Mexican Breakfast Skillet

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The Best Mexican Brunch

This isn’t your typical Mexican breakfast.  This Mexican breakfast skillet is rich in flavor, fun to eat and one of the more healthy Mexican breakfast options. The homemade adobo sauce underneath the eggs a la Mexicana, is a rich and tangy pepper sauce called adobo. Topped with caramelized onions, cheese, cilantro and freshly sliced jalapeños.  As my husband and I devoured this breakfast we both expressed that this was the best breakfast we have ever had – we savored every last bite!  I know you will enjoy this Mexican breakfast skillet.

If you’re looking for great breakfast ideas, this is definitely one to put on the list.  This Mexican breakfast is beaming with flavor, perfectly balanced with crisp and fresh accompaniments and is fun to put together.  It is a pretty dish to serve if you’re cooking brunch for an occasion, it is bright, dynamic and looks great in these 7 inch personal sized cast iron skillets.  I’ve been noticing a big trend for breakfast casseroles – this is a similar concept recipe as it is putting all the ingredients in the same pan to bake and be served as one.  

For the eggs in this recipe, I used quail eggs because we love them for their amazing health benefits and delicious taste.  I am always looking for quail egg recipes and when I thought to combine the quail eggs with a breakfast skillet, I knew I could come up with something unique and super tasty.   There are tons of breakfast recipes out there to choose from but I have to say this is one of the best I have come by.  The homemade adobo sauce used in this recipe is rich, unique and absolutely delicious.  The sauce up levels this dish to rival any authentic Mexican breakfast.

This recipe is a unique take on a classic Mexican breakfast, with some influences from Mexican fried eggs, baked Mexican eggs, taco egg bake, Mexican eggs with salsa and traditional huevos rancheros.  These unique Mexican eggs are becoming my famous Mexican breakfast recipe. 

I recommend serving this recipe with fresh bread or tortillas. I have the best gluten free tortilla recipe I posted last month! They are only two ingredients and so good!

Read on to learn how to make this Mexican breakfast skillet recipe!

Ingredients and Instructions for Mexican Eggs:

Ingredients:

• Eggs
• Adobo sauce or salsa
• Caramelized onions
• Cheese
• Cilantro
• Fresh sliced jalapeño
• Bread or tortillas

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Ingredient notes and quantities:

Eggs- I used quail eggs but you can use regular chicken eggs or another kind of egg that you love or have access to such as duck eggs.  Since the quail eggs are tiny I used 12 of them.  Approximately 3-4 quail eggs equal to 1 chicken egg. 

Adobo Sauce- If you would like to make my homemade adobo sauce for this recipe I have instructions and ingredients listed below.  If you would like to take the short cut you could use pre-made adobo sauce or your favorite salsa will work great too.  Salsa verde would be very good with these Mexican eggs.  I used about 3/4 cup of sauce to coat the bottom and the sides of my mini 7 inch cast iron pan for this skillet breakfast. 

Caramelized onions- 6 medium sized yellow onions.  Cut off the ends, remove the outer skin and slice into strips.  Separate the onion slices and put them in a skillet with about a tablespoon of butter.  You can add a little cane sugar if you would like to help along the caramelization process and make them a little sweeter.  The key to cooking good caramelized onions on the stove top is low and slow.  Start low-medium heat and stir occasionally so they don’t burn.  If you do this in the oven, they are a little more low maintenance and you can mix them around just once.  Again start with a lower temperature such as 225 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Cheese- I used a vegan feta because it is a great dairy-free option that resembles Mexican cotija cheese, which is my choice for this recipe.  Cotija cheese is soft and crumbly with a low-key mild, milky and salty taste. 

Cilantro- Fresh cilantro for taste and for garnish give this a nice flavor, freshness, texture and pop of color.  If you do not like the taste of cilantro omit this completely or swap it out for thinly sliced green onion. 

Jalapeño- Like the cilantro, this is for flavor, color and garnish.  If you love spice, and fresh peppers, don’t miss out on this as it adds that little bit extra that is really special and fun to eat.  If you are not a fan of spicy peppers or fresh raw peppers omit this ingredient and enjoy without. 

Bread- Choosing a really yummy, good quality fresh baked bread makes all the difference if you are going to use something as a vehicle to eat this breakfast on.  Tortillas work awesome too. Ultimately, this breakfast is delicious by itself if you do not have bread or tortillas.  

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Equipment:

-High speed blender or hand held immersion blender to make the sauce smooth. 

-Pictured: 7 inch cast iron skillet. 

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Homemade Adobo Sauce Ingredients:

3-4 dried ancho chiles

1 (2 if you like it to be spicy) chipotle pepper in adobo sauce (canned)

1 small head of garlic 

1 medium onion

1 Tbsp vegetable bouillon glaze- Better than Bouillon brand 

1/2 Tbsp cumin

1/5 Tbsp oregano

1.5 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 Tbsp tomato paste

Juice of 1 lime

1 Tbsp maple syrup or cane sugar

1.5 cups water

Adobo Instructions:

1. Rehydrate the dried peppers in a bowl of water overnight.
2. Chop the onions and mince the garlic and then sauté until the onions are beginning to be translucent. 
3. Add the rehydrated ancho peppers, chipotle pepper, garlic, onions, cumin, oregano, vinegar, lime juice, maple syrup, bouillon, tomato paste and water. 
4. Blend on high speed until smooth, approximately 30-60 seconds.
5. Pour sauce into a sauce pan and cook on medium-high for 10 minutes, allowing liquid to simmer. 
6. Ladle the cooked adobo sauce into the mini cast iron pan so that it covers the bottom and up the sides.

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Caramelized Onions:

-Slice so that onion ends up in strips.

-Add butter.

-Optional addition of Tbsp of sugar.

-Cook slow and low for about 40 minutes or until turned light brown and soft. Alternatively, put in the oven at 275 degrees Fahrenheit. You can stir just once, this is a more low maintenance cooking process.

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How to crack a quail egg:

If you are using quail eggs like I showed in my video and pictures above, you will need to open the quail egg differently than a normal chicken egg.  Because they are so small and fragile you can’t crack them against a surface or the edge of a bowl. It is necessary to use a small serrated knife and carefully crack a clean line and then take off the top with your fingers.  I demonstrate this in the video below. The easiest method for opening quail eggs is using quail egg scissors.

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Assembly Instructions:

1. Coat mini cast iron with the cooked adobo sauce.
2. Place quail eggs in the cast iron.
3. Place caramelized onions and cheese.
4. Grind pepper over the egg yolks.
5. Cook on the stove top until eggs are cooked to your liking.
6. Garnish with fresh cilantro and slice raw jalapeño.
7. Serve with buttered and lightly toasted good quality bread or tortillas.  For amazing gluten free tortilla wraps check out my recipe – they are beyond good!

Health Benefits:

-Quail eggs have been shown to have up to 4 times the amount of certain minerals such as zinc then chicken eggs.

-They have been praised for increasing health and vitality for fertility and reproductive health.

Notes:

-I used a vegan feta cheese from the Violife brand, found here – Vegan Feta. This vegan feta tastes more like a mozzarella to me and has a very mild, salty, creamy taste that resembles Mexican Cotija cheese.

-Shown in the pictures is this adorable 7 inch “personal pan” sized cast iron skillet from Black Lodge.

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I highly recommend trying out this easy Mexican breakfast. If you do try this recipe, please rate it or comment below and if you made any alterations and want to let me in on your breakfast skillet ideas, I would love to hear about it!  If you would like to share or pin on Pinterest I am always thankful.  Check out my food journey on Pinterest at: Molé in the Wall. 

Thanks for checking out this special Mexican breakfast bake!

Breakfast ideas healthy, Mexican breakfast casserole, Hispanic breakfast dishes