The Denver Burrito
Good lookin’ burrito right?
Big news! Betsy and I are moving to Denver!
When we took the plunge to move from DC to Colorado a few years ago, we originally wanted to be in the Denver area, but Betsy’s job brought us a bit further west to Grand Junction. We’ve really loved living here for a few years. The weather is awesome. We met some great people and got a fun dog out of it!
But, we decided we still wanted to be in a bit more of an urban/city environment so we’re making the move! We have a few months still, but Betsy starts her job there June 1st so we will be there by then for sure.
To be honest, I haven’t spent a ton of time in Denver but I’ve liked what I have seen so far. I’m excited to explore the mile high city.
In honor of the move, I took a classic Denver omelet and turned it into a breakfast burrito.
The Denver Burrito
Yield: 2 large burritos
Prep Time:
Total Time:
Ingredients:
2 large flour tortillas (or any large wrap)
1 cup diced ham
1/2 green pepper, diced
1/2 cup diced white onion
8 ounces cremini mushrooms, chopped
4 ounces cheddar cheese, grated
3 large eggs, scrambled
1 tablespoon olive oil, for filling
1 teaspoon butter, for eggs
Chives, garnish
Salt and pepper
Directions:
1) Cube ham into small cubes. Dice peppers, onions, and mushrooms. Whisk eggs to scramble them lightly. Grate cheese so everything is ready.
2) Add olive oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add ham and cook until ham starts to brown nicely and turn crispy, about 6 minutes. Stir occasionally.
3) Add in peppers, mushrooms, and onions. Season well with a pinch of salt and pepper and keep cooking until veggies are soft, about 3-4 more minutes.
4) In a small skillet, add butter over medium heat. Once melted, add in eggs and cook until scrambled. Try not to over-cook the eggs. You want them cooked, but still on the soft side.
5) Add cheese to pan with ham and veggies. Just toss it on top and let it start to melt from the heat from the pan.
6) Microwave tortillas on high for 20 seconds to soften them.
7) Divide eggs between two tortillas. Add ham and veggies to top of the eggs. The cheese should be nice and melted.
8) Wrap tortillas up. I had to leave one end open on mine because they were just so full. Garnish with minced chives and serve immediately!
The Burrito Filling
I’m not entirely sure why a Denver omelet has the things it has. Maybe there’s some long lost story that explains it? Anyway, it always has green pepper, onion, mushroom, ham, and cheese. To the best of my knowledge, you have to include these things if you call something a “Denver” thing.
I guess these make it denver-ish?
For the veggies, since they are going in a burrito, dice them pretty finely. You can leave the mushrooms a bit larger since they will shrink a lot during cooking.
A rough chop.
Obviously, you’ll need some tortillas, eggs, and cheese also. Essential breakfast burrito materials. Get the largest tortillas or wraps you can find. You’re gonna need them. These are big burritos.
Get these ready.
Start the filling by adding a drizzle of oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat. Then add that ham and get it browning in the pan. It should start to turn crispy on the edges and brown nicely after 6-8 minutes.
A little crispy.
Then add all the veggies and cook until the veggies start to soften, about 3-4 minutes. At this point, season the filling well with a pinch of salt and pepper.
All together…
Finishing the Burrito
One issue I always have with breakfast burritos is making sure the large amount of cheese I put in the burrito is well-melted. This time, to solve the problem, I just sprinkled all my cheese right on the filling while it’s still in the pan. The residual heat will definitely melt the cheese, but don’t stir the cheese into the filling. Just let it melt on top for a minute or two.
Make sure that cheese gets melted.
Meanwhile, you can scramble your eggs. No need to do anything fancy here. Just add a dab of butter to small skillet and then pour in the scrambled eggs. Cook them over medium heat until they are cooked through, but still on the soft side. I hate over-cooked scrambled eggs.
Try not to over-cook these guys.
When you’re ready to make the burritos, microwave the tortillas on high for about 20 seconds to heat them up and make them easier to work with.
Then pile on half of the eggs and filling. It’s a pretty serious burrito.
Piled high!
Wrap it up, garnish it with chives, and dig in. Mine was so big that I had to leave one end open on the burrito.
Any normal breakfast condiments would work great on this sucker.
Yum.
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Congratulations!
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Congrats! So exciting!
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Congratulations and welcome to Denver. It’s a great city from the food scene to the arts and the other activities – Rockies, end of the Bike Race and a bunch of art festivals. Been following you for about a year now. Live downtown Denver Riverfront Park along the Platte River and absolutely love it.
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Nick replied: — February 23rd, 2013 @ 9:36 am
Thanks Jayne! We were looking at that area actually!
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Congrats! I’ve lived in Denver since I was 5 and love it! I can’t imagine living anywhere else.
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Congrats! I moved from Seattle to Aurora a few months ago and love it.
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Hooray!!! Looking forward to following you here in Denver. You will be my mile high cooking guru! We live in West Highlands area of Denver and have since 1999. We also came to Colorado from DC area. You are gonna love it here. Agree with Jayne’s post completely. My husband works at the Taxi development (Micky Zeppelin is developer) in River North Art District. Housing, offices, studios all together, near Fuel Cafe. Cool place. Riverfront Park is more walkable to NW Denver scene. But, no matter where you settle, you’ll love Denver. Welcome!!
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Nick replied: — February 24th, 2013 @ 9:01 pm
Thanks Katherine! Can’t wait to put down some roots there! :)
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My niece lives there, and it’s a close trip from SLC. If I ever go visit her, we will have to meet up for lunch!
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Nick replied: — February 24th, 2013 @ 9:02 pm
Absolutely! Email me anytime you’re in town.
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I’m usually a lurker, but Denver is definitely in my top five dream cities to live in, so this makes me happy! I will continue to lurk and live in Denver vicariously through you!
It’s got some of the best food in the world — up there with Portland (OR), New York, San Francisco and Marseilles (I think I’ve got a different list than others…hmm..)!
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Nick replied: — February 24th, 2013 @ 9:00 pm
Nice job de-lurking Ani. :) I’ll do my best to showcase some of what’s going on in the area once I’m there. I agree that it’s an under-rated food city. Thanks for reading!
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Congratulations.
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My husband and I might be moving to Denver in a few months, too! (I’m a friend of Liz K’s in DC) Maybe we can hang out if we do. :)
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Nick replied: — February 24th, 2013 @ 9:00 pm
Awesome! Yes… we will definitely need friends. :)
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Congratulations! I’ve been in Denver area for 11 years and love it. We ended up here by accident, but what a happy accident it was!
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Great recipe!
Good luck with the move. We live in Denver & love it! I lived downtown near Riverfront/Union Station for several years & then when the kids came, out to the burbs we went. You will just love it here.
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Another Welcome to Denver! I put in my vote for Golden (where I live). It’s a quicker commute to downtown than most people realize and it’s as close to the mountains as you can get while still being in the metro area. But I lived in the downtown area for a few years as well (in Uptown at 17th & Grant) and loved being so close to everything, so it depends on what you are looking for.
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Nice! Looking forward to the upcoming local features on your blog! (writing from Wheat Ridge a western suburb of Denver)
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Have fun trying to boil your water there and baking and stuff! (kidding)
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I’m not in Denver, but just an hour south in Colorado Springs. So excited for you to be moving to Denver — there is some seriously GREAT food there. Also, Ft. Collins (about an hour north of Denver) has a ton of delicious locally owned restaurants. I hope you and Betsy are super happy living on this side of the mountains!
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