By Alison Diven, Contributing Writer
Burritos just the way you like them whenever you like them, in minutes. No additives,no plastic, , no iffy oils—just nourishing goodness for no-brainer breakfasts or dinners. Can you tell I love homemade freezer burritos?!
Since I started experimenting with them, my husband has devoured a hot and hearty breakfast every morning with zero fuss, leaving him extra space for his 5 a.m. coffee ritual before work. He just pops one into the toaster oven to heat while he dresses.
And I, queasy pregnant mama, have an easy lunch or snack for those days when nothing sound good, and I’ve already spent all my energy scrounging for food my toddler deigns to eat.
You know what I mean. Whether you’re tending to babies, stocking the freezer for postpartum life, carting teens around, or just plain busy, we all need convenience food sometimes. These knock the nutritional socks off Evol and Amy’s burritos, can meet your special dietary needs, and are far cheaper to boot.
Wanna know how I’m making it work? Here are 15 freezer burrito hacks to get you started—including ideas for allergy and budget needs—plus my favorite breakfast burrito recipe to inspire you: eggs, goat cheese, and green chiles. You’ve gotta try this killer combo!
Essential Success Hacks
1. Cool all fillings to room temperature or colder before filling burritos. Steam=soggy tortillas. (Thanks to TheKtchn for this tip!)
2. Warm tortillas to room temperature or until they’re pliable for less cracking and breaking, then roll like this:
3.Go easy on wet ingredients like salsa and sauces. Drain extra fluids off sautéed vegetables.
4. Wrap your burritos first in parchment paper, then in foil, then in gallon size freezer bags. They’ll last for months this way and are oven-safe, but you’ll never have questionable materials touching your food. Like so:
Time-Saving Hacks
5. Mix all filling ingredients together in a single bowl. Any sacrifice in presentation is worth the faster assembly. Plus, you won’t prematurely run out of an ingredient. (Hats off to Tammy’s Recipes for this awesome tip.)
6. Use store-bought tortillas, but check ingredient lists. In my current season of fatigue, this is my biggest shortcut. I’m fortunate to have locally-made organic wheat tortillas at my fingertips, and I’ve chosen Rudi’s Gluten FreeTortillas for my gluten, dairy, egg, and soy-free son.(Kimi notes: We are also a gluten-free family. Rudi’s probably has one of the nicest textures, but it does contain corn products in it for those sensitive. You could also use (affiliate links)these brown rice tortillas , or these these multi-grain gluten-free tortillas).
7. Bake your scrambled eggs in the oven if you’re making a giant batch of breakfast burritos. They can cook and then cool while you attend to other tasks. See this method.
8. Slow-cook chicken, beef roast, or pork roast the day before for hands-off shredded meat. I do it like this.
9. Make just one flavor variety per burrito prep day and keep it simple, only2-4 components. You’ll dirty fewer dishes and streamline the whole process.
Allergy Hacks
10. Gluten-free or grain free? Don’t despair! GF people can choose non-GMO corn tortillas (blue corn or organic are sure bets), store-bought GF tortillas, or even better, homemade options like these nutrient-dense soaked buckwheat wraps or these egg-arrowroot paleo wraps. The last recipe is grain-free too, high protein, quick, and wraps beautifully with zero cracking.
11. Egg-free? Wheat tortillas, like Katie’ssoaked ones, corn tortillas, or Rudi’s Gluten Free are good choices.
12. Dairy-free is a piece of cake. Almost any tortilla will meet this criterion, and then it’s up to you to leave dairy out of your fillings.
*NOTE: Many of these alternative tortillas are more prone to cracking (except the egg-arrowroot paleo wrap), so fold like this instead:
Frugal Hacks
13. Use thriftyingredients like yard eggs, rice, home-cooked beans, or diced potatoes to stretch indulgentitems like grass-fed beef, pastured pork sausage or bacon, and cheese.
14. Go pungent with your cheese—think sharp cheddar or goat cheese—so you can use less. Also, check outCostco.. We oftenget fabulous imported, grass-fed cheeses for much less there.
15. Make your own tortillas. Here’sa soaked whole wheat recipe, Natalia offers a gluten-free buckwheat wrap here, and I can heartily recommend this grain-free paleo wrap.
And now, on to my very favorite breakfast burrito, inspired by Albuquerque’s fabulous Grove Cafe & Market.
Goat Cheese-Green Chile Breakfast Burritos
Author:
Alison Diven
Recipe type: Breakfast
Cuisine: New Mexican
Serves: 6
These creamy dreamy Southwest burritos will spice up your mornings! Prepare them for a quick fresh treat or freeze a double batch for later (see blog post for details). Select tortillas according to your allergy or dietary needs (again, many ideas in the blog post). You can find New Mexico, or "Hatch," green chiles frozen in many grocery stores or fresh in late summer. Or, substitute sauteed poblano peppers. It'll still be spectacular! A little sausage wouldn't go amiss either.
Ingredients
- 12 pasture-raised eggs
- ¼ cup grass-fed butter (we love Kerrygold)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
- 8 ounces soft goat cheese (chevre), separated into chunks
- ¾ cup chopped roasted New Mexico green chiles, without seeds
- 6-10 tortillas, depending on size
Instructions
- Heat butter in a large skillet on medium-low heat. Gently scramble eggs until soft set, sprinkling with salt and pepper.
- Gently warm tortillas.
- For a pretty presentation, layer scrambled eggs, goat cheese, and green chiles in tortillas and wrap.
- For speed, gently mix goat cheese and chiles in scrambled eggs and divide among tortillas.
- Enjoy!
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A born and bred foodie, Alison is probably thinking about her next meal right. now. Her early interest in nutrition and eating spectacular food went alternative when her health collapsed in college, and she discovered—for the first time—real, nourishing food. She’s never looked back. Recent transplants to New Mexico, Alison and her husband and son are embracing their new, enchanted landscape (the light! the mesas! the sunsets!) and celebrating their many opportunities for local, sustainable eating in the Four Corners region.Alison shares the fruit of her 10-year healing quest at Alison’s List, a resource for whole-person healing and enrichment—body, mind, and spirit. Find her at Alison's List and her Facebook page.
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