Cowboy Breakfast Skillet

Last Saturday was a busy day. After breakfast we knew we’d have no real time to eat again until that night. So we threw together the biggest, most protein and fat packed meal we could possibly conceive. It was enough food to keep a cowboy full for hours…believe me, I feed one. It’s the usual suspects here: eggs, sweet potatoes, sausage, cilantro and avocado. I was inspired by our Baked Bibimbap to make a baked version of Huevoes Rancheros. Runny yolks oozing alongside crispy, sweet potatoes and salty sausage. I’m sorry if you’re bored by my constant use of these ingredients, but I obviously am not bored (and I’m not sorry either :p). They can do no wrong in my book.

Ingredients

  • 1 lb breakfast sausage
  • 2 medium sweet potatoes, diced
  • 5 eggs
  • 1 avocado, diced
  • handful cilantro
  • hot sauce
  • raw cheese, optional
  • s & p

Method

Preheat your oven to 400ºF.

In an oven safe skillet, we used cast iron, crumble and brown the sausage over medium heat.

Once it’s brown, use a slotted spoon to remove the sausage and let it hang out while we cook the sweet potatoes. Try to reserve as much of the grease as possible.

Toss the sweet potatoes into the sausage grease and let them get crispy and cooked through.

Add the sausage back into the pan.

Make a few wells in the pan–one well for each egg. Crack your eggs into the wells.

Place the skillet in the oven. We’re just baking the skillet long enough for the eggs to set, about 5 minutes.

Now, turn the oven to broil and hit up the top side of the eggs for a few minutes, but don’t let the yolk cook all the way through–unless you don’t like runny yolks. But man, oh man, the runny yolks go down really nicely with the crispy sweet potatoes. Just sayin’.

Remove the pan from the oven and douse the whole thing with avocado, cilantro and hot sauce.

Serve by scooping out an egg, along with its neighboring goodies, with a large spoon.


Comments

68 responses to “Cowboy Breakfast Skillet”

  1. I make this type of breakfast frequently but don’t have the cast iron pan. So I put a glass lid over the skillet to get the eggs cooked. Glass is key as you can see when the egg yolks get a white top, they’re done.

    This is making me want to get a cast iron skillet as it looks even better than what I normally make.

    1. I’ve tried this in both a cast iron skillet and a stainless steel skillet…believe me, cast iron is a lifelong investment!!!

      I season mine twice a year in lard and duck fat. If you can find a 10 or 12 inch Griswold cast iron skillet, on eBay, for less than $75, DO IT!!! That’s a steal!

      Thanks!

      BK

      1. my grandparents are collectors. they gave us some kind of chicken roaster thing. i haven’t used it yet. i wasn’t sure if it were more of a decorative piece, but i’ll have to dig it out and give it a whirl. we usually just use use the cheapo Lodge brand.

      2. Paige Hill

        Griswold went out of business in 1957. I think Lodge is a very good brand as well.

    2. I love my skillet too. It was given to me by my mom who found it in stuck in the dirt floor of the basement of a house she was renting in the late 60’s. I’m not kidding. My aunt told her to scrub the rust off of it, season it and it will be good as new. It’s my kitchen-essential. I don’t know what brand it is or even how old it is but I’m never giving it up!

    3. I don’t know where you are from, but I got a cast iron skillet for $17 at the Smoky Mountain Knife Works. Pretty sure they have a website you can get it from!

    4. I am new at this. Is this for 2 people or more.

      1. Trying to figure this out! 1lb of sausage for 1 person seems like a lot!

  2. Oh wow! This looks fantastic! This is going on the menu for sure, thank you for sharing!

  3. I never tire of sweet potatoes, sausage or eggs either! This looks awesome.

  4. oh yum, I’m not sick of these ingredients and don’t see myself getting sick of them anytime in the near future. My breakfasts are usually quite similar to this but not as gorgeous!

  5. i’m the kind of cowboy who doesn’t know how to ride a horse or lasso stuff.

  6. Do you need to cook the sweet potatoes first?

    1. Josh Dickler

      Try reading again… Slowly

      1. you made me laugh / I kinda hear my mom talking.

    2. Bridget Longley

      you dice the sweet potatoes and cook them in the sausage grease just like you would if you were frying regular potatoes!

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  9. This sounds just perfect! My 16 month old would dig this I think too-all her favorites: avocado, sweet potato, and sausage!

  10. Made this this morning. AWESOME!!!

  11. Made this for breakfast and added a couple pieces of bacon. Absolutely Fabulous!! Thanks for the recipe!! 🙂

    1. you are very welcome. thanks tracie!

      1. How are serving sizes determined on all the recipes. I’m not sure if I might be missing it somewhere?

  12. Do you meant smear avocado and sprinkle cilantro leaves on top?

    1. We just sprinkled diced avocado and cilantro on it…but if you want to put something more guacamole-ish (mashed) I’m sure that would be delicious too.

  13. […] article: vitamin zzzZzZZzz recipe: paleo cowboy breakfast skillet […]

  14. Mike Strickland

    I hope it’s just me, but this recipe doesn’t print or PDF properly. It feeds out or makes a PDF that’s 10 pages that don’t even have the actual recipe on them.

    1. Kathy Austin

      Mike, I always copy and paste into a Word document. Then it’s saved on my computer and all the extra things don’t print out and suck up my ink!

  15. I am thinking about making this and just want to make sure. You are using the oven the entire time (cooking the sausage and sweet potatoes). Thanks.

    1. no, you’re browning the sausage and cooking the sweet potatoes on the stove. the eggs are getting cooked in the oven.

  16. Might be a stupid question, but what exactly is a breakfast sausage? I think you might call it something different to us (I’m from Australia) Or do you know what i could substitute it for?
    Thanks!

    1. Hi, I’m in Melbourne and have found breakfast sausage both here and in Perth. Both times I’ve found it at organic butchers and its been called English breakfast sausage. Hope that helps!

  17. Leslie and Dan

    Dan and I really enjoy your breakfast items. We eat them for lunch and dinner also. We are excited to make the Cowboy Breakfast Skillet. Thank you.

  18. Awesome! Just made this and Even my two year old is chowing down. We’ve been doing Whole30 for 4 days and were about to go nuts before this meal! I’ll be making it a few times a week for sure.

  19. Thanks for the gorgeous recipe and inspiration! I made this for my husband for breakfast today – sauteed roasted sweet potato wedges in coconut oil, added spicy smoked andouille sausage, 4 eggs, avocado, cilantro and (naughty) feta. It was delicious and we both felt so nourished — thanks again!

  20. I just found out about you guys from Juli over at PaleOMG and this is the first of I’m sure many recipes I will be making of yours! I was bummed that our avocados aren’t ripe yet, so instead of the hot sauce and raw cheese I sprinkled a bit of curry on top…YUMMO! I love this dish and I can only imagine how much more I will love it when we get some good avocados!

  21. I just wanted to come back to this recipe and show my appreciation. This has been our go-to meal for a year now, since it was first posted. We make our adaptation of this recipe at least once a week and typically make extras for breakfasts/lunches through the week. We’ve dubbed it BDF (Breakfast for Dinner) and have friends making this same recipe now, too. It’s an idea easy skillet meal and perfect for our busy family. Thank you! We love what you’re doing and appreciate you so much!

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  24. This was delicious! Thank you so much!

  25. I received your book as a Christmas gift last month (yeah, we celebrated a bit late!) and made this for dinner tonight. Delicious, very filling, great variety of flavors…hubby and I both loved it. 🙂

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  28. […] on this journey and want any input or advice, don’t hesitate to contact me! Whole30 Day 1: cowboy breakfast skillet, banana, bacon burger, green beans, avo, red pear, cashews, dried pineapple, zucchini lasagna, […]

  29. […] original recipe found here———————————————————————————————————————Whole30 Day 6: breakfast casserole leftover, banana, Cherry Pie Larabar, cilantro lime chicken salad leftover, baked sweet potato fries, mixed nuts, dried pineapple, beanless chili, bananaWhole30 Day 7: eggs w/spinach and Italian turkey sausage, banana, apple w/ almond butter, beanless chili leftover, 2 cuties, mixed nuts, dried pineapple, beanless chili leftover, sweet potato casserole (I used 2 sweet potatoes instead of one)Whole30 Day 8: eggs w/spinach and Italian turkey sausage, banana, apple w/ almond butter, beanless chili leftover, sweet potato casserole leftover, mixed nuts, dried pineapple, egg whites w/ spinach, bacon, baked carrot fries […]

  30. […] Whole30 Day 1: cowboy breakfast skillet, banana, bacon burger, green beans, avo, red pear, cashews, dried pineapple, zucchini lasagna, […]

  31. What is the amount of servings for this dish? I can’t wait to try it! Just stumbled on this site!! Awesome!!!

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  35. I come back to this recipe again and again. It’s fantastic for large crowds. Everyone loves it! We’ve done it with bacon, leftover pulled pork, rotisserie chicken, no meat at all – it’s always delicious! Even people who think I’m “crazy” for eating clean have fallen in love with this. Thank you!

  36. wiil samson

    I received your book as a Christmas gift last month (yeah, we celebrated a bit late!) and made this for dinner tonight. Delicious, very filling, great variety of flavors…hubby and I both loved it.
    http://gmdiethelp.com/gm-diet-chart-day-7/

  37. […] blueberries, dried apricots, balsamic), a smoothie (coconut milk, mangos and strawberries) and cowboy breakfast skillet.  The skillet is a must try! We just about died because it was so delicious.  […]

  38. Everett Hellams

    To be successful you must accept all challenges that come your way. You can’t just accept the ones you like. ~Mike Gafka

  39. 1) cooking method suggestions;
    -boil sweet potatoes until they are fully cooked and then sautéed
    -5 min in oven followed by broiling is too long and eggs were overcooked; will preheat oven in future and then just broil pan contents for 2-3 minutes
    2) variations that worked well for me:
    -beef burger mixed with taco seasoning instead of pork sausage
    -sautéed onion in meat oil and then add sweet potatoes
    -I used a sweet potato and butternut squash (thanks to Marks&Spencers already precut into cubes(UK)) mixture
    – before breaking eggs into pan, I mixed about 1/2 cup/12.5 cl of bean & chipotle salsa through the meat and starch mixture
    -I added a handful of shredded mature cheddar cheese (naturally near nill lactose) before cracking the eggs and and after mixing the salsa through; just a sprinkle on top
    – I didn’t use but think that olives, corn & lactose free sour cream would be nice additions

  40. […] Cowboy Breakfast Skillet […]

  41. Made this tonight with the addition of onions. I also used the Applegate chicken and cheese sausages. Such a delicious and filling dinner!

  42. Where are the total carbs # per serving for recipes.

    1. Considering that I’m trying to eat low carb, shouldn’t that be the natural thing to know, or be told?

  43. Kathleen Furlong

    Why aren’t there calorie, cholesterol, fat, protein, and carb counts for this recipe?

  44. Becky Sanchez

    Why do you not include serving sizes in your recipes?

  45. Cathy Lynn Trautmann

    Like the others who asked….. please let us know how many servings this makes. We are starting keto, ….and would like to know if this is for more than 2 servings. Thank you

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