Of all the people who have inspired my cooking, my mother certainly comes in somewhere in the Top 5. Over the years, I've shared a bunch of my childhood favourites from her repertoire - her spaghetti sauce, her pot roast, her Portuguese-style braised peas and eggs, her mulligatawny soup, her marshmallow cake, and her "impossible" lemon-coconut tart.
When the time came to pick something to share in her honour for a Mother's Day recipe round-up for the Holiday Food Blog Party crew, though, I was totally stumped.
So, what's a girl to do when she's totally stumped? She asks her mom, obviously.
As always, Mumsy Dearest came through with some wise advice, and suggested I whip up a batch Huevos Rancheros, in honour of our recent mother-daughter trip to Mexico.
It's an especially appropriate choice because it also happens to be one of her go-to brunch dishes from back in the day (along with fresh waffles topped with strawberry sauce, and a wicked delicious corned beef hash with dill that I'll have to share here someday.)
Since I didn't have a copy of her recipe in my files, though, I ended up going with my own spin on the dish rather than a remake of my mother's recipe.
For one, she has a love/hate thing with black beans, so she'd never approve of adding a layer of refried black beans to give the dish an extra layer of flavour and a heftier dose of protein.
And for another, she always used flour tortillas for her version, mostly because fresh corn tortillas were basically non-existent in Toronto back in the 90s.
But this is how I like my huevos rancheros, so that's the version we're going with today.
I'm happy to report that this dish is just as good now as it was back then.
Soft tortillas, spiced black beans, runny-yolked sunny side up eggs and a spicy tomato sauce come together in every bite in a combination of bright flavours that'll have you dreaming of sunny Mexican skies.
And best of all, it's perfect for whipping up for an extra-special Mother's Day brunch. (Just make sure to leave out the black beans if she's like my mother.)
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Huevos Rancheros
- Total Time: 35 mins
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
This classic Tex-Mex brunch staple features warm corn tortillas, seasoned black beans, sunny-side up eggs and a spicy tomato sauce.
Ingredients
Ranchero Sauce:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ cup finely diced red onion
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
- 1 can (796 ml/28 oz) diced tomatoes with juice
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp salt
Black Beans:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ½ tsp chipotle powder
- ½ tsp cumin powder
- 1 lime, halved
- 1 can (540 ml/19 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
- ½ cup water
- Pinch salt
Assembly and Garnishes
- 8 small corn tortillas, warmed
- 8 eggs
- Fresh cilantro, for garnish
- Chopped avocado, for garnish
- Hot sauce, for garnish
Instructions
Prepare the Sauce:
- In a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan set over medium-high heat, saute the onion in olive oil until soft and translucent, about 7 minutes. Add the garlic and jalapeno, and continue cooking for 1-2 minutes longer. Stir in the tomatoes, cumin and salt, and simmer on medium heat until slightly thickened, about 15 minutes. Cover and reduce the heat to low to keep warm.
Prepare the Beans:
- While the sauce is simmering, start on the beans.
- In a second saucepan, saute the garlic in olive oil until softened, about 2 minutes, then add the spices and cook just another minute or so, or until fragrant. Add the beans, water and salt, and bring to a simmer. Cover the pan, reduce heat to low, and simmer for about 10 minutes, adding a splash of water if the beans start to look like they're drying out.
- Remove from heat, and stir in the lime juice. Mash roughly with a fork or the back of a wooden spoon, then taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper as needed. Cover and set aside until you are ready to serve.
Cook the Eggs and Assemble:
- In a large, heavy-bottomed skillet, heat the olive oil. Working in batches, fry the eggs to your desired level of doneness, seasoning generously with salt and pepper (I like mine sunny-side-up, but feel free to use over-easy if that's more your thing).
- To assemble, arrange two tortillas onto each plate. Spoon a generous dollop of black beans onto each tortilla, and spread out slightly using the back of a spoon. Top off each tortilla with a fried egg, then spoon the warm sauce over the eggs. Garnish with chopped cilantro and chopped avocado, and serve immediately with a bottle of your favourite hot sauce on the side.
Notes
Both the Ranchero Sauce and the Spicy Black Beans can be prepared a day or two ahead and stored in the refrigerator. Simply reheat on the stovetop (adding a generous splash of water to the beans if they look a little dry), and then assemble as per normal.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: Brunch
- Cuisine: Mexican
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This post is part of the Mother's Day Holiday Food Blog Party organized by Jen of Jen’s Favourite Cookies. For more mom-approved deliciousness, check out the rest of the posts:
1. Coconut Cupcakes from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
2. German Apple Cake from Magnolia Days
3. Baked Lemon Pasta with Broccoli and Shrimp from What Smells So Good
4. Cinnamon Pear Cake from Roxana's Home Baking
5. Strawberry Whiskey Sour from Girl in the Little Red Kitchen
6. Huevos Rancheros from Crumb Blog
7. Triple Lemon Cake from Created by Diane
8. Banana Chocolate Chip Bread from Chocolate Moosey
9. Lemon Thyme Shortbread from Jen's Favorite Cookies
10. Pineapple Coconut Sweet Rolls from Pineapple and Coconut
11. Caramilk Stuffed No-Knead Brioche from Gotta Get Baked
12. Mom's World Famous Sponge Cake from Hungry Couple NYC
13. Brown Butter Pecan Fudge Ripple No-Churn Ice Cream from Cupcakes and Kale Chips
Christina says
I LOVE huevos rancheros! Why don't I ever make them??
Kristen says
Before I read everything, I thought the beans were hamburger patties, albeit, very thin hamburger patties. I'd take it with the beans, but now I have Huevos Rancheros burgers on my mind! Your pics are gorgeous and what a nice tribute to your mom and her influence on your cooking.
Susan says
I'm with your mom, no beans on huevos! Give me everything else please! Also you clearly grew up well fed.
Shanna @ pineapple and coconut says
This is NO LIE my favorite breakfast. I actually asked my husband to make it for me for Mother's Day and now I will show him this recipe to make. I can't wait!!
★★★★★
Dionne Baldwin says
Mom recipes are some of the best recipes. :) I am not a fan of the beans either but I would enjoy them if I prepared everything just like this. Your huevos rancheros are beautiful! I am contemplating these for lunch.
Brianne @ Cupcakes & Kale Chips says
My mom would probably prefer your mom's version, but I LOVE yours! Looks fabulous!
Carla says
I'd have to leave off the beans because my mother, too, doesn't like beans. Although I'm tempted just to make this all myself and not tell anybody so I don't have to share ;)
Kim Beaulieu says
Squee, look at this. It's gorgeous. I need to try this for hubs, he will go nuts for this one. Gorgeous photos too, as always.
Say Happy Mother's Day to your mom for me. It's always a bittersweet day for me. I miss my mom, but I am grateful to be a mom. So it's a weird day.
Sarah says
My mom would have this some nights for dinner when it was just her and the kids... this looks stellar
Anita at Hungry Couple says
How fun that you went to Mexico together. Your version of the huevos looks so delicious!!
Diane {Created by Diane} says
looks perfect, I am now rethinking what to eat for lunch.
Nancy @ gottagetbaked says
Isabelle, your mom sounds like an amazing chef! Every recipe of hers you just listed in this post is making me drool. I'm especially drooling over the photos of your huevos rancheros. Good gawd lady, this looks absolutely delicious. Like Renee, I want to dip a fork into my screen too to grab a few bites. I never manage to make savoury foods look pretty so good job with the photos and styling too.
Jen @ Jen's Favorite Cookies says
I want to take a mother-daughter trip to Mexico! AND I want some of these huevos rancheros! I've been drooling over this all day!
Renee says
OMG I want to stick my fork in the screen and grab a bite. Wow this looks good.
Liz says
Oh, my. Can I adopt your mom??? I need to track down all your family recipes...but for now, these gorgeous huevos racheros will do! Wonder if I can coerce the hubby into making these for me. Hahahaha....