14 Best Traditional Mexican Breakfast Dishes

Traditional breakfast dishes in Mexico are usually based on one of three ingredients and a combination of any of them, and often accompanied by salsa.

I’m referring to eggs, beans, and the ever-present tortillas – cooked in many variations. Salsa is another mainstay in most recipes.

Talking about traditional Mexican breakfast dishes makes me really hungry, so let’s go jump into our list of traditional Mexican breakfast dishes.

14 Best Traditional Mexican Breakfast Dishes

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1. Huevos Rancheros

Literally meaning “ranch-style eggs” or “rancher’s eggs” in Mexican Spanish, huevos rancheros are a typical breakfast that originated in Mexican ranches and farmhouses in the 16th century. It’s a classic Mexican dish that’s very easy to make.

Huevos rancheros consists of fried eggs and corn tortillas, topped with lots of salsa and typically accompanied by frijoles (refried beans), guacamole or avocado slices, and rice. Garnishing is optional but cilantro is often used.

2. Huevos Divorciados

Huevos divorciados are made just like huevos rancheros except that the latter is covered in red salsa and the former in green sauce.

Traditionally there are beans separating the two eggs in huevos divorciados. The couple is “divorced,” hence, the name “huevos divorciados” (divorced eggs).Huevos divorciados are served ranch-style in most rural areas of Mexico.

3. Burritos

There are theories as to who invented burritos, where and when, why they’re called that way (buritto means “little donkey” in Spanish), but we do not know for sure.

All we know is that it’s a popular Mexican breakfast commonly made with ground beef, cooked beans, shredded cabbage or lettuce, and diced tomatoes. Chili sauce and sour cream are typically added before wrapping up all the ingredients in a flour tortilla. The burrito is shaped into a cylinder before steaming or heating quickly on a quick.

Burritos can be made with other fillings such as eggs, eggs and potatoes, eggs and chorizo, and bacon and potatoes. Burritos are typically eaten by hand, but they can also be smothered with spicy sauce covering and eaten with a fork and knife.

4. Chilaquiles

First made by the Aztec people, chilaquiles are corn tortilla chips that are fried and topped with either red or green sauce. Cheese or chorizo are sometimes mixed with the chips. Chilaquiles are commonly served with eggs and beans for breakfast. They can also come with pulled chicken or frijoles.

5. Gorditas de Harina

Gorditas de harina are “flour pockets” or griddle cookies that are not actually cookies. Literally translated as “flour patties,” gorditas de harina are, in fact, a Mexican version of pita pockets with green sauce. Gorditas can be filled with whatever you choose – from pork rinds to cheese, frijoles, peppers, and potatoes

6. Tamales

This Mexican breakfast dish, made since 8000 BC in Mesoamerica, a pocket of corn dough stuffed with different meats or frijoles and cheese, as well as chilies, fruits, and vegetables.

Tamales are wrapped and cooked in corn husks or banana leaves, then steamed. They can be served on a plate or still wrapped in husk or leaf and are typically consumed with salsa or pico de gallo toppings, plus a side of guacamole and rice.

Tamales are frequently served with atole, a Mexican beverage made with cornflour and water, then added with milk and spices for flavor.

7. Molletes

Molletes are open-faced sandwiches with beans and cheese. The bread used is the Mexican baguette-style bolillo that is baked in a stone oven.

Long slices of bolillo are hollowed before filling them with warm frijoles and jalapeno peppers. The fillings are then stuffed with cheese, which is melted when the bread is grilled.

Although mollete is native to Mexico City, the dish varies in some areas of Mexico. In the south, molletes are often served with salsa or pico de gallo and/or topped with bacon, chorizo, sliced ham, chorizo, or mushrooms.

A sweet type of mollete is made of a buttered bolillo with sugar sprinkles or honey toppings. It is broiled until crisp.

8. Pan Dulce

This Mexican breakfast is a nice alternative – and Mexico‘s answer – to donuts. Pan dulce, literally translated as “sweet bread,” was introduced by Spanish colonists. It is a sweet and fluffy soft bread with sugar frosting. It was introduced in the country by Spanish colonists.

Inexpensive and easy to prepare, this pastry is consumed as breakfast or merienda. It also goes best with atole.

9. Tetelas

Predating the Spanish conquest of Mexico, tetelas are a tasty triangle-shaped Mexican bread that’s made of corn flour. They are stuffed with refried black beans and cooked on a griddle, with crumbled cheese and salsa toppings.

Tetelas are often eaten at breakfast, but it can be served for lunch or dinner as well. They are pretty easy to make and are best eaten straight off the griddle.

10. Papas con Chorizo

A hearty Mexican breakfast food, the name “papas con chorizo” literally means “potatoes with sausage.”

Papas con chorizo require a simple cooking procedure. It only involves crispy-frying potatoes and blending them with Mexican chorizo to create a delectable tortilla.

Papas con chorizo can be stuffed, used for toppings, or consumed straight from the pan. This dish is very popular in Toluca, the Mexixan capital of chorizo.

11. Quesadillas

This traditional Mexican breakfast dish originated in central and northern Mexico. It is made with corn tortillas and melted white cheese.

Although the name of the dish comes from the Spanish word for “cheese” (queso), you can use practically anything besides cheese as fillings. Quesadillas are also eaten with sour cream, guacamole, and salsa toppings.

Quesadillas are folded over after warming on a griddle, and then eaten by hand.

RELATED READ: Quesadilla; Everything You Need To Know

12. Tacos

Tacos, the famous Mexican street food, are also eaten for breakfast. Wheat or corn tortillas can be used when making tacos. They are filled with  are made of small hand-sized wheat or corn tortilla, then stuffed with a filling made with pork, beef, chicken, fish, cheese, and vegetables.

Tacos have been around since ancient times. They are often accompanied with condiments such as sour cream, salsa, and guacamole.

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13. Migas

This traditional breakfast dish from Mexico City is made up of pan-fried tortilla strips with eggs. It creates a scrambled egg/fried tortilla mixture. Cheap and easy to make, the Mexican migas can be compared to chilaquiles, replacing salsa with eggs in the recipe.

14. Huevos con Longaniza

Literally translated as “eggs with sausage,” huevos con longaniza are quick to prepare. They only take a few minutes to cook and require but a few ingredients: scrambled eggs with longaniza, added with chili and nopales (the edible pads of the nopal cactus.)

Longaniza is very similar to chorizo, except that longaniza is made with minced meat while ground meat is used to make chorizos. Huevos con longaniza are among the most favorite breakfast dishes in Mexico.