Meal Prep California Style Breakfast Burritos

Start your morning with one of my protein-packed Meal Prep California Style Breakfast Burritos – loaded with taco seasoned fries, green chile scrambled eggs, cheese, and crispy bacon bits. Simple to make-ahead & freezer-friendly!

What are the ingredients in these Meal Prep California Style Breakfast Burritos?

It doesn’t take much to craft this incredible meal prep breakfast at home! You’ve got your standard BB (breakfast burrito) ingredients, as well as a couple Cali-themed ingredients you may need to grab if you don’t already have them in your pantry.

Here are the ingredients I used to make these breakfast burritos, and a little info on each:

• quality raw bacon – I prefer a quality no sugar added bacon, but your favorite bacon will work too! If you’re looking for an quicker route, you can use store-bought bacon bits.
• frozen french fries – California style is traditionally made with french fries, but any freezer aisle frozen potato will totally work.
• garlic powder, smoked paprika & ground cumin – These are the spices we’re using to season the fries. If you fries don’t have any salt, add some of that as well!
• large eggs – Necessary for any good breakfast burrito!
• diced mild green chilis – In the Mexican foods section near the salsa, you can find small cans of diced green chilis. They also sell whole green chilis and the cans look very similar, so double check which one you grab!
• fine sea salt & fresh ground black pepper – Season a little as you go, including a little salt on the fries and some salt and pepper in the eggs.
• milk – When I make a large batch of eggs, I include a liquid of some kind to help make the eggs a bit fluffier. Since the can of green chiles also has some liquid, I’m only adding 1 tablespoon of milk, but I still like to add it!
• unsalted butter – This is used is for cooking the eggs on the stovetop. You can also use leftover bacon grease!
• flour tortillas – Be sure to get burrito size tortillas so everything fits without trouble. It’s also important they’re room temperature.
• pepper jack cheese – I picked pepper jack for a bit of heat, but definitely use whatever kind of cheese you prefer.
• serve with – Fresh avocado, sour cream, pico de gallo, hot sauce. If freezing the burritos, do not include these ingredients, as they don’t freeze well.

Equipment you’ll need to make this breakfast burrito recipe:

Here are my recommendations on equipment and tools you’ll need to make this recipe:

• rimmed baking sheet – Every baker and cook should have a rimmed baking sheet around the kitchen, especially for cooking bacon! I recommend this half sheet pan (affiliate link!). It contains all the grease and keeps everything on the pan.
• wooden cutting board – I use this Greener Chef XL Bamboo Cutting Board (affiliate link!) for almost all cooking. You can see it in most of my photos! XL makes it sound huge but I think everyone needs this size.
• high heat spatula – I cook my scrambled eggs in a nonstick pan and use this Rubbermaid High Heat Spoon Scraper (affiliate link!). I love this so much, I’ve given them as Christmas gifts!!

How do you make these California Style Breakfast Burritos?

Making these breakfast burritos is as simple as cooking the individual filling parts, then assembling them together to make six breakfast burritos. I prefer to start with the bacon bits, as the bacon takes the longest to cook, and you can cook other things at the same time. If you’re interested in an in-depth article with dedicated photos and instructions, please read my post on How to Make Homemade Bacon Bits.

First, line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and place the raw strips of bacon flat on the parchment paper. Try to space them evenly so they aren’t touching, or they may stick together. However, it’s okay if they do touch each other a little bit!

Place the baking sheet into a COLD oven, I repeat, COLD oven, THEN turn the oven to 375F degrees right after you put the pan into the oven. Bake for 22-25 minutes, keeping an eye on it at the end. Remove the pan from the oven when the bacon is foaming, bubbling. You want it to look very slightly browner than you’d prefer when eating bacon plain. Baking time will depend on the thickness of your bacon.

Once cooked, remove from the oven and transfer bacon to a plate lined with a paper towel. Let the bacon cool for 5-10 minutes (or until everything else is cooking and cooling) before cutting into small bits on a cutting board and setting aside.

Next, start the fries. Because the bacon is cooking in the oven, this is a great time to use the air fryer. Toss frozen fries with garlic powder, smoked paprika, cumin, and salt if desired. You can do this on a sheet pan for the oven or directly in the air fryer basket.

For air fryer, cook fries at 400F for 15-20 minutes, shaking halfway through. Follow package directions for oven instructions. Cook the fries until quite crisp. You want them to hold up well in your burrito. Set cooked fries aside in a medium bowl to cool.

Whisk the eggs together in a bowl with the diced green chiles, milk, salt and pepper. Add butter to a non-stick pan over low heat and move it around to coat the bottom of the pan. You can also use cooked bacon grease for this!

Pour the whisked eggs into the pan over the melted butter and stir as they cook until just barely cooked through. Do not overcook the eggs – they will cook a bit more when your burritos are reheated, and we don’t want overcooked, rubbery eggs!

Remove the eggs from the pan into another bowl (this helps stop the cooking) and set them aside to cool. Let everything cool completely to reduce moisture in the burritos (at least 15-20 minutes). Nothing should be steaming when you go to assemble!

For the final step, set up a burrito assembly line. If the tortillas are cold, wrap them in a lightly damp paper towel and heat for 20 seconds in the microwave to make them more foldable. This also makes them less likely to rip while wrapping.

Make 6 breakfast burritos total, each with about 10-12 fries, 2 small spoonfuls of bacon bits, 1 big scoop of eggs and a heavy sprinkle of cheese. If you’re enjoying any of the burritos immediately, feel free to add more toppings like fresh avocado, sour cream, or pico de gallo.

Do not add these things if you’re freezing the burritos! Wet ingredients do not do well frozen into burritos – this just makes them soggy when reheating. Wrap your burritos by folding the sides over, pulling up and over from the bottom, and then tucking in the sides (see photos and a more detailed explanation below!).

How do you wrap the breakfast burritos?

Here’s an explanation of how I wrap my breakfast burritos. Please see the pictures as well – they show the whole process a bit better.

Step 1: Pull the sides of the tortilla over each end of filling until tight.
Step 2: Using your thumbs, pull the bottom of the tortilla up and over the filling, covering the sides you folded over in Step 1.
Step 3: Tuck the bottom of the tortilla you folded in Step 2 under the burrito, also tucking the sides from the top and bottom of the tortilla.
Step 4: Fold the burrito over the remaining open tortilla so it covers the tucked sides and bottom. There you go!

Best tips for making homemade breakfast burritos:

Here are my best tips for making homemade freezer-friendly breakfast burritos:

• let all fillings ingredients cool to room temperature before assembling! no steam please
• cook your eggs until just barely cooked, that way they won’t overcook when you reheat
• skip wet filling ingredients like salsa, tomatoes, or pico de gallo
• use large, burrito size tortillas so everything fits! I used 10 inch size
• thaw frozen burritos overnight before reheating for best quality!

What to serve with these California Style Breakfast Burritos:

For the best taste and most California-style possible, serve these burritos with a side of fresh avocado or guacamole, pico de gallo, sour cream and hot sauce. All of this makes a very delicious and filling meal!

Ways to customize these California Style Breakfast Burritos:

Here are a couple ways to customize these burritos according to your own tastes:

• use a different meat like leftover steak or breakfast seasoned ground chicken
• swap the fries for any kind of freezer potato or your own roasted potatoes like in my Soy Chorizo Breakfast Burritos
• swap the green chilis for canned jalapenos or another blend of peppers

How do you meal prep these breakfast burritos?

There are a couple different ways to prepare these breakfast burritos ahead. Do what works best for you and your schedule! Be sure to save any wet or fresh ingredients like avocado for when you serve.

1. Partial prep & cook later: Give yourself a headstart for later by prepping and cooking your potatoes, bacon bits and eggs ahead of time. This is more helpful if you’re going to enjoy some burritos later when you do assemble.
2. Complete prep & store in the fridge: This is my favorite method and what I do most often because I don’t mind eating this for a few days in a row. Completely prep and assemble your breakfast burritos. Wrap and store them in the fridge for up to 4 days, then cook during the week as you want to eat them.
3. Complete prep & freeze: Completely prep and assemble your breakfast burritos. Wrap and store them in the freezer for up to 3-6 months for best quality.
4. Mix of 2 & 3: Completely prep and assemble all of your breakfast burritos. Keep a couple in the fridge for the week, and freeze the rest!

How to store Meal Prep California Style Breakfast Burritos:

To store, wrap each burrito tightly in parchment paper or foil, then store in another airtight container or freezer bag. For fridge storage, I wrap in only foil. For freezer storage, I use a base layer of parchment paper and then wrap in foil as well, which helps reduce sticking and freezer burn.

Store in the fridge for up to 4 days, or in the freezer for up to 3-6 months for best quality. If freezing, make sure to label the bag with the name and date.

How to freeze Meal Prep California Style Breakfast Burritos:

Wrap each burrito tightly in parchment paper or foil, then store multiple burritos in an airtight container or freezer bag. Label the bag with the name of the recipe and date made. Store in the freezer for up to 3-6 months for best quality.

How to reheat Meal Prep California Style Breakfast Burritos:

From the fridge: There are lots of ways to reheat breakfast burritos, here are some of my recommendations: 

• Air fry at 350F for 6-10 minutes, or until the burritos are crispy and golden brown;
• Reheat in a toaster oven for 7-8 minutes (depending on your toaster oven); or conventional oven at 350F for about 20 minutes.
• Toast for 4-5 minutes to get the outside crispy, then microwave for 30-45 more seconds to ensure it’s heated through.
• Crisp in a non-stick pan on the stovetop on low, rotating to all sides.
• I would not recommend completely microwaving, they’ll probably be a bit soggy that way.

From the freezer: For the best results, take a burrito out of the freezer the night before you plan to eat it so it can thaw. But if necessary to cook from frozen, air fry frozen burritos with a spritz of avocado spray oil at 250F for 30 minutes, then increase temperature to 350F and air fry for 2-3 more minutes until crispy and golden brown.