Preparing a rancheros sauce that’s thick and rich enough to cradle an egg makes this an easy huevos rancheros recipe. This one pan recipe easily moves from stove top to oven and is served with warm flour tortillas, chopped avocado and sprinkled with Cotija cheese and cilantro. Let’s take a look at how to make huevos rancheros.
About This Recipe and Why It Works
This recipe for Huevos Rancheros comes from an old Mexican Cookbook I purchased nearly 40 years ago at a garage sale. Chock full of recipes from moms south of the border, some of our favorite Mexican recipes have come from this book.
One of my big take-aways from this book is this easy recipe for how to make huevos rancheros.
Huevos Rancheros is the classic Mexican Breakfast where eggs are served with a tortilla and salsa.
Most recipes you’ll find the eggs are fried and then served with warmed or fried corn tortillas.
For this hands-off version, the process becomes easier as the eggs are tucked into the salsa and baked. Which turns this into a healthy huevos rancheros recipe.
The salsa starts with a sauté of sweet orange bell pepper, sweet onion, garlic and Poblano chiles in olive oil until soft and almost caramelized.
Cumin and Mexican Oregano are added to spice things up. Chopped tomatoes, tomato paste and water are stirred in for a gentle simmer.
You end up with an incredibly flavored sweet and savory salsa type sauce that is thick enough to create wells to house the eggs.
Which makes things super easy because it’s simply baked in the oven for a no-mess easy Huevos Rancheros recipe.
The end result is a little different than the authentic style of Huevos Rancheros that you might find in a Tex-Mex style restaurant, as there’s no refried beans involved. And no fried eggs that have to be done all at the same time.
If you’ve been wanting to learn how to make huevos rancheros at home, I’d urge you to give this easy version a try.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Tomato Paste: Rich tomato paste may be my favorite pantry item of all times. It’s concentrated, it’s rich in flavor and adds nuance and body to this easy ranchero sauce.
- Orange Bell Pepper: I’ve chosen orange bell pepper for it’s sweetness and the color variation it adds to the overall appearance of the sauce.
- Cotija Cheese: Cotija is a Mexican crumbling cheese, dry in texture and salty in flavor. Its makes a great topping for any Mexican entree
- Diced Tomatoes: Any canned chopped tomatoes will work, but I choose Red Gold Brand because they are chopped smaller and will break down quicker to make any sauce. (I’ve received no compensation for mentioning this brand)
- Eggs: 4 large eggs.
- Spices and Seasonings: Cumin and Mexican Oregano. Go hand in hand to season so many Mexican entrees.
- Poblano Peppers: One of my favorite chile pepper varieties I use in Mexican recipes. Earthy, and similar in flavor to green bell peppers, Poblano peppers bring a kick of heat.
- Onion and Garlic: Sweet or yellow onion and fresh cloves of garlic.
- Cilantro: Optional, for garnish.
Ingredient Substitutions and Swaps
- Bell Pepper: Substitute a red or yellow bell pepper for the orange bell pepper. All of these are a sweeter variety of bell pepper than green bell peppers and will add color.
- Chile Pepper: If you want to bring more heat to the overall flavor, substitute Jalapeno Peppers for the poblano peppers. I would still devein and remove seeds to temper the heat a bit. Use 4 good sized jalapenos. Anaheim chile peppers are milder and can be used. And to make things even easier, use 2 4-ounce cans of chopped Hatch Chile peppers, which can easily be found on the Mexican food aisle at the grocery store.
- Oregano: Mexican oregano is preferred because of the lemon and citrus flavor it brings, which compliments almost any Mexican food recipe. If you don’t have it, regular oregano will work fine.
- Tortillas: Rather than warm flour tortillas, heat some corn tortillas by wrapping them in a damp towel, placing them in a plastic bag. Don’t seal the bag and microwave them for about 3 minutes at 50% power. Serve the eggs and sauce over the corn tortillas rather than on the side. Using corn tortillas will also make this a more healthy huevos rancheros by reducing carbs.
- Cheese: Feta cheese is similar to Cotija, with just tangier flavor. It can be used in substitution for the Cotija.
How To Make Huevos Rancheros.
Step 1 Step 2
- Step 1: Start making the easy ranchero sauce by chopping and sauteeing the vegetables in olive oil until tender.
- Step 2: Add the tomato paste and the chopped tomatoes.
- Step 3: Add the water (or stock). Bring to a boil and then reduce to medium heat and simmer until the sauce thickens into a lush gravy type consistency.
Step 4: Using a large spoon, or soup ladle, make wells in the sauce. Carefully break eggs into the wells.
Step 5: Bake at 350 degrees for 10 – 15 minutes or until eggs have cooked to desired doneness. Use a large serving spoon to scoop out individual portions to plates and voila! You have an easy huevos rancheros recipe for breakfast.
FAQ’S AND TIPS
The instruction in this recipe call to bake these eggs for 10 – 15 minutes depending on the doneness you’re seeking. For soft yolk eggs, bake 10 – 12 minutes. For medium yolk eggs, cook for 15 minutes. For hard yolk eggs, cook for about 18 minutes.
What To Serve With Huevos Rancheros
This recipe is chock full of fresh vegetables, which means is comes with it’s own vegetable side dish. Other side dish ideas for this Mexican Breakfast would be simple seasoned black beans, Crockpot Cowboy Beans, or Easy Instant Pot Refried Beans. Or a potato side dish like Oven Roasted Skillet Potatoes.
Easy Huevos Rancheros Recipe
I hope you give quick baked huevos rancheros a try. And if you do, please come back and give the recipe a star rating and scroll down and leave a comment about your experience with the recipe.
And if you have a favorite recipe for ranch style eggs, let me know, I’d love to try your version.
More Mexican Breakfast Recipes:
- Overnight Make Ahead Breakfast Burrito Casserole
- Avocado Scrambled Egg Breakfast Burritos
- Hatch Green Chile Quiche with Bacon
- Southwestern Chorizo Biscuit Strata
And if you’re looking for even more breakfast recipe ideas, don’t miss my Breakfast Category. You’ll find lots of eye opening, welcome the morning ideas. Including the most popular breakfast recipe on my site for Home Fried Potatoes with Ham.
How To Make Huevos Rancheros
Ingredients
- 2 small sweet onions chopped, about 1 1/2 cups
- 3 cloves garlic chopped
- 2 orange bell peppers chopped
- 2 poblano peppers deveined, deseeded, chopped
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil or shortening
- 2 teaspoons Mexican Oregano dried
- 1 teaspoon Cumin
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 cans tomatoes diced, or two large ripe tomatoes chpped
- 1/2 Cup Tomato paste
- 1/2 Cup Water or chicken broth
- 4 large eggs
- 2 Tablespoons Cilantro leaves chopped
- 1 large avocado pitted, peeled and sliced or rough chopped
- Cotija cheese for garnish
Instructions
- In an oven safe skillet (cast iron works great) Saute the onions, garlic, bell peppers and chiles in the oil until soft and golden.
- Add the oregano, cumin and salt/pepper to taste. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Add the chopped tomatoes and the tomato paste together with the water (or stock). Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat and simmer until the sauce thickens.
- Using the back of a large serving spoon or soup ladle, make 4 wells in the sauce.
- Carefully break the eggs into the wells.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 10 – 15 minutes or until eggs have cooked to desired doneness.
- Use a large serving spoon to transfer eggs/tomato sauce to serving plates. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro, crumbled creese, avocado slices and a warm flour tortilla.
Notes
Nutrition
Easy Huevos Rancheros Recipe … It’s What’s for Breakfast.
