California Avocado Breakfast Burrito

We just spent a long, sunny, glorious weekend in San Diego visiting our good friends, The Korns. At the time, summer had not yet hit Washington which made that sunny weather extra special. While there I learned about a new food, local to San Diego: The California Burrito. The definition from Serious Eats:

There are burritos, and then there are California Burritos. The San Diego staple is not trying to be authentic Mexican cuisine—it's basically meat and potatoes stuffed into a flour tortilla for hungry, sand-crusted surfers. The beast of a thing usually involves carne asada, french fries, a bunch of cheese, salsa fresca and of course guacamole.

I didn’t have a chance to try one while we were there (guess we need to go back soon!) but this surfer super food did come up a few times in conversation. Michelle said she likes the breakfast burrito version best and Al mentioned she and JT make them at home with tater tots. So in honor of avocado month combined with a hankering for this newly discovered delicacy; I did my best to create it. And we made it even better by having it for breakfast and adding avocado.

For the “French fries” my options were to run to McDonalds or to use the tater tots we had in the freezer. Running out to McD’s would have been quicker than the 25+ minutes it took to cook tater tots in the oven, but it would have meant changing out of my pj’s, so in the end the frozen tater tots won! Does McDonalds sell French fries before noon or would I have been stuck with a hash brown patty?

Here’s my version of the California “Breakfast” Burrito. The key components here are French fries (or tots) and avocado.

California Avocado Breakfast Burrito 

Tortillas
Tater Tots or French Fries (5+ per person)
Bacon (3 pieces per person)
Sharp cheddar cheese (we used Coastal)
Cabbage, shredded
Chipotle Sauce (canned chipotles mixed with sour cream, Greek yogurt, cream cheese or mayo - make ahead and dip chips in your left over sauce!)
Eggs, scrambled (2 per person)
Avocado, sliced (lots!)

Optional Condiments: 
Feta
Green onion
Cilantro
Salsa
Ketchup
Sour Cream
Extra chipotle sauce

1. Cook the tater tots or French fries
2. Get the bacon going and fry it until it’s crisp
3. While the fries/tots and bacon are cooking, get out the rest of the ingredients for your burrito bar
4. At the last minute scramble a few eggs

To build the burrito:
Melt grated cheddar cheese on a tortilla. Add a little shredded cabbage (for crunch) and chipotle sauce (this is best made ahead, I combined canned chipotles with ½ Greek Yogurt and ½ cream cheese). Add a layer of tots, scrambled eggs, bacon and all the slices of fresh, delicious avocado you can fit. Roll it tight and top with salsa, feta, green onions, sour cream and extra avocado. And yes, if you’re following along that means there were three kinds of cheeses in our breakfast burrito. We may not be hungry surfers, but that’s how we roll.

I’d still like to try an authentic “California Burrito” but let me tell you, this was amazing. Perfect for a big breakfast on a lazy weekend!

Quick highlight of our trip:

The beach at Coronado Island

Handsome PJ, my San Diego doggie love

The San Diego Zoo

Maggie the Polar Bear

WWU reunion with JT and Alison, Kevin and Amy, Rob, Michelle & Maggie at Craft & Commerce. Besides the company the highlight there was bacon corn dogs. I never knew I could love a corn dog that much. The night before we had tapas at Davanti Enoteca in Little Italy. We got to eat under the stars and every bite we had was amazing, but the white bean bruscetta with arugula and parm and the mascarpone polenta really shined!

Our awesome hosts and good friends, The Korn family!

And of course we were happy to come home to this guy and sunshine in the NW!