Huevos Rancheros in a Pot
Black beans, salsa, eggs, and torn tortillas cooked down into one skillet-adjacent breakfast.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 6 oz
- cal / oz
- 103
- protein
- 26 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 12 min
- total time
- 17 min
- water
- 400 ml boiled
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Breakfast
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Backpacking
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Dehydrated refried black beans | 1 cup | instant flakes, not canned |
|---|---|---|
| Egg crystals or whole egg powder | 6 tbsp | equals about 4 eggs |
| Flour tortillas | 3 six-inch | they keep about a week unrefrigerated |
| Shelf-stable salsa | 1/3 cup | a foil packet or squeeze pouch |
| Freeze-dried or hard cheddar | 1 oz | |
| Chili powder and ground cumin | 1/2 tsp each | |
| Dried minced onion | 1 tbsp | |
| Salt and cayenne | to taste | |
| Lime juice powder | 1 tsp | or a wedge if you are car camping |
| Oil | 1 tbsp | |
| Hot sauce | to taste |
Method
- Tear the tortillas into rough squares. Set them aside.
- Boil 300 ml of water. Stir in the bean flakes, onion, chili powder, cumin, lime powder, salt, and cayenne. Cover and let it sit off the heat five minutes until it thickens.
- Scrape the beans into a mug or a bag and wipe the pot. Whisk the egg powder with 100 ml of cool water until no lumps remain.
- Warm the oil over a low flame, pour in the eggs, and stir constantly. Pull them off the heat while they still look slightly wet.
- Fold the beans, salsa, and torn tortillas back in. Top with cheese, cover for a minute, then hit it with hot sauce.
The original is a muffin tin recipe: tortilla quarters pressed into cups, beans and salsa spooned in, an egg cracked over each, half an hour in the oven. None of that survives a stove and one pot, so the shape changes and the flavors stay. Torn tortillas do the same job loose that they did as cups, soaking up bean and salsa liquid instead of holding it.
Order matters more than technique. Beans first, because they rehydrate off the heat while you do something else; eggs last and low, because powdered eggs go rubbery faster than fresh ones. Adding the tortillas at the end keeps them chewy rather than dissolving them into the beans.
Packing
Bean flakes and spices go in one bag, egg powder in another kept dry and separate. Tortillas ride flat against your pack's back panel or they come out as confetti.
Variations
- Car camping: use real eggs, fresh jalapeño, sliced avocado, and cilantro.
- Skip the eggs and double the beans for a vegan version.
- Corn tortillas toasted dry in the pot first give it more of a chilaquiles texture.
https://ohmyveggies.com/huevos-rancheros-tortilla-breakfast-cups