Savory Bean and Egg Breakfast Bowl

Breakfast in most American kitchens defaults to sweet, which is part of why it stops working by mid-morning. A bowl built on beans starts from fiber and protein instead of sugar, and it holds far longer for it. Dried beans cooked at home run well under a dollar a pound, and even canned beans come in at around a quarter per serving.

The other advantage is that nothing here has to be made specifically for breakfast. Leftover rice from a stir fry, roasted potatoes from Sunday dinner, the last of a can of beans: the bowl is an assembly job, and it takes about as long as toast.

Cooking a pound of dried beans on a Sunday changes what this costs. A pound bag runs about two dollars and yields six cups cooked, which works out to twelve breakfasts at roughly seventeen cents of beans each. They freeze flat in their own liquid and thaw in a few minutes.

Savory Bean and Egg Breakfast Bowl

Warm beans and rice under two eggs and a spoonful of salsa, assembled from pantry staples and last night's leftovers — a savory breakfast that costs pennies and eats like a full meal.

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 15 minutes mins

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Servings 1 serving

Ingredients

  

• 1/2 cup cooked black, pinto or white beans drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup cooked rice or roasted potatoes
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup salsa
• 2 tablespoons shredded cheese optional
• 1/4 avocado sliced, optional
• 1 green onion sliced, optional

Instructions

 

• Combine the beans, rice or potatoes and the water in a small saucepan or microwave-safe bowl. Season with the salt and pepper.
• Warm over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring, until heated through. The splash of water keeps the rice from drying out and loosens the beans.
• While that heats, warm the oil in a small skillet over medium heat and cook the eggs the way you prefer them. Fried with a soft yolk works best, because the yolk becomes the sauce.
• Spoon the warm beans and rice into a bowl and slide the eggs on top.
• Add the salsa, then any of the optional toppings.
• Break the yolks into the bowl before eating so everything is coated.

Notes

Keep the toppings flexible. Salsa, hot sauce, leftover vegetables or a small amount of cheese add plenty of flavor without requiring a separate shopping trip.

Dried beans are the cheapest protein in the store by a wide margin. A pound cooks up to roughly six cups, which is twelve servings of this bowl.

Cook a pound of dried beans on a weekend and freeze them in half-cup portions. They thaw in the pan in a couple of minutes and cost a fraction of canned.

If using canned beans, rinse them. It removes a surprising amount of the sodium and improves the flavor.

Any cooked grain works in place of rice: leftover quinoa, barley, farro, even pasta.

A fried egg over leftovers is the whole idea. Once it is in the rotation, almost anything in the fridge becomes a breakfast.

Keyword black beans, breakfast bowl, budget-friendly, Vegetarian