These healthy breakfast tacos are my favorite way to start the day. Fresh & light, they're easy to make, but they're packed with flavor.
If you asked everyone in Austin where they get their favorite breakfast tacos, you’d get a different answer from every person. Austinites have opinions about breakfast tacos like Chicagoans have opinions about pizza. Since I moved to Austin a number of years ago, I’ve eaten more breakfast tacos than I could ever begin to count – most I’ve loved (some I haven’t) but after all that, my favorite place to have them… is at home. Here’s why:
First, I like to eat breakfast right when I wake up, so I usually don’t have the patience to even run down the street to get tacos in the morning.
Second, I can make them however I want, which means goodbye greasy tacos, and hello tons of veggies. The base of this healthy breakfast tacos recipe is a very green egg scramble that’s filled with green peppers, green onions, arugula, and a scoop of yellow tomato salsa. My breakfast tacos are fresh, healthy, and lighter than anything you’d find at a restaurant or truck.
How to Make Breakfast Tacos
The first step to this breakfast tacos recipe is to make the salsa. It’s a quick, fresh salsa that takes just a few minutes to mix together. It can also be made the night before for quicker morning taco-making. Of course, if you happen to have tomatillo salsa or pico de gallo on hand, they’d be great here too.
Next, cook the veggies with a scoop of the salsa. When the salsa and veggies are finished, I start cooking the eggs in a nonstick skillet and stir in the vegetables halfway through.
Once off the heat, I stir in a big handful of chopped leafy greens. I often go for spinach, but this time I had some great-looking arugula. I also tossed in some cilantro for good measure. Assemble the tacos with more salsa, avocado, and salt and pepper, and enjoy!
Breakfast Tacos Recipe Tips
- Cook the veggies in a separate pan from the eggs. This way, you’ll be able to accurately judge the cooking times for both the veggies and the eggs – one won’t overcook before the other’s ready. I also find that cooking scrambled eggs in a fresh pan with hot oil makes them less likely to stick.
- Take the eggs off the heat when they’re still a little bit runny. You don’t want them to overcook while you assemble your tacos!
- Warm the tortillas. When it comes to breakfast tacos (or any tacos, for that matter), warm tortillas are a must. I like to char mine over a gas flame until the edges brown, but you can also wrap them in foil and warm them in the oven.
 Breakfast Tacos Recipe Variations
- Add some cheese. I make my breakfast tacos dairy-free because I’m not a huge fan of egg and cheese together. But if you’re a cheese lover, add a handful shredded cheddar when you’re cooking the eggs, or top the tacos with crumbled feta.
- Make them heartier. Slather the tortillas with refried beans before you add the egg mixture, or mix in a few black beans.
- Add extra richness. Swap the avocado slices for guac, or top your breakfast tacos with a dollop of cashew sour cream.
- Top them with a pickle. For a bright, tangy pop of flavor (and maybe extra heat), top the tacos with pickled red onions or pickled jalapeños.
- Choose your favorite tortillas. Any tortillas are fair game! Because I love the flavor of corn tortillas but appreciate the pliability of flour tortillas, I like to use tortillas made from a mix of corn and wheat flour. I’ll either buy this brand, or make my own. If you use regular corn tortillas, this breakfast taco recipe is totally gluten-free.
Let me know what variations you try!
More Favorite Breakfast Recipes
If you love these healthy breakfast tacos, try one of these breakfast recipes next:
- Best Breakfast Burrito
- Veggie Frittata Muffins
- How to Make a Frittata (+Variations!)
- Avocado Toast (+Variations!)
- Steel-Cut Oatmeal
- Overnight Oats, Many Ways
- Or any of these 60+ healthy breakfast recipes or best brunch recipes!
Healthy Breakfast Tacos
- 1 large yellow tomato, diced
- 3 tablespoons diced red onion
- 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
- ½ to 1 serrano pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- Juice from ½ lime
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 green pepper, cored, stem removed, and diced
- 3 scallions, chopped
- 6 eggs, beaten
- 2 cups arugula or spinach, chopped
- Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 8 tortillas (corn, flour, wheat, or homemade - whatever you like)
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro, more for garnish
- 1 avocado, sliced
- Lime wedges
- Make the Yellow Tomato Salsa: In a small bowl, combine the tomato, onion, cilantro, serrano, garlic, lime juice and salt. Chill until ready to use.
- In a small nonstick skillet, heat a drizzle of olive oil over medium heat. Add the green pepper, scallions, and a pinch of salt and pepper and sauté until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Scoop a large spoonful of the salsa into the pepper mixture and stir. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Brush a large nonstick stick skillet lightly with olive oil and bring to medium heat. Add the eggs, let them cook for a few seconds and then stir. Add the green pepper mixture to the eggs. Continue to stir and scramble the eggs until just set. Remove from the pan from the heat while the eggs are slightly runny and stir in the arugula and half of the extra cilantro.
- Assemble the tacos with the egg mixture, a scoop of salsa, the remaining cilantro and a few slices of avocado. Finish with a squeeze of lime and a pinch of salt and pepper, if desired. Garnish with cilantro and serve with lime wedges.
Special thanks to GreenPan for sponsoring this post. All images and opinions are my own.
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I have a tomato allergy and would love to make this …what can I substitute the tomatoes with?
Hi, you could use corn, avocado, or even black beans instead of the tomato. These subs won’t be as juicy as the tomatoes, so you may want to top the tacos with a little of your favorite store-bought salsa or hot sauce!