Brunch Baked Huevos Rancheros

Mexican cooks traditionally make Huevos Rancheros in a skillet by rapidly frying a tortilla in very hot oil. Then they fry the egg, top the fried tortilla with it and spoon the salsa of choice over the egg. This layered Brunch Baked Huevos Rancheros will make the whole thing easier but equally delicious.

Tortillas become pliable and softer when you rapid fry them. But if your family is large, the whole process of preparing each portion individually can be time-consuming. Not to mention by the time you are done and ready to eat, it will be all gone leaving you to an empty table (and awww, snap! a sink full of dishes).

We solve problems here. Or at least we try to. People of old had a lot of time in their hands. We had a temporary taste of that recently. I hope that by the time this post sees the light of day, the lock down will be over! We will be back to our hectic schedules and nobody will have time again for cooking old-school.

Brunch Baked Huevos Rancheros will save you time by using tostadas instead of the rapid-fried tortillas. Additionally, the tostadas will hold better in the oven when you pour the salsa over. Just FYI, tostadas are crispy tortillas. They are either fried and packed or baked and packed. You can find them at grocery stores right next to the soft tortillas and the tortilla chips.

Oven-baked Tostadas are healthier, of course. Any type of tostada will do, though.

If for any reason you cannot find tostadas but you have corn tortillas handy, use them. I must warn you though that the soft tortillas might turn out soggier than when using tostadas. You can also use tortilla chips, but these would work better for four individual dishes, each with two eggs, just don’t overdo the amount of tortilla chips; otherwise they will soak up all the salsa. This is the reason why we don’t use tortilla chips for a full casserole, it would turn out kind of dry.

I do recommend for the sake of flavor that you make your own salsa. On the other hand, if you are short of time you can resort to canned or bottled enchilada salsa. Your home-made salsa will definitely add more depth of flavor than a grocery store bought would, keep that in mind. Plus, it will only take a few ingredients and 10 minutes tops to make.

Let’s jump into the fray, then!

Brunch Baked Huevos Rancheros

Yazzy

Print Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Mexican

Servings 8

Ingredients

  

• 6 large Beefsteak tomatoes, ripe
• 1/2 onion, cut in chunks
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 jalapeno, deveined and seeded
• 1 chicken broth cube
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 TBSP cooking oil
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• Cooking oil spray or a bit of oil
• 1 package Flat, oven-baked or fried Tostadas
• 1 can Black beans, drained optional
• 1 cup shredded Quesadilla or Mexican blend cheese
• 1/2 cup Mexican or sour cream
• 8 eggs
• 1 small bunch of washed cilantro, coarsely chopped for garnish
• 1 small avocado, sliced for garnish

Instructions

 

• Make the salsa:

  In the blender process tomatoes, 1/2 onion, garlic cloves, chile Jalapeno, chicken broth and water until smooth. Pass through a strainer and pour into a sauce pan. Add 2 TBSP of olive oil and cook until sauce changes color and whitish froth on surface is gone. Let it simmer for a while over medium heat, about 7 – 10 minutes and season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Preheat oven to 400°.
• Assemble the casserole:

  Spray or grease with oil a deep 9 x 13" baking dish (see "Notes" for a smaller family). Cover the bottom of the baking dish with a layer of tostadas, overlapping them if necessary to cover empty spaces.
• Pour half of the home-made or bought Enchilada sauce on top of the tostadas.
• Pour half the can of drained black beans, if using.
• Sprinkle with half the cheese and dot with half the cream
• Repeat process by placing another layer of tostadas, overlapping them when necessary, pouring remaining half of sauce, drained beans, sprinkling cheese and dotting with sour cream.
• Using a large cooking spoon gently make 8 "wells" on the last layer and crack one egg into each holllow.
• Bake uncovered for 15 – 20 minutes or until whites are set.
• Garnish with cilantro and avocado slices. Serve immediately.

Notes

You can save some of the cheese and cream to top the casserole; just try to avoid sprinkling/dotting right over the egg yolks, to preserve visual appeal. Same thing applies to avocado slices and cilantro.

If you have a smaller family, make your Brunch Baked Huevos Rancheros in an 8″ x 11″ pan and use only 6 eggs instead of 8, like I did.

Also, you can double the amount of salsa and save some for serving.