Sunny Side Up: Huevos Rancheros Recipe
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.)
This is my own spin on the dish, though, 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 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.)
Huevos Rancheros
Author: Isabelle Boucher (Crumb)
Recipe type: Brunch
Cuisine: Mexican
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 20 mins
Total time: 35 mins
Serves: 4
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 ( ) 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.
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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
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
About the author
Isabelle Boucher
I'm a 30-something coffee-chugging, booty-shaking, bargain-shopping, cookbook-collecting, photo-snapping, trucker-swearing, farmers-market-loving self-taught cook with a Mister and two cats to feed.
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