8 Breakfast Burrito Recipes to Freeze

My problem with freezer burritos was never the recipe.

It was making twelve identical ones and being sick of them by week three.

Now I make four of one and four of another, which costs me one extra pan and nothing else.

I actually get to the end of a batch these days, which never used to happen.

Here are the eight I rotate through.

1. Sausage, Egg and Hash Brown Breakfast Burritos

The default, and the one to get right before you try anything else.

Hash browns do more here than add bulk.

They sit against the tortilla and take up what the eggs let go of, which is why this combination survives a month in the freezer better than plain egg and cheese.

Frozen shredded potato is fine here.

Nobody needs to be standing at a grater on the one morning they’ve set aside for this.

2. Chorizo and Potato Breakfast Burritos

Chorizo and potato is what most Mexican breakfast counters would hand you, and the fat is the reason it freezes so well.

That orange grease coats the potato and stops it drying out.

Cook the potato separately and get real color on it in a cast iron skillet before the two meet.

Potato that’s been steamed soft turns to paste after a few weeks in there.

3. Sheet Pan Breakfast Burritos

Everything roasts on one tray, which is how you make sixteen of these without three pans and a bad mood.

Potatoes and peppers go on a half sheet pan first, then the eggs get poured over partway through.

They come out set in a slab you cut into strips, which is what makes the assembly line move.

4. Green Chile Smothered Breakfast Burritos

Worth being clear about this one.

You freeze the burrito and keep the green chile in a separate tub, because sauce on the outside turns a tortilla to mush inside a week.

Done that way it’s the best thing on this list and it’s barely any more work.

Hatch chile if you can get it, and the roasted frozen kind is honest enough the rest of the year.

5. Steak and Egg Breakfast Burritos

Buying steak for this doesn’t make much sense.

Having something to do with the end of last night’s steak makes a lot of sense, and this is the best of them.

Slice it thinner than you would for a plate.

Beef that’s been chilled always reads tougher than it is.

Reheat this one in a pan if you have the choice, because a microwave turns the steak gray and grainy while the tortilla is still cold.

6. Bean and Cheese Breakfast Burritos

The cheapest one here by a distance.

Refried beans behave like glue, so these hold their shape coming out of the wrap in a way the egg-heavy ones don’t always manage.

No egg in it at all, which makes it the one for the mornings you’ve run out.

7. Tofu Scramble Breakfast Burritos

Turmeric does the color and black salt does the eggy taste, and without the second one this is just tofu in a wrap.

Crumble it small so it reads as scramble and not as cubes.

There’s no egg in here to go watery, so it’s the one that forgives a slow thaw in the fridge.

8. Ham, Egg and Cheese Breakfast Burritos

The one children will actually eat.

Deli ham holds more water than it looks like it does, so give it a minute in a hot pan to drive some off.

Lay the cheese against the tortilla on both sides of the filling.

It melts into a seal and keeps the egg off the wrap.

Notes on Rolling One That Holds

Underfill it.

Whatever looks right, take a spoonful back out.

An overfilled burrito won’t close, and one that won’t close splits along the seam somewhere around week two.

Fold the two short sides in before you start rolling, not after, and hold them down with your fingers as the roll goes over them.

Roll it tight enough that there’s no air left inside, since trapped air is where freezer burn starts.

Finish seam side down and leave it sitting there while you do the next one, so its own weight sets the fold.

Pre-cut parchment sheets save you fighting a roll for every single one.

Then write what’s in it on the outside before it goes into a reusable freezer bag.

Frozen burritos are completely anonymous, and a batch with three fillings in it becomes a lottery by the second week.

Tips for Adding the Wet Stuff Later

Build these as a dry base and put everything wet on at the last minute.

Avocado goes black and slippery in the freezer, crema splits when it thaws, and fresh salsa softens the tortilla from the inside out.

None of that is an argument for eating a plain burrito.

It’s an argument for keeping a pot of each in the fridge and spooning it over once the burrito is hot.

A few small condiment containers earn their keep if these are travelling to work with you.

Pickled red onions keep for weeks in a jar and do more for a reheated burrito than any sauce will.

And a squeeze of lime over the top wakes the whole thing up, which sounds like nothing and isn’t.

The base recipe for all of this is already here as breakfast burritos, make ahead and freezer friendly, and it’s the one to build your first batch from.

For the other things worth doing with a packet of tortillas, the healthy breakfast tortilla ideas roundup covers quesadillas, tostadas and taquitos.