These make ahead breakfast burritos are a healthy choice for a quick morning meal that packs in protein! Whip up a batch on the weekend, freeze them, and pull them out for the days ahead as needed. You’ll love how easy this healthy recipe is to make.
I’m a big breakfast fan. I’m always shocked when I hear people say that they usually skip breakfast or don’t like eating. I’m one of those people that typically needs to eat within 30 minutes of waking up, or I’m going to be hangry (hungry-angry) throughout the morning.
Of course, time can be a limiting factor for the morning meal. You’re getting ready for work, trying to get the kids out the door for school, thinking of everything that needs to get done that day – and before you know it, you’ve missed breakfast and are already running late.
That’s where prepping ahead can be so valuable. And breakfast foods in particular work well for this. On the weekends, I might make a big batch of sweet potato & oat pancakes that I freeze ahead and pull out throughout the week. Or maybe I throw some overnight oats together the night before. Or perhaps I toss steel cut oats in the slow cooker so I’ve got a warm breakfast to cheer me up the next day on these cold winter mornings. {Although, side note, I still have not perfected a good crock pot oatmeal recipe. Please share one if you have it!}
But if I had to choose, I think my favorite pre-prepped breakfasts are these make ahead breakfast burritos. I just love how filling these burritos are. And they’re not just hearty, but healthy too.
Using different veggies in these burritos helps add some extra vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants – things that are lacking in the common take-out or processed breakfast burrito versions.
Plus, each one has a nice blend of carbs, protein and fat to keep you full throughout the morning. While most people meet their protein needs each day, they tend to backload it into the end of the day. Breakfast usually falls a bit short. What’s much better for the body is to space out that protein evenly throughout the day when possible. These burritos are a great morning meal to help you do that, packing in 24 grams each.
It’s easy to whip up a big batch of them on the weekend, and then you’ve got one to eat whenever you need it. And you can follow the recipe I’ve laid out here, or test out your own flavor combinations.
In experimenting with different types of these, I’ve found three key prep steps that help make the best make ahead breakfast burritos:
1. Don’t overload the veggies, and don’t use watery veggies. If you use too many veggies, especially those with a high water content, the burrito will get soggy. When you defrost it and heat it, it will be a mushy, non-appetizing mess. So skip the salsa for your frozen version (you can always add it on top the day you want to eat it). The amount I’ve added here tends to work well for me, but if you find that you’re reheating your burritos and they’re soggy – try cutting back on the veggies just a bit.
2. Wrap each burrito in plastic wrap, and then put all of the individually wrapped breakfast burritos in a gallon size freezer bag. I’ve found this helps to reduce the risk of freezer burn. It also eliminates them from getting stuck together all in one bag.
3. When you pull out a burrito to reheat it, lay a slightly damp paper towel over the top in the microwave. This prevents the top of the tortilla from getting a weird dry texture.
Those steps should help you when you’re making my recipe below or trying your own version. I hope you’ll give these a shot, and if you do, be sure to comment below and let me know what you think.
Make Ahead Breakfast Burritos
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil (divided into 1 tbsp + 1 tbsp)
- 1/2 red onion, finely chopped
- 1 medium bell pepper, chopped
- 1 cup baby spinach
- 10 large eggs
- 1/3 cup 1% milk
- 8 ounce package of fully cooked chicken breakfast sausage (or any type of breakfast sausage)
- 1.5 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 8 whole wheat tortillas
Instructions
- Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add red onion and bell pepper and sauté for about 5 minutes, until tender.
- Add 1 cup of baby spinach to the pan and cook for a minute, until it is lightly wilted. Remove vegetables from heat and set aside into a large bowl.
- In a separate large bowl, add 10 large eggs and 1/3 cup milk. Whisk until well combined.
- Heat remaining 1 tbsp olive oil (or spray pan with cooking spray) in same skillet you used for the veggies. Add the eggs and cook over medium heat, periodically stirring to make scrambled eggs.
- When eggs are done, remove from heat and add them to the bowl with the veggies.
- Slice the breakfast sausage into bite size pieces and put into a bowl (note – since this one used fully cooked sausage and you’ll be heating it up later, you don’t have to pre-cook it. But you certainly can toss it in the microwave now for a minute if you’d like. If you bought uncooked sausage, please cook it first according to package directions in the skillet!).
- Set up your burrito building station – set out the egg/veggie mixture bowl, the bowl of breakfast sausage, the cheese, and your tortillas. To each tortilla, add a scoop of egg/veggie mixture, a few bite size pieces of sausage, and sprinkle some cheese on top.
- Roll the tortillas up and wrap each individually in plastic wrap. Then place them all in one freezer bag.
- To reheat, place a tortilla on a plate and cover with a damp paper towel. Cook in the microwave for about 1:30 to 2 minutes, or until heated through.
Notes
Nutrition
Share with me: Are you a breakfast eater? Or do you skip your morning meal? What’s your favorite make-ahead breakfast?
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YUM! I love these! SEE breakfast can be made ahead and be DELICIOUS!!! It’s all about planning in advance. And now, you’ve got me craving chicken sausage!
Yes!! Planning is key to a YUMMY breakfast on those crazy days!
How long will these keep in the freezer?
From a food safety perspective, they’ll stay safe in the freezer for a long time – but from a food quality perspective, I’d probably stick with a few months. Hope that helps!
These look so good! Having a quick and easy breakfast makes mornings so much easier, like you said, They tend to get hectic for me, getting ready to leave the house.
I feel like no matter how much I try to leave myself time to make breakfast, there are always days that come up when pulling one of these out of the freezer quickly is needed!
What an easy and delicious way to meal prep for the week!
Thanks Ellie!
It has been far too long since I’ve had a breakfast burrito. I need to change that, stat!
They’re one of my favs! I was browsing some on IG the other day and there are some amazingly delicious looking ones on there, haha.
YUMMY! I LOVE LOVE LOVE breakfast burritos and I love the idea of being able to freeze them and grab them on those busy morning. I also love how versatile burritos are. You can seriously put anything in them and they always taste good. 🙂
I know! Burritos (breakfast or otherwise) are probably one of the most flexible foods. Sweet potatoes and beans? Sure! Eggs and veggies? Yep! Meat and rice? Of course! It works with anything.
I’m a big fan of make ahead breakfasts!! Esp ones I can put in the fridge or the freezer over night. This looks great
Me too! Hope you get a chance to try these out 🙂
I love make ahead breakfast burritos. I make the Run Fast. Eat Slow cookbook ones with spicy pinto beans in them, then bake in the oven so they are crispy. Great for post-triathlon long day training!
That cookbook looks great – I’ve browsed through it before at friend’s house but need to get my own copy.
One of my go-tos! I used to make these for school!
Yes, they’re so convenient!
These burritos make a great lunch idea as well! So convenient!
Yes, so true! They would be perfect for a quick lunch.
This is the perfect meal recipe, Chrissy! I have to prepare these burritos, they are so mouth-watering!
Yes, definitely go for it! Make ahead burritos are so easy for breakfasts on future busy mornings.
DELICIOUS! I made these in about 45 min! My husband wakes up for work everyday ready to eat and we needed something easy… he begs for me to warm these up in the morning bc it takes less than 2 min! ☺️ I did find that putting a tooth pick in the tortilla works best to hold it together! -Thanks Chrissy! We love them!
So glad you and your husband enjoy these! Great tip about the toothpick. 🙂