Recipe Post

We enjoyed a leisurely morning together as a family and made a yummy breakfast too. Huevos rancheros is a go-to for us when we want a hearty and tasty breakfast or brunch. The sauce is a little different every time depending on what we have in the house. The sauce can also be modified for an Italian dinner too, I put this info at the end of the recipe.

Huevos Rancheros

1 medium onion
1 bell pepper
A few cloves garlic (optional)
2 cans stewed tomatoes (Mexican style, plain, or even Italian style)
ground cumin
ground coriander (if you have it)
ground chili powder
(you can even add some taco seasoning)
salsa (about 1/2 C. - again, if you have it)
pepper sauce (like tapatio or cholula)
4-6 eggs (depending on how many people and how hungry you are, we ate 2 eggs each today)

Garnish with:
green onion and cilantro
cotija cheese, or even a little good, aged parmesan, or pepper jack

Serve on:
tortilla chips
corn tortillas
black or refried beans
pepper jack cheese


- Cut bell pepper into thin long strips. Cut onion in half, then cut thin half-moon slices. Crush/mince garlic if using.
- Heat a large saute pan (one that has a tight fitting lid) over medium to medium-high heat.
- When it's warm, add some olive oil, about 1 or 2 Tbs.
- Once the oil is warm and shimmering, add the onion and bell pepper. Sprinkle on some of all of the seasonings (cumin, coriander, chili powder, taco seasoning, and a little salt and pepper)
- Saute for a few minutes until it smells really good and the veggies are getting a bit soft.
- Add the garlic.
- Saute for a few more minutes.
- Add the tomatoes, juice and all.
- Add the salsa if using
- Continue to cook, uncovered, over medium heat letting the sauce simmer together.
- Add a bit more of all the seasonings, especially the cumin.
- Add the pepper sauce to taste (we like it spicy)
- Taste the sauce. It should be a bit sweet from the tomatoes but have a definite bite, and taste a bit south of the border.
- Adjust seasonings until you get desired spiciness and Mexican flare.
- Simmer the sauce uncovered to let it thicken up. There is no specific time here. 5 minutes is fine, but so is 10. You want it to thicken up without drying out completely.
- Once it is nice and thick, make make a depression in the sauce with the back of the wooden spoon. One for each egg you are using.
- Crack the eggs into the depressions in the simmering sauce and cover the pan.
- Poach the eggs in the tomato sauce until they are cooked to your desired doneness. If you want solid yolks it could poach for 5-10 minutes.
- When they are almost done, sprinkle the tops of the eggs with any of the following: finely chopped green onion, chopped cilantro and the cotija or parmesan.
- Your eggs and sauce are now ready to eat.

Serving suggestions:
1. Put some tortilla chips on a plate and spoon the eggs and extra sauce over the chips.
2. Put some beans on a corn tortilla, cover with pepper jack cheese. Microwave until melted and spoon eggs on sauce on top of mini quesadilla.
3. Spoon sauce and eggs into a bowl, and serve with warm flour tortillas.

Extra Sauce:
You will likely have extra sauce. This is a good thing. Add the sauce to a burrito with beans, meat, cheese, rice, basically whatever you have on hand, or put it on some tortilla chips, add some black beans and cover in cheese, microwave for fabulous nachos.

Italian Dinner modification.
Follow the same basic recipe swapping basil, oregano and even a some rosemary for the seasonings above. Poach the eggs as above (I think they are better in this version if they are poached soft, but you make the call). Don't add any green onion or cilantro, instead you can top with fresh basil if you have it. Then serve the eggs and sauce (you can even omit the eggs and have a great sauce by itself) on creamy polenta. Add your favorite veggies or a salad and you have a wonderful and quick dinner.