freezer breakfast burritos

Remember a while back when I made freezer burritos? Well, if you don't, the long and the short of it is that they were awesome but not necessarily less expensive than the frozen burritos from the store. I planned to try again with homemade tortillas and cooked rather than canned beans to further reduce the cost. Today I finally got around to doing so.

You can put whatever you want in the burritos but I used my homemade tortillas, scrambled eggs, black beans from my freezer, salsa and cheese. I made the burritos a little healthier by using half whole wheat flour in the tortillas, using reduced fat cheddar and omega-3 enhanced eggs. Even with the more expensive cheese and eggs, the burritos were still only $0.59 each. I WIN! Now I have something healthy, delicious AND satisfying to tide me over between the gym and work. There will be no temptation to run to the vending machine or coffee shop for me!!





Total Recipe cost: $3.56
Servings Per Recipe: 6
Cost per serving: $0.59
Prep time: 30 min. Cook time: 15 min. Total: 45 min.

INGREDIENTS		COST
6 large	tortillas	$0.24
6 large	eggs	$0.98
1 Tbsp	butter	$0.07
1/4 tsp	red pepper flakes	$0.02
to taste	salt and pepper	$0.05
2 cups	black beans	$0.40
6 Tbsp	salsa	$0.31
6 oz.	cheddar cheese	$1.49
TOTAL		$3.56

STEP 1: Crack six eggs into a bowl and whisk slightly. Heat a medium skillet with 1 Tbsp of butter over a medium flame. Once the skillet is hot, pour in the eggs. As the edges of the eggs begin to set, use a spatula to gently pull them in towards the center of the pan, allowing liquid egg to fill in the empty space left behind. Continue to do this until the eggs are mostly set but still glossy. Turn off the heat and season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. (you can cook the scrambled eggs however you'd like but this is how I cook them to prevent ending up with dry, pellet-like, over cooked scrambled eggs).

STEP 2: Lay your tortillas out on a counter top. Divide the eggs among the six tortillas. Place the eggs just to one side of the center line of the tortilla (this will make rolling the burrito easier. See photos below for examples).

STEP 3: Top the eggs with about 1/4 cup of beans, 1 Tbsp of salsa and 1 oz of cheese on each burrito. Roll the burritos up and set aside, seam side down.

STEP 4: Place the burritos, seam side down, in a warm skillet until the tortilla is golden brown and crispy. Cook on all sides in the same manner. Allow the burritos to cool just slightly, wrap tightly with plastic wrap or parchment paper, label and freeze.

To reheat burritos: Remove the outer wrapping and place the burrito on a microwave safe plate. Microwave on high until heated through.

Step By Step Photos

This is what I filled my burritos with. Use whatever you have in your fridge and freezer. Burritos are a great way to use up those left overs and miscellaneous ingredients!


Crack your eggs into a large bowl and whisk. I don't like to whisk mine too much, I prefer to still have bits of white and yellow. I had already divided up my cheese into six, one ounce portions.


Heat a skillet with a little bit of butter over medium heat. Once the skillet is hot, pour in the eggs and cook them until they are mostly set but still soft and glossy. There is no need to whisk or scramble while they cook... gently move the eggs around a little as they set.


Once the eggs have cooked, turn off the heat and season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.


Lay out all six tortillas and divide the eggs among them. Place the eggs to one side of the center line to make rolling easier.


Also add about 1/4 cup of beans, 1 Tbsp of salsa and 1 oz. of cheese to each burrito.


Roll the burritos up.


I like to place the burritos back in the pan and cook them until they are golden and crisp on all sides. This helps them stay put once wrapped. (yeah, I know, a couple of those are still coming open... it's okay, I'll just eat that end first.)


Wrap the burritos up tightly, label and freeze. To reheat, just remove the wrapping and microwave on high until heated through. (did you notice there are now only four burritos in that bag destined for the freezer? Yeah, they were so good that I ate one for breakfast and then another for lunch :P)

NOTE: I know some of you are probably thinking "yeah right, I'm not going to spend all of that time making tortillas then more time making beans just to make some breakfast burritos..." The point is that you can make the individual components at different times and on different days (because they freeze well), then when you want to put it all together, it's easy and cheap. I like to have one freezer project per week, whether it be beans, tortillas, pasta sauce or some other staple item. It's like going to the store to stock your pantry with dry good except you're making things at home to stock your freezer. If I had made the tortillas, beans and burritos all in one day, I probably would have been worn out too!