If I’m going to be totally honest, what I call Texas breakfast tacos are not very photogenic. I mean, I could have helped them out a bit if I had lined several up neatly in a taco rack and made them look perfectly styled and pretty. But I couldn’t make myself do that because, you see, that’s not what this breakfast taco is all about.
When we moved to the Austin area in the early 2000’s, I noticed that breakfast tacos were sold everywhere. In restaurants, in grocery stores (like Whole Foods Market), in food trucks. That told me they were extremely popular, so it did not take me long to try one. And I was shocked! It wasn’t really a taco, it was more like a burrito, but still not a burrito.
Basically, a Texas breakfast taco is a soft tortilla, stuffed with your choice of goodies, then closed and wrapped tightly in a foil wrap sheet both to keep it warm and to keep the insides from falling out. Of course, when you open the foil wrap to dress it with salsa, chili sauce, etc., it looks like a wadded up t-shirt that spent the night on your bedroom floor. You know what I mean. That sad and rumpled t-shirt you try to put on the next day that looks a little worse for wear.
Well, rumpled, squished and not really pretty may describe how they can look, but it sure doesn’t affect how they taste. They are SO yummy! Usually, you can get one to order, and they can be filled with anything, although they almost always have scrambled eggs or an egg substitute of some kind.
I love making these breakfast tacos because the recipe is easily scalable, either up or down, depending on how many you need. And they are just as good made in advance and stored in a keep-warm oven until you are ready to serve. Have a houseful of guests that need breakfast? Don’t know when everyone is getting up? Make a batch of these delicious bundles of tastiness, slip them into the oven, and allow your guests to help themselves when they are ready for a satisfying first meal of the day.
let’s make some texas breakfast tacos
As I stated above, you can really put anything into a Texas breakfast taco. Popular options beyond the ingredients above include:
- black beans
- cilantro lime rice
- Mexican rice
- roasted peppers and onions
- chorizo
You get the gist. And you can use corn tortillas instead of the flour tortillas that I use in this recipe. I prefer the flour tortillas because, to me, they are usually more tender. I also prefer using raw ones because they are thinner, but you can certainly choose corn and/or fully cooked tortillas if you prefer.
As for scaling the recipe, here’s a rule of thumb. I suggest 1 egg and 1 to 2 slices of bacon per taco. Since I added sausage (because I LOVE meat), I used one slice of bacon and two tablespoons of sausage. The rest of the components you can add in the quantities desired, remembering they need to all fit in the tortilla.
First, I scramble my eggs, using this recipe. At the same time, I brown my breakfast sausage in a large skillet, and I cook my bacon in the microwave.
As for a “Mexican” flavor, I like to let the home fries take lead, so I chop a medium russet potato, skin on, into 1/2-inch cubes. Then I fry the potato cubes in a bit of the leftover grease from browning my breakfast sausage, seasoning the potato with salt, chili, cumin, garlic, and onion powders.
Once the potatoes are cooked, I remove the lid and reduce the burner to the lowest setting to keep them warm. Then I gather my other filling components, including the shredded cheese, and set them aside. I keep the other cooked items covered to retain the moisture while I cook the tortillas.
I cook the raw tortillas by lightly toasting them in a hot pan. If using ready-made tortillas, you’ll still want to warm them to moisten and make them more pliable.
As I cook the tortillas one by one, I store them in a covered tortilla warmer so they don’t become dry and brittle. If you don’t have a tortilla warmer, just tear off a large section of tin foil, fold it over, and crimp the sides to seal, fashioning it into an envelope with a flap. Stack the tortillas in the foil envelope as they cook, with the flap bent over to help retain the heat and moisture.
Then I take individual sections of foil wrap, just slightly larger than the circumference of the tortillas, place a tortilla on each, and prepare the breakfast tacos in an assembly-line fashion.
Finally, I wrap them tightly in the tin foil and move them to a keep warm oven until ready to serve.
When ready to eat, unwrap the warm little packages and dress with your condiments of choice. I had mine with a nice helping of salsa verde and some Cholula Hot Sauce. Or you might prefer a fresh tomato salsa.
Warm, creamy, cheesy scrambled eggs. Decadent sausage and bacon. The full savory flavor of the Mexican-seasoned home fries. Topped with a nice bunch of melted cheese. All held together with a delicious, warm, toasted tortilla. It is a rumpled bit of heaven in foil. Add some salsa and chili heat, and it is groan-worthy.
Who cares if it isn’t pretty and photogenic! It’s just one of the best breakfasts ever! And a nice way for me to experience a little bit of Austin in Phoenix.
Go ahead and channel your inner Texan. Try a batch. You won’t regret it. And that ain’t no bull. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist!) 🙂
Texas Breakfast Tacos
Ingredients
- 6 raw flour tortillas can use corn, or ready-made, if preferred
- 1/2 pound ground breakfast sausage
- 6 <a href="https://www.muttandchops.com/moms-scrambled-eggs/" data-mce-href="https://www.muttandchops.com/moms-scrambled-eggs/">eggs scrambled</a>
- 6 slices of bacon
- 1 medium russet potato skin on, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 3/4 teaspoon chili powder
- 12 tablespoons of shredded cheese blend such as Mexican or Colby Jack
Instructions
- Mix the seasonings for the potatoes and set aside.
- At the same time, prepare the scrambled eggs, cook the bacon (I use the microwave), and brown the breakfast sausage.
- Once cooked, transfer all to covered dishes to keep warm and moist.
- Dispose of all but about 2 tablespoons of the rendered sausage fat.
- In the sausage pan, add the cubed potatoes to the remaining fat.
- Toss to coat, then sprinkle the prepared seasonings, stirring frequently, until all sides of the potatoes are covered.
- Cook over medium heat, covered, until potatoes are browned and tender. About 15 minutes. Stir frequently to prevent the bottom sides from burning.
- When cooked, remove the lid from the potatoes and let them rest in the pan on the lowest possible heat setting. That will keep the potatoes warm without allowing them to become soggy with the lid on.
- Cook raw tortillas or warm ready-made tortillas in a hot, flat pan.
- Store warm tortillas in a tortilla warmer or otherwise covered to retain the heat and moisture.
- Then roll out six sections of tin foil, slightly larger than the circumference of the tortillas.
- Place a warm tortilla in the center of each section of foil.
- Add one sixth of each of the filling ingredients into the center of each tortilla.
- Fold each tortilla over to close and then roll the foil snugly around the taco to form a fully-closed cylinder.
- Store in a keep warm oven until ready to eat.
- To eat, open the foil packet (it can be used as a disposable plate and dress with a salsa or chili sauce of choice.
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