Huevos Rancheros with Warm Corn Salsa

Imagine your average huevos rancheros. You have the beans, tortillas, and cheese topped with your preference of eggs and perhaps your favorite salsa and some avocado. Sounds about right, right?

Ok, well picture this now – Two golden crispy tortillas baked into a quesadilla with sweet refried beans and gooey cheese oozing out of it. It is topped with smashed fresh avocado, your favorite salsa, the most decadent warm corn salsa, and a perfectly fried egg. Oh yes I did…

Pop open some champagne and let’s get this brunch going!

How I made these Huevos Rancheros

Let’s start with the warm corn salsa.

Preheat an oven to 425°.

In a small bowl, combine the mayo, chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, lime zest and juice of 1 lime, and season with salt and pepper.

In a larger bowl, combine the corn, cilantro, green onions and the red jalapeño.

Remove the seeds and membranes for less spice. Leaving the little bits of seeds that are stuck after removing the bulk of it will give your salsa a mild spice.

Tip! If you have disposable gloves, consider wearing them while cutting the jalapeño as the spice tends to stay on your fingers for a little bit. If you don’t wear gloves, avoid touching your eyes!

Pour the mayo mixture on to the corn mixture and mix well.

Grease the baking dish and pour the mixture in. Sprinkle the shredded cheese and bake for 20 minutes.

While the warm corn salsa bakes, let’s work on the refried beans for the quesadillas.

I love to use red refried beans. The flavor is almost smokier than black refried beans. You can use which ever you prefer. I have just been used to using red beans my whole life.

To make typical Costarican refried beans, we use a condiment called Salsa Lizano. Salsa Lizano is a “must have” condiment in all Costarican households. We are fortunate enough to be able to find it in most latin markets in the USA and on Amazon! It comes in liquid form and it is very aromatic. It is tangy and sweet at the same time. We literally add it to everything from soups to green mango. It is a great seasoner for meat and chicken or even on top of a tamale. It’s our version of liquid gold! If you don’t have any, don’t worry… you can just skip it.

In a medium size pan, melt the butter and drizzle a bit of olive oil as well.

Tip! The olive oil has a higher heat resistance than butter, so by combining the two, it helps the butter not burn.

Add the onions to the butter and oil. Season with salt and pepper. Cook the onions until translucent.

Add the refried beans to the onions and smash to incorporate. The heat will help the beans get softer and easier to stir.

Tip! I like to remove the lid of the can of beans and then I place it upside down directly on the pan. Using a can opener, open the bottom of the can and use the lose bottom end to push the beans clean out of the can. You can see how I do it it in the video below!

Add the ketchup, Salsa Lizano, sugar, salt and pepper and mix well.

Tip! If you do not have Salsa Lizano, just skip it. I just can not make these beans without it, my Grandma would roll in her grave! Ha!

Let the mixture come to a simmer, this will help the sugar dissolve and the beans will be malleable and not dense anymore.

Now onto making the quesadillas:

Once the beans are cooked, line the tortillas on a cookie sheet. Make sure the cookie sheet is well oiled especially where the tortillas will sit.

Spread about 1/4 of beans per tortilla. Try to leave about a 1/2 inch circumference on the sides of the tortilla so most of the beans can stay inside of the quesadillas. Sprinkle the shredded cheese, about a handful per quesadilla.

Tip! I used shredded mozzarella but you can use whichever is your favorite cheese for quesadillas. Any cheese that melts nicely will work.

Top each tortilla with another tortilla and drizzle olive oil on top of each quesadilla.

Place the other cookie sheet on top of the quesadillas and bake in the same 425° oven for 3-5 minutes.

They crisp up so quickly, so keep a close eye on them! This is the perfect way of making quesadillas for a crowd!

While the quesadillas bake, prepare the eggs to your preference.

Once the quesadillas and the eggs are done, it’s time to get building.

Place the quesadilla in the bottom of a plate.

In a small bowl, smash the avocado and season with salt, pepper and a dash of lime juice.

Spread the smashed avocado on top of the quesadilla.

Place the eggs on top of the avocado.

Drizzle your favorite jarred salsa.

Scoop out some of the warm corn salsa and top the eggs.

Top the rest of the quesadilla with a dollop of sour cream and fresh cilantro and enjoy!