Have you ever heard of huevos motuleños?
Think seriously over-the-top huevos rancheros—fried eggs over refried black beans on a fried tortilla, topped with salsa, and served with fried plantains, chorizo pork sausage, and crumbled Mexican queso fresco.
My friend Chef Arturo Vargas came to visit the other day and taught me how to make these delicious huevos motuleños.
They are a specialty of the Yucatan and originated in the town of Motul, a city rich with Mayan and colonial history. They’re not an everyday breakfast, more like a Sunday brunch breakfast. So good!
You will use a lot of sauté pans. As you finish with one, clean it out for use with the next step that needs a pan. A lot of the time prepping can be accomplished while other parts of the dish are cooking.
The recipe calls for already prepared refried black beans. You can either make your own from scratch (see this recipe for refried beans and use black beans instead) or you can buy canned refried black beans. Just make sure the beans are well seasoned before using in this recipe.
- Olive oil
- 1 cup chopped red onion
- 3 cloves garlic chopped
- 4 ounces sliced button or cremini mushrooms
- 1 1/2 cups of refried black beans
- 6 fresh epazote leaves, finely chopped (optional)
- 1/4 pound chorizo Mexican sausage (out of casing)
- 1 tomato, roughly chopped
- 1/2 serrano chile with seeds, minced (stem discarded)
- 2 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup water
- Pinch of salt
- 1 plantain
- 4 corn tortillas
- 4 to 8 eggs, depending on how many eggs people want
- Garnishes:
- 1 avocado, peeled, pitted, sliced
- 4 ounces of queso fresco, crumbled
- Small bunch of fresh cilantro, chopped
- Cook the onions, garlic, mushrooms, and beans:
Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in a large sauté pan on medium high heat. Add the onions, garlic, and sliced mushrooms. Cook until onions are translucent, but not browned, and the mushrooms have given up some of their moisture, about 5 minutes.
Elise Bauer 
Elise Bauer Stir in the refried beans and epazote (if using). Cook for another 3 or 4 minutes. Remove from pan into a bowl, set aside.
- Cook the chorizo:
While onions and mushrooms are cooking, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in another, smaller sauté pan or cast iron skillet on medium heat.
Elise Bauer Add the chorizo (out of its casing), breaking it up into chunks. Cook for about 5-6 minutes until cooked through and lightly browned. Remove from pan into a bowl and set aside.
- Make the sauce:
In a blender, blend together the chopped tomato, 2 cloves garlic, 1/2 serrano chile, 1/2 cup of water, and a pinch of salt. Blend until smooth.
Elise Bauer 
Elise Bauer Pour the sauce into a saucepan and cook on medium high heat until cooked through, bubbly and thick, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and put into a small bowl, set aside.
- Fry the plantain:
Peel the plantain, slice it on the diagonal in 1/4 inch thick slices. Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large sauté pan on medium high heat.
Elise Bauer 
Elise Bauer Line the pan with the plantain slices. Brown on one side, then flip and brown on the other side. Remove the plantain slices to a paper towel-lined plate, reserving the oil in the pan.
- Cook the tortillas:
Continue heating the oil on medium high heat. One at a time, cook the tortillas. Place a tortilla in the pan and cook until lightly browned and bubbles are forming in the tortilla.
Flip over and cook until lightly browned on the other side too. Continue to cook until the tortilla is somewhat stiff.
Elise Bauer 
Elise Bauer Use tongs to remove to a paper towel lined plate and continue the same process with the other tortillas. You will need to add more oil, make sure it heats up before adding another tortilla to the pan.
- Fry the eggs, sunny side up:
Heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a stick-free sauté pan (cast iron will work fine).
Crack the eggs into the pan and cook, sunny side up, until egg whites are cooked and the yolks are still a little runny.
- Assemble the dish:
Place a cooked tortilla (tostada) on a large serving plate. Spread some beans over the tostada.
Place a fried egg or two over the beans. Line the outside of the tostada with fried plantain, some chorizo.
Elise Bauer 
Elise Bauer Put some salsa over the egg. Put sliced avocado on top of that. Sprinkle crumbled queso fresco over everything. Sprinkle everything with fresh chopped cilantro.
Elise Bauer 
Elise Bauer
