Huevos Rancheros with Roasted Ancho Sauce

On Sunday mornings Gerzsi makes a big breakfast for everyone at the inn. This Sunday it was huevos rancheros, and Hettie had offered to help. Hettie’s kind of help comes with a stopwatch.

“Tomatoes in the oven. Thirty-five minutes,” she said, and clicked the button. Gerzsi slid in a tray of plum tomatoes, garlic and onion and went to soak the dried ancho chiles. “Ten minutes for those,” said Hettie. Click.

By the time the vegetables came out, blackened in spots and smelling wonderful, Gerzsi had mashed the beans and lined up the tortillas. He blended the sauce, warmed it in a pot and fried the tortillas until they blistered. Hettie timed each side. “Fifteen seconds. Turn. Fifteen seconds. Out.”

Then the eggs. Gerzsi wanted crisp, lacy edges and soft yolks, but the tops were still runny and he did not want to flip them. Chef Tamás put a lid on the pan and walked on. One minute later the whites were set and the yolks were still golden.

Gerzsi slid an egg onto each tortilla, spooned over the red sauce and scattered Cotija, cilantro and onion on top. Hettie checked her stopwatch. “One hour, nineteen minutes,” she said. “A minute early.” From Hettie, that is high praise.

Why this one works

Roasting the tomatoes, garlic and onion at high heat chars them in spots and concentrates their flavor. Soaked ancho chiles add a mild, raisin-like depth, and a little chipotle in adobo brings smoke and heat that you can adjust. Frying the corn tortillas for a few seconds makes them sturdy enough to hold beans, an egg and sauce without going soggy.

Huevos Rancheros with Roasted Ancho Sauce

• Servings: 4
• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 50 minutes
• Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
• Difficulty: Easy
• Print

Fried eggs on crisp corn tortillas with refried pinto beans, a roasted tomato and ancho chile sauce, Cotija, cilantro and onion.

Ingredients

For the ranchero sauce:
• 1 lb (450 g) ripe plum tomatoes
• 3 large garlic cloves, skins on
• 1 small onion (about 6 oz / 170 g), cut into quarters
• 2 dried ancho chiles, stems and seeds removed
• 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon chopped chipotle in adobo, plus 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon of the adobo sauce
• Kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) vegetable oil
For the beans:
• 1 can (15 oz / 425 g) pinto beans, drained, liquid saved
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) vegetable oil
• Kosher salt
To finish:
• 2 to 3 tablespoons (30 to 45 ml) vegetable oil
• 8 corn tortillas
• 8 large eggs
• Kosher salt
• 1/2 cup (60 g) crumbled Cotija cheese
• 1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped white onion

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 500°F (260°C). Spread the tomatoes, garlic and onion on a rimmed baking sheet and roast for about 35 minutes, turning them a few times, until they are charred in spots. Squeeze the garlic out of its skins.
2. While they roast, drop the ancho chiles into a pot of boiling water, cover, take it off the heat and let them soak for 10 minutes. Drain and pat dry.
3. Put the roasted vegetables and all their juices in a blender with the anchos, 1/2 teaspoon each of chipotle and adobo sauce and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Blend until fairly smooth. Taste, and add more chipotle and adobo if you want it hotter.
4. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add the sauce and 1/3 cup (80 ml) water and cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes, until it thickens but still pours. Cover and keep it warm on low. Add a spoonful of water if it gets too thick.
5. Mash the beans with about half of their saved liquid. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a medium nonstick skillet, add the beans and a big pinch of salt, and cook, stirring, until smooth and hot. Add more liquid if they look dry. Scrape them into a bowl and keep warm.
6. Turn the oven down to 200°F (95°C) and line a baking sheet with paper towels. Wipe out the skillet. Fry the tortillas one at a time in about 2 teaspoons of oil, roughly 15 seconds per side, until blistered. Spread each with about 2 tablespoons of beans and keep them warm in the oven.
7. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in the skillet and crack in 4 eggs. Fry until the edges are crisp and the whites are almost set, then cover the pan for about 1 minute to finish the tops. Set one egg on each of 4 tortillas and return them to the oven. Repeat with the other 4 eggs.
8. Sprinkle the eggs with salt, spoon the sauce over and around them, and top with Cotija, cilantro and onion. Serve right away.

You can make the sauce a day ahead. Reheat it gently and thin it with a little water.
Ancho chiles are mild. Most of the heat comes from the chipotle, so start with the smaller amount.
The FDA advises cooking eggs until the whites and yolks are firm for anyone at higher risk, such as young children, older adults and pregnant people.

🛒 Worth buying for this recipe

• T-fal Experience Nonstick Fry Pan, 12.5 inch. The Best Buy in America’s Test Kitchen’s nonstick skillet test: light and roomy, and it works on induction. Fits four eggs at once. About $45 at the time of their review. See it on Amazon
• Lodge 12 Inch Cast Iron Skillet. ATK’s Best Buy cast-iron skillet, with performance close to pans that cost several times more. Great for blistering tortillas. About $44 at the time of their review. See it on Amazon
• Wüsthof Gourmet 7″ Slotted Fish Spatula. The winner of ATK’s metal spatula test. Thin and flexible, it slides under a fried egg without breaking the yolk. About $65 at the time of their review. See it on Amazon
• Vitamix 5200 blender. The winner of ATK’s blender test: pricey but durable, and the top performer. Turns charred vegetables and chiles into a smooth sauce. About $445 at the time of their review. See it on Amazon
• Breville Fresh & Furious blender. ATK’s midpriced pick, if a Vitamix is more blender than you need. About $150 at the time of their review. See it on Amazon
• Victorinox Fibrox Pro 8″ Chef’s Knife. The winner of ATK’s chef’s knife test. For the onion and cilantro. About $47 at the time of their review. See it on Amazon

How Chef Tamás makes it

Chef Tamás makes huevos rancheros at home, for his family. His changes to the recipe above: fresh peppers or chiles in the sauce, feta or juhtúró (a Hungarian sheep’s milk cheese) instead of Cotija, avocado on top, and sausage or chorizo on the side. He bakes the eggs in one large skillet in the oven.

Tools we use

Tamás didn’t name brands for this one. The linked model is America’s Test Kitchen’s pick for the same job.

• A nonstick skillet. See the ATK pick on Amazon
• A flat griddle or plancha.

Chef Tamás’s tricks

• Finish the eggs under a lid. Don’t flip them.
• Fry the eggs in hot oil so the edges turn lacy.
• Fry the tortillas briefly so they don’t go soggy.
• Squeeze lime over at the end.
• The most common mistakes he sees: soggy tortillas that fall apart, overcooked eggs with hard yolks, too much heat, and food that goes cold before everything is ready.
• His twist: smoked paprika in the sauce. Serve it with sausage and a fresh vegetable salad.

Adapted from Huevos Rancheros on Food Network. Cooked our way at the inn.

Sources

• Food Network Kitchen: Huevos Rancheros
• America’s Test Kitchen: The best nonstick skillets
• America’s Test Kitchen: The best cast-iron skillets
• America’s Test Kitchen: The best metal spatulas
• America’s Test Kitchen: The best blenders
• America’s Test Kitchen: The best chef’s knives
• FDA: What you need to know about egg safety