These waffle iron breakfast burritos started during a nine day power outage, when all I had to cook with was a waffle iron, an Instant Pot, a generator, and a bunch of kids who needed a good hot breakfast. I rolled out my tortilla dough, poured a scrambled egg onto the buttered waffle iron, laid the raw tortilla right on top of it, and closed the lid, and what came out was a soft, golden tortilla with the egg cooked directly into one side of it, ready to fill and roll without a single extra pan.
That one move has stayed in my regular rotation ever since, because the egg is welded to the tortilla instead of sliding out the end of the burrito, the waffle grid gives you crisp edges and soft pockets at the same time, and cleanup is one appliance and one small bowl. You can make these homemade breakfast burritos with my long fermented sourdough tortilla dough or with my classic flour tortilla dough, which is the recipe I made for years before sourdough ever lived on my counter, and both versions have their own recipe card below.
If you have only ever made breakfast burritos by scrambling eggs in one pan and warming store bought tortillas in another, this is going to change your mornings, and if you are new to homemade tortillas, the waffle iron is honestly a more forgiving place to start than a hot skillet.
Table of Contents
- Why You Will Love Waffle Iron Breakfast Burritos
- How the Egg Cooks Into the Tortilla in a Waffle Iron
- Sourdough or Classic Tortilla Dough
- Choosing and Setting Your Waffle Iron
- How to Make Breakfast Burritos in a Waffle Iron
- Best Breakfast Burrito Fillings
- Make Ahead Breakfast Burritos
- Tips for the Best Results
- Shop This Recipe
- Waffle Iron Breakfast Burrito FAQ
- Recipe: Sourdough Waffle Iron Breakfast Burritos
- No Sourdough Version
- More Recipes to Try
- Subscribe for Free
Why You Will Love Waffle Iron Breakfast Burritos
The whole point of this method is that breakfast comes out of one appliance in a few minutes, with the egg and the tortilla cooking at the same time instead of one after the other.
- The egg stays put. Because it cooks into the dough, it cannot slide out the bottom of the burrito halfway through breakfast, which matters a lot when the people eating them are kids walking out the door.
- One appliance, very few dishes. There is no skillet for the eggs and no second pan for warming tortillas, just the waffle iron and the small bowl you whisked the egg in.
- Crisp and soft in the same bite. The waffle grid gives you golden ridges on the outside while the pockets stay tender, so the tortilla has texture without turning into a cracker.
- The dough fits your schedule. The sourdough version ferments overnight so it is waiting for you in the morning, and the classic version is ready after about an hour of resting.
- It is completely customizable. Once the egg tortilla comes out of the iron, you can fill it with whatever your house likes best.
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How the Egg Cooks Into the Tortilla in a Waffle Iron
When the raw tortilla dough lands on top of the liquid egg and the lid closes, the egg sets against the bottom plate while the dough cooks from the top plate, and the two bond together where they meet, so you end up with one piece instead of a tortilla with some egg on it.
The waffle iron is what makes this so easy compared to a skillet, because you never have to flip anything. In a pan, you would be juggling a runny egg and a tortilla and hoping they line up, but the waffle iron cooks both sides at once and presses everything together, and the grid pattern gives the egg more surface area to grip the dough.
This only works with raw tortilla dough, which is why these breakfast burritos start from homemade tortillas. A store bought tortilla is already cooked, so the egg has nothing soft to bond with and the tortilla tends to crisp up like a cracker in the iron.
What comes out has the egg on one side, molded into the waffle grid, and the tortilla on the other side with golden ridges, and you fill it egg side up so the egg ends up on the inside of the burrito once it is rolled.
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Sourdough or Classic Tortilla Dough
Both doughs share the same base of flour, double acting baking powder, salt, and fat, and the only real difference is whether active sourdough starter goes in and how long the dough rests before you roll it.
The sourdough version is the one I make most often now, because the long ferment relaxes the gluten so completely that the dough rolls out thin without fighting you, and the flavor deepens without ever becoming sour. I mix it before bed, and in the morning I divide it, rest the balls for a few minutes, and start cooking, which is exactly the kind of timing you want for sourdough breakfast burritos.
The classic version comes from my original handwritten recipe card, the one that has been in my kitchen for over fifteen years and earned five stars in red ink long before I ever fed a starter. It needs a good knead and a rest of about an hour, so it works well on a weekend morning or any time you did not plan ahead the night before. I walk through it in the No Sourdough Version section, and it has its own recipe card there.
Flour: All purpose flour and bread flour both work in either version. Bread flour builds more gluten, so the dough is a little springier and you may need to let the balls rest a few extra minutes before they roll out easily, but the finished tortillas are still soft and pliable.
Fat: Butter, coconut oil, and avocado oil all work. Butter gives the richest flavor, coconut oil makes a very pliable tortilla, and avocado oil keeps everything dairy free if you also grease the iron with oil instead of butter.
Baking powder: Use double acting baking powder, especially in the sourdough version. It releases lift once when it gets wet and again when it hits heat, and since the first round is spent during the long ferment, the second round is what gives the tortillas their puff in the iron. Rumford and Bob’s Red Mill both make aluminum free options.
If you would rather keep plain tortillas on hand for tacos and quesadillas, my soft sourdough flour tortillas post covers the skillet method, fermentation schedules, and freezing in detail.
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Choosing and Setting Your Waffle Iron
The size of your waffle iron decides how big you roll each tortilla, and getting that right is the difference between a clean, round tortilla and dough hanging over the edge of the plates.
Mine is a round Cuisinart that measures about 7 1/2 inches across, so I roll each tortilla to about 7 inches. Roll yours just slightly smaller than the plates of your iron, because the dough spreads a little when the lid presses down, and anything that hangs over the edge cooks unevenly and is hard to lift out.
I cook mine on a medium setting, which is 3.5 on my iron. Every waffle iron runs a little differently, so treat your first tortilla as the test: if the egg is still wet when the tortilla is golden, turn the heat down slightly, and if the tortilla is pale while the egg is cooked through, turn it up.
A round iron with standard depth works best for this. A deep Belgian style iron still works, but the deeper grid holds more egg in each pocket, so you may want two eggs per tortilla to fill it out.
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How to Make Breakfast Burritos in a Waffle Iron
The exact amounts, temperatures, and timing are all in the recipe cards, so this section walks through what each step looks like and why it matters.
Rolling. Start from a rested dough ball and roll from the center outward, turning the dough a quarter turn every few passes so it stays round. If the dough springs back and refuses to get bigger, cover it and walk away for five minutes, because the gluten just needs to relax. I roll each tortilla while the previous one is cooking, which keeps the whole process moving without having a stack of raw tortillas sticking together on the counter.
Greasing and pouring. Butter the preheated iron well, especially the bottom plate, because that is where the egg sits. I prefer scrambling the egg in a small bowl first because it spreads evenly across the whole surface, but you can crack it straight onto the plate if you like a little yolk running through it.
Laying the dough. Lay the raw tortilla right on top of the egg, centered, and close the lid right away so the egg does not set before the dough is on it.
Lifting it out. When it is done, the tortilla side is golden and the egg is fully set, and it lifts out in one piece with a fork or your fingers along the edge. Fill it while it is warm, because a warm tortilla rolls without cracking.
That softness is the thing people do not expect from a waffle iron. Even with the crisp ridges, the tortilla folds over on itself without splitting, which is exactly what you need for rolling a burrito.
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Best Breakfast Burrito Fillings
Lay the tortilla egg side up on your board and put the fillings in a line across the middle, then fold the bottom edge up over them and keep rolling so the egg ends up wrapped around the filling on the inside.
In these photos I used sliced cheddar, guacamole, and pickled red onions. Lay the cheese down first, right on the hot egg, so it softens and melts from the heat without needing to go back into the iron.
A few more breakfast burrito fillings that work well:
- Crumbled breakfast sausage or bacon with sharp cheddar
- Black beans, salsa, and avocado
- Diced roasted potatoes with pepper jack and a little hot sauce
- Spinach, feta, and sun dried tomatoes
- Leftover taco meat with cheese and sour cream
- Cottage cheese (for even more protein)
Keep wet fillings like salsa light, or drain them first, so the inside of the tortilla does not go soggy. If you want a breakfast taco instead of a burrito, fold the tortilla in half over the fillings instead of rolling it.
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Make Ahead Breakfast Burritos
The easiest way to make these on a school morning is to do the dough work ahead of time, so all that is left is rolling and cooking.
For the sourdough version, mix the dough before bed and it is ready when you wake up. If you want even more flexibility, divide the fermented dough into balls and refrigerate them in a covered container for up to 24 hours, then let them sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before rolling.
You can also freeze the shaped dough balls from either version on a parchment lined sheet pan, move them to a freezer bag once they are solid, and keep them for up to 3 months. Thaw them overnight in the refrigerator and let them come to room temperature for about 30 minutes before rolling.
The egg tortillas themselves are best right out of the iron, when they are warm and pliable and the edges still have their crisp.
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Tips for the Best Results
Most problems with this method come down to the size of the tortilla, the heat of the iron, or not enough butter on the plates.
- Roll slightly smaller than your iron. Dough that hangs over the edge cooks unevenly and is hard to lift out.
- Grease the iron every time. Butter the plates before each tortilla, not just the first one, so the egg releases cleanly.
- Close the lid quickly. Once the egg is poured, get the dough on and the lid closed before the egg starts to set on its own.
- Use your first tortilla as the test. Adjust the setting up or down based on whether the egg or the tortilla finishes first.
- Fill while warm. A warm tortilla rolls without cracking, and the heat of the egg melts the cheese for you.
- Check your baking powder. If the tortillas are dense and flat, old baking powder is usually the reason.
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Shop This Recipe
These are the tools I actually use for these breakfast burritos. Some of the links below are affiliate links, which means I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you, and it helps support the blog and keeps the recipes coming.
- Round Waffle Iron: My Cuisinart round waffle iron is about 7 1/2 inches across, which is the perfect size for a single egg and a 7 inch tortilla.
- Wooden Rolling Pin: A straight rolling pin gives you even pressure for rolling the tortillas thin and round.
- Digital Kitchen Scale: Weighing the flour and water is the easiest way to get the same dough every time, and it makes dividing the dough into even balls quick.
- Pastry Cutter: I use it to cut the fat into the flour until it looks like coarse crumbs.
- Baking Powder: An aluminum free, double acting baking powder that keeps its puff through the long sourdough ferment.
Waffle Iron Breakfast Burrito FAQ
Can I use store bought tortillas for waffle iron breakfast burritos?
Not as well for this method, because the egg bonds to the tortilla while the raw dough cooks. A store bought tortilla is already cooked, so the egg will not attach the same way, and it tends to crisp up like a cracker in the waffle iron. But you can give it a try!
What do you put in a breakfast burrito?
Egg and cheese are the base, and from there it is up to you. Sausage, bacon, potatoes, black beans, salsa, avocado, and pickled onions are all great, and the fillings section above has a few of my favorite combinations.
Can you make breakfast burritos ahead of time?
The easiest way to get ahead is with the dough. The sourdough version ferments overnight so it is ready in the morning, the sourdough dough balls keep in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours, and the shaped dough balls from either version freeze for up to 3 months. The egg tortillas themselves are best fresh out of the iron. However they keep well in the fridge and do freeze well, unfilled.
Do I need a sourdough starter?
No. The classic version in the No Sourdough Version section uses the same ingredients without the starter, and it is ready after a knead and about an hour of resting.
Can I use bread flour instead of all purpose flour?
Yes, either one works. Bread flour builds more gluten, so the dough is a little springier and may need an extra few minutes of rest before it rolls out easily, but the tortillas still come out soft.
Should I scramble the egg first or crack it straight onto the waffle iron?
Either works. Scrambling it first spreads the egg evenly across the whole tortilla, while cracking it directly onto the plate gives you streaks of white and yolk.
Can I use two eggs per tortilla?
Yes, two eggs make a heartier burrito, and they fill out a deeper waffle iron better. Just keep the egg from flooding past the edge of the plates.
What waffle iron setting should I use?
I use a medium setting, which is 3.5 on my Cuisinart. Use your first tortilla to dial it in, turning the heat down if the egg is not set by the time the tortilla is golden, or up if the tortilla is pale.
Why is my egg sticking to the waffle iron?
The plates need a good coat of butter before every tortilla, not just the first one. Make sure the iron is fully preheated too, since a cold plate grabs the egg.
What else can you make in a waffle iron?
Plenty beyond waffles, from hash browns and grilled cheese to quesadillas. This same idea of cooking dough right in the iron also works beautifully with croissant dough, which I teach in my Sourdough Croissant Masterclass linked below.
Can I make these dairy free?
Yes. Use coconut oil or avocado oil in the dough, grease the iron with oil instead of butter, and choose dairy free fillings.
Is this a breakfast burrito or a breakfast taco?
Rolled around the fillings, it is a breakfast burrito. Fold it in half over the fillings instead, and it becomes a breakfast taco.
Recipe: Sourdough Waffle Iron Breakfast Burritos
Breakfast Burritos in the Waffle Iron (Sourdough Tortillas)
Equipment
- Round waffle iron
- kitchen scale
- Large mixing bowl
- Pastry cutter or fork
- Rolling Pin
- Small Bowl
Ingredients
Dough
- 360 grams all purpose or bread flour 3 cups
- 8 grams double acting baking powder 2 teaspoons
- 6 grams salt 1 teaspoon
- 60 grams butter coconut oil, or avocado oil (4 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon)
- 200 grams room temperature water 3/4 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons
- 60 grams active sourdough starter 1/4 cup
For the Waffle Iron
- large eggs one-two per tortilla
- 28 grams butter for greasing the waffle iron 2 tablespoons
- Salt and pepper for the eggs to taste
Instructions
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large mixing bowl.
- Add the fat and cut it into the flour with a pastry cutter or fork until the mixture looks like coarse, sandy crumbs.
- Add the water and sourdough starter and mix until a shaggy dough forms, then knead for 2 to 3 minutes until smooth. If the dough feels crumbly, add water 10 grams at a time, and if it feels sticky, add flour 10 grams at a time.
- Cover the bowl tightly and let the dough ferment at room temperature until noticeably puffed and roughly doubled, 6 to 8 hours for a same day ferment or 8 to 10 hours overnight.
- Divide the dough into 10 equal pieces, about 69 grams each. Preshape each piece into a tight, smooth ball, cover, and let the balls rest for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Preheat the waffle iron to a medium setting and butter both plates well.
- Roll one dough ball on a lightly floured surface until it is just slightly smaller than your waffle iron, about 7 inches across for a 7 1/2 inch iron.
- Whisk one or two eggs in a small bowl with a pinch of salt and pepper, then pour it onto the center of the bottom plate so it spreads into the grid.
- Lay the rolled tortilla directly on top of the egg and close the lid right away.
- Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until the tortilla is golden and the egg is fully set.
- Lift the egg tortilla out and lay it egg side up. Fill and roll it while it is still warm so it rolls without cracking.
- Butter the plates again and repeat with the remaining dough balls and eggs, rolling the next tortilla while the previous one cooks.
Notes
No Sourdough Version
If you do not keep a sourdough starter, you can still make these waffle iron breakfast burritos exactly the same way with my classic flour tortilla dough, which is the original recipe I made for years before I started baking with sourdough.
The classic dough leaves out the starter and uses warm water instead of room temperature water, which helps the fat and flour come together quickly since there is no long ferment doing that work. Because the starter was adding a little water of its own, the classic version uses a bit more water to make up for it, and the result is a dough that feels the same in your hands as the sourdough version.
Instead of fermenting for hours, the classic dough gets a 5 to 7 minute knead and a rest of 30 minutes to an hour, which relaxes the gluten enough for easy rolling. After that, the waffle iron method is exactly the same, and the full recipe is in the card below.
If you would like to start baking with sourdough, my Minimal Waste Sourdough Starter Guide walks you through building one from scratch.
Breakfast Burritos in the Waffle Iron (Classic Tortillas)
Equipment
- Round waffle iron
- kitchen scale
- Large mixing bowl
- Pastry cutter or fork
- Rolling Pin
- Small Bowl
Ingredients
Dough
- 360 grams all purpose or bread flour 3 cups
- 8 grams double acting baking powder 2 teaspoons
- 6 grams salt 1 teaspoon
- 60 grams butter coconut oil, or avocado oil (4 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon)
- 215 grams warm water 3/4 cup plus 2 1/2 tablespoons, plus up to 15 grams more if needed (1 tablespoon)
For the Waffle Iron
- large eggs one-two per tortilla
- 28 grams butter for greasing the waffle iron 2 tablespoons
- Salt and pepper for the eggs to taste
Instructions
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large mixing bowl.
- Add the fat and cut it into the flour with a pastry cutter or fork until the mixture looks like coarse, sandy crumbs.
- Add the warm water a little at a time, mixing until a shaggy dough forms. If the dough still feels dry, add up to 15 grams more water.
- Knead for 5 to 7 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.
- Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Divide the dough into 10 equal pieces, about 65 grams each. Shape each piece into a tight, smooth ball, cover, and let the balls rest for 10 minutes.
- Preheat the waffle iron to a medium setting and butter both plates well.
- Roll one dough ball on a lightly floured surface until it is just slightly smaller than your waffle iron, about 7 inches across for a 7 1/2 inch iron.
- Whisk 1 to 2 eggs in a small bowl with a pinch of salt and pepper, then pour it onto the center of the bottom plate so it spreads into the grid.
- Lay the rolled tortilla directly on top of the egg and close the lid right away.
- Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until the tortilla is golden and the egg is fully set.
- Lift the egg tortilla out and lay it egg side up. Fill and roll it while it is still warm so it rolls without cracking.
- Butter the plates again and repeat with the remaining dough balls and eggs, rolling the next tortilla while the previous one cooks.
Notes
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More Recipes to Try
If you love making breakfast and bread from scratch, these are a few more from my kitchen you might enjoy.
- Soft Sourdough Flour Tortillas (Long Fermented or Overnight)
- High Protein Sourdough English Muffins
- High Protein Sourdough Bagels
- Easy No Knead Sourdough Baguettes
- Chicken and Dumplings (Sourdough Discard or Classic)
If you are a croissant person, this same waffle iron idea works beautifully with croissant dough too, and my Sourdough Croissant Masterclass teaches you how to make it from start to finish.
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