This Loaded Breakfast Skillet Is the Best Thing to Eat on New Year’s Day
This hearty skillet, inspired by a breakfast burrito, is packed with sausage, potatoes, cheese, and pinto beans.
Serves4
Prep5 minutes
Cook30 minutes to 35 minutes
Some people wake up every morning and put a lot of effort into their breakfast. These are the people who whip up crepes or yeasted rolls first thing in the morning. And while I aspire to be more like that, the truth is, I’m a lazy breakfast person. I like to wait until late morning to eat, when my body sends me the hangry alert. When that alert comes I listen, because I know I have less than an hour to put food in my body before I ruin my day.
A breakfast skillet is the perfect meal for lazy breakfast people like me — which means it’s also just the thing for New Year’s Day. Think about it: You’ve been up late the night before and want a big breakfast with all the fixings, but don’t want to make a huge kitchen mess. Here, everything comes together in one skillet, so you’ll be digging into a mess of potatoes, sausage, eggs, and cheese in about half an hour. And because it’s high in protein, it will set you up for energetic success — the perfect way to kick off the new year.
A Breakfast Burrito-Inspired Skillet
When I was growing up in Southern California, I used to love a breakfast burrito. My friends and I would head to the beach for the day and stop at Johnny Mañana’s by the pier to grab a warm burrito filled with eggs, potatoes, beans, cheese, and your choice of bacon or sausage. I created this dish with that in mind; all my favorite elements of a breakfast burrito, cooked in a skillet. I top everything with fresh cilantro and sliced avocado to freshen it up, and then scoop everything up onto tortilla chips (or even wrap it up in a tortilla).
Loaded Breakfast Skillet
This hearty skillet, inspired by a breakfast burrito, is packed with sausage, potatoes, cheese, and pinto beans.
Prep time 5 minutes
Cook time 30 minutes to 35 minutes
Serves 4
Nutritional Info
Ingredients
- 1 pound
Yukon Gold or russet potatoes
- 1 (about 15-ounce) can
pinto beans
- 12 ounces
uncooked breakfast sausage
- 1/2 teaspoon
kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon
freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup
mild or medium salsa, plus more for serving
- 1 1/4 cups
shredded cheddar, pepper jack, or Mexican blend cheese, divided
- 4
large eggs
- 1
medium avocado
- 1/4 cup
fresh cilantro leaves
Tortilla chips or tortillas, for serving (optional)
Instructions
Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and heat the oven to 375°F. Meanwhile, peel and cut 1 pound potatoes into 1-inch pieces. Drain and rinse 1 can pinto beans. Remove the casings from 12 ounces breakfast sausage if needed.
Heat a 10-inch cast-iron skillet or ovenproof nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook, breaking it up into bite-sized pieces with a wooden spoon, until browned and cooked through, about 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the sausage to a paper towel-lined plate, leaving the fat in the pan.
Add the potatoes to the skillet and season with 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender and can be easily pierced with a knife, about 10 minutes.
Add the beans, sausage, 1 cup salsa, and 1 cup of the shredded cheese. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer, then rescue heat to low. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup cheese. Create 4 divots in the mixture with the back of a spoon. Crack 1 large egg into each divot.
Bake until the egg whites are set but the yolks are still runny, 10 to 12 minutes. Meanwhile, pit and slice 1 avocado. Coarsely chop 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves.
Remove the skillet from the oven and top with the avocado and cilantro. Serve with more salsa and tortilla chips or tortillas, if desired.
Recipe Notes
Storage: Leftovers can be refrigerated in an airtight container up to 4 days.