Cheesy Egg, Farro and Green Chile (Freezer) Breakfast Burritos
We drove out to the pumpkin patch last weekend, a lucky little stretch of time in between me traveling to see my sister in Maine and Sam traveling briefly for work. And really, to say it’s a pumpkin patch is misleading as it’s one of those spots with farm animals, apple picking, a corn maze, cider donuts and roasted corn — these people are all in when it comes to fall.
It’s funny as a parent how you sort of project your own desires and traditions onto your kids at an early age: we’ve gone to a farm to pick pumpkins with Oliver since he was a baby, but this was the first year that he, too, was all in. He raced from pumpkin to pumpkin, asking for help putting them in the wheelbarrow – even saying to me at one point, “mom, this one’s beautiful!” So that we didn’t end up buying 27 pumpkins, I’d follow behind putting many of them back without him noticing, snapping a few pictures when I could but also trying to just be there with my people, not my phone. When we got home, O helped me put the pumpkins out on the stoop, arranging them just how he wanted them.
We’ll carve them sometime this week, and Sam will probably insist we roast the seeds. And I’ll grumble about how messy it is and how much work it is but ultimately be really, really happy to snack on them in the days to come. A little gift to our future selves. Which is exactly what these freezer burritos are: a guaranteed way to make your upcoming week easier with just about an hour’s worth of prep time.
While we still have a few months before baby #2 arrives, I’ve been slowly starting to clean out the freezer and pantry and use up little bits of odds and ends we have laying around. And in doing so, I’ve started to think about what I’d like to stock the freezer with this time around. I remember after I had Oliver, friends generously brought over things we could warm for dinner and I’d made soups and casseroles in advance, but when it came to morning or mid-day meals, I was often trying to make a slice of peanut butter toast while holding a newborn baby — not the easiest endeavor. So this time around, on the agenda are more morning meals and (far) less one-handed peanut butter toast.
Let’s talk about freezer burritos for a minute. First off, you can totally make this recipe and not freeze them if you’ve got a family slightly larger than ours. And the great thing about these is you can really add whatever fillings you’d like. In fact, I hesitated to make this an actual “recipe” with specific inclusions because you should just add what makes you happy and what you’ve got around that you’re perhaps trying to use up. As a general rule, keep the amount of eggs, milk, seasoning and tortillas the same in the recipe below, but then feel free to add 2 – 2 1/2 cups of other add-ins and you’re good to go. Roasted veggies, beans, leftover shredded chicken or pork, ground beef or sausage or bacon, finely chopped hearty greens. Go to town. 
All that said, there are a few good guidelines to keep in mind when putting your freezer burritos together that I’ve learned the hard way (helllooo, soggy Burrito Town). First, avoid veggies with a high water content like mushrooms, tomatoes, or spinach (some people add spinach but I do find it can get a bit watery). Also, remember that you’re ultimately reheating these, so you don’t want to add anything you wouldn’t want to eat hot (i.e. no avocado, romaine or iceberg lettuce, to name a few).
The magic of these burritos is you simply fold them up, wrap them in foil, toss them in the freezer and then reheat in the microwave any time you’d like for just 3 minutes. I’ve been eating them on my drive to work and Sam’s been warming one when he gets home from dropping O off from preschool. They’re little handheld lifesavers, and I can’t wait to make another batch this week. Anything to make life easier now … and in the future, when we’ve got another monkey in the mix.
Cheesy Egg, Farro and Green Chile (Freezer) Breakfast Burritos
- Yield: 6 burritos
- Prep time: 15 mins
- Cook time: 30 mins
- Total time: 45 mins
A lot of people put potatoes in these burritos to bulk them up a bit, but I’m using whole grain farro instead, which I love, so I went without. You could always use rice or any leftover grain you have in the fridge instead. Be sure to buy the larger tortillas to give yourself some space to work with; the smaller ones work just fine but you’ll have quite a demure little burrito bundle.
Ingredients
Instructions
Add the farro and broth (or water) to a medium saucepan and, over high heat, bring to a simmer. Once the liquid is simmering, reduce the heat to low, cover the pot and cook for 30-40 minutes, or until grains are tender and chewy. If you’re left with liquid after the grains are fully cooked, feel free to just strain it away.
In a medium sauté pan over medium heat, warm 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add the onion and cook until translucent, 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for an additional 1 minute, or until fragrant. Fold onion mixture into cooked farro and set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl, beat the eggs with the milk, salt and pepper.
In a large non-stick skillet, warm remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the egg mixture and cook – stirring occasionally – until eggs are barely set, about 2-3 minutes. Fold in the cheddar cheese, farro and green chiles and stir to combine. Remove from heat and set aside.
To assemble: Working with one tortilla at a time, lay the tortilla on a flat surface and scoop 1 1/3 cups of the egg mixture into the center. Fold the top and bottom sides of the tortilla over the filling and proceed to roll the burrito, moving left to right, until it looks like a little burrito bundle.
Place burrito seam side down on a large sheet of aluminum foil and wrap. Repeat with remaining tortillas. Place in large freezer bag to keep them all organized and handy. Burritos are good for 6 weeks in the freezer (sometimes I’ll date them, but they never last that long in our freezer, so I’ve stopped bothering).
To reheat: remove burrito from the freezer and remove the foil wrapper. Wrap the burrito in a slightly damp paper towel and place on a plate. Microwave for 3 minutes, or until heated through.
Megan's book! 
Healthy Comfort Food
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Isadora Guidoni
I love how this is so easy to freeze and heat again. Perfect breakfast!
megang
Thank you, Isadora! Enjoy!
Gladys
Wow definitely going to try this!
Matt
Hi Megan, I am dying to make these but I live in Germany and Farro seems a little hard to get in these parts. Is it the same as spelt? Or emmer? Or is there anything similar you can recommend using? I just stumbled upon your website the other day but I am quickly becoming a fan. Your cookbook is arriving tomorrow. Thank you!
Matt
Hi Megan, I am dying to make these! Is Farro the same thing as emmer? Or can you recommend something similar? I live in Germany and farro seems difficult to find here. I just came upon your website a few days ago and am quickly becoming a fan. I already ordered your cookbook! Thank you Matt
megang
Hi, Matt! Apologies for the delay in responding to you. Yes, you could absolutely use emmer here. Or any other hearty grain like wheat berries, barley etc. I actually just made a bunch today (to prepare for our second baby's arrival). They really are SO good. Enjoy!