Belizean Fry Jacks – Recipe by Belize Adventure

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A family member recently had a birthday and they asked me to make fry jacks for breakfast. At first, the request surprised me, but then I realized that even though I love fry jacks, I also had not eaten them in a long time. Living in Canada and being busy has meant that regular Belizean breakfast dishes such as fry jacks have been replaced with more convenient (sometimes boring) options such as yogurt or plain eggs.

Related: Eat like a local in Belize

To be fair, making fry jacks in itself doesn’t take too long – it’s about 30 minutes tops, however, if you want to enjoy it properly, you have to eat it with a serving of delicious refried beans, which takes a bit long to cook if you want to make it from scratch. I typically cook a pot of beans the night before, and in the morning, it takes me an additional 30 minutes to make refried beans and eggs to accompany my fry jacks.

Belizean Fry Jack Recipe

Fry Jacks Refried Beans and Eggs Breakfast

Ingredients:

1 lb or 2 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon of vegetable shortening
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of water

Directions:

Put the ingredients into a bowl and mix well. (slowly add the water). Knead the ingredients for about 5 minutes until it is smooth. Cut and roll the dough into small/ medium circles and then let it rest for 20 minutes.

Lightly grease your hands with vegetable oil and roll each dough ball flat to the size of a small tortilla and cut them in half or in 4 pieces. Heat the vegetable oil in a deep frying pan. Once the oil is hot, fry the dough, turning it over once. When it’s golden brown, it’s finished. Enjoy!

Fry Jacks as a sweet snack

Additionally, fry jacks can be eaten as a dessert.

As a kid, every once in a while, as a special treat, my mom would coat recently fried fry jacks in brown sugar and cinnamon and we would have them as dessert. I recall that it was amazing.

Stuffed Fry Jacks

As I mentioned earlier, typically, fry jacks are eaten with refried beans and eggs. Another popular way to eat them is stuffed with refried beans or ground beef!

I cannot make stuffed fry jacks but when I get a recipe I will make them and share it with you guys. Below is a photo of refried beans stuffed fry jacks that I had when I was in San Ignacio last year.