5 Easy Mexican Breakfasts to Make with Supermarket Ingredients

The Mexican breakfast is one of the best meals in the world. And no, it is not just scrambled eggs with salsa. It is a morning celebration of intense flavours, crunchy textures and aromas that wake you up better than any coffee. Best of all: most classic Mexican breakfasts can be prepared in Spain with ingredients you find in any supermarket.

Forget about toast with butter or boring cereal. These 5 Mexican breakfasts are easy, quick (under 20 minutes) and so tasty they will change your morning routine forever. They have all been adapted so you can make them with ingredients available in Mercadona, Lidl, Carrefour or any Spanish supermarket.

1. Chilaquiles rojos: the king of the Mexican breakfast

If there is one breakfast that defines Mexico, it is chilaquiles. They are totopos (fried or toasted pieces of tortilla) bathed in salsa, topped with soured cream, crumbled cheese, onion and optionally a fried egg on top. They are crunchy on the outside, soft inside where the salsa has soaked the tortilla, and addictive from the very first bite.

Ingredients (from a Spanish supermarket):

• 1 bag of plain (unflavoured) nachos/totopos - Mercadona has corn ones for 1€
• 1 tin of crushed tomato (400g)
• 2 pickled jalapeños (from the jar of jalapeños in any supermarket)
• ½ onion and 1 clove of garlic
• Soured cream or plain Greek yoghurt (as a substitute for Mexican crema)
• Grated cheese (mature manchego works well)
• 2 eggs
• Salt and oil

Preparation (15 minutes):

1. Blend or crush the tomato with the jalapeños, onion and garlic. Strain if you want a fine salsa.
2. Fry the salsa in a pan with a little oil for 5 minutes until it darkens and thickens.
3. Add the totopos/nachos and mix so they soak up the salsa. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, fry the eggs separately (sunny-side up, with the yolk runny).
5. Serve the chilaquiles on a plate, crown with the egg, soured cream, cheese and chopped onion.

Pro tip: If you find corn tortillas in a Latin shop, cut them into triangles and fry them in oil yourself. The result is infinitely better than bagged nachos.

2. Huevos rancheros: Mexican heartiness

Huevos rancheros are the Mexican breakfast that the whole world has adopted, and rightly so. They are fried eggs on a crispy corn tortilla, bathed in red salsa and accompanied by refried beans. It is protein, carbohydrates and flavour in a single dish that charges your batteries for the whole day.

Ingredients (from a supermarket):

• 4 eggs
• 4 small wheat tortillas (the Mercadona ones will do)
• 1 tin of crushed tomato
• 1 tin of black or pinto beans (frijoles)
• 2-3 pickled jalapeños
• ½ onion, 1 clove of garlic
• Ground cumin, salt, oil

Preparation (20 minutes):

1. Ranchera salsa: Sauté onion and garlic, add crushed tomato, chopped jalapeños, cumin and salt. Cook for 10 min until it thickens.
2. Refried beans: Heat the drained beans in a pan with oil and a little cumin. Mash with a fork to make a rustic puree.
3. Tortillas: Pass through a pan with oil until they are slightly crispy.
4. Eggs: Fry sunny-side up with the yolk runny.
5. Assembly: Tortilla, beans, egg, ranchera salsa. Crown with avocado if you have it.

3. Molletes: the definitive Mexican tostada

Molletes are the simplest and most satisfying breakfast in Mexico. They are bolillos (bread rolls) split in half, spread with refried beans and topped with grilled cheese. As simple as that. As perfect as that. In Spain they are adapted using a baguette or ciabatta, and the result is excellent.

Ingredients:

• 2 ciabattas or pieces of baguette (split in half)
• 1 tin of black beans
• Grated cheese that melts well (mozzarella, gouda, a four-cheese mix)
• 1 tomato, ½ onion, fresh coriander (or parsley), 1 jalapeño
• Lime

Preparation (10 minutes):

1. Mash the beans with a fork in a pan with oil and salt (express refried beans).
2. Spread each ciabatta half generously with the beans.
3. Cover with plenty of grated cheese.
4. Grill in the oven or toaster for 3-5 minutes until the cheese bubbles.
5. Make a quick pico de gallo: chopped tomato + onion + coriander/parsley + lime + salt.
6. Serve the molletes with the pico de gallo on top.

Gourmet variation: Add fried chorizo (the Spanish one works well here, although the Mexican one is different) or strips of jamón serrano for a heartier version.

4. Express enfrijoladas: protein and flavour in 15 minutes

Enfrijoladas are tortillas bathed in black bean salsa, folded and topped with crema, cheese and onion. They are the perfect breakfast for when you want something substantial without complicating things. The bean salsa is made in the blender in 2 minutes and is incredibly tasty.

Ingredients:

• 4 wheat tortillas (or corn if you find them)
• 1 large tin of black beans (with their liquid)
• ½ onion, 2 cloves of garlic
• Soured cream or Greek yoghurt
• Queso fresco or crumbled feta
• Red onion in fine rings

Preparation (15 minutes):

1. Blend the beans with their liquid, raw onion and garlic. It should make a fluid salsa.
2. Heat the salsa in a wide pan for 5 minutes. If it is too thick, add a little water.
3. Pass the tortillas through the salsa, one by one, bathing them well.
4. Fold into quarters and place on a plate.
5. Bathe with more salsa, add soured cream, crumbled cheese and red onion rings.

Trick: For an extra burst of flavour, add a chipotle in adobo when blending the beans. The salsa gets a smoky touch that is something else.

5. Huevos a la mexicana: tricolour in the pan

Huevos a la mexicana are scrambled eggs with the colours of the Mexican flag: red tomato, green chilli and white onion. It is the most everyday breakfast in Mexico - the one mothers make in 10 minutes before the children go off to school. And it is delicious in its simplicity.

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 2 medium tomatoes chopped into cubes
• ½ onion finely chopped
• 1-2 chopped pickled jalapeños (or fresh green guindilla)
• Salt and oil
• Tortillas to accompany

Preparation (10 minutes):

1. Heat oil in a pan over medium heat.
2. Sauté the onion for 2 minutes, add the chilli and tomato.
3. Cook for 3 minutes until the tomato releases its juice.
4. Add the beaten eggs with salt.
5. Stir gently until they set but stay creamy (not dry).
6. Serve immediately with warm tortillas.

Key: Do not overcook the eggs. They should stay juicy, almost creamy. The residual heat will keep cooking them on the plate. Dry eggs are the most common mistake.

The Mexican breakfast pantry

To always have the ingredients for a good Mexican breakfast to hand, keep these basics in your Spanish pantry:

• Always in the pantry: Tinned black beans (1€), pickled jalapeños (1.50€), ground cumin, tinned crushed tomato.
• Always in the fridge: Eggs, soured cream or Greek yoghurt, grated cheese, tortillas, onion, tomatoes, limes.
• Bonus (in a Latin shop): Corn tortillas, chipotles in adobo, Oaxaca cheese, Mexican crema, Valentina salsa.

With these basic ingredients, which cost less than 15€ in total, you can prepare any of the 5 breakfasts for a whole week. It is cheaper, more nutritious and a thousand times tastier than toast with jam.

Tips for the perfect Mexican breakfast

• Heat is key: Everything must be served hot. Mexican dishes lose their magic when they go cold.
• Always salsa: Always have a salsa in the fridge. Even simple scrambled eggs are transformed with salsa.
• Warm tortillas: If you use packet tortillas, always warm them in a dry pan before serving. 30 seconds per side.
• Lime on everything: A splash of fresh lime at the end lifts any dish. It is the finishing touch we Mexicans put on everything.
• Beans always: In Mexico, beans are eaten at every meal. They are the perfect plant protein and cost pennies.

Discover more breakfast recipes in our Mexican recipes section and find the best ingredients in the Latin shops near you. Your mornings will never be the same again.