Skillet Breakfast Potatoes
Published 1/27/2021 • Updated 2/9/2024
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These skillet breakfast potatoes are creamy, flavorful, and the perfect side for any breakfast. Peppers, onions, and salty cheese mixed into these potatoes for a savory and cheesy dish.
If there is one combination we love for breakfast it is potatoes + cheese. Creamy potatoes that are sprinkled with cheese that is browned to perfection is a delicious main course (or side) for breakfast.
Why do we love these skillet breakfast potatoes? Let us count the ways!
- You only need 1 pan to make these skillet breakfast potatoes.
- You get a healthy serving of vegetables and protein in every serving.
- These skillet breakfast potatoes can be made for breakfast, lunch, or dinner!
- We love to serve these skillet breakfast potatoes with fried eggs on top for a balanced meal.
Ingredients for Skillet Breakfast Potatoes
The ingredient list for this recipe is quite simple. Have no fear if you don’t have everything you need to make these skillet breakfast potatoes, there are plenty of substitutions that you can make.
- Italian pork sausage: Any ground meat would work for this recipe! We love Italian pork sausage because it is already seasoned and has great flavor. Feel free to use ground chicken, ground turkey, ground beef, or even any plant based crumble.
- Baby potatoes: We used baby potatoes because they are small and creamy. Fingerling potatoes or red potatoes would be great substitutions.
- Yellow onion: Don’t skip the onion, but feel free to use white or red onion instead!
- Bell peppers: You can use any color bell pepper that you would like.
- Heavy cream: When you simmer the potatoes with the heavy cream, you are creating the creamy base of these potatoes. We recommend using heavy cream, but you can use a milk of your choice, too.
- Flour: You need to use a little flour to thicken all the excess liquid into a delicious sauce.
- Garlic powder, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper: These are our choice of dried spices, because they have great flavor and we usually have them in the pantry. Feel free to use any seasoning of your choice.
- Shredded mozzarella cheese: After everything is cooked to perfection, you sprinkle mozzarella over the top of the potatoes. You can use any cheese you’d like!
- Fresh parsley: Any fresh herb would work for a garnish for these skillet breakfast potatoes.
How to Make Skillet Breakfast Potatoes
The goal of preparing these breakfast potatoes is to keep your skillet breakfast potatoes crispy and creamy all at the same time. It is also important to layer all the flavors of each ingredient throughout the recipe, so be sure follow the steps!
Start with the Pork
First off, heat a cast iron skillet and brown the ground Italian sausage in the cast iron. You want to brown the pork first, because it will become the base of this recipe. You will cook other ingredients in the pork juices.
You do want to cook the ground pork all the way though, no need to partially cook!
Cook the Vegetables
Remove the pork from the cast iron and set it aside for later. You want to leave the pork juice in the pan and add the peppers and onions to the cast iron and cook the vegetables until they are cooked through.
other vegetable options
You can add or substitute vegetables in this step. Below are some great vegetable options.
- Mushrooms
- Sweet potatoes
- Shallot
- Carrots
Crisp Up the Potatoes
After the peppers and onions have been sautéd, you add the potatoes, pork, and dried spices to the cast iron and toss everything together.
Simmer the Potatoes
Finally, add the heavy cream and flour mixture to the pan and simmer everything together until the creamy mixture starts to bubble to perfection!
Add the Cheese
Once the potatoes are cooked through and the cream sauce is bubbly, sprinkle the mozzarella cheese over the top of the potatoes and let it melt.
If you want the cheese to be golden brown and crisp, turn your oven to broil and place the cast iron pan into the oven for 1-3 minutes or until the mozzarella cheese browns.
Top Tip
Do you have to boil the potatoes first?
No, you do not need to boil the potatoes first. These potatoes simmer to creamy perfection in the heavy cream.
Storage
You can store these skillet breakfast potatoes in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Be sure to let the potatoes cool completely before placing them in an air tight meal prep container.
Serving Suggestions
You can serve these breakfast potatoes with anything you’d like! Here are a few of our recommendations:
With eggs: Fry eggs and serve them over the top of the potatoes. You can even make our goat cheese soft scrambled eggs and top the potatoes with fluffy scrambled eggs.
In a burrito: After you have cooked the potatoes, you can add them to burritos with eggs, cheese, and salsa.
Skillet Breakfast Potatoes
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground Italian pork sausage
- 4 cups halved baby potatoes, skin on
- 1 cup yellow onion, diced
- 1.5 cup diced bell peppers, any color
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons flour
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- salt, to taste
- pepper, to taste
- 1.5 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley, to garnish
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium high heat, brown the pork sausage until cooked through and crumbled. Set aside.
- Meanwhile whisk together the heavy cream and flour in a small bowl for later use.
- Add the potatoes to the skillet and cook for 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked through and tender, set aside with the cooked pork.
- Add the onions and bell peppers to the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes until the vegetables are softened and onion is cooked through.
- Return the cooked sausage and potatoes to the skillet along with the garlic powder, italian seasoning, salt and pepper and stir well.
- Pour in the cream and flour mixture. Simmer on medium high heat stirring occasionally until the cream mixture is bubbling and thickened.
- Top with the mozzarella cheese and keep on the heat to melt for a minute.
- For a crispier cheese topping, place the skillet under the broiler for 1-2 minutes.
- Garnish with fresh parsley and serve immediately.
Tips & Notes
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days.
- Freeze in a freezer safe container for up to 2-3 months.
- Easily customize this recipe with what you have on hand! Try adding in diced mushrooms, chopped broccoli or sliced tomatoes. For a smokier flavor sprinkle with some cooked crumbled bacon at the end.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Yummmmmm! This is my new favorite breakfast!!!