Need a quick dinner idea? These epic 5-minute tacos are done in a flash, featuring a savory chorizo-style egg filling. Prepare to be amazed!

Quick Dinner Idea: 5 Minute Tacos

Oh, hi. We see you, hungry eater in need of a quick dinner idea. Do we have the recipe for you! Alex and I are obsessed with finding meals that are three things: quick, delicious, and healthy. But we wanted to push ourselves even further. Is a 5-minute dinner recipe possible? Well, we think we’ve nailed it with this recipe. Of course, you’ll need to be the judge! The star is “chorizo-style eggs”: eggs whisked with spices that magically turn meaty. Top with salsa fresca, red onion, cilantro and well: WOW. You’ve got to try these.

Video: Dinner in 5 minutes…really.

Best quick dinner idea: 5 Minute Tacos!

It all started with a challenge from my sister. I asked her what kind of recipes she’d like to see from A Couple Cooks next. And she asked, “Can you make a 5-minute dinner recipe?” Of course, that got our wheels turning. Because the recipes we get asked about, again and again, are not how to make the best chocolate cake or chocolate chip cookies. Nope, the question we’re asked again and again is: What are your top quick dinner ideas?

Since Alex and I often make tacos or quesadillas as easy weeknight dinners, we settled on a taco. And for the filling? The chorizo-style eggs in our Veggie Burrito Bowl consistently get rave reviews. Magically, whisking cumin, chili powder, and garlic powder into scrambled eggs and cooking them on low heat forms a meaty substance that we make often. So why not use them as a taco filling? We whipped up a batch and served our 5-minute tacos to my sister.

Her response: Whoa. These are SO good.
Yep, they’re one of the best vegetarian recipes we’ve made in our career.

Quick dinner idea: 5 Minute Tacos

Can you really make them in 5 minutes?

That’s a good question. 5 minutes is pretty ambitious, right? Our answer: Yes, these tacos can be made in 5 minutes. Alex tried and as a speed demon, and made it happen! But here’s what you need to pull it off in 5 minutes:

  • A quick chef who’s confident in the kitchen
  • No toddlers interrupting things!
  • Memorizing the recipe before you start (we’ve made it easy to memorize using ½ tablespoon of all the spices and olive oil)

Depending on your environment, it may take you between 5 and 10 minutes to finish this recipe. But either way: it’s one of the quickest dinner ideas you’ll make.

5 Minute Tacos
These chorizo-style eggs not only taste like meat…they look like it!

What are chorizo-style eggs?

The filling for these quick tacos we call chorizo-style eggs. What’s that? Does it have chorizo sausage? Not at all! This quick dinner idea is vegetarian, and the eggs stand-in for meat. Adding a few magical spices to eggs makes them taste⁠—and look⁠—seriously meaty! The texture looks oddly similar to meat: but it’s only eggs. We stumbled on this trick last year and we use it all the time. Here’s how it works:

  • Whisk together 4 eggs.
  • Whisk in equal parts chili powder, garlic powder, and cumin: we’ve used ½ tablespoon of each to make it easy to remember. These savory spices conjure up the flavor of meat, especially the garlic and cumin combo.
  • Heat a drizzle of olive oil over medium low heat, then add the eggs. Wait for a few seconds while they start to solidify, then start to scrape them into gentle folds. As you scrape, they’ll start to form together into a meat-like texture. Don’t scrape too much or you’ll make too small of pieces: just enough for that it comes together! This process will take only a few minutes.
  • Pop into a taco and enjoy!
Quick Dinner Idea: 5 Minute Tacos

How to keep tortillas warm?

Lastly: let’s talk about keeping tortillas warm! A warm tortilla is key to a good taco. Usually we warm our tortillas over a gas flame on the stovetop (see How to Warm Tortillas). You can do that in this recipe as you’re cooking the eggs. Or you can skip it if you’re just trying to get dinner on the table fast! Tortillas start cooling the moment they’re off the flame, so they can end up brittle within minutes. Luckily, there’s an invention for this problem that’s inexpensive and does the trick.

It’s a tortilla warmer! Alex and I have not found a better way to keep our tortillas warm. It’s basically an insulated pouch traps in the heat and keeps them perfectly heated. You definitely don’t need it for this recipe, but we like having one around our household at the rate we eat tacos around here!

Get one: Tortilla warmer $14

More toppings for this quick dinner idea

Of course, you can use any toppings you’d like for these 5-minute tacos! This quick dinner idea is completely customizable to what you have in your kitchen. If you have some things laying around in your refrigerator, this is the perfect way to use them! Here are a few more adders we’d suggest: but only if you have them on hand:

  • Sour cream or cashew cream
  • Avocado slices
  • Chopped tomatoes
  • Shredded cheese
  • Sliced cabbage
  • A spritz of lime juice

This recipe is…

Vegetarian and gluten-free.

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Egg tacos

Quick Dinner Idea: 5-Minute Tacos


  • Author: Sonja Overhiser
  • Prep Time: 2 minute
  • Cook Time: 3 minutes
  • Total Time: 5 minutes
  • Yield: 2 servings (4 tacos) 1x

Description

Need a quick dinner idea? These epic 5-minute tacos are done in a flash, featuring a savory chorizo-style egg filling. Prepare to be amazed!


Ingredients

Scale
  • 4 eggs
  • ½ tablespoon chili powder
  • ½ tablespoon garlic powder
  • ½ tablespoon cumin
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ tablespoon olive oil
  • 4 taco sized tortillas or 8 mini tortillas
  • Purchased salsa fresca or pico de gallo
  • 1 handful thinly sliced red onion
  • Torn cilantro leaves
  • Hot sauce

Instructions

  1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the 4 eggs. Add the chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, and kosher salt, and whisk until combined.
  2. In a skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the eggs and cook over medium low heat, scraping as the eggs solidify, about 3 to 4 minutes total. As you scrape, they’ll start to form together into a meat-like texture. Don’t scrape too much or you’ll make too small of pieces: just enough for that it comes together! 
  3. If time, warm and char the tortillas by placing them on an open gas flame on medium for a few seconds per side, flipping with tongs, until they are slightly blackened and warm. (See How to Warm Tortillas.)
  4. Top with salsa fresca (drain extra liquid before serving), thin sliced red onions, torn cilantro leaves, and hot sauce.
  • Category: Main Dish
  • Method: Stovetop
  • Cuisine: Mexican Inspired

Keywords: Quick dinner idea, 5 minute dinner, Vegetarian tacos, Egg tacos

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This recipe is featured in our 7 Recipes for the Week Ahead meal plan!

About the authors

Sonja & Alex

Meet Sonja and Alex Overhiser: Husband and wife. Expert home cooks. Authors of recipes you'll want to make again and again.

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19 Comments

  1. OK … I am from Texas so I know Tacos and Chorizo … I am not a vegetarian … so I was very skeptical, but as a foodie who was searching for new ideas I thought “what the heck”. These are FAN-freakin’-TASTIC … simple and quick to boot … There are very few things that pretend to be something meat related (no offense at all of vegetarians) that even come close, but this nails it. Highly recommend!!

  2. Have you all considered doing this or the burrito bowl that has the same style eggs as one of your YouTube recipes? I am excited to try the eggs, but anxious because I’m prone to doing entirely too much or too little when it comes to stirring for recipes. For example, I didn’t know that peaked egg whites meant whip to the point that it literally forms a mountain in the bowl until I watched a video and it was a game changer for waffles and baking. Would love to see what your technique is for something unique like this!

    1. Hi! There’s actually a video for this one at the bottom of the recipe card (or in the little video popup on the post!). The scraping of the eggs is shown in the video. Hope you make them and enjoy!

  3. I’m glad I saw your reply from my phone because I could see the video right where you said it would be, looks like my ad blocker interfered with it on the desktop page. I’ll make sure I turn that off for your site. I was able to watch it in time and it definitely helped. It was sooooo yummy! We loved Torchy’s breakfast tacos when we visited Austin and I was ready for the “egg-rizo” to be a similar breakfast taco experience, but was blown away that all the spices change not only the flavor but also the texture so much that you really can’t tell that it’s egg. Amazing! My meat loving boyfriend even said he’d be happy to add this to our meal planning rotation. :)

  4. This recipe makes a whole lot of promises and magically delivers on every one — super quick, simple, delicious and a really satisfying meat substitute. The way the texture comes together is actual magic. I definitely look forward to keeping this one in the rotation, thanks for a great recipe!

  5. I made these to surprise my husband for breakfast this morning! We live in Arizona and eat a lot of Mexican food. This recipe is fantastic!!! We both loved it!! You suggested topping it with salsa fresca. I didn’t have it so I made pico de gallo- for the first time! That made this recipe longer, but it tasted so delicious paired with the charred corn tortillas stuffed with these incredibly spiced eggs!!! A real winner!!! I’m new to your site and LOVE how many recipes you’ve created that I’m planning to try next!!!

  6. Just made this tonight for myself and my 2 year old – I actually laughed out loud when you listed the caveat to this being a 5 minute meal……”if you have a toddler!” I will attest to the fact that it took closer to 15 minutes, we turned them into quesadillas and actually the 2 year old preferred the eggs by themselves! They’re that good. Also he thought it was chicken :P thank you for saving my sanity and making dinner happen tonight!

  7. Not only are these tacos quick and easy, they are amazing. They are great for breakfast, lunch or dinner, but also excellent for camping. I’m always looking for healthier camping meal ideas that don’t take too much effort, these tacos are perfect for that. Thank you for this great recipe!

  8. Amazing recipe! I’m always looking for quick, simple & delicious recipes to add to my family’s meal rotation! Actually I could eat tacos everyday and these are perfect.

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