Tasty Tailgate: Tamara Branch’s Award-Winning Breakfast Tacos
The ultimate game day experience begins long before the Dawgs take the field. Gathering with friends and family, smelling the smoke off the grill and feeling the crisp freshness of a fall Saturday in South — all that begins with the perfect recipe to make your tailgate Bulldog-worthy.
Top Dawgs from around the country have come together to share with you their favorite recipes. Today’s dish comes from Tamara Branch (BBA ’09, JD ’12), vice president of legal in the Tift Regional Health System and a 2024 40 Under 40 honoree. Her breakfast tacos from her family’s barbecue competition team, Butcher and Banker, have brought home the top prize at the Rhythm and Ribs Festival in Tifton, Georgia, for two years in a row!
These tacos have taken home the top prize at Tifton, Georgia’s Rhythm and Ribs Festival two years in a row.
Ingredients
For the breakfast tacos:
Fresh 6” or 8” corn or flour tortillas
Breakfast potatoes
Yellow onions
Red bell peppers
1 lb. pan sausage
Scrambled eggs
Cooked bacon, crumbled
Cilantro (for garnish)
Pico de Gallo (homemade or store bought)
Limes
Pregame
For a quick assembly on game day, prepare the following ingredients ahead of time!
Pickled Red Onions
Boil white vinegar, water, cane sugar and salt. Pour into mason jar or other airtight canister.
Thinly slice red onion and add to pickling liquid for at least one hour and up to overnight. Drain.
Avocado Lime Crema
In a blender or food processor, add avocado, lime juice, salt, cilantro, and sour cream. Puree until smooth.
Sausage
Smoke pan sausage (shaped into a loaf) on low heat for approximately three hours at 250F. After it cools, dice smoked sausage approximately same size as potatoes.
Bacon
Fry bacon and crumble.
Gameday
Heat the Blackstone, cast iron or griddle on medium heat and prepare the following ingredients.
Sausage
Brown the diced sausage.
Breakfast Potatoes
Dice potatoes, yellow onion and red bell pepper. Combine. Cook until soft.
Eggs
Add salt, pepper to taste and scramble eggs until just done.
Assembly
Assemble the tacos and get ready to cheer on the Dawgs!
- Lightly toast tortillas on Blackstone, cast iron or griddle.
- Spread avocado lime crema on tortilla.
- Layer breakfast potatoes, sausage and scrambled eggs.
- Top with crumbled bacon, pico de gallo, pickled red onion and cilantro.
- Squeeze lime juice over tortilla and enjoy!
Tamara Branch’s family’s barbecue competition team has competed in the Rhythm and Ribs Festival for five years.
When she’s not winning awards at BBQ festivals and preparing delicious recipes for her fellow Dawgs, Tamara supports students at the UGA Law School and immersive student research experiences with Coastal Georgia Marine Ecology. Give now, and you, too, can support the Bulldog experience for UGA students.
