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United States, Camping

Campfire Skillet Breakfast Hash

The classic American camp breakfast: crispy diced potatoes, bacon, onion and peppers in one cast-iron skillet, topped with eggs and melted cheddar.

ServingsServes 2
Total cooking time42 min
DifficultyEasy
About servingsKeep the bacon and eggs in a cooler below 5 °C until cooking. Runny yolks are not recommended for young children, pregnant women, older people or anyone with a weakened immune system; cook their eggs until firm. Before leaving a campfire, drown it with water and stir until it is cold.

Method

  1. Cook only on a camp stove or over a fire in a fire ring, away from tents and branches, with water nearby. For a campfire, let it burn down to glowing coals and set a grill grate over them. Scrub the potatoes (no need to peel) and cut them into 1.5 cm cubes; small, even cubes cook through in time. Chop the onion and bell pepper into 1 cm pieces, mince the garlic and cut the bacon into 2 cm strips.

  2. Put the bacon in a cold 24 cm cast-iron skillet, set it over medium heat and cook for , stirring now and then, until browned and crisp. Lift it out onto a plate with a slotted spoon and leave the fat in the pan. On a campfire, set the pan on the grate over the coals, never in the flames.

    Add in this stepBacon 120 g

    medium heat

  3. Add the oil, then the potatoes, and spread them in an even layer. Sprinkle with the salt, pepper and smoked paprika and stir once. Cover with a lid or foil and cook over medium heat for , stirring every 4 to 5 minutes, until a knife slides easily into a cube. Uncover and cook for more, stirring only occasionally, so the potatoes turn golden and crisp.

    Add in this stepVegetable oil 1 tbspPotatoes 400 gSalt ½ tspBlack pepper ¼ tspSmoked paprika ½ tsp

    medium heat

  4. Add the onion, bell pepper and garlic and cook over medium heat for , stirring, until the onion is soft and translucent. Stir the bacon back in and taste a potato; add a little more salt if needed.

    Add in this stepOnion 1Bell pepper ½Garlic cloves 1

    medium heat

  5. Make a small well in the hash for each egg and crack an egg into each one. Scatter the cheddar over the top, cover and cook over medium-low heat for , until the whites are completely set and the cheese has melted. The yolks will still be runny; cook 2 to 3 minutes longer if you like them firm.

    Add in this stepEggs 2Cheddar, grated or sliced 40 g

    medium-low heat

  6. Take the skillet off the heat, sprinkle with the sliced scallions and serve straight from the pan with hot sauce on the side. Always hold the cast-iron handle with a heatproof glove or a thick cloth.

    Add in this stepScallions (spring onions) 1Hot sauce, to taste to taste

Cook's tip

Don't crowd the potatoes or stir them constantly: they need contact with the hot pan to crisp. To save time at camp, dice the potatoes at home, keep them covered in water in a sealed container in the cooler, then drain and pat them dry before cooking. Leftover baked potatoes make an even faster hash.

Cooking it at camp

At home, make it exactly the same way in a large cast-iron or heavy non-stick frying pan with a lid on the stove, using the same heat settings and times. If the potatoes won't fit in a roughly single layer, crisp them in two batches.