11 Chain Mexican-Inspired Breakfast Dishes You Should Never Pass Up

When you're in the mood for a Mexican morning meal and you have the time, leisure, and ingredients to make a traditional south-of-the-border breakfast, you might find yourself dining on dishes such as huevos rancheros or pan dulces with champorrado. If you're limited to fast food, however, your options aren't nearly so expansive. We'd love to try the breakfast menu at McDonald's in Mexico, with its Mexican-style scrambled eggs and McMolletes (the Mickey D's version of a Mexican breakfast sandwich that consists of beans and cheese on bread rolls). It's a different situation here in the United States since most chains tend to stick with more familiar menu items like breakfast burritos.

That being said, while breakfast burritos are a staple at most fast food restaurants that don't identify as Mexican (Dunkin', oddly enough, is the one outlier), some chains have expanded their offerings to include breakfast tacos and quesadillas. A few Mexican(ish) franchises such as Taco Bell and Taco John's have also adapted some of their specialties to be more breakfast-y so they can be served in the mornings.

There's nothing remotely Mexican about Burger King's menu unless you count the jalapeños on the Texas Whopper. The chain does, however, offer the Egg-Normous Burrito, a breakfast item consisting of a flour tortilla rolled around a generous filling of bacon, eggs, cheddar, hash browns, and spicy sauce. One Redditor noted that the name is not hyperbole, saying: "Thing was huge! Had plenty of bacon it was great!" A Facebook user agreed: "If yall ain't tried that egg-normous burrito from Burger King , UR MISSING OUT !!! It was so fye and juicy and filled me up [sic]."

Some people consider Del Taco to be an inferior option for a fast food Mexican breakfast, but with the introduction of the new Carnitas Breakfast Big Fat Taco, it seems those days may be over. It's technically a taco in name only since it's on flatbread rather than a tortilla, but it looks taco-ish and the filling of scrambled eggs, cheddar, pork carnitas, and salsa verde is relatively Mexican and also pretty darn tasty. One Facebook user called this taco "super indulgent and packed with flavor." Meanwhile, a YouTube reviewer said, "I would get that for breakfast again in a heartbeat" and awarded it a score of 91 out of 100.

Dunkin' has its roots firmly planted in the Northeastern United States, and as such its menu doesn't typically show much of a Southwestern influence, much less a Mexican one. Nonetheless, it currently has one Mexican-ish item on the menu: the Chipotle Hash Brown Wake-Up Wrap. Despite the name, it's every bit as much a taco as the Del Taco breakfast taco since it's also enclosed in a folded flatbread. Inside this sturdy shell is a filling consisting of eggs, bacon, cheese, and a chipotle aioli sauce (it's not a true aioli, more of a flavored mayo, but we'll let it slide). "Soooo good, def recommend," one Redditor said of this wrap. Another commenter on the same thread enjoyed the use of hash browns to bulk it up and make it a more satisfying morning meal. If you want to amp up the Mexican flavor, you can add a side of guac (or avocado spread, as per Dunkin's genericism).

McDonald's venerable breakfast burrito has been around for 35 years, although sadly it no longer sells for $0.99 (does anything these days?). The current iteration, just like the original, is made with sausage, scrambled eggs, cheese, and onion. The only real change is that the 21st century version now contains green chiles instead of tomatoes. As one Redditor characterized this menu item, "It probably uses the cheapest ingredients of any fast food breakfast burrito that's sold on the American market, but I can't get enough of them." In a later comment, that same Redditor explained that while these burritos may not be much to look at, "It's all about the taste. McDonald's mastered it in an affordable way and didn't try to over-engineer everything in it like the competition does."

Breakfast burritos have been around for years and breakfast tacos seem to be taking off now, but as far as we can tell Qdoba remains the only major chain to offer breakfast quesadillas. (Bet you didn't even know this popular Mexican chain offered breakfast, but it does.) These are filled with scrambled eggs, cheese, and potatoes with the optional addition of bacon, chicken, or chorizo. The quesadillas also come with a choice of several different salsas, including red, green, habanero, corn, and pico de gallo along with sour cream and guac on the side. Yelpers praise the generous portion size as well as the flavor. As one reviewer enthused, "They make it fresh in front of you so it's hot and delicious!"

Taco Bell introduced the loaded tostada-burrito mashup it calls a Crunchwrap first, but it later added breakfast versions of the item. Unlike the Crunchwrap Supreme, breakfast Crunchwraps are made with scrambled eggs and have hash browns in place of the tostada, thus making them slightly less crunchy. The meats are different too, with three varieties available at present: sausage, bacon, and a California Crunchwrap which includes bacon, diced tomatoes, and guacamole. Each one has fans who claim it's the best thing on Taco Bell's breakfast menu, while one Redditor asserts of the sausage, "When the hash browns are fresh, it's close to the best item on their menu overall."

Yet another strong contender for the best Taco Bell breakfast item is the Grande Toasted Breakfast Burrito. Our reviewer was particularly partial to the sausage version, but the bacon and steak ones are also good. In addition to the protein, each generously-sized burrito is stuffed with scrambled eggs, potatoes, tomatoes, and a blend of cheddar, mozzarella, and pepper jack. "Cheesy toasted breakfast burrito with the breakfast salsa is a sleeper hit and super cheap for as big as it is," opined one Redditor. Another commenter agreed and added, "TB has the best fast food breakfast burrito because no other fast food chain grills their breakfast burritos."

Taco Cabana offers one of the largest selections of breakfast tacos you'll find in any fast food restaurant, with over a dozen fillings including barbacoa and egg, carne guisada, and bean and cheese. Particularly noteworthy is a pair of limited-time offerings currently on the menu: the hickory-smoked beef brisket and pork carnitas breakfast tacos. Both come bundled in flour tortillas with scrambled eggs and a side of salsa, but one TIkTok review suggests asking for cheese as well. With this addition, the content creator called the brisket and egg taco "absolutely amazing."

Taco John's doesn't have a very Mexican-sounding name and it offers a breakfast dish called Mexican Donut Bites which is similarly quite North American since it encompasses influences from both sides of the border. The base is made up of small fried pastry chunks that look very much like a bite-sized version of Taco John's churros while the topping is a cream cheese frosting such as you might find on a Cinnabon. This item was added to the chain's menu in 2014 and has been a fan favorite ever since. A Redditor recommended it as a must-try for a first-time Taco John's customer, saying, "You'll thank me later." On a post referencing this menu item, one Facebook user declared, "Love the donut bits [sic]."

Taco John's has another unique Mexican-inspired breakfast item for those who prefer savory to sweet. The Potato Olés Scrambler tops the chain's famous fried potato nuggets (think taco-seasoned tater tots) with scrambled eggs, bacon, nacho cheese sauce, shredded cheese, and pico de gallo to make a hearty morning meal that's as filling as it is flavorful. One Facebook fan rated it: "10/10 for the price and conveince [sic] every time!" Another agreed, "Best thing on the menu. Good every time."

Wendy's isn't trying to reinvent the wheel with its breakfast burritos; the two it offers are a pretty standard combo of either bacon or sausage with scrambled eggs and potatoes rolled up in a flour tortilla. The cheese choice is somewhat interesting, though, since in addition to American cheese (which is pretty much a fast food restaurant staple) the burritos have a creamy Swiss cheese sauce. Unorthodox though this condiment may be, it seems to work. Social media users praise the burritos' size, the inclusion of fried potato wedges, the use of fresh eggs, and the fact that each one comes with packet of Cholula. A TikTok reviewer noted all these benefits as well, then proceeded to scarf one down on camera while making yummy noises. Their verdict: "Might be one of my favorite fast food breakfast burritos."