Skillet Breakfast Quesadillas
Eggs, bacon, and cheese folded into a tortilla and pressed until the outside cracks.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 6 oz
- cal / oz
- 87
- protein
- 24 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 8 min
- cook
- 14 min
- total time
- 22 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
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Flour tortillas | 4, 8-inch | keep them dry and flat in the package |
|---|---|---|
| Eggs | 6 | crack into a screw-top jar at home |
| Bacon | 6 slices | cook at home, drain hard, pack cold |
| Monterey jack | 6 oz | shred before the trip |
| Butter | 2 tbsp | |
| Salsa | 1/2 cup | serve on the side, not inside |
Method
- Get the skillet hot over coals or a low burner. Tall flames scorch the tortilla before the middle warms, so wait for the fire to settle.
- Crisp the bacon if you did not do it at home. Pull it out, break it up, and pour off most of the fat.
- Scramble the eggs in the same pan until just set. Slide them onto a plate and let the steam come off them for a minute.
- Wipe the skillet, melt a little butter, and lay in a tortilla. Cheese, eggs, bacon on half, more cheese, then fold it over.
- Two or three minutes a side. Press it flat with the spatula. When the outside is spotted brown and the cheese has run, it is done.
- Rest each one on a board for a minute before cutting into wedges. Cutting straight off the heat lets the steam out into the crust.
Two things decide whether these come out crisp or limp, and neither is heat. The first is moisture: bacon that has not been drained and eggs that go in still steaming will soften the tortilla from the inside before the outside ever browns. Let the scramble sit on a plate for a minute. The second is fire management. Coals that have burned down give steady radiant heat; flames give you a black tortilla and cold cheese.
Cheese on both sides of the filling is not excess. It melts into the tortilla and glues the wedge together, which is the whole point of eating breakfast standing up next to a packed car. Salsa goes on the plate, never inside the fold, for the same moisture reason.
Packing
Bacon cooked and cooled in a sealed container, cheese shredded in a bag, eggs cracked into a jar. All of it in one cooler bin so breakfast is not a scavenger hunt. Tortillas ride outside the cooler, away from meltwater.
Variations
- No cooler: swap in a foil pouch of cooked bacon crumbles, freeze-dried scrambled egg rehydrated with a splash of hot water, and a hard cheese like cheddar. Works on a canister stove at a backpacking site.
- Hot sauce packets instead of salsa cut weight and the soggy risk.
https://camprecipes.com/savory-campfire-breakfast-quesadillas