How to Make a Breakfast Taco Bar

Tacos in the morning may sound strange for many, but for Texans breakfast tacos are a way of life. Texans are serious about their breakfast tacos; according to my Texan sources, they must be served on flour tortillas. If you have the time it is absolutely worth it to make your own – try my homemade flour tortilla recipe made with lard.

With this breakfast taco bar, everyone can make their favorite combinations of cheesy slow-scrambled eggs, bacon, breakfast sausage, crispy breakfast potatoes, green chilies, and homemade smoky chipotle salsa. Get some friends together, make some breakfast tacos and perhaps drink some beermosas (or regular mimosas if you prefer).

More About Breakfast Tacos

Breakfast tacos are Tex-Mex staple – combining American breakfast with Mexican tacos, piling meats and eggs into ubiquitous flour tortillas. The earliest mentions of Breakfast tacos trace back to Corpus Christi in the 1950’s when they were referred to as “breakfast taquitos”. While it wasn’t technically created there, Austin coined the term “breakfast taco” and made it famous inspired by the success of Mexican food in California. There are many restaurants that serve breakfast tacos on their menus, two of the most famous being Torchy’s and Veracruz. You can read about some of my favorite spots from my trip to Austin, Texas.

Key Ingredients in This Recipe

• Bacon – Baking your bacon is an easy cooking method because it’s much more hands off than cooking in a pan, and it cooks evenly. I crumble the crispy bacon for easy assembly in the tacos.
• Breakfast sausage – Breakfast sausage is a sweet pork sausage seasoned with sage and sometimes the addition of maple syrup often served at breakfast. Either breakfast sausages or patties can be used in this recipe since the meat is separated as it cooks.
• Potatoes – These breakfast potatoes are cooked in a pan until the cubes potatoes are browned and the potatoes are cooked through.
• Eggs – The eggs are slowly scrambled until just set then added to the tacos with desired fillings.
• Green chilies – Canned diced green chilies are made from chilies like Anaheim (New Mexico chili), Poblano or Pasilla varieties. They are all mild chilies so they add a great flavor to any recipe without adding much heat and are common in Southern and Southwestern cooking.

A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.

How to Make Breakfast Tacos

1. Cook the bacon. Preheat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC). Lay the bacon out in a single layer on an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet. Bake the bacon until crispy and golden brown, about 15 minutes. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate to cool then crumble the bacon.
2. Cook the sausage. Heat a small sauté pan over medium heat. Add the breakfast sausage and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned and cooked through, about 8 minutes. Remove and set aside, covered in a bowl until ready to use.
3. Soak potatoes. Add the diced potatoes to a bowl of cool water and vinegar. Drain and pat the potatoes dry with paper towels. In a large non-stick skillet over medium heat add the oil and heat through.
4. Cook the potatoes. Add the onions and potatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are golden brown and crispy on all sides, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and remove to a medium serving bowl.
5. Warm tortillas. Preheat the oven to 200ºF (93ºC) and warm the tortillas on a baking sheet for about 10 minutes.
6. Whisk the eggs. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs and heavy cream until the eggs fall in ribbons. Heat a large skillet over low heat, add the butter and allow to melt. Add the eggs and let sit for a second and season with kosher salt. Use a rubber spatula to move the eggs from side to side while also scraping the sides constantly.
7. Scramble the eggs. It will take some patience but after about 10 minutes the eggs will begin to form curdles. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the eggs are just set, about 5 minutes. Stir in the cheese then remove the eggs from the pan to a medium serving bowl.
8. Assemble and serve. Arrange all of the breakfast taco bar ingredients on a table with serving spoons and let people make their own tacos. If you choose to serve them already assembled then spoon some of the eggs onto a warmed tortilla and top with desired toppings, sausage, bacon, green chilies, potatoes, and cilantro.

Breakfast taco combos

• Eggs, green chilies and bacon
• Potato, egg and cheese
• Bacon, egg and cheese
• Potato, egg and green chili

How to Prep Components Ahead of Time

• Add all ingredients to bowls to set up a taco bar so it can be assembled by each guest as desired.
• Eggs don’t reheat well so I recommend saving the eggs for last.
• Make the potatoes, bacon and tortillas ahead of time and reheat just prior to serving. Slice avocado ahead of time and prep salsas – them to small bowls and cover until ready to serve. Only slice the avocado about an hour ahead of time so it doesn’t brown.

Swaps and Substitutions

• To make the recipe gluten-free, swap corn tortillas for the flour.
• Try swapping the breakfast sausage for chorizo.
• Add refried or stewed pinto beans to your tacos. Use them in place of bacon and sausage for a vegetarian alternative.
• I prefer the smoky element the chipotle salsa adds though any favorite hot sauce can be used.
• Any leftover BBQ like brisket (a Texas favorite) or pulled pork make great additions to breakfast tacos!
• Another Austin favorite is the migas breakfast taco, made with tortilla chips in the eggs served with green chilies, onions, avocado and cheese. Simply add a handful of crushed tortilla chips to your scrambled eggs just before they set.

FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions

Other Recipes to Try

If you enjoy this breakfast taco recipe, I recommend checking out these:

• Authentic Birria Tacos
• Carnitas Tacos
• Homemade Flour Tortillas

Thanks for cooking with me! If you made this recipe, leave a 🌟 rating and share your thoughts or tips below. I’d love to hear from you!

How to Make a Breakfast Taco Bar

By Kylie Mazon-Chambers

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Serves 8 tacos

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US Customary – Metric

Ingredients:

• ▢ 1 pound thick-cut bacon
• ▢ ½ pound breakfast sausage, without casings
• ▢ 1 pound russet potatoes, about 1 large russet potato, peeled and diced
• ▢ 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• ▢ ½ yellow onion, diced
• ▢ 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• ▢ kosher salt, as needed
• ▢ ground black pepper, as needed
• ▢ 8 small Flour tortillas
• ▢ 8 large eggs
• ▢ 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• ▢ 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• ▢ ½ cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
• ▢ 1 (4-ounce) can diced canned green chilies
• ▢ smoky chipotle salsa, as needed
• ▢ 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro, for garnish

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC). Lay the bacon out in a single layer on an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet. Bake the bacon until crispy and golden brown, about 15 minutes. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate to cool then crumble the bacon.
• Heat a small sauté pan over medium heat. Add the breakfast sausage and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned and cooked through, about 8 minutes. Remove and set aside, covered in a bowl until ready to use.
• Add the diced potatoes to a bowl of cool water and vinegar. Drain and pat the potatoes dry with paper towels. In a large non-stick skillet over medium heat add the oil and heat through.
• Add the onions and potatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are golden brown and crispy on all sides, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and remove to a medium serving bowl.
• Preheat the oven to 200ºF (93ºC) and warm the tortillas on a baking sheet for about 10 minutes.
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs and heavy cream until the eggs fall in ribbons. Heat a large skillet over low heat, add the butter and allow to melt. Add the eggs and let sit for a second and season with kosher salt. Use a rubber spatula to move the eggs from side to side while also scraping the sides constantly.
• It will take some patience but after about 10 minutes the eggs will begin to form curdles. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the eggs are just set, about 5 minutes. Stir in the cheese then remove the eggs from the pan to a medium serving bowl.
• Arrange all of the breakfast taco bar ingredients on a table with serving spoons and let people make their own tacos. If you choose to serve them already assembled then spoon some of the eggs onto a warmed tortilla and top with desired toppings, sausage, bacon, green chilies, potatoes, and cilantro.

Nutrition:

Calories: 637kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 23g | Fat: 48g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 9g | Monounsaturated Fat: 18g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 240mg | Sodium: 890mg | Potassium: 537mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 497IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 136mg | Iron: 3mg

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