My good friend and fellow mom Gaby is from El Salvador. Although she came to the United States when she was young, she continues to make Salvadoran Breakfast, or desayuno Salvadoreño, on a regular basis. She invited Mazen and me over to breakfast last week to try salvadoran food and share the menu with you.
I love breakfast as a meal, probably because I wake up hungry everyday! And we all know hunger is the best sauce.
Traditional Salvadoran Breakfast
I also love experiencing different kinds of traditional food from cultures around the world. Typical breakfasts across the world vary so much. (Check out when I made ugali in Kenya!)
My friend Gaby is from El Salvador and offered to cook us a traditional desayuno Salvadoreño to feature on the blog. A typical salvadoran breakfast includes huevos rancheros, black beans, fried plantains, homemade tortillas, and horchata!
Salvadoran Breakfast Menu
Huevos rancheros
Sunny-side up eggs with fried tomatoes
Platano
Thinly sliced and fried plantains
Frijoles Negros
Dried black beans that have been boiled with salt and pureed
Fried Tomatoes
aka tomato sauce
Handmade tortillas
Freshly ground corn flour mixed with water to form a dough that is shaped into tortillas and fried. You could corn tortillas from the store in a pinch.
Crema or Sour Cream
Horchata
A sweet milky beverage made from morro seeds with cinnamon, vanilla and spices
Coffee with hot milk
Breakfast In El Salvador:
El Salvador Tortillas
Unlike tortillas you’d find in a grocery store, these are made with just one ingredient plus water. Real food for the win! They tasted so fresh and doughy with much more texture than a store-bought option.
All you need is masa harina corn flour, water, and a skillet to cook them in.
What is masa harina?
Masa harina is corn flour that has been treated with calcium hydroxide (lime) which makes it release the niacin in the corn, making it more nutritious and easier to digest. You can buy it in local Mexican market stores, places that sell Bob’s Red Mill, or online at places like Amazon.
How to make handmade tortillas
Mix water and corn flour in a bowl until a dough forms.
The perfect dough consistency!
Roll dough into small balls and then press them into tortillas.
Gaby used a secret trick to get them perfectly round…a ball pressed by a plate between parchment paper. You can also use a tortilla press like this one.
Cook the tortillas in a greased skillet until well formed. Basically corn pancakes! Mmmm doughy!
Here is a full recipe on making handmade tortillas: how to make homemade tortillas.
Fried Tomatoes
The tomatoes were fried in a little oil to make a salsa
Frijoles Negros
aka pureed Black Beans. I absolutely loved the pureed black beans! Gaby uses dried beans from her family’s farm in El Salvador.
Huevos Rancheros
And finally…the fried eggs.
How did it taste?
I loved everything – especially the plantains! It was one of those meals where everything went with everything else. I did a lot of dipping this in that.
Salvadoran Horchata
Salvadoran horchata is made from the seeds of the morro fruit, which looks like green coconut and grows on the morro tree native to southern Mexico and Central America south to Costa Rica. It is rich in vitamins C and E and is a significant source of magnesium, phosphorus, calcium, iron and potassium.
The seeds are dried in the sun and then are ground and mixed with water to make the horchata. In contract, Mexican horchata always uses rice.
How To Make Salvadoran Horchata
Traditional Salvadoran horchata is made by drying seeds in the sun and grinding them with spices.
You can make it yourself with spices and seeds and/or rice that you toast in the oven and then grind or blend into a powder. Add milk to serve it.
Here is a recipe to make it at home with rice: Homemade Horchata.
Gaby Used A Horchata Mix
But we used a mix! A big timer saver if you aren’t living under a morro tree.
Gaby prepared the horchata mix with milk. It tasted like a latte you’d buy at Starbucks minus the coffee – very sweet! A perfect “dessert” to breakfast
Thanks for the delicious meal Gaby!
Other Salvadoran Recipes To Try:
Sopa de pata: a hearty Salvadoran soup made from cow’s feet (!!), yuca, cabbage leaves, chayote squash, sweet corn, plantains, and green beans.
Tamales: Dried corn husks filled with masa dough and all kinds of delicious fillings. They can be filled with meat, beans, or veggies.
Yucca Fries: Yucca is a root that thrives in tropical climates in South America, Central American, and Mexico.
Pupusas: Pupusasare El Salvadorian stuffed corn cakes served with curtido and salsa roja. Like tamales, you can fill them with almost anything!
Madison says
Looks so good!!! Gaby sounds like a great friend!
Dena Norton says
Ahhh….this takes me back. My first introduction to both “horchata” and “platanos” was during a Honduran mission trip over 15 years ago. I loved them both from the first taste! This whole meal looks so authentic and delicious – thanks for sharing, and for giving me a little trip down memory lane!
Monica says
That all looks amazing!
Anele @ Success Along the Weigh says
Uh, yes please!!
Ashley @ Hudson on the Potomac says
I would die over those black beans!! I’ve never heard of frying tomatoes before making salsa — it was probably delicious!!
Michelle @ A Healthy Mrs says
Every item in this post looks amazingly delicious!
maggie @ say yes to salad says
this looks amazing! i’m not sure i could eat that every day, but it sounds like a perfect weekend brunch meal 🙂
Lindsay says
Do you happen to know where she purchased the horchata mix? I LOVE horchata and always order it when we go to our favorite mexican place but it would be awesome (and possibly dangerous…) if I could make it at home!
Brianna says
You can get them at a lot of places such as: Fiesta, Kroger, and H-E-B. If any of these are available in your area. They should all be either in the area they sell kool-aid in or the International Foods area.
Janelle says
Yum! I love being cooking for – especially with breakfast for some reason. And everything looks so tasty.
Katie @ Peace Love & Oats says
Okay this looks amazing! Now I’m going to HAVE to go to the Maxwell Street market here in Chicago soon to get my fix of authentic mexican food! I should check yelp for any Salvadoran restaurants…
Jesse says
this is pretty much my idea of a perfect breakfast, come over and feed me?
🙂 have a great weekend!
http://semiweeklyeats.blogspot.com/2013/09/dinner-and-movie.html
Katie @ A Full Plate says
YUM! And I love me some horchata.
Elyse says
I recently had authentic food from El Salvador for the first time ever and it was amazing!
Ashlee@HisnHers says
YUM! We have an El Salvadorian restaurant here in Texas and they serve frijoles negros instead of salsa with chips for an appetizer. I love how thick they are in comparison to typical Mexican refried beans.
Judy says
Yum!! Has inspired me to make some homemade black beans! And i love the dishes ithe first photo!
Lynn @ the actor's diet says
Plantains are God’s gift to oil and heat
Jackie says
Wow that looks amazing!
Chelsea @ Designs on Dinner says
That looks like my kind of breakfast!
Carol says
I’m Salvadoran, so as soon as I saw the title of the post,I did a double take! YES, that is a typical breakfast for sure, now I’m hungry! 🙂 Glad you enjoyed it!
the lazy vegan who makes good food fast says
Wow those homemade tortillas look amazing! I think I need to make some. I’ve really been getting in to trying to make more things at home instead of using store bought…and who doesn’t love tortillas! As a vegan I’d skip the eggs but the plantains and beans look deeeelicious! yum <3
Ella P says
Ohh, what a hearty and bountiful breakfast! and vegetarian. Simply stellar.
Greetings to you Kath and your friend Gaby (so lovely of her indeed :))
ps: we have horchata in Europe as well, in Spain of course 😉 so delicious and healthy.
Susan says
What a yummy meal! How nice that you got to try dishes from El Salvador right in C-ville.
Michelle says
Hello Kath!! I live in El Salvador and I´ve been reading your blog for over a year now. I was so happy that you tried one of our typical breakfasts!
Cheers and hugs from El Salvador
Tiffany says
This looks amazing! I love experiencing new cultures through food. Very sweet post, thank you for sharing 🙂
Saw this on yahoo today and I thought you would enjoy a new way to make oatmeal! There’s a video at the bottom of the post too.
http://shine.yahoo.com/shine-food/oatmeal-gets-upgrade-bananas-pecans-161800572.html#!knq4G
Hope you have a great weekend!
Jess says
that all looks SO good! and now i’m off to google salvadorian restaurants in cville… : )
lani says
Yum!
emily says
Oh yum! I love horchata so much, but I didn’t know that there was a mix option.
robin says
What a treat!!
Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves says
Yum! Those tortillas look so fluffy and I’m sure the plantains were super tasty. And now I want horchata!
Lauren says
Looks so delicious! I know there are different kinds of horchata but Whole Foods used to sell a delicious one in by the non-refrigerated milks (soy, etc.)
Nick says
This is my kind of breakfast and I’ll eat it every day. Looks very delicious and healthy. I’ll have to try making tortillas from scratch.
Lisa @bitesforbabies says
As I sit here (in Italy) sipping my espresso and eating my biscotti I’m thinking that a breakfast like this once a week would be a great change (even though I’m a creature of habit!). I love South American food…now I need to just find someone who will invite me over for a meal, lol!
colleen says
Do you think she could share the recipe for the salsa and tortillas? Maybe a video?
Ellen says
What a surprise to stop by to see how you’re doing and find this classic! I’ve had so many breakfasts just like this. The homemade tortillas make the meal for me. Can I submit a request for pupusas next? Hello to you and your family! Please send Karen some extra love from me
Molly says
Do you think you could specify exactly how she made the plantains? It looks like those gooey, sweet, melt in your mouth kind that I always find at buffets, but have NEVER been able to recreate at home…
Marissa@ohhhsolovely says
those homemade tortillas look fabulous! what a great meal all around!
Kim says
You mentioned that the corn was freshly ground..can you please explain that process to us? It seems to me that almost nobody does that anymore, at least in the US. Thanks!!
KathEats says
That’s what the traditional recipe calls for. Gaby used pre ground
Kim says
Gotcha. Thanks!
Alex @ Kenzie Life says
That looks like a wonderful savory breakfast! I just tried frying plantains for the first time a few months ago and they were amazing!
Taylor says
That all looks so wonderful! Especially those tortillas!!
Nicole says
Looks like so much fun! And so delicious!
Liz says
That’s very familiar to me 🙂 Im from Latin America (Colombia) and that’s how we eat. Here ingredients never come from a can, a box or a bag. We make everything from scratch. That’s why our meal takes long time to be made. But that’s part of the latin spirit 🙂 Nice breakfast!
Cait's Plate says
Looks absolutely amazing – especially those black beans!!
Chelsea @ TableForOne says
I love those traditional flavors, and nothing compares to homemade tortillas and huevos rancheros with great friends!
Patricia says
I’m from El Salvador and I live very far away from home. This post brought a smile to my face. Thanks!
Kym says
Patricia,
Soy boricua y me saco lagrimas ver a los maduros!!!! And I loveeeeeee pupusas!
Neil Butterfield says
Sounds delicious, I love this type of food.
karla says
Im more in love with your website is good to know when people from another country try others culture/contry recipe a like them!!! Im from El Salvador and believe thas the traneditional breakfast for everyon
Yeimy Rivera says
Leave the tortillas a bit more because that looks like it’s not fully cooked. I’m El Salvadorena.