Nutritious and filling, this sweet potato & kale breakfast skillet is the perfect way to start off your day and fill you with energy. It’s also naturally gluten-free and Paleo to boot!
Over the past few years, as Juan and I dovetailed into the world of healthy cooking with real, whole foods, we started eating a cleaner and developed a taste for produce-heavy meals.
If you were to take a peek into our pantry, you’ll find very few cans or packaged foods, apart from some packets of rice and gluten-free pasta, the occasional sack of lentils, and a couple of assorted gluten-free flours.
What you’ll find, however, is a fridge packed to the brim with fresh fruits and vegetables – lettuce, cabbage, carrots, lemons, pears, and apples tend to be present most times, with kale making its occasional appearance.
In the cupboard below the sink, what you’ll see is a red carton full of root vegetables that we use on heavy rotation. These days, that usually means potatoes, garlic, onions (both yellow and red), and a crazy lot of sweet potatoes.
When the Argentine government ordered a nationwide lockdown on 19th March, my first thought was to ensure we had a huge stash of fresh fruits and vegetables that could last us as long as possible in between escapades for groceries.
Thankfully my friend Mechi put me in contact with a vegetable grocer that made doorstep deliveries (which while is common in places such as Singapore and the US, is highly uncommon in Buenos Aires), and I made a big-enough order that would tide us through at least 10 days.
I wondered if I’d overreacted and ordered perhaps a little too much, but in the following days, whenever I opened the fridge door to decide what to cook, it was always such a relief to see the fresh produce available.
One of those days, I decided to make a savory breakfast skillet that was simple in ingredients required, but at the same time tasty, filling, and nutritious. After revising my root vegetable box, and the vegetable section in our fridge, I remembered a recipe from Jars of Lemons that I’d wanted to try out, and figured that kale and sweet potatoes would be the stars of the dish.
This recipe is really, really simple, and all you need to make it happen is a skillet – I highly recommend a cast iron skillet if you have one, but if not, a normal non-stick skillet should suffice.
Start off by heating up some coconut oil in the skillet over medium-high heat, and then mix the cubed sweet potatoes, chopped onions, and herb salt together before cooking them in the skillet until they are tender.
Once the sweet potatoes are tender, add in the torn kale and mix well, cooking for another 5 minutes or so until the kale is just wilted.
Next is the fun part – use a spoon to create three crates in the vegetables and crack an egg in each hole.
Allow the eggs to cook for a few minutes until the egg whites turn opaque but yolks are still slightly liquid (at least that’s how I like them).
You can always cook the egg yolks a little longer if you prefer, no judgment here!
Some ways to mix up this recipe if you’d like – in place of kale, you can also use spinach or chard in equal quantities, and use butternut squash or pumpkin to substitute the sweet potatoes. Heck, you could even use normal potatoes if you prefer a less sweet option.
No matter which combination you choose, you’ll still have a vibrant, colorful and savory breakfast skillet that will keep you full for quite a while!
Enjoy, and bon appetit!
Sweet Potato & Kale Breakfast Skillet (Gluten-Free, Paleo)
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
Description
Nutritious and filling, this sweet potato & kale breakfast skillet is the perfect way to start off your day and fill you with energy.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil (or vegetable oil or choice)
- 4 cups cubed orange sweet potatoes
- 2 cups chopped yellow onions
- 3 cups torn kale leaves (stems removed)
- 1 tablespoon herb salt
- 3 eggs
- Freshly grated black pepper, for sprinkling
- Dried red chili pepper flakes, for sprinkling
Instructions
- Heat up the coconut oil in large skillet over medium-high heat.
- In a large bowl, mix the sweet potatoes, onions, and herb salt together until the herbs and salt are evenly distributed.
- Cook the sweet potatoes and chopped onions in the skillet until they are tender (approximately 15 minutes), mixing occasionally to prevent them from burning.
- Add in the kale leaves and mix well, cooking for another 5 minutes until kale is just wilted.
- Use a spoon to make 3 craters in the vegetables and break a whole egg in each hole.
- Let eggs cook over medium heat for 5 minutes until the egg whites turn opaque but yolks are still liquid.
- Sprinkle with freshly grated black pepper and red chili flakes before serving.
Notes
Barely adapted from: Jar of Lemons
- Category: Breakfast, Lunch
- Cuisine: Gluten-Free
This breakfast dish is surely fulfilling and satisfying and can also serve as brunch as well.
As I am a very visual person, the beautiful and vibrant colors of your dish draws me to want to dig in.
I have also learnt over the years that the different colors of the food ingredients of a dish have different nutritious properties and hence, I like most of my meals to be as colorful as possible to help me keep close to getting a more balanced and nutri-densed meal as much as possible. (Just sharing my personal preference lah)
Once again, thank you for sharing this recipe here in this space which I have always found great joy in my endless browsing of your blog.
Blessings always!
Mum
★★★★★
Hi Mummy, I totally know what you mean about how the colors of foods can attract us and make us want to eat it. 🙂 In fact the more colorful my food, the more it makes me hungry too 🙂