Escape from day-to-day life, the swirling thoughts and endless to-do lists, and I head for the water. There is something about the ocean in particular that clears my mind faster than anything else. And nothing switches my brain off quite like going for a sail.
So what does this have to do with breakfast burritos?
Not surprisingly, I usually end up as the unofficial caterer on the ocean races I crew on. And feeding people offshore comes with a few extra requirements beyond simply tasting good. The food needs to be pre-prepped (freezer proof is even better), handheld, easy to warm in a boat oven, filling without being too heavy, and packed with enough protein to keep everyone going through a cold morning watch.
Breakfast burritos tick every box.
They wrap individually, reheat well in the oven, and are easy to adapt for different dietary needs. One crew member avoids pork, another dairy, and burritos make that far easier to manage than most group breakfasts. The only genuinely difficult part is remembering which foil-wrapped burrito belongs to who once I start throwing them up on deck.
And these are always well received.
Soft scrambled eggs and chicken sausage bring the protein, spinach and tomatoes add freshness, while hash browns and melted cheese make them feel just indulgent enough to be worth waking up for. On a cold morning offshore, wrapped in foul weather gear, hopefully with a coffee in hand, there is honestly not much better to lift spirits then a warm somewhat indulgent breakfast.
I can’t guarantee you’ll have the sunrise breakfast below that I did the last time I served these, but I can assure you won’t be disappointed if you give these a go.
Worth Making?
- Yes — if you need a breakfast that actually keeps you full for more than 45 minutes
- Yes — if you are feeding a group because these are easy to batch prep ahead of time and can customise to suit different dietary needs
- Yes — if you want something freezer friendly that reheats surprisingly well and works on the go
- Yes — if you like the combination of comfort food and practical food all in the one package
- Skip it — if you are cooking for one it may not be worth the effort involved – unless you want to make a batch to freeze and have on hand when the craving calls
- Skip it — if you hate washing multiple pans because there is a little assembly line involved
- Skip it — if you are want a fork and knife platted breakfast because these are built more for function than finesse
Breakfast Burritos
Ingredients
- 8 large flour tortillas
- 250 grams cherry tomatoes
- 450 grams chicken sausage
- 8 hashbrowns
- 1 scallion
- 100 grams spinach
- 130 grams grated cheddar cheese
- 8 eggs
- 1 tsp olive oil
Instructions
- Cook the tortillas one at a time either directly over the burner of a gas stove or in a pan. As the tortilla starts to ‘puff up’ a little, turn it. Need to be close attention if cooking directly over a gas burner.
- On your workspace/bench top lay out 8 pieces of aluminium foil layered with same size piece of baking paper roughly the size of the tortilla.
- Roughly chop the spinach and combine with the eggs in a bowl until well combined and season with salt and pepper.
- Heat olive in a saute pan and cook eggs and spinach until cooked through, set aside to cool to room temperature
- Remove the casings from the sausages and cook the sausage meat in same saute pan as eggs breaking up with a fork into bite size pieces. Cook through and set aside to cool.
- Finely chop scallion and cut cherry tomatoes into quartered. Mix in a bowl together and season with salt and pepper.
- Cook hashbrowns according to package instructions and cool to room temperature. (I use generic frozen hashbrowns, homemade would be great but I don’t think its necessary effort here)
Assemble burritos
- Place a cooked hashbrown on each tortilla
- Distribute cooked scrambled egg/spinach mixture evenly across the 8 tortillas
- Distribute evenly across the tortillas the cooked chicken sausage and sprinkle with the grated cheese.
- Distribute evenly the tomato and shallot mixture.
- Fold long sides of tortilla in first, then the tuck shorter ends in. Using the foil roll the burrito and seal.
Make it your own way
- Swap chicken sausage for bacon, chorizo or any other type of sausage you fancy. Or leave the sausage out all together
- Add black beans for extra fibre and to stretch the filling further
- Use sweet potato instead of hash browns for a slightly less indulgent version or leave the hashbrowns out for a leaner versions.
- Use homemade hashbrowns if you can be bothered with the extra effort
- Add jalapeños or hot sauce if you want more heat offshore or otherwise
- Skip the cheese entirely for a dairy free version
- Serve with guacamole and sour cream after reheating for freshness and creaminess (doesn’t work so well if you are eating these on the go)
- Use spinach wraps instead of regular tortillas if you want extra greens. Can also use a gluten free tortilla such as corn.
- Skip the tomato salsa or use store bought salsa
- Add coriander to the salsa
- Swap cheddar for mozzarella if you want more ‘cheesey’ texture
- the options are really endless
