Breakfast burritos are the camping breakfast that does the most for the least: one hand, no plates, and when you make them at home, nothing to cook at camp but a fire. Below are two camping breakfast burrito recipes: make-ahead freezer burritos you heat in foil over the coals, which double as ice in the cooler, and a skillet version for mornings when you'd rather cook fresh.
Why make them ahead
- Breakfast is done before the trip. At camp you set foil packets on the grate and make coffee.
- They keep the cooler cold. Frozen burritos go in at the bottom next to the ice and thaw slowly over the first day or two.
- Less to carry and keep cold. No egg cartons to crack or leftover sausage to store.
USDA's egg storage table gives casseroles made with eggs 2 to 3 months in the freezer. Food kept frozen at 0°F stays safe, so that limit is about quality. Make them a week or two before the trip and they'll taste fresh.
Make-ahead freezer breakfast burritos
Recipe · Breakfast
Make-Ahead Freezer Breakfast Burritos
Sausage, scrambled eggs, crisp hash browns and cheddar, rolled in tortillas and frozen in foil at home, then heated over the campfire.
- Prep
- 40 min
- Cook
- 55 min
- Total
- 1 hr 35 min
- Serves
- 8
- Cooked on
- Campfire coals
Ingredients
- 1 lb bulk pork breakfast sausage
- 8 oz frozen shredded hash browns (about 2 cups)
- 10 large eggs
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (6 oz)
- 8 large (10-inch) flour tortillas
- Salsa or hot sauce, to serve
Steps
-
Brown the sausage. At home, cook the sausage in a large skillet over medium heat, breaking it up, until no pink remains and it reaches 160°F, about 8 minutes. Spoon it onto a paper-towel-lined plate.
-
Crisp the hash browns. Cook the hash browns in the sausage fat left in the pan, stirring now and then, until golden, 8–10 minutes. Add them to the sausage.
-
Scramble the eggs. Whisk the eggs with the milk, salt and pepper. Melt the butter in the skillet over medium-low heat and scramble the eggs until they're firm and no liquid egg remains.
-
Cool the filling. Mix the eggs, sausage and potatoes and spread them on a sheet pan to cool completely, about 20 minutes. Warm fillings make soggy burritos and steam inside the foil.
-
Roll the burritos. Warm the tortillas for a few seconds so they fold without cracking. Put an eighth of the filling and a little cheese in the center of each, fold in the sides and roll up tightly.
-
Wrap and freeze. Wrap each burrito snugly in heavy-duty foil, label it with a marker, and freeze in a zip bag. Pack them in the cooler frozen.
-
Heat at camp. Thaw them in the cooler overnight if you can. Set the foil-wrapped burritos on a grate over medium coals for 15–20 minutes if thawed (30–40 from frozen), turning every 5 minutes, until the center reaches 165°F. Serve with salsa.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 613 kcal
- Fat
- 34 g
- Saturated fat
- 13 g
- Carbohydrates
- 47 g
- Fiber
- 3 g
- Sugar
- 1 g
- Protein
- 29 g
- Sodium
- 1160 mg
- Cholesterol
- 300 mg
Estimated from USDA FoodData Central values for the listed ingredients.
Fill them cold. Let the filling cool completely before rolling. Hot filling steams inside the foil and turns the tortillas soggy.
Reheat to 165°F. That's the USDA temperature for reheating cooked food, and a thermometer is the only way to know the middle of a frozen burrito is hot. If the outside browns before the center is warm, move the burritos to cooler coals at the edge of the fire.
Camp skillet breakfast burritos
Recipe · Breakfast
Camp Skillet Breakfast Burritos
Eggs scrambled with peppers, onion and black beans in one skillet at camp, rolled in warm tortillas with Monterey Jack and salsa.
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 15 min
- Total
- 25 min
- Serves
- 4
- Cooked on
- Camp stove
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 1 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed
- 8 large eggs, beaten
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese (4 oz)
- 4 large (10-inch) flour tortillas
- 1/2 cup salsa
Steps
-
Cook the vegetables. Melt the butter in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat and cook the pepper and onion until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the beans to warm through.
-
Scramble the eggs. Pour in the eggs, sprinkle with the salt, and stir gently over medium-low heat until they're firm and no liquid egg remains, 3–4 minutes.
-
Warm the tortillas. Move the eggs to a bowl or plate, wipe the skillet, and warm the tortillas one at a time for about 20 seconds per side.
-
Fill and roll. Divide the eggs among the tortillas, top with the cheese and salsa, fold in the sides and roll. Eat right away, or wrap in foil to keep warm.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 584 kcal
- Fat
- 26 g
- Saturated fat
- 12 g
- Carbohydrates
- 56 g
- Fiber
- 8 g
- Sugar
- 3 g
- Protein
- 30 g
- Sodium
- 1430 mg
- Cholesterol
- 405 mg
Estimated from USDA FoodData Central values for the listed ingredients.
USDA's advice is to cook eggs until both the white and the yolk are firm; for scrambled eggs, that means no liquid egg left in the pan.
Breakfast burrito fillings to try
- Bacon and potato: crumbled bacon, diced cooked potatoes, eggs and cheddar
- Chorizo: cooked crumbled chorizo with eggs, potatoes and pepper jack
- Green chile: eggs, cheese and a can of diced green chiles
- Veggie: spinach, mushrooms, peppers and feta
- Ham and cheese: diced ham from the cooler, eggs and Swiss
- Leftover taco meat from last night's dinner, with eggs and salsa
Food safety at camp
- Pack the frozen burritos low in the cooler, next to the ice. If raw meat shares the cooler, USDA says to pack it below ready-to-eat foods, so put it underneath.
- Once the burritos have thawed, eat them within 3 to 4 days, USDA's refrigerator limit for egg casseroles, and only while the cooler still has ice.
- Perishable food shouldn't sit out for more than 2 hours (1 hour if it's 90°F or above).
- When the cooler has no ice left, or the gel packs aren't frozen, USDA says to throw out perishable food.
For more morning ideas, see our camping breakfast recipes, and for dinner, our easy camping dinners.
