Breakfast burritos are the ultimate portable breakfast. Contained in a single tortilla is everything you could want in a hearty morning meal: soft scrambled eggs, melty cheese, usually some kind of crispy/crunchy element, and a hefty portion of breakfast meat. It’s a meal fit for grown men and picky toddlers alike – who doesn’t love a good breakfast burrito? Grab a burrito for breakfast on your way out the door and you will be ready to rock the day.

Southwest Breakfast Burrito

One of our favorite breakfast burritos is the Southwest breakfast burrito from Saltbox (previously Riverhorse Provisions) in Park City, Utah. Saltbox specializes in providing nourishing meals to fuel all the biking, skiing, and shopping you’re likely to do in Park City. Their burrito is filled with house-made sausage, promontory cheddar, scrambled eggs, crispy polenta bites, and chipotle aioli, all nestled in a spinach tortilla. It’s comforting, hearty, and, most importantly, absolutely delicious. Polenta isn’t exactly a staple in Southwestern cuisine, as it’s a dish that originated in Italy. However, polenta is made from coarsely ground corn meal and mimics the masa used to make the corn tortillas and tamales that are used throughout the cuisine. Semantics aside, the crispy polenta bits make the whole thing sing.

How to Meal Prep Southwest Breakfast Burritos

While these Southwest breakfast burritos are the absolute best when eaten right after they are made (those crispy bits!), they also make for a great meal-prep option. To save time on morning prep, cook the sausage and polenta and prep the crema and pico de gallo up to 24 hours in advance. In the morning, reheat the sausage and crisp up the polenta in the same skillet. Set aside and cook the scrambled eggs in that skillet, continuing with the remainder of the recipe as written.

These breakfast burritos are also a busy weekday morning saving grace. Burritos made according to the recipe will keep tightly wrapped in foil in the refrigerator for up to five days. Heat through in a warm oven or remove from foil and reheat in 30-second increments in the microwave. To freeze the burritos, follow the recipe as written but omit the pico de gallo (frozen tomatoes turn into total mush). Thaw overnight, defrost/ heat in the microwave or pop into a warm oven. Serve with pico de gallo.

More Breakfast Recipes

Southwest Breakfast Burritos

Brooke Eliason
Print
Servings: 4 large servings
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Filled with soft scrambled eggs, melty cheese, and crispy polenta bits, Southwest breakfast burritos are the ultimate portable breakfast.

Ingredients 

  • 16 oz spicy breakfast sausage
  • 16 oz polenta*
  • 8 oz sour cream
  • 1 7-oz can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
  • ½ medium white onion, chopped
  • ½ bunch cilantro, stems removed and leaves chopped
  • 6 roma tomatoes, chopped
  • 12 large eggs
  • 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 1 cup (about 4 oz.) cheddar cheese, grated
  • 4 large spinach tortillas
  • Kosher salt & fresh cracked pepper

Instructions

  • In a large nonstick pan, cook the sausage over medium heat until fully cooked, breaking up the sausage with a wooden spoon as it’s cooking until you have walnut-size pieces (smaller is okay too). Using a slotted spoon, transfer the cooked sausage to a paper towel-lined plate. Keep the rendered fat in the pan and remove from heat.
  • Cut the polenta in half lengthwise, and then into quarters, lengthwise again. Cut the long pieces (you can do two at a time) into ½-inch slices. With the rendered fat in the nonstick pan, increase heat to medium high. Cook the polenta in the fat for 3-5 minutes per side, until golden brown and crispy on the outside. Salt and pepper to taste. Remove from pan and set aside.
  • While the polenta is cooking, make the pico de gallo and chipotle crema. To make the pico de gallo, gently toss together the white onion, cilantro, tomatoes, and some kosher salt to taste in a medium-sized bowl and set aside. To make the chipotle crema, blend the sour cream, 2 of the chipotle peppers, 1 Tablespoon of the adobo sauce from the can, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt on low until smooth.**
  • Whisk the eggs and a few pinches of kosher salt together until smooth. Wipe out your nonstick pan and let the Tablespoon of butter melt in your pan over medium heat. Once it has melted, become foamy, and the foam has subsided, add the eggs. Using a spatula, cook the eggs over medium/medium-low heat, constantly using a back-and-forth motion with a spatula against the bottom of the pan, which will create beautiful, soft, perfect folds of scrambled eggs. Cook eggs until they are a soft scramble, and remove from pan.
  • Wipe pan out again and warm tortilla for 30 seconds per side over medium heat on pan. Remove tortilla from pan and and in a row down the middle of the tortilla, assemble each burrito with the following: 2-3 oz. of spicy sausage, ¼th of the crispy polenta, 1-2 Tablespoons of the chipotle crema, 2 Tablespoons of the pico de gallo, ¼th of the scrambled eggs, and ¼th cup of the cheese. Wrap the burritos up tightly, tucking the ends in, and then keeping the seam side down, gently place your burritos on the nonstick pan over medium heat for one minute. Remove from heat, cut burritos in half, and enjoy hot.

Notes

*Polenta can be found in most grocery stores in the pasta section. It’s usually sealed tightly in a log-shaped package. 
**This chipotle crema is mild in heat. If you want something spicier, you can add more of the adobo sauce or chipotle peppers until the desired heat is achieved.

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @femalefoodie so we can see what you’re cooking!