Huevos rancheros

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare: finely chop the brown onion, mince the garlic cloves, deseed and finely chop the jalapeño if you prefer less heat. Drain the tinned black beans, roughly chop the fresh coriander, slice the avocado and halve the lime. Keep tortillas to hand.

2. 2

   Make the ranchero sauce: heat 15 ml rapeseed oil in a frying pan over medium heat and add the brown onion. Cook, stirring, until softened and translucent, about 6 minutes.

3. 3

   Add the garlic cloves, jalapeño, ground cumin and smoked paprika to the pan and cook for 1 minute to release the spices.

4. 4

   Stir in the tinned plum tomatoes and break them up with a wooden spoon. Add the tomato purée, caster sugar, sea salt and a generous grind of black pepper. Reduce heat to medium–low and simmer gently until the sauce thickens slightly, 10 minutes.

5. 5

   While the sauce simmers, warm the drained tinned black beans in a small pan with a splash of water and a pinch of sea salt for about 4 minutes until heated through.

6. 6

   Crisp the tortillas: wipe the frying pan, add 15 ml rapeseed oil and heat until shimmering. Fry each corn tortilla for about 30 seconds each side until lightly crisp and golden at the edges. Keep warm on a plate covered with kitchen paper or a clean tea towel.

7. 7

   Fry the eggs: use the remaining 15 ml rapeseed oil in the pan, reduce to medium–low and crack in the eggs. Cook sunny-side up until the whites are set but yolks still runny, about 3–4 minutes. Season with sea salt and black pepper to taste.

8. 8

   Assemble each plate: place two crisp corn tortillas down, spoon on warmed black beans, ladle over a generous spoonful of the ranchero sauce, top with a fried egg, add sliced avocado and scatter fresh coriander. Finish with a squeeze of lime and extra black pepper if you like.

9. 9

   Serve immediately, with extra lime wedges and hot sauce at the table.

Tips

• If you like extra heat, leave the jalapeño seeds in or add a pinch of chilli flakes to the sauce while it simmers.
• To keep tortillas crisp when serving several plates, stack them between layers of kitchen paper in a warm oven at 80°C fan until needed.
• Make the ranchero sauce ahead and refrigerate for up to 3 days — reheat gently and add a splash of water if it’s too thick.
• For perfectly set whites, cook eggs on medium–low and finish under a lid for up to 30 seconds rather than flipping.
• Use good-quality tinned tomatoes — they make an enormous difference to the sauce flavour.

Substitutions

• corn tortillas → soft wheat flour tortillas, same quantity (contains gluten — no longer gluten-free)

  Noticeably different

• tinned black beans → 170 g refried beans (tinned), spread instead of whole beans

  Stays close

• jalapeño → mild green chilli or 1 tsp chilli flakes if you prefer dried spice

  Stays close

• rapeseed oil → olive oil, same quantity

  Stays close

Nutrition

Per serving · estimated

760

Calories

26 g

Protein

61 g

Carbs

46 g

Fat

18 g

Fibre

9 g

Sugar

700 mg

Sodium

FAQ