Reina's Breakfast Burritos

Before the pandemic shutdown, I honestly wasn't making breakfast on a regular basis. Working dinner shifts at a fine dining restaurant, I typically would get home close to midnight or one in the morning and completely jacked from my work espressos, I wouldn’t actually go to bed until close to 4am after showering and settling in from my shift.

That’s why I’m not much of a morning person. At all. My “mornings” would normally start a little after noon and I wouldn’t have much time to make anything to eat before having to commute to work, waiting and taking the shuttle, and getting ready to start my shift. Although I currently miss the rush of being on the line, I definitely don’t miss my old routine. I’m glad that I’ve had a chance to turn that around a bit. Silver linings, I suppose.

Breakfast has become a nice, calming ritual of mine nowadays, where I take my time making something delicious to enjoy with my cup of Puerto Rican coffee. I either go for sandwiches or burritos. And for this burrito recipe, I’m all about easy cooking and something that’s adaptable with what you might have on hand. I love using turkey sausage, potatoes, and some kind of veggie with my eggs. But these breakfast burritos are so customizable, just use what you like and go crazy with it!

Reina’s Breakfast Burritos

Serves: 2

Cook time: 30 minutes 

1/2lb ground turkey sausage

2 small Yukon gold potatoes, small dice

Kosher salt

Black pepper

4 cups water

2 large handfuls baby spinach

4 large eggs, beaten

2 large flour tortillas, warmed

Softened cream cheese or hummus*

*Note: I prefer chive and onion cream cheese or roasted garlic hummus for an extra oomph of flavor.

In a cast iron skillet or frying pan over medium-high heat, brown the turkey sausage and crumble up into small pieces with the back of wooden spoon or spatula. Cook for about 8 minutes. Then, add the diced potatoes. Add a pinch of kosher salt and black pepper along with the water. Stirring occasionally, simmer the sausage and potatoes until the potatoes are fork-tender, roughly about 15-20 minutes. 

Once the potatoes are tender and the water has slightly reduced into a sauce (thanks to the starch released from the potatoes), turn the heat down to low and add the baby spinach and fold into the mixture so it wilts. Taste and adjust seasoning with more kosher salt and black pepper. Once the spinach has cooked down, add the beaten eggs and gently stir everything together until the eggs are barely set. Turn the heat off. Don’t worry, carryover heat will finish cooking the eggs through. Set aside.

After warming the tortillas (either in the microwave with a damp paper towel on top or in a dry skillet), smear the inside with a little bit of softened cream cheese or hummus. Spoon the egg and sausage mixture into the middle of the tortilla and fold the left and right sides into the center. Then, fold over the bottom of the tortilla and roll it up, making sure to keep the seams tight. If you need a little bit more cream cheese to place on the seam of the tortilla, you can use that as a “glue” of sorts.

At this point, you can enjoy the burrito as is or you can toast it on each side in a dry skillet (which is what I did because I enjoy the extra texture of a toasty tortilla). Cut in half and serve immediately. You can definitely double or even triple this recipe to make extra burritos for other days; simply wrap them in parchment paper and then some aluminum foil to freeze. To reheat for an easy breakfast in the future, just pop them in a 350ºF oven to warm it back through. Easy peasy!

¡Buen provecho!