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There’s no cozier start to the day than a vegan breakfast burrito. Warmed tortillas encase a hearty tofu scramble, potatoes, and veggie bacon or seitan sausage. Top it with avocado or guacamole, salsa, hot sauce, jalapeño peppers, or cilantro.
Valleys make the hills grander, desert makes the ocean more captivating, and absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Nothing tastes better than coming in from a frigid January day with frozen feet inside of snow boots to have a brimming bowl of vegan baked potato soup.
A picnic sandwich is better on a mountaintop in the middle of a long hike.
And a hearty vegan breakfast burrito tastes best before the sun has lit up the horizon, and the rest of the city slumbers.
As I’ve written before on my blog, for over a decade I was a touring children’s theatre artist. I’d go to schools and perform plays for kids, bringing them up on stage to act out parts in the show.
It was a wonderful job. But it didn’t come without its flaws.
One of those flaws was that the shows often started first thing in the morning. The schools that we traveled to were scattered all around the Southland, sometimes as deep as San Diego or as far north as Santa Barbara.
Being there on time was essential or else the other two actors in the show would have to feverishly work out how to perform a three-person show with two people as school children filed into the auditorium.
That meant waking up at 4 am or 5 am to get on the road.
You never knew when a sudden traffic jam would erupt. So you had to be prepared, leaving two or three times what Mapquest would guess you’d need.
Sometimes that still wasn’t enough. And sometimes I’d arrive an hour earlier than necessary.
And on those days when the traffic gods smiled on me, I’d seek out what was available for breakfast in the pockets of towns within a mile or two of the school.
Southern California is dotted with tiny mom and pop restaurants selling tacos, enchiladas, pupusas, and burritos. And some of those shops opened early. They had cinnamon infused coffee on offer, and breakfast burritos stuffed to the brim.
In my work uniform of a nearly neon top and brightly colored but clashing pants, I walked in and ordered a burrito wrapped in paper and foil.
I’d cart it to the school, sit behind a pillowing curtain of an elementary auditorium, and sigh into bites of roasted potato and tortilla.
Vegan breakfast burrito
I wasn’t vegan in the year 2000. And the burritos weren’t either. But the ones that I make at home now recreate the memory so completely.
Warmed tortillas encase a hearty tofu scramble, breakfast potatoes, and veggie bacon or seitan sausage. I top it with avocado or guacamole, salsa, hot sauce, jalapeño peppers, or cilantro.
(If you have an air fryer, you can also make the breakfast-style air fryer potatoes in it!)
I add a shake of cinnamon into my coffee and take a leisurely sip. No freeways and no traffic. But it sure takes me back.
Vegan breakfast burrito with roasted potatoes
Ingredients
- 1 medium to large sized Russet potato cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- 3 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil divided
- 1/2 medium sized yellow onion about one cup, roughly chopped in medium pieces
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 small red bell pepper about 1/2 cup, chopped in medium pieces
- 2 leaves kale roughly chopped with the ribs removed
- 14 ounces firm water-packed tofu drained*
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 Tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 8 ounces vegan bacon, Italian seitan sausage, or Chorizo seitan sausage
- 4 whole wheat tortillas
- Optional toppings: Avocado or guacamole, cilantro, hot sauce, and/or jalapeño peppers
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Toss the cubed potatoes with one teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil and lay evenly across the baking sheet.
- Bake for 25 minutes, stopping twice to flip the potatoes for even roasting and to check for doneness. Once they are done, move them to a bowl and set aside.
- While the potatoes are baking, in a large skillet heat one teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil in a pan with a medium heat. Sauté onion, garlic, and bell pepper for a few minutes, until the onion is translucent.
- Add kale to the pan and continue to sauté for a couple of minutes more, until the kale begins to wilt.
- Crumble tofu into the pan and add cumin, oregano, chili powder, paprika, turmeric, nutritional yeast flakes, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir to combine completely. If the scramble begins to stick, add a tablespoon or two of water to deglaze the pan, being careful not too add too much and make the scramble watery.
- Continue to cook the scramble for 10 to 15 minutes until the tofu is warmed and cooked through and the kale is soft.
- In a non-stick skillet, add the final teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil and bring to a medium heat. Sauté your preferred veggie bacon or seitan for a few minutes, until evenly browned.
- Lower the oven to 350 degrees and put the tortillas on the parchment paper-covered baking sheet that the potatoes were cooked on. Put the tortillas in the oven for one minute, until warm.
- Fill each tortilla with tofu scramble, potatoes, seitan bacon or sausage, and roll into a burrito.
- Serve immediately with any of the optional toppings.
Richa says
I was just dreaming about a good scramble in a burrito. These with the roasted potatoes = awesome and are going to be breakfast one day this week!
Cadry says
Cool! Roasted potatoes really make a breakfast burrito in my opinion. Obviously they can be made without them, but you’re losing some serious yum. 🙂
lazysmurf says
Those sound really great! As a Texan, I think I’d have to do it in taco form but burritos do travel better.
Happy mofo!
Cadry says
Tacos with seitan bacon, potatoes & scramble? I like the way you think!
Happy MoFo to you too!
veganmiam.com says
What a cute banner! Back to the Future 😉 These burritos look so delicious, especially roasted potatoes. Potatoes are my favorite!
Cadry says
Thanks! Me too! Potatoes are so hearty and satisfying in burritos and tacos.
The Peace Patch says
mmmmyum…thanks for the recipe and the wonderful story! Breakfast comfort food memories always make me smile. Hiding big bowls of cereal behind cereal box forts, making piles of pancakes for my brothers on Sundays, and stopping at the local vegan bakery for blueberry muffins and coffee while hiking to work. I miss that bakery and those ginormous blueberry muffins. 🙂
Cadry says
Oh, those are all lovely memories! Thank you for sharing those! It’s been much too long since I’ve had a blueberry muffin!
cookeasyvegan says
This sounds so comforting for a cool, rainy morning like the one we’re having today. And you know, the first thing I thought of (well, the second, since the first was really, “yum, potatoes!”) was that coconut bacon might taste really good in there!
Cadry says
Absolutely! Coconut bacon is really good everywhere!
Hannah says
Can I just say that your theme’s logo/photo makes me SO DARN HAPPY.
Cadry says
I love that! I’m glad to hear it!
Kylie - FotV says
There is nothing I love more than a burrito, especially breakfast burritos. Something about having your food wrapped up in it’s own neat little package!
Cadry says
That’s true. It’s like a present for your mouth. Plus, it often includes some of my favorite things in the world like avocado, hot sauce, and jalapeños!
Mandee says
You must have had so much performing! And I love the look of these breakfast burritos! They’re not a thing here, but I could definitely go for one each morning!
Cadry says
I did! It was also so gratifying to see kids come up on stage excitedly and win over their peers with their performances. It was amazing to see the kind of talent that is just sitting there inside of children waiting to be given room.
Joey says
I think I must have been half asleep when I read your first Mofo post – I though you were posting about flax for a month! Time for a lie down, maybe!
I love the look of that burrito – I made my first breakfast burrito this morning! Maybe future me travelled back in time to tell me to make some after I read this post?!
Cadry says
Oh, that is so funny! If that was my theme, I think people would be fairly underwhelmed since I almost exclusively use flaxseeds in smoothies. I know how to use them in baked goods and have done that before, but I just don’t do that much baking. “Day 29: Look, everybody! Another smoothie… with flaxseeds!” 🙂
What a coincidence that you made your first breakfast burrito this morning. It seems only reasonable that it was a time traveling version of yourself who convinced you to do it! Your future self has excellent taste!
Crystal says
numnumnumnumnumnum.
Cadry says
You took the words right out of my mouth! 😉
veganinbrighton says
That burrito looks perfect, I fell in love with breakfast tacos in Austin last year and it’s bringing back some great memories.
Cadry says
I still haven’t made it to Austin! I’ve heard consistently great things about it. Hopefully I’ll get there sometime in the next year, and then I can sample their tacos for myself! I love foods that bring back great memories. 🙂
Katie says
I love burritos more than life itself.
Cadry says
Wow, that is some serious love!
luminousvegans says
Working as a children’s theatre artist sounds like fun, but those school hours can definitely be rough. I don’t know how kids do it! A portable breakfast is the perfect solution.
Cadry says
Luckily, the hours of driving and early wake-up times were a small price to pay for how much I enjoyed the work! Plus, burritos! 🙂
FoodFeud says
I love potatoes in any burrito, but especially breakfast burritos. I bet these would keep you full for a long time before performing.
Cadry says
Definitely! A breakfast burrito is really at its best when potato is involved. They were very filling indeed. Potatoes have staying power.
chels says
Awesome! My best pal is gonna love these… makin’ em for this weekend’s special saturday brekkers. <3 cheers!
Cadry says
Great! I hope you enjoy them!
erinwiko says
I’m convinced that breakfast burritos might be the perfect food. I definitely need to make a version of these for our American football breakfasts (curse you, time zones!).
Cadry says
You could be right about breakfast burritos being the perfect food. They’re definitely up there!
If the time zones are too rough on you, keep in mind that all of the ingredients store really well in the refrigerator! You could make everything the night before and then just put the scramble, bacon, and potatoes in tortillas, and then warm all of it in the oven. David really likes them that way, so that the tortillas are kind of crisp on the outside.
Mel says
Love the story behind the meal Cadry and your burrito photos are making me drool!
Cadry says
Excellent! My goals here have been met. 🙂
Susmitha - Veganosaurus says
Cadry, I’m just picturing you doing those plays and I can just imagine how great you must’ve been at it! 🙂
4 am and 5 am?! Egad! There are very few things in the world that would make me wake up at those ungodly hours. haha But if I do wake up that early, they I can say these breakfast burritos and cinnamon coffee would surely make my day. 🙂
Cadry says
Yes, getting out of bed when it was still pitch black outside, especially in the winter, wasn’t easy! Especially when my husband and our cats were still curled up in bed, fast asleep. But it was nice to have my work day done and out of the way by one or two!
Maggie Muggins says
You’re story makes me want to snuggle up on the couch, early in the morning with my own burrito. I had no idea you used to be a travelling children’s performer, what a cool and unique job! What do you do now? (If you don’t mind me asking).
The burrito looks crazy delicious too, it’s been way too long since I’ve made one of those.
Caitlin Galer-Unti (@caitlingu) says
That sounds delicious, like a great start to the day! I love your story too, and that job sounds super fun (apart from the early morning starts)!
Cadry says
It was a really great job! There are lots of people who have stayed in the company for 20 years or more, just because the work is so gratifying and fun.
ameyfm says
oh yumz!! You even gave us a recipe! I love that you and I are both doing foods from our past… it’s so sweet!
Cadry says
I know! I love that too! We’re on the same wavelength. Let me know when you finally make your first breakfast burritos!
Randi (laughfrodisiac) says
I just realized I still have my coupon from VVC for Uptons seitan! I’m definitely making these. I’ve never actually made breakfast burritos; that needs to change asap.
Cadry says
Lucky you! We used our free coupons long ago! I’m surprised that you’ve never made breakfast burritos. You’ll have to let me know how it goes!
Anna {Herbivore Triathlete} says
Oh my, I love breakfast burritos! This would be delicious for breakfast, especially now that the weather is getting cooler.
Cadry says
You’re right. Hearty breakfasts are especially comforting when it’s chilly outside.