Breakfast Love: The Portland Scramble

These mounded plates of scrambled eggs, cheese, and various fixin's seem to be on the menu at every café and breakfast joint in Portland, Oregon. Or at least they were six years ago when my husband and I lived there and inevitably ordered them nearly every weekend. I have no idea if anyone else refers to them as Portland Scrambles, but that's the name that sticks in my mind. Anyone else?

This is a meal for the indecisive breakfast eater. You want bacon? We can put bacon in there. You want spicy peppers? No problem. Sizzle it all up for a few minutes and bind it together with a scrambled egg and some cheese. Breakfast is served.

On weekends, Portland Scrambles are a great way to get rid of lingering leftovers from the week. My favorite version was (and still is) a combination of chorizo sausage, potatoes, onions, and wilted spinach with smoked gouda. Talk about food to fuel you through the day!

I know these kinds of scrambles are hardly unique to Portland. What's your favorite version?!

(Image: Flickr member sashafatcat licensed under Creative Commons)

Comments (17)

Best version of this ever is the Hippie Hash at the Fleetwood Diner in Ann Arbor, Michigan. One of the things I miss most about living there.

Hash browns, fried with an assortment of mushrooms, broccoli, peppers, tomatoes, and feta cheese and optionally gyro meat. Topped with/mixed with eggs (scrambled for me, though some people like theirs sunny side up).

Great for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or 3 AM on your way home after a night out - the Fleetwood's 24 hours.

I saw a version of this with a Mexican flair - Migas. I made them with crumbled bits of leftover taco shells eggs, peppers, onions. Am thinking I'm going to have to try with bacon and maybe some croutons....

It's called NorNor scrambles. And I make 'em like nobody's biz.

A local dinner serves a German Scramble that I like. It includes sausage, sauerkraut, peppers onions, red-skinned potatos and pepperjack cheese. They top it with your choice of eggs.

I live in Portland and we don't call them that, but they are delicious. Tofu makes a great substitute for the eggs as well - at home or at a restaurant, whether you're veggie or not. (I'm not.)

I live in Portland, OR and it has no claim on scrambles. I remember eating a really good one at http://www.kitchenlittle.org/ in Mystic, Conn.

I used to get a version of this at Jake's in Northampton, MA. They call it the No Frills Special and it's eggs, home fries and your choice of bacon/ham/sausage scrambled together and covered with melted swiss cheese. Oh man, they were so good!

These scrambles are a staple in our house - migas, or anything else. They also make a great breakfast taco filling in one pan. We always throw in our leftovers to make them disappear. Our house calls them super scrambles or super eggs.

I have tried to recreate Fleetwood's hippie hash for years, but nothing beats the real thing. Miss you Ann Arbor

as a portlander, i appreciate the portlander scramble, although i make a much better version at home -- i find a lot of the breakfast joints in town ok, but not worth the wait for a hungry morning tummy like mine.

emma, you should come back to portland for some 'recipe testing' and see if the scrambles have improved!

wait - these aren't just available everywhere?

haha. i do love my city.

Does anyone else remember the "Hangover breakfast" at the old Chez What on Alberta? Sigh. Those were the days.

LOVED Chez What! I always had the California Hangover - the veggie version that subbed tofu for eggs. Sigh indeed.

And I will be the Nth person to confirm that nobody else in pdx refers to scrambles as Portland scrambles. They're just scrambles, and we know full well that they're available pretty much everywhere.

platter looks delicious,.my fav combi is egg and mushroom,..with some warm toast and mug full of cofee

@rep_woman
that sounds amazing!

when i'm feeling lazy and hungry i always pan fry some tater tots and toss with some eggs (scrambled) and a piece of plastic cheese (just a slice of kraft or something.) it's not fancy, but it's good.

Here in Montreal I've seen something similar described as a "skillet". They all have eggs + cheese over hash browns, plus a combination of meat and/or veggies. It's baked in a skillet and served with the cheese browned on top and gooey underneath. Yummy.

I've lived in OH, PA, FL, SC, NC, TX, AZ and MN.
These are everywhere. I don't get it.
It's like saying pancakes are somehow specific to Columbus, Ohio. What do these have to do with Portland?