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I love weekends. Weekends are when we slow down and do what we want to do instead of what our jobs demand. For me, one of the pleasures of weekends is having time to cook breakfast. A proper breakfast – not just a quick cup of coffee and a muffin. A few weeks ago I was browsing through one of the multitude of food magazines that are perpetually stacked by my spot on the sofa, when I saw the recipe that was the inspiration for this post. Hash browns layered with typical omelet ingredients. Potatoes, ham, onions, bell pepper and eggs. How could you possibly go wrong with that combination? It turned out to be every bit as delicious as I thought it would and now I’m happy to share it here with you. You’re gonna like this one. I guarantee it.
This recipe was originally meant to be made in large muffin cups, but I really wanted to use my little Lodge cast iron skillets for it. They’re about 6 inches across and make a really fun presentation for individual servings of lots of recipes. I do have to admit, though, that I could only finish about half a skillet of this Hash Brown-Omelet recipe so next time I’ll probably use the large muffin cups instead.
Start by preheating your oven to 475 degrees.
Prepare the skillets (or 6 large muffin cups or 6 small ramekins) with a smear of butter and set them aside. I put the skillets on a large baking sheet to make handling easier.
In a large microwave safe bowl, melt 4 teaspoons of butter. Remove the bowl from the microwave and add the hash browns and egg whites. Season with salt and black pepper to taste. Using a wooden spoon, mix gently but thoroughly.
Divide the mixture evenly between the skillets (or muffin cups or ramekins), pressing firmly into the bottom and up the sides of each skillet or muffin cup. Bake for 15 minutes.
While the hash browns are cooking, prepare the filling. In a small non-stick skillet, melt ½ teaspoon of butter over medium heat. Add the onion, bell pepper and ham. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion has softened. Season with a little salt and pepper.
Remove the skillets with the hash browns from the oven and divide the onion-pepper-ham mixture evenly among each. Top with the cheddar cheese. Return to the oven an bake for 2 minutes.
Remove skillets from the oven and crack two eggs into each (one egg into each muffin cup or ramekin if using). Season with salt and pepper. Return to the oven and bake until whites are set but yolks still runny – about 7-8 minutes.
If using skillets, serve directly from the skillet. If using muffin cups or ramekins, remove each from the cups and serve immediately.
Enjoy!
–Original recipe from Martha Stewart Everyday Food
Skillets layered with hash browns, ham, onions, bell peppers, cheese and eggs.
Ingredients
- 7 1/2 tsp. butter, divided
- 4 cups refrigerated shredded hash browns (or frozen hash browns thawed)
- 2 egg whites
- Salt
- Pepper
- 1/2 small onion, diced
- 1/2 small red bell pepper, diced
- 4 oz. ham, diced
- 3 oz. cheddar cheese, grated
- 6 eggs
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 475 degrees.
- Using 3 teaspoons softened butter, prepare three 6” skillets (or 6 large muffin cups or 6 small ramekins) and set aside.
- In a large microwave safe bowl, melt 4 teaspoons butter.
- Remove from microwave and add the hash browns and egg whites.
- Season with salt and black pepper to taste.
- Using a wooden spoon, mix gently but thoroughly.
- Divide the mixture evenly between the skillets (or muffin cups), pressing firmly into the bottom and up the sides of each skillet or muffin cup.
- Bake for 15 minutes.
- While the hash browns are cooking, prepare the filling.
- In a small non-stick skillet, melt 1/2 teaspoon of butter over medium heat.
- Add the onion, bell pepper and ham.
- Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion has softened.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Remove the skillets with the hash browns from the oven and divide the onion-pepper-ham mixture evenly among each.
- Top with the cheddar cheese.
- Bake for 2 minutes.
- Remove skillets from the oven and crack two eggs into each (one egg into each muffin cup or ramekin if using).
- Season lightly with salt and pepper.
- Bake until whites are set but yolks still runny – about 7-8 minutes.
- If using skillets – serve directly from the skillet. If using muffin cups, remove each from the cups and serve immediately.
Other hash brown recipes you might enjoy from around the internet:
- Lynn’s Veggie, Egg and Hash Brown Casserole from Inn Cuisine
- Taste of Home’s Hash Brown Egg Bake
- Chile-Cilantro Hash Browns from Chow
- Betty Crocker’s Hash Brown Potato Bake
What I was cooking…
- One year ago: Copper Pennies
- Two years ago: Huevos and Grits, Y’all
{ 33 comments… read them below or add one }
Ooh, those look de-lish! Is it sad that even just the buttered skillets look great to me? ;)
Ha ha! They’re even better once you put something in them, Katrina :-)
Oh to wake up to that! GREG
Thanks, Greg. It’s delicious and will take you all way through to dinner!
If I was served this for breakfast…I’d kiss the cook. Looks SO dang amazing, not to mention, I need to get me a few of those cast iron mini’s! I’m a ‘breakfast for dinner’ lover, so these will be dinner very soon!
This is a perfect “breakfast for dinner” recipe, Lisa. For dinner I’d probably add a little fresh fruit salad and maybe a biscuit or two.
Its not often I can look at an egg and think “I could eat that” but I could eat this. It looks yummy!
I also have a nice stack of magazines near my chair….and Grumpy is always complaining about it. lol I tell him tough. Its my hobby and I AIN’T givin’ it up! ;o)
You know, I really need to clean up that stack of magazines but I’m not giving it up, either!
I would love to have skillets like that one day! They look so handy, and perfect for individual or small portions. The whole thing looks delicious!A breakfast of champions you could say! Bravo!
Thanks, Jeff. It’s definitely a keeper of a recipe.
This is the perfect winter lunch or dinner for me – and making it in large muffin tins sounds fun but I do love the little skillets (I took one from my mom on my last visit). I love all the hearty ingredients you add to the skillet. Really delicious!
Most definitely a great dinner choice, Jamie. Especially on a cold winter night.
That really looks like the perfect breakfast. I might try it out sometime using sweet potatoes instead of regular. And I just love those skillets, too – there’s something so nice and rustic about them!
Who doesn’t love a one skillet meal?! So easy for clean up, especially on the weekends when you least feel like doing dishes. Also thank you for using shredded potatoes or hash browns! I am from the Midwest and moved East and on the East Coast there are no hash browns! They have home potatoes which I am not a fan of-they do not have the same crisp and delicious potato flavor as just plain shredded potatoes.
The Dinner Belle for Kimberlybelle.com
Oh, yes, we love hash browns! Surprised you’ve had trouble finding them on the east coast. They’re all over the place here in Georgia :-)
Don’t you just love anything with a runny egg on top? This omelette looks like it would really stick to your ribs! Love those little Lodge pans too! Being Gluten intolerant I’m always looking for ways to enjoy eggs and not miss the bread…this seems like a hearty way to do it. You’d love my vinegar braised greens with a runny egg on top…makes an eggs-for-dinner or lunch kind of meal during the week.
Those greens do sound good!
You are killing me! No breakfast yet…need I say more?
YUM!! This has everything I want in a breakfast.. who needs to go out with I can have this at home?? Delish!
I just made these! I don’t have large muffin tins, so I put it all in a large cast iron skillet, and it turned out great! Thanks for the recipe, I just found your site through Pintrest!
You know, I thought about doing it all in one large skillet. Glad to know it works well that way, too!
This looks delicious!!! You can make it for me anytime.
How wonderful, I would happily jump out of bed for this in the morning!
mary x
This breakfast feast makes me want the weekend to come even faster and hang around longer! Absolutely perfect dish for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. LOVE it!!
Simply, pretty, and yummy!
My hubby doesn’t like runny eggs. Is there a way for me to incorporate scrambled eggs instead?
Maybe you could try beating the eggs and pouring them over. Or you could just cook the whole eggs for a few minutes longer until the yolks are set.
This is my dinner tomorrow, “Breakfast for Dinner”, looks so yum!
OMG!! These are delish!! Since I am lacking in the cast iron skillet department, I used muffin tins and… Wow!! My hubby and I scarfed these right up! Thank you for a stellar recipe and thank you Pinterest for finding it for me!
One thing: I had to decrease the amount of hashbrowns in order to get these to fit into muffin tins. For six muffin tins, I only used about 22 ounces 0f potatoes, rather than the 4 pounds (!). Thanks again!
I just made this for my husband and myself, tonight. It was wonderful. I used one 12″ cast iron skillet. I halved the hash browns (they were diced instead of shredded and had to cook them about 25 minutes) but kept everything else the same. Thank you!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Nikki. It’s one of those recipes that’s good for either breakfast or supper.
I wonder – could you scramble the eggs first before you bake? I am not a fan of a runny egg.
I’m really not sure about that, Melissa. You could just cook them a few more minutes until the eggs are set instead of runny.
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