Although I love getting fancy with my dishes sometimes, I believe that the simplest dishes are the best. If you can perfect a simple dish, the flavor will be undeniable. It’s all about your technique and how you handle the food. It truly makes a difference and it’s one of the reasons I love cooking so much.
And that’s especially true with these huevos rancheros. Canned refried beans have NOTHING on homemade. I absolutely love onion and avocado put it in everything-another reason why I love this dish.
Pico De Gallo
I remove all seeds and ribs so the pico de gallo is less watery. I love using roma tomatoes because of their flavor. Beefsteak tomatoes have never been appealing to me.
I also had a lot of yellow onions to use up and didn’t want to buy more white onions. But traditionally, white onions are the onions used in Mexican cooking.
Refried Beans
Ah the best part in my opinion. I am obsessed with refried beans. They’re always the first off my plate at Mexican restaurants.
I’ve had some really bad refried beans though. Bad enough that I may only eat….eh about half and then I’m done. So I was a little nervous I was going to get it wrong the first time.
This method of preparing it doesn’t allow any shortcuts: no canned beans (but you can use them if you really want to), pre-soak, and cooking them with flavorful onions. They will be amazing.
When you continue to cook them after mashing, they may dry out a little. Just keep adding splashes of water. Feel your way out for this one, there is no exact measurement. You know what consistency you like your beans.
As for the salt and pepper, taste as you go. If you want a little more flavor, add some more salt.
Sunny-Side Up Egg
I had a co-worker that had a great opinion when it comes to cooking eggs: it’s easy to cook an egg. It’s hard to cook an egg well.
This is so true!! I was so mystified by how to fry a perfect egg. I always go for over easy because it seemed simpler! But now that I’ve practiced the technique to get a perfect fried egg, I can’t wait for everyone else to experience the magic.
In the past, I’ve covered the skillet with a lid to continue cooking the eggs. This sometimes lead to 2 things: cloudy yolks, and rubbery whites. You need to be able to cook the whites more quickly while keeping that shiny yolk surface.
First you’ll heat the skillet super hot. Crack the egg into the hot skillet and remove from heat. Lower the heat considerably. Return the skillet to the heat and let the egg set for about 30 seconds. Then tilt the pan and scoop the oil that gathers at the edge. Spoon the hot oil over the whites. Wait 30 seconds. Repeat. Keep repeating until your whites look cooked. Do not spoon the oil over the yolk or your yolks will cloud over.
Top with avocado, pico de gallo, cilantro, and hot sauce. Layer it all on a toasted tortilla. Best breakfast ever.
Huevos Rancheros
Ingredients
Refried beans
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 white onion, diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 cups cooked beans (black or pinto)
- water
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Pico de gallo
- 4 roma tomatoes, diced
- 1/2 white onion, diced
- ¼ cup packed cilantro, roughly chopped
- juice from 1 lime
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
Toppings
- Tortillas
- Fried egg (instructions to follow)
- Avocado
- Cotija, or feta cheese
- Cilantro
- Hot Sauce
- Salsa
Instructions
Refried Beans
- First I’m going to make the refried beans. I made mine using an instant pot. I used 2 cups of DRIED beans (note: refried beans recipe uses 2 cups COOKED beans). I like making a lot of refried beans, and I’m not sure what the ratio is if you only want 2 cups cooked. Still need to test this sorry fam.
- First, I soaked the beans in water overnight*. Make sure there is about 2 inches of water above the beans.
- In an instant pot, add the soaked beans and 4 cups of water. Set your instant pot to Manual Pressure Cook on High. Cook for 15 minutes. Allow to naturally release for 10 minutes before manually releasing.
- While cooking, make the pico de gallo by combining all ingredients. Set aside.
- Once the refried beans are done cooking, heat oil on medium heat in a skillet. Cook onions for 4 minutes, sprinkling with kosher salt halfway through. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add 2 cups of cooked refried beans. Stir occasionally for 2 minutes. If you have cooking water from the pot of cooked beans, you can add it if the beans start to dry out. Otherwise just use regular water. After 2 minutes, mash the beans with a potato masher. Continue cooking and stirring for 5 minutes. You can lower the temperature up to medium-low heat if the beans start sticking to the skillet. Keep adding splashes of water if the beans get too dry. After 5 minutes of cooking, let rest off heat for 3 minutes.
Fried Eggs
- To make a perfect sunny side up egg, heat oil in a skillet to medium-medium-high heat. Gently crack eggs into the skillet. Wait about 15 seconds for edges of the egg to set, then remove skillet from heat and turn heat down to medium-low-low. Return skillet to heat. Wait 30 seconds. Tilt the pan slightly and use a spoon to scoop up the hot oil and pour over the uncooked whites. Wait 30 seconds. Keep alternating spooning hot oil and waiting 30 seconds until whites appear completely cooked.
- Toast some tortillas in a skillet. Spread the refried beans onto the tortillas, and top with the fried egg, avocados, pico de gallo, and hot sauce.