Huevos rancheros
A Mexican ranch breakfast built from four separate things that only meet on the plate. What sets it apart from eggs with tomatoes is charring the vegetables in a dry pan — the black patches on the tomato skin are not an accident, they are the entire point of the salsa. The whole thing takes half an hour and none of it needs skill.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Salsa 14 min
- Beans 8 min
- Tortillas 4 min
- Eggs 4 min
Step by step
0 / 6 doneChar the tomatoes in a dry pan
Heat a heavy pan with no fat in it and lay in the halved tomatoes, quartered onion, chilli and unpeeled garlic. Cook 8–10 minutes, turning, until the skins are blackened in patches. The charring gives the salsa a smoky flavour no spice from a jar can replace.
Ingredients: 400 g tomatoes · 1 pcs onion · 2 cloves garlic · 1 pcs chilli · 1 tsp ground cumin · 1 tbsp oil · ½ tsp salt
Black patches on the skin are the aim, not a slip.Blitz the salsa briefly
Squeeze the garlic out of its skin and blend everything in three or four pulses, to a coarse, uneven texture. Blended smooth, salsa turns foamy and pale pink; this one should stay dark and chunky. Heat the oil in a small pan, pour in the salsa (careful, it spits), add the cumin and salt and simmer for 4 minutes, until slightly thickened.
Ingredients: 400 g tomatoes · 1 pcs onion · 2 cloves garlic · 1 pcs chilli · 1 tsp ground cumin · 1 tbsp oil · ½ tsp salt
Fry and mash the beans
In a second pan soften the garlic, add the drained beans and mash them hot with a masher, adding 3–4 tablespoons of water. You want a thick paste that clings to the tortilla — runny beans soak through it in a minute.
Ingredients: 240 g black beans · 1 clove garlic · ½ tsp ground cumin · 1 tbsp oil
A thick paste, not soup — or the tortilla goes soggy.Warm the tortillas dry
Lay the tortillas on a hot, dry pan for 30 seconds a side, until they start to puff and smell of toasted corn. Without fat the tortilla stays light and pliable — easy to cut with a fork under the beans.
Ingredients: 4 pcs corn tortillas · 4 pcs eggs · 1 tbsp oil for the eggs · 60 g feta · 1 pcs avocado · 1 pcs lime · ¼ bunch coriander
Fry the eggs for crisp edges
Get the oil for the eggs properly hot and crack in the eggs — the edges should bubble up instantly and brown into lace while the yolk stays liquid. That contrast holds the whole dish together: crisp edge, soft yolk, smooth beans.
Ingredients: 4 pcs corn tortillas · 4 pcs eggs · 1 tbsp oil for the eggs · 60 g feta · 1 pcs avocado · 1 pcs lime · ¼ bunch coriander
Lacy browned edges and a yolk still running.Assemble without drowning the yolks
Tortilla, a layer of beans, eggs on top. Spoon the salsa around the eggs, not over the yolks — they should stay bare and glossy. Add sliced avocado, crumble over the feta, scatter coriander and serve with a lime wedge.
Ingredients: 4 pcs corn tortillas · 4 pcs eggs · 1 tbsp oil for the eggs · 60 g feta · 1 pcs avocado · 1 pcs lime · ¼ bunch coriander
Before you start
Salsa for the week
Make a double batch of salsa — it keeps up to 5 days in the fridge and tastes even better on the second day. Breakfast then takes 10 minutes.
The divorciados version
“Divorced” eggs means two salsas on one plate: red tomato and green tomatillo, separated by a stripe of beans. Each egg gets its own.
Without corn tortillas
Wheat tortillas work, but warm them for less time — they are thinner and dry out faster. What they lack is the toasted corn aroma, which is half the pleasure here.
