Elk and Green Chile Breakfast Tacos
Leftover backstrap, roasted green chiles, and eggs on a tortilla at the tailgate.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 9 oz
- cal / oz
- 58
- protein
- 36 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 25 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Breakfast
- Campfire coals
- Grill grate
- Canister stove
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Real dishes
- Grab and go
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Cooked elk or venison backstrap | 8 oz | leftover from the grill, sliced thin against the grain |
|---|---|---|
| Roasted Hatch green chiles | 3/4 cup | diced; canned works if you did not roast your own |
| Eggs | 4 | |
| Corn or flour tortillas | 6 small | |
| Cotija cheese | 2 oz | crumbled |
| Cooking oil | 2 tbsp | |
| Hot sauce | to taste | |
| Cilantro | a small handful | optional |
Method
- Set a skillet over medium heat with a spoonful of oil. Add the diced chiles and let them heat through, two or three minutes.
- Add the sliced meat. It is already cooked, so you are warming it, not searing it. Stir often and pull the pan off the heat once it is hot.
- In a second pan, or the same one wiped out, fry the eggs in the rest of the oil to whatever doneness you want.
- Warm the tortillas directly on the grate for about fifteen seconds a side, until they are pliable and spotted.
- Build each taco with meat and chiles, an egg torn over the top, crumbled cotija, hot sauce, and cilantro.
This is a leftovers recipe, which means it only exists on day two of a car camp — the night you grilled backstrap, then the morning after. Cooked wild game reheats badly. Elk is lean enough that a second pass over real heat turns it to shoe leather, so the chiles go in the pan first and the sliced meat goes in last, just long enough to warm through.
Roasted Hatch chiles carry the whole thing. They bring moisture and heat that the lean meat does not have on its own, and cotija adds salt without melting into grease the way cheddar would. This one needs a cooler and real eggs, so it is a basecamp or truck-camp breakfast, not something to carry on your back.
Packing
The meat, chiles, eggs, and cotija all ride in the cooler. Tortillas go in a hard container or they arrive as crumbs. Roast and dice the chiles at home so camp is just heating.
Variations
- No leftover backstrap: a can of seasoned shredded beef or a foil pouch of chicken does the same job.
- Scramble the eggs straight into the meat and chiles if you want one pan and no timing.
- Skip the cotija and the whole thing goes dairy-free without losing much.
https://realtree.com/timber-2-table/recipes/elk-steak-and-green-chile-breakfast-tacos