Cowboy Breakfast Skillet One Pot Campfire Breakfast
Some of the best camping breakfast ideas are one-pot recipes that are hearty enough to satisfy your appetite until dinnertime. This simple Cowboy Breakfast Skillet meal features potatoes, sausage and eggs that can be cooked scrambled and sunny side up together in a cast iron skillet over a morning campfire.
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Prep To Make This Easy Campfire Breakfast
Anytime you are making a campfire meal, you need to get the fire going well in advance of cooking your food.
As the campfire is building to a level to produce coals that are ready for cooking, you can prep your ingredients.
For this recipe, you will be chopping a bit of red bell pepper, onion, red potato, and scallions.
Methods Of Cooking Cowboy Skillet Breakfast Recipes
We really like making winter camping recipes using campfires because we always seem to need the heat from a warm fire to encourage us to get out from our cozy warm bed!
Traditionally, cowboys cook campfire recipes over a nice big bed of campfire coals that come from burning hardwood but they sometimes use lump charcoal too. Make sure you use a campfire safe skillet when cooking over open flames.
Fire restrictions may prevent you from using an open flame. If that happens, just make this as one of your camp stove recipes by preparing your propane stove for cooking on a level surface.
Steps To Make This Campfire Breakfast Skillet
Step 1. Prepare your ingredients as directed.
Step 2. Prepare your heat source and pan. You will be cooking over a medium heat. Once your campfire or camp stove is ready, you’ll pre-heat your cast iron skillet. I created this recipe as one of our camping meals for two but it can be easily scaled up to feed larger groups.
Camp Cooking Tip: Use a 10-inch cast iron skillet if cooking for one or two and a 12-inch large skillet if you are feeding 3-6 people.
Step 3. Brown the sausage. You’ll brown the sausage and crumble it using a large spoon as it cooks.
Step 4. Add the vegetables. Once the sausage is browned, leave the sausage grease in the pan and add the butter, bell pepper, onion, potatoes, salt and pepper. You’ll need to cover the pan so the potatoes can soften.
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Camp Cooking Tip: Some cast iron skillets have lids, others come in unique combo sets where the Dutch oven is used as a lid for the skillet and when you flip it over, the skillet is used as a lid for the Dutch oven. If your skillet doesn’t have a lid, you can use a lid from a traditional Dutch oven or just use aluminum foil.
Lodge Pre-Seasoned Cast Iron Combo Cooker, 2-Piece Set, 10.25 Inch Size
Step 5. Cook the eggs. The really nice thing about this campfire breakfast is that you can cook eggs sunny side up and scrambled at the same time. You’ll need to flatten the sausage and potato mixture in the bottom of the pan. Then, you’ll make little “wells” which is where you will drop the eggs for cooking.
Camp Cooking Tip: Leave a layer of the potato and sausage mixture in the bottom of the well so the eggs are not cooking directly on the skillet.
Crack and drop a whole egg into each well. If you prefer scrambled eggs, beat one or two at a time and pour them into the wells. Place a lid on the skillet and cook until the eggs are cooked the way you like them. It will take about about 3-5 minutes.
Camp Cooking Tip: Watch your timing. Not everyone likes runny yolks so you may need to start some eggs sooner to let the yolk cook to a firmer consistency, then add the other eggs later so the whole thing is done at the same time.
Step 6. Melt the cheese and serve. As soon as the eggs are cooked, sprinkle them with 1/4 cup cheddar cheese and continue to cooked covered for a few more seconds … just until the cheese begins to melt. Remove each portion of the skillet breakfast to a plate, top with green onions and serve immediately.
Don’t do gluten? This is a GF recipe. See all of our gluten free camping food.
Pairings For Breakfast Cowboy Skillets
You are not having a real cowboy-style breakfast unless you have a strong cup of java to wash everything down! Here’s how to make cowboy coffee on your camping trips.
Recipes Similar To Cowboy Breakfast Skillets
If you like the idea of one pot camping meals, I’ve got tons of them for breakfast, dinner and dessert!
Muffin Tin Campfire Eggs are a great option for each camper to cook eggs the way they like them and add ingredients they enjoy while avoiding those they don’t.
A Mountain Man Breakfast has a lot of the same ingredients as this cowboy skillet meal but you bake it at 350 degrees F so you are maintaining a specific temperature using a cast iron Dutch oven creating one big recipe. The hot breakfast sausage, hash browns and green chilies taste amazing.
This Hungry Man Breakfast uses bacon instead of sausage and adds salsa and sour cream to provide a slightly Mexican flavor profile to this simple meal that will be on your table in under 30 minutes!
Try these Cast Iron Skillet Breakfast Nachos for a uniquely fun morning meal. Scrambled eggs are combined with black beans and cheese layered over crispy tortilla chips then topped with tomatoes, cilantro, avocado and sour cream for a tasty garnish.
You won’t believe how delicious 3 basic ingredients taste until you make Hobo Eggs! The buttered bread tastes more like grilled cheese than buttered toast when you make this recipe that takes only 8 minutes!
You only need 5 minutes to prep and about 17 minutes to cook this Camping Breakfast Skillet recipe. It combines ham, eggs, hash brown potatoes, cheese and green onions for a full and satisfying meal.
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Cowboy Skillet Breakfast Campfire Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/4 pound bulk hot pork sausage
- 1/2 red bell pepper chopped
- 1/4 small onion chopped
- 1 medium sized red potato cubed into 1/4 – 1/2 inch pieces
- 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 eggs Note: Use 1 egg per person for sunny side up and 2 eggs per person if scrambling eggs
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 green onions chopped
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Hot sauce optional for serving
Instructions
- Get a campfire going to create campfire coals for cooking over medium high heat. If you are using a propane camp stove, set it up for cooking on a level surface.
- Heat the cast iron skillet over the heat. Camp Cooking Tip: Use a 10-inch cast iron skillet if cooking for one or two people and a 12-inch skillet if you are feeding 3-6 campers.
- Once the skillet is pre-heated, add the sausage to brown it, breaking it up into crumbles as it cooks.
- Now, add the butter, bell pepper, onion, potatoes, salt and pepper, stirring occasionally. Reduce to medium heat and cook covered until the potatoes are softened, about 8 minutes. Camp Cooking Tip: If your cast iron skillet does not have a lid, you can use a lid from a cast iron Dutch oven or aluminum foil.
- Flatten the ingredients across the bottom of the skillet, then use a spoon to create “wells” for cooking the eggs. Be sure to leave a layer of the sausage and potato mixture at the bottom of the wells so the eggs are sitting on the food rather than directly on the bottom of the skillet pan when they cook.
- Crack the eggs and add them into the skillet by dropping them into the wells. You can drop whole eggs for sunny side up style eggs or beaten eggs if you prefer scrambled eggs.
- Cover and cook until the eggs are done to your desired likeness, about 3-5 minutes.
- Sprinkle with cheese, replace the cover on the pan and let the cheese melt slightly for a few more seconds.
- Remove the skillet from the heat and top with green onions, serve hot.
Notes
Nutrition
More Yummy Camp Meal Ideas
Cowboy campfire meals are delicious and fun … try all of our creative camping recipes.
If you’re looking for awesome ideas for yummy camping food, you’re in the right place! Here’s our entire camping recipes list.
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