
- Cook your fried eggs the way you like them, then sprinkle them with salt and pepper.
- Place a tortilla on each plate. Spread some refried beans and spoon ranchero sauce on top. Add a fried egg and more ranchero sauce.
- Garnish with cilantro, jalapeño slices, and cotija cheese if you'd like. Enjoy!
Save This Recipe! 💌
I'll email this recipe to you, so you can come back to it later, plus you'll get great new recipes from me every week!
Notes
Refried Beans: To reheat refried beans, transfer them to a small saucepan and heat over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until warmed through. You may need to add a splash of water or broth to loosen them. You can also microwave them in a microwave-safe dish, stirring every 30 seconds until hot.
Ranchero Sauce: Reheat ranchero sauce in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until hot. You can also microwave it in short bursts, stirring every 30 seconds until hot.
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