Uploaded May 2021 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago
I grew up in Texas and my love of huevos rancheros came late. Eventually, I served huevos rancheros, with or without carnitas, at my restaurant for a bit. They are easy to make and there is a lot of room in the recipe for self-expression, as is often the case.
The dish takes its name from the ranchera sauce, which is a basic sauce in Mexican cooking, analogous perhaps to the sauce tomate in the annals of Escoffier. Ranchera sauce is a sofrito of tomatoes, onions, garlic, oregano and chili – in our case, chipotle. Exact recipes differ; ours is below. The sauce stores and freezes well, so save what doesn’t get used on eggs and use it again later for more eggs, or for chorizo con papas... the possibilities are endless.
To complete the huevos rancheros you will also need 1 or 2 corn tortillas per plate, and about 2 tablespoons of refried beans per plate. I would not use more than 2 oz of meat per plate, if using meat at all. Garnish with cilantro and perhaps crumbled cotija cheese, or feta which is very similar and much more widely available in North America. We make our own corn tortillas and fry them because that’s how we roll, but it is usually possible to buy crispy tostadas, which will work just fine for this recipe. Remember to toast them a bit right before using to wake up their flavor and ensure crispiness. In a pinch, it would also be fine to use tostada chips to make this recipe, or to make it on soft corn tortillas.
Makes enough for 4-6 people, roughly 2 cups.
Equipment:
• cast iron or stainless steel skillet with high or vertical sides
• spice grinder
• blender or food processor (or molcajete)
• nonreactive vessel for soaking dried chilis
Ingredients:
1 lb tomatoes chopped
1 ea onion
2-6 cloves garlic
1 tsp oregano
1 ea clove
1-3 ea allspice berries
1-2 ea dried chipotles or morita; arbol and guajillo are also nice
1 cup warm water
4-12 ea corn tortillas crispy tostadas made by baking or frying
1/4 - 3/4 cup refried beans
4-12 eggs sunny-side up, or poached, or how you like
1/4 cup cilantro chopped for garnish
Procedure:
1. First of all, ensure that you have all the relevant components: refried beans, tortillas, etc.
2. The corn tortillas should be toasted to crispiness in the oven, or fried to crispiness (preferably in lard).
3. Soak the peppers in about a cup of warm water for an hour or two, until they are soft. Deseed any chilis which need seeds removed while they are still dry.
4. Reduce dry spices and oregano to power in a spice grinder.
5. Get the skillet hot over medium-high heat. This is going to spatter, so be prepared.
6. Clean and roughly chop the onions, tomatoes and garlic, and place them into the blender.
7. Add the ground spices to the blender.
8. Add the soaked pepper pieces. Reserve the water and add some if needed for the blending process.
9. Blend everything into a paste.
10. Add a small amount of lard or bacon fat to the hot pan.
11. Dump the blended mix into the hot pan. It is going to sizzle vigorously (an understatement).
12. Allow it to come down to a simmer, give it a stir, and allow it to reduce to a thick, saucy consistency.
13. Meanwhile, allow eggs to cook sunny-side up; or poach them in a water bath. Literally any preparation is fine, so if you like them scrambled just so, maybe wait until the end to do that.
14. Make sure the beans are warm.
15. To plate: optionally place a small amount of beans on the plate to hold the tostada still.
16. Place one or two tostadas on the plate, and top each with about 2 Tbsp of beans, spread out a bit to hold an egg.
17. Place an egg into each bed of beans.
18. Top the egg with about 2 Tbsp of ranchera sauce.
19. Garnish with cilantro, optionally crumbled cheese and minced fresh onion.
20. Enjoy immediately: all the components keep well but the finished product should be consumed right away.
Music: bensound.com/royalty-free-music
I grew up in Texas and my love of huevos rancheros came late. Eventually, I served huevos rancheros, with or without carnitas, at my restaurant for a bit. They are easy to make and there is a lot of room in the recipe for self-expression, as is often the case.
The dish takes its name from the ranchera sauce, which is a basic sauce in Mexican cooking, analogous perhaps to the sauce tomate in the annals of Escoffier. Ranchera sauce is a sofrito of tomatoes, onions, garlic, oregano and chili – in our case, chipotle. Exact recipes differ; ours is below. The sauce stores and freezes well, so save what doesn’t get used on eggs and use it again later for more eggs, or for chorizo con papas... the possibilities are endless.
To complete the huevos rancheros you will also need 1 or 2 corn tortillas per plate, and about 2 tablespoons of refried beans per plate. I would not use more than 2 oz of meat per plate, if using meat at all. Garnish with cilantro and perhaps crumbled cotija cheese, or feta which is very similar and much more widely available in North America. We make our own corn tortillas and fry them because that’s how we roll, but it is usually possible to buy crispy tostadas, which will work just fine for this recipe. Remember to toast them a bit right before using to wake up their flavor and ensure crispiness. In a pinch, it would also be fine to use tostada chips to make this recipe, or to make it on soft corn tortillas.
Makes enough for 4-6 people, roughly 2 cups.
Equipment:
• cast iron or stainless steel skillet with high or vertical sides
• spice grinder
• blender or food processor (or molcajete)
• nonreactive vessel for soaking dried chilis
Ingredients:
1 lb tomatoes chopped
1 ea onion
2-6 cloves garlic
1 tsp oregano
1 ea clove
1-3 ea allspice berries
1-2 ea dried chipotles or morita; arbol and guajillo are also nice
1 cup warm water
4-12 ea corn tortillas crispy tostadas made by baking or frying
1/4 - 3/4 cup refried beans
4-12 eggs sunny-side up, or poached, or how you like
1/4 cup cilantro chopped for garnish
Procedure:
1. First of all, ensure that you have all the relevant components: refried beans, tortillas, etc.
2. The corn tortillas should be toasted to crispiness in the oven, or fried to crispiness (preferably in lard).
3. Soak the peppers in about a cup of warm water for an hour or two, until they are soft. Deseed any chilis which need seeds removed while they are still dry.
4. Reduce dry spices and oregano to power in a spice grinder.
5. Get the skillet hot over medium-high heat. This is going to spatter, so be prepared.
6. Clean and roughly chop the onions, tomatoes and garlic, and place them into the blender.
7. Add the ground spices to the blender.
8. Add the soaked pepper pieces. Reserve the water and add some if needed for the blending process.
9. Blend everything into a paste.
10. Add a small amount of lard or bacon fat to the hot pan.
11. Dump the blended mix into the hot pan. It is going to sizzle vigorously (an understatement).
12. Allow it to come down to a simmer, give it a stir, and allow it to reduce to a thick, saucy consistency.
13. Meanwhile, allow eggs to cook sunny-side up; or poach them in a water bath. Literally any preparation is fine, so if you like them scrambled just so, maybe wait until the end to do that.
14. Make sure the beans are warm.
15. To plate: optionally place a small amount of beans on the plate to hold the tostada still.
16. Place one or two tostadas on the plate, and top each with about 2 Tbsp of beans, spread out a bit to hold an egg.
17. Place an egg into each bed of beans.
18. Top the egg with about 2 Tbsp of ranchera sauce.
19. Garnish with cilantro, optionally crumbled cheese and minced fresh onion.
20. Enjoy immediately: all the components keep well but the finished product should be consumed right away.
Music: bensound.com/royalty-free-music
