This sweet potato skillet is a delicious combination of healthy ingredients. It’s a hearty meal that will leave you feeling satisfied. With pan-fried sweet potatoes and crisp bacon, the sweet and salty flavor combination is addicting.
Whether it’s a comforting weeknight dinner or a show-stopping brunch addition, this easy-to-make healthy breakfast skillet is perfect for anyone.
Why You’ll Love Sweet Potato Skillet
- Contrast and Texture– Sweet potatoes have a natural, creamy sweetness, while bacon adds a crisp, savory, salty flavor. Combining these two tastes creates a well-balanced and satisfying dish.
- Comfort Food– Sweet potato skillet with bacon is often considered a comfort food. The warm, hearty nature of the dish can evoke feelings of nostalgia and coziness, making it a favorite for many people.
- Nutritional Benefits– Sweet potatoes are rich in vitamins, minerals, and fiber, while bacon provides protein and fats. Combining the two ingredients can create a nutritious and satisfying meal.
- Versatility– You can customize this sweet potato skillet to suit various dietary preferences. You can add other vegetables, spices, or herbs to enhance the flavors and make it your own.
Sweet Potato Breakfast Skillet: Variations and Additions
Variations
- Use sausage as a substitute for the bacon. I like Jimmie Dean Natural Pork Sausage.
- Swap the pork bacon for turkey bacon to make a sweet potato turkey skillet.
- Swap out the sweet potatoes for another potato (like Yukon Gold).
- Add different veggies, or use what you have on hand. Kale, spinach, sliced mushrooms, etc., will all increase the nutritional value!
Additions
- Spices– Add your favorite hot sauce or spices to tailor this sweet potato skillet recipe to your preferences. Ground cumin, smoked paprika, rosemary, or thyme would all be tasty additions.
- Shredded Cheese– Top this breakfast skillet with your favorite shredded cheese if you can have dairy.
- Herbs– Add some fresh chopped chives or cilantro before serving.
- Avocado– Sliced avocados add a lovely texture and healthy fats.
Recipe Notes and Tips
Some readers like to parboil the sweet potatoes and then fry them – it speeds up the cooking process.
Use a 12-inch skillet! A smaller one will overcrowd the sweet potatoes, causing your food to cook slowly and unevenly. I prefer cast iron for this recipe, but stainless steel works fine.
You can place a lid on your skillet before baking to help the eggs cook faster and more thoroughly if you don’t care for runny eggs, but it isn’t required.
What To Serve With A Sweet Potato Breakfast
- Artisan Gluten-Free Bread or Buckwheat Bread
- Gluten-Free Biscuits
- Gluten-Free Pancakes
- Gluten-Free Cinnamon Rolls
- Instant Pot Coconut Yogurt
- Coconut Matcha Latte
- Almond Flour Muffins or Almond Flour Banana Muffins
Or how about some of these delicious Paleo Pancakes from Noshtastic?!
This recipe was originally published in September 2014. Blog post and recipe card updated to include better instructions and notes in July 2023.
Sweet Potato Skillet
This sweet potato skillet is a delicious combination of healthy ingredients. It's a hearty meal that will leave you feeling satisfied. With pan-fried sweet potatoes and crisp bacon, the sweet and salty flavor combination is addicting.
Ingredients
- 12 ounces of bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
- Additional bacon fat, lard, ghee, or coconut oil
- 5 cups diced sweet potatoes (about a ½ inch dice)
- 4 cups diced zucchini
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 6 large eggs
- Black pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a 12-inch cast iron skillet, cook the bacon pieces over medium-low heat until crisp (cooking the bacon at a lower temperature will render more fat).
- Use a slotted spoon to remove the cooked bacon from the pan. Set aside. There should be enough rendered bacon fat to coat the entire bottom of the skillet, about ⅛ inch deep. If your bacon didn’t render this much fat (it can vary from brand to brand), add additional bacon fat, lard, ghee, or coconut oil to your skillet until there is ⅛ inch of fat.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees (F).
- Increase heat to medium-high and carefully place the diced sweet potatoes in the hot oil. Cook the sweet potatoes without stirring until the bottom of the cubes starts to turn golden brown (this can take several minutes). Stir and cook until the cubes start to soften.
- Increase heat to high and add the zucchini, onion, and bell pepper to the skillet. Cook until the vegetables are just starting to soften.
- Stir in bacon pieces. Remove from heat.
- Make 6 wells in the potato and veggie mixture; break one egg into each well.
- Place skillet in the oven and bake for 9-14 minutes, or until the eggs are set. Serve immediately.
Notes
Some readers like to parboil the sweet potatoes and then fry them - it speeds up the cooking process.
Use a 12-inch skillet! A smaller one will overcrowd the sweet potatoes, causing your food to cook slowly and unevenly. I prefer cast iron for this recipe, but stainless steel works fine.
You can place a lid on your skillet before baking to help the eggs cook faster and more thoroughly if you don't care for runny eggs, but it isn't required.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 5 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 714Total Fat: 39gSaturated Fat: 15gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 22gCholesterol: 300mgSodium: 1311mgCarbohydrates: 54gFiber: 9gSugar: 19gProtein: 37g
Shirley @ gfe & All Gluten-Free Desserts says
Oh my goodness! Each and every one of those photos makes me want to reach through the screen and take a bite and I’m not even hungry. What a fantastic looking comfort food dish! Yep, bacon is awesome and sweet potatoes and bacon are great together. 🙂 Special thanks for linking to my Bacon Chicken. That’s actually on the menu here at gfe this week. 😉 Last, I can’t believe that it’s that cold there yet and you’re getting ready for winter. No fall! Yikes!
xoxo,
Shirley
Megan says
🙂 Thanks, Shirley! I don’t think you can ever go wrong with anything that has bacon in it! And very happy to share your Bacon Chicken. That’s a great recipe! 😉
xoxo,
M
Michelle @ My Gluten-free Kitchen.com says
Love this meal idea! You know that I’ve been looking for more meal ideas lately that are grain-free. Love this one!
Also, I’d love that cooler weather to come my way. I’m so ready to say good-bye to summer!
Katrina says
That looks SO good.
Caroline says
You get the title of psychic today! I was looking exactly for this type of recipe today and decided to cruise by your site BEFORE I started my recipe quest in my pantry cookbook collection!
Get out.
You know what we’ll be eating tomorrow…
Laura O |Petite Allergy Treats says
This sounds like a perfect meal anytime of the day! We cannot have eggs but I can full appreciate the runny gooey yolks mixing with bacon and potatoes… yum! I would love for you link this up to Saturday Night Fever. 😉
Cindy (Vegetarian Mamma) says
This looks amazing. I wish I could dip my fork into the picture! Thanks for linking up at our Gluten Free Fridays party! I have tweeted and pinned your entry to our Gluten Free Fridays board on Pinterest! 🙂 I can’t wait to see what you share this week! Its LIVE!
Cindy
Kim says
I just made this breakfast skillet this morning. It was amazing!!! My husband and son raved about it and said it tasted like something served in a restaurant – now that is high praise! Very flavorful and comforting! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Michelle @ A Dish of Daily Life says
I could definitely eat that for breakfast or dinner! Pinning!
debbie says
Megan
my son is allergic to squash.
what could i substitute ?
Thanks
Megan says
Debbie,
You’ve left me wondering, “Are sweet potatoes a squash?” I’m Googling, yet I haven’t been able to find an answer. Do you want to replace the sweet potatoes and the zucchini? Or just the zucchini?
M
Barb says
Broccoli or carrots
Michelle says
I made this tonight for dinner and was fantastic! My family likes a little spice so I added chili powder, cumin, and a couple of jalapeños. Then we added a little cheddar, sour cream and cilantro on top. I overcooked the eggs so the yolk wasn’t runny like I had hoped but I cannot wait to make this again. Thank you so much for sharing!
Lorraine says
Just tried this recipe. It is AH-mazing!!! It yielded a lot of food. I am definitely making this again! Thanks for sharing.
Megan says
You bet, Lorraine! Happy you enjoyed it! 😉
Belinda says
Have you ever tried storing it for the next day or week? Just wondering if it will store well. I would love to eat this on a daily and it’s not too bad if use turkey bacon lol
Megan says
Hi Belinda,
Yes, I’ve stored the leftovers of this several times. It stores and reheats well in the microwave. 😉
laryn says
I haven’t read all the comments, so I apologize if this has already been asked, but has anyone made this without using a cast iron skillet? I don’t have one and I’m not sure how to adjust the heat and cooking time properly to get it to turn out the same! Thanks!
Megan says
Hi Laryn,
I haven’t heard of anyone trying it without the cast iron pan, but I’d imagine the cooking time would be nearly the same or awfully close. 😉 Just keep an eye on it while it cooks!
liz says
Hi, I just cooked the recipe in my Cephalon everyday pan and it came out great! My family doesn’t like zucchini so I double the bacon, pepper, and onion and it was to die for. As far as timing, I used the cues in the recipe, bacon crisp, potatoes starting to caramelize etc. Thanks for sharing the recipe! Liz
Megan says
You bet, Liz! So happy you enjoyed it! 😉
Mike Peters says
I have, on order, the cast iron skillet that Megan recommends, should be arriving from Amazon any day now, but for the first three times I made this dish, I have used an evil Teflon pan. Worked just fine
Luis Loubet says
If you don’t have an oven-proof pan and you want your egg yolks soft and runny; set the fire to medium, then add the eggs and leave for one minute without the lid, then replace the lid and cook for another 4 minutes. Serve immediately.
I use this timing for shakshuka and the eggs are always perfect.
felicia | Dish by Dish says
Hi Megan! This sweet potato skillet looks gorgeous!
I’d love to include it in a sweet potato round up I’m doing for Parade Magazine, and if you’re find with that, I’d like to use one of your photos with a link back to this original post (https://www.allergyfreealaska.com/2014/09/03/sweet-potato-breakfast-skillet-with-bacon/).
Let me know your thoughts and thanks in advance!
Felicia
Megan says
Hi Felicia,
I’m so sorry, your comment got completely overlooked! Yes, absolutely you can (if it’s not too late). Thank you for asking!
Megan
felicia | Dish by Dish says
Hi Megan!
I wanted to let you know that the sweet potato round up is now up on Parage Magazine (http://communitytable.parade.com/435596/felicialim/the-8-best-sweet-potato-recipes-youll-ever-make/).
Would love if you could share it with your followers as it’s getting quite a bit of traction!
Thanks so much once again for letting me include your recipe!
Amanda says
HOLY YUM!!!
This recipe is so perfect… and it is seasonally sound. I just HAD to feature it as a top 5 recipe for fall… love the nutritional content matched with the deliciousness…. wish I could eat this everyday!
See what I said about it here:
http://healthyhippiness.com/2015/10/5-nutrient-rich-recipes-for-fall/
Mike Peters says
Thanks so much for this sweet potato zucchini egg recipe. I went paleo December 7th with great success, and have made this at least three times. I love it. I have really not had much difficulty at all adapting the Paleo, but the one thing I miss the most is my eggs / hash browns and toast from Waffle House. Have dropped 30 pounds, but will not allow myself to cheat for day at Waffle House until I’ve dropped at least 50 pounds. This item has been my favorite breakfast discovery. Any other suggestions as to great breakfast meals like this one?
Megan says
Mike,
You are so inspiring! Thank you so much for commenting and sharing your journey – that’s so awesome! You’ve inspired me to create a new breakfast skillet. I’ve made several variations of this recipe, I’ve just never posted them. I recently quit my job to homeschool our children and blog full time. I think it’s time I posted those variations! 😉
There’s another skillet I’ve had my eye on – it’s Paleo Eggs in Hell from Wicked Spatula.
Best wishes to you! Thanks again for your lovely note!
Megan
Emily says
What do you think would happen if you scrambled the eggs and mixed everything together before baking? Like a casserole style but all same ingredients?
Megan says
Hi Emily,
I think your scrambled eggs would come out of the oven rubbery. If you were to top this with scrambled eggs, I would skip putting the skillet in the oven altogether. Just cook the hash a bit longer on top of the stove, to make sure everything is cooked through. Then top with scrambled eggs. 😉
Heather says
How could you adapt this to a crock pot?
Megan says
Hi Heather,
You’d have to play with it. I made this recipe particularly for a skillet baked in the oven. 😉
Trish says
I just made this for girls brunch… SO DELICIOUS! I used my stainless steel pan so it took a bit longer for things to get going but the end result is fabulous. Husband had it for lunch and it was a perfect meal. Thanks so much for this recipe! 🙂
Megan says
You’re very welcome, Trish! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Ambi says
I just made this and oh em gee this was delicious! Next time I’ll add mushrooms and broccoli!
Megan says
Yay! I’m so happy you enjoyed it!
dannie says
I love sweet potatoes…….
Megan says
Meeeee too! 😉
Akua says
Literally my favorite thing to make during Whole30! I sometimes even make it when I’m not doing Whole30, but with regular bacon (since it’s cheaper).
To amp up the flavor even more, I add some garlic and ginger, as well as serrano peppers for a kick.
Mēgan says
Ohh – I love your additions! Thanks for sharing!
Jennifer says
I have been making this recipe for years now and it’s a family favourite. We are trying to cut back on our animal proteins and I am wondering if anyone has made a vegetarian or vegan version of this with success? I will play around with it but I’d love to hear some ideas if they are out there.