Cowboys Breakfast Skillet Recipe

As the saying always goes, "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day." And while cereal, a few frozen waffles, or perhaps a package of your favorite flavor of Pop-Tarts can certainly do the trick in a pinch, nothing truly compares to a hearty homemade breakfast.

With a base of ground sausage, red potatoes, peppers, and onions, this cowboy breakfast skillet recipe from recipe developer and food photographer Petar Marshall has everything you need to jumpstart your day. "It's jam-packed full of flavor, with plenty of protein, and a hint of spice to offer a well-rounded breakfast," he says. Plus, it comes together in just a matter of 15 minutes to make it a solid choice even for busy mornings.

You don't need to live on a ranch or own a horse to enjoy this cowboy breakfast skillet. Simply follow this step-by-step recipe, grab your favorite hot sauce, and get ready to dive in.

To get started on putting together a cowboy breakfast skillet right at home, you'll want to grab all of your ingredients first. For this recipe, you'll need 1 pound of ground sausage, 1 red bell pepper (diced), 5 small red potatoes (diced), 2 small yellow onions (diced), 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese, 3 eggs, 1 teaspoon of garlic salt, and ½ teaspoon of ground black pepper. To top your cowboy breakfast skillet, you'll also need hot sauce and chopped scallions, if desired.

"The type of ground sausage is really up to you," says Marshall. "I utilized a spicy Italian ground sausage for this recipe to add a bit more of a kick." But, if you don't want the dish too spicy, a simple ground sausage will do the trick.

If you want to save some time, it's helpful to prep all of the veggies in advance. This is a great idea, especially if you want to enjoy it before a rushed workday. So, to get started, grab a cutting board, cut the red pepper into long strips, and then dice it up. Remove the skins from the yellow onions, cut into strips, and then dice them up as well.

Dice up the potatoes into small chunks. "There's no need to have perfectly uniform chunks here," says Marshall. "But, you do want to cut them relatively small. The smaller size will help them cook faster."

Once all of the veggies are cut and the remaining ingredients are prepped, it's time to start cooking the peppers, onions, and red potatoes for this breakfast treat. 

First, start by spraying a large skillet with cooking spray. Next, turn the stovetop on to high heat and add in the diced onions, peppers, and red potatoes. Allow the vegetables to sauté in the pan until they're just about finished cooking. Then, season them with garlic salt and black pepper before moving onto the next step.

Once the vegetables are just about finished cooking, it's time to add in the ground sausage. The vegetable mixture will finish cooking with the ground sausage. "Allowing the sausage to cook in the peppers, onions, and potato mixture will add such a great layer of flavor," says Marshall.

Break up the ground sausage with a large wooden spoon, and continue cooking the mixture on high. You'll want to cook the mixture until the sausage is fully cooked, showing no more pink in the mixture.

As you finish up cooking the sausage and vegetable mixture, it's the perfect time to cook your eggs. A simple fried egg on top of this dish adds great protein and additional flavor.

Turn on your second burner on high heat. Spray a small frying pan with cooking spray and allow it to heat up on the stove. Once the pan is very hot, crack each of the eggs into the pan. "Be sure to crack the eggs into individual spaces on the pan so they don't run together," Marshall advises. Allow the eggs to cook until the edges are golden brown on each egg. Grind black pepper over top of the eggs to season. 

Once the eggs are cooked and the veggie and sausage mixture is ready, it's time to finish off your skillet. Sprinkle the skillet generously with cheddar cheese. Then, use a spatula to place each of the fried eggs on top. "You'll want to do this carefully so the eggs don't break while moving," says Marshall.

Once your delicious meal is assembled, garnish it with a drizzle of your favorite hot sauce and sprinkle it with chopped scallions to finish it off.

"Serve the dish with a few pieces of buttered toast, an English muffin, or on its own for a great, hearty meal," says Marshall.