Egg Ham Potato Breakfast Skillet

What is a breakfast skillet?

Most skillet breakfast recipes are hearty dishes loaded with meat, such as bacon, ham or sausage, potatoes, onion, bell peppers and eggs. Everything is cooked together in a large skillet, sometimes in stages based on how long each ingredient will take to cook. They are a popular breakfast choice because they are easy to make, customizable, and satisfying. Some versions of skillet breakfasts are usually available at restaurants. 

Ingredients

See recipe card for exact amounts.

Ingredient Notes

ham – we use diced ham, this is a great recipe to use leftover holiday ham. 

potatoes – I like to us Simply Potatoes diced potatoes. They come plain, with seasoning, or with onions and can be found in the refrigerated section of the store, sometimes near the eggs. We get whichever variety that is available at the store at the time. You can use precooked fresh potatoes or frozen diced potatoes that have been thawed. I have not made this particular recipe using hash browns so I am not sure how it would turn out. 

eggs – we use large fresh eggs, see *recipe note below about how the eggs cook in this recipe. 

mushrooms – pre-cooked mushrooms come in a jar and can usually be found on the aisle with the canned vegetables. 

cheese – the best breakfast foods like this have plenty of cheese, am I right?! We use whatever shredded cheese we have on hand, cheddar cheese or a cheese blend will work. 

green bell pepper – we use just a bit for added flavor, a red bell pepper would give a sweeter taste than green. 

seasoning – we season this dish simply with a little salt and black pepper. 

canola oil – this ensures nothing sticks, you definitely don’t want that!

How to make this easy breakfast skillet recipe

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the ham and bell pepper and cook until the pepper begins to soften and the ham begins to brown. 
2. Add the potatoes, salt, and pepper and cook for 15 minutes, stirring every 3-4 minutes.
3. Stir in the mushrooms and sprinkle the cheese evenly over the entire mixture. 
4. Make indentations and break eggs into them, do this one at a time until all 6 eggs have been added (the ham and potatoes will just get in your way if you try to make all the indentations at once). Cover and cook until the eggs are cooked through, about 10 minutes. The heat may need to be reduced if the potatoes and ham are browning too quickly. 

*Recipe Notes 

• I use a 12 inch ceramic non-stick skillet that I bought at Walmart for just over $21 (not an affiliate link, just showing you what I use).
• In order to get the egg whites cooked all the way our egg yolks come out over hard, if you want scrambled eggs, over easy eggs, or sunny side up eggs you will need to cook them separately and add them on top or serve them on the side. 
• An additional pinch of salt and pepper can be added to the top of the eggs, if desired.
• Since the dish does not get stirred after the eggs are added you may need to turn the heat down so the potatoes and ham don’t get burnt, you want them to be a nice golden brown. 

Substitutions and additions

• Not a fan of ham? Cooked bacon can be used, just add it in with the mushrooms since you are basically just warming it up. 
• Olive oil, vegetable oil, or melted butter can be used instead of canola oil.
• Don’t like mushrooms? Just leave them out. 
• If you can’t find diced potatoes with onions you can add some chopped yellow, white or red onion in with the ham and bell pepper. Or finish the dish off with some green onions for fresh onion flavor. 
• The sky is the limit when it comes to seasoning; onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, cajun seasoning or dried herbs such as oregano, rosemary or thyme can be added.