A warm tortilla packed with spicy chorizo, soft fluffy scrambled eggs, and crispy golden hash browns. Then finished the way many New Mexican cooks insist it should be, with earthy New Mexico red chile sauce. The flavors are simply addictive.
If you love a good hearty breakfast burrito, take a look at my recipe for Hatch Green Chili Breakfast Burrito.
Quick Look: Breakfast Chorizo Burrito
- 🧁 Serves: 2
- ⭐ Features: Hearty ✓ Crispy ✓”Slight heat” ✓
- ⌛️ Prep Time: 5 minutes
- 🍪 Cook Time: 30 minutes
- 🕑 Total Time: 35 minutes
- 👩🍳 Skill Level: Beginner
- 🏆 Why make THIS version? This New Mexico Style Burrito is finished with a drizzle of New Mexico Red Chile Sauce = amazing depth of flavor.
SUMMARIZE AND SAVE THIS POST ON
If you've spent any time in the Southwest, you know breakfast burritos are serious business. And if you've ever wondered why a Southwestern Breakfast Chorizo Burrito from a restaurant tastes so much better than the ones most people make at home, you're about to find out.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Frozen Hash Browns: I use frozen hash browns. Less chopping. Less mess. With their uniform size, they crisp up beautifully and save you a solid twenty minutes of prep time. I learned this trick about 30 years ago from a small cafe in Taos, New Mexico. It’s my ingredient of choice at home rather than peeling and cooking fresh potatoes.
- Easy: This burrito comes together pretty fast. About 30 minutes start to finish. Nothing fussy. Nothing chef-y.
- Soft scrambled eggs that don’t turn rubbery. Adding the eggs to the cooked chorizo will keep them soft and flavorful.
- Warm flour tortillas and easily folded rather than rolled.
What Makes This Chorizo Breakfast Burrito Different?
- Sonoran Style Flour Tortillas: Are famous for being exceptionally thin and soft. They roll easier than the thick flour tortillas you find on your grocery store shelves, and the thinner tortillas don’t overwhelm the burrito ingredients for a better balance of flavor.
- Crispy Potatoes: Frozen fried hash browns, stay nice and crispy in the finished burrito.
- Not Hand Held: My chorizo breakfast burrito is not a hand-held grab and go burrito. It’s messy in the best way and a sit down, knife and fork version.
- Sauced: The star of the show that really wakes up the flavors is a healthy drizzle of my Red Chile Sauce.
- Flavor wise? The chorizo flavors the entire filling. Big and savory with deep chile warmth that Southwestern breakfasts are famous for.
The Game Changer Ingredient: Red Chile Sauce
- New Mexican Red Chile Sauce is the backbone of countless classic Southwestern dishes. And adding it to the Chorizo Breakfast Burrito makes this a traditional Southwestern, New Mexico style breakfast. Made from either dried chile pods, or red chile powder, It’s a rich, red, robust sauce that's earthy in flavor and elevates any dish it touches.
Key Ingredients
- Bulk Chorizo: Mexican chorizo brings a great level of flavor to the filling ingredients.
- Red Chile Sauce: It’s rich earthy flavor will take this chorizo burrito from ordinary to outstanding.
- Frozen Hash Browns: Save you time and give you a crunch in every bite. Choose the square chopped variety.
- Sonoran Style Flour Tortillas: A much thinner product that the fat fluffy flour tortillas you find on your grocer shelf. King Soopers sells then in their deli section, Trader Joes flour tortillas are thin. And HEB flour tortillas are a good example of a thinner flour tortilla. They also work very well for wraps.
How To Make Chorizo Breakfast Burritos
- Step 1: Cook The Hash Browns: Use a non-stick skillet to heat oil. Once hot add the hash browns and cook. The potatoes should be golden and crisp on the outside and tender in the center. Remove to a plate and keep warm.
- Step 2: Cook The Chorizo and Onions: Use the same skillet to brown the chorizo and the onions at the same time. Cook until chorizo is cooked through.
- Step 3: Add the eggs: Once chorizo is cooked through, turn the heat to medium low and add the eggs. Cook stirring almost constantly. Cook until the eggs still look a little moist.
- Step 4: Add the grated cheese: Add the grated cheese and warm until melted.
- Step 5: Build the Burrito: Heat flour tortillas in the microwave until warm and pliable, about 15 seconds each. Add a big scoop of the chorizo, egg, cheese mixture. Add half of the hash brown potatoes.
- Step 6: Add the sauce: Spoon on a generous drizzle of New Mexico Red Chile Sauce.
- Step 7: Fold the burrito: Fold the burrito and secure with a toothpick. Serve immediately. Top with a dollop of sour cream and serve with slices of avocado.
Chef Lea Ann’s Tips For Success
- Don’t Over Fill: Even though this is a knife and fork rather than hand held burrito, don’t over fill. Too much filling may cause the soft warmed tortilla to break.
- Crispy Potatoes: Be patient and get the hash brown potatoes nice and crisp. Cook over medium heat, stir often until they’re golden brown. You’ll appreciate that crispy texture in the finished burrito.
- Don’t Over Cook The Eggs: Cooking the eggs with the chorizo will keep them nice and moist, but watch them closely. Don’t over cook and add the cheese while they still look moist. Remember, they’ll continue to cook once you add the cheese.
- My Tested Method: I’ve found that cooking the potatoes and chorizo separately gives each ingredient the texture it needs instead of turning the entire filling into one soft scramble.
- Don’t Skip Warming The Tortillas: A small detail with a big payoff. You simply can’t fold a flour tortilla right out of the package, it will break or crack. Warm them to keep them pliable and keep the filling warm.
What To Serve Them With
These breakfast burritos are pretty much a complete meal. If you’d like side dish ideas:
- Try my Slow Cooker Cowboy Beans. The slow cooker allows you to make them in advance and you can quickly warm them to serve as a side.
- Or take a cue from a high end restaurant in Santa Fe, serve burritos with Southwest Sauteed Mixed Vegetables.
- Garnish the burritos with sliced avocado and a dollop of sour cream.
Chorizo Breakfast Burritos FAQ’s
Purchase Mexican chorizo sausage that is packaged and looks like ground hamburger. The product you find in tubes contains a lot of grease, and once cooked down, leave you with little meat. And don’t confuse Spanish Chorizo with Mexican Chorizo. Spanish chorizo is a smoked and cured product that carries a completely different flavor profile and texture.
Mexican breakfast burritos will routinely include pinto or refried beans. This version does not, relying on the Mexican chorizo sausage for the bulk of the filling. But the main difference is that a Mexican breakfast burrito may include salsa inside or on top of the burrito. This version becomes totally New Mexican Southwestern with the addition of New Mexico Red Chile Sauce.
Technically you can, but I’m not a fan of this idea for this recipe. You’ll lose texture in the eggs and potatoes. Wrapped handheld breakfast burritos are best suited for the freezer.
Explore More New Mexico Breakfast Recipes
And don’t miss my Breakfast Category, you’ll find lots of great “eye opening” recipes including one of the most popular Southwestern Breakfast recipes for New Mexico Style Huevos Rancheros In Red Chile Sauce.
Chorizo Breakfast Burrito with Potatoes and Eggs
Ingredients
- 8 ounces Mexican Chorizo bulk, uncooked
- 18 ounces Frozen Hashbrowns Cubed style
- 1 teaspoon Olive oil
- ⅓ Cup Onion Chopped
- ¼ teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 2 large Eggs lightly beaten
- 2 Flour Tortillas 8 – 10 "
- ⅓ Cup Red Chile Sauce warmed
- ½ Grated Cheddar Cheese
Instructions
- Use a non-stick skillet to heat oil. Once hot add the hash browns and cook. The potatoes should be golden and crisp on the outside and tender in the center. Remove to a plate and keep warm.
- Add the chorizo and onions to the same skillet. Cook, stirring often until the chorizo is cooked through.
- Once chorizo is cooked through, turn the heat to medium low and add the eggs. Cook stirring almost constantly. Cook until the eggs still look a little moist.
- Add the grated cheese and warm until melted.
- Heat flour tortillas in the microwave until just warm and pliable, about 15 seconds each. Add a big scoop of the chorizo, egg, cheese mixture. Add half of the hash brown potatoes. Spoon on a generous drizzle of New Mexico Red Chile Sauce.
- Take two sides of the burrito and fold them so they meet in the middle. Secure with a toothpick. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Don’t Over Fill: Even though this is a knife and fork rather than hand held burrito, don’t over fill. Too much filling may cause the soft warmed tortilla to break.
- Crispy Potatoes: Be patient and get the hash brown potatoes nice and crisp. Cook over medium heat, stir often until they’re golden brown. You’ll appreciate that crispy texture in the finished burrito.
- Don’t Over Cook The Eggs: Cooking the eggs with the chorizo will keep them nice and moist, but watch them closely. Don’t over cook and add the cheese while they still look moist. . Remember, they’ll continue to cook once you add the cheese.
- My Tested Method: ‘Ive found that cooking the potatoes, chorizo separately gives each ingredient the texture it needs instead of turning the entire filling into one soft scramble.
- Don’t Skip Warming The Tortillas: A small detail with a big payoff. You simply can’t fold a flour tortilla right out of the package, it will break or crack. Warm them to keep them pliable and the filling warm.
Nutrition
Why Trust My Recipes? I am a Culinary School Graduate and a lifelong student of home cooking. I hope to inspire you try to cook as often as you can. I’ve been cooking for 50 years, and my recipes are tried and true tested and tested and then tested again before published. To read more take a look at my About Page.
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