Southwest Scramble with Potatoes

This easy recipe for southwest scramble with potatoes is the perfect one pan breakfast.

This recipe is made with less than 10 ingredients and only takes 15 minutes to make. You’ll easily be able to make this breakfast again and again.

You can’t go wrong with the classic combo of eggs and potatoes, but then throw in a southwestern kick, and this meal will really hits the spot.

So, without any further adieu, get your favorite skillet and start making this great one skillet breakfast.

Southwest scramble with potatoes

Southwest scramble with potatoes is made up of two components: scrambled eggs and seasoned home fries. 

And the best part is, the two components can be made in the same skillet.

That’s right, you won’t need to spend extra time getting a pot of water to a boil, then spending even more time parboiling the potatoes. 

Who wants all that hassle? Instead you just need to cut the potatoes into 1” cubes, place in the heated skillet, and cover with a lid. They’ll be cooked through in no time. No boiling required.

This recipe gets even easier because you don’t even need to peel the potatoes. Just scrub them clean and cube them up. The skin won’t effect cook time, plus there’s nutrients that your body needs in the potato skins.

Make it easy on yourself and up the nutrition by keeping those potato skins on.

Ingredients

The best thing about this easy southwest breakfast scramble is that it takes less than 10 ingredients.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Olive oil – Oil will help the potatoes get a beautiful golden color and it prevents sticking as well. You can use half oil half butter if you want to add a buttery flavor. I suggest not using only butter because it has a low smoke point.
• Potatoes – The best type of potato for this recipe are russet potatoes. The amount of starch in a russet makes it best for absorbing flavor and for crisping up in a skillet. Russet potatoes are also great because you can buy 10 pounds for cheap, making this an inexpensive dish.
• Spices – To add southwestern flair to these breakfast potatoes, you’ll dress them up with healthy amounts of paprika, cumin, and chili powder. 
• Eggs – This recipe calls for 4.
• Salsa – Mixing salsa in with the eggs adds flavor and color to the dish easily. All the tomato and onions are already nicely chopped in a salsa, so you can add this to the dish and get all the benefits of the flavors without all the work of chopping things up yourself. 
• Spinach – Tossing in a handful or two of roughly chopped spinach ups this dishes color factor and nutrition factor. Adding spinach also helps you get those daily servings of leafy greens you’re aiming to get.

How to make southwest scramble with potatoes

Making this potato and southwest scramble couldn’t be easier. All you need is a pan with a lid (or you can even use a cookie sheet to cover the top of the pan if you don’t have a lid) and 15 minutes and you’re ready to start.

Here are the simple steps:

1. Prep the potatoes. The up the nutrition of this dish, the potato skins will be left on, so make sure to thoroughly wash and dry the potatoes. Cut the potatoes into 1” cubes afterwards.
2. Cook the potatoes. Heat a pan over medium-low heat. Add the oil, then add the potatoes and spices. Toss and coat the potatoes evenly in oil and spices. Cover with a lid and let cook for 10 minutes.
3. Prep other ingredients. Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk with a fork until combined. Mix in the salsa. Roughly chop the spinach.
4. Finish dish. Remove the lid, cook off the extra moisture in the pan, the push all the potatoes to one side of the pan. Pour in the eggs and scramble as they cook. Add spinach and gently mix everything together to wilt the spinach.
5. Serve. Serve with sour cream, more salsa, and a sprinkle of salt. Enjoy!

Tips

Here are some simple tips for the best southwest eggs and potatoes results:

• Use starchy potatoes. Potatoes containing a good amount of starch crisp up best. The most common starchy potato is the russet. With it’s low price point, using russets makes this a very cost effective meal. Another starchy potato option include Idaho potatoes.
• Cut the potatoes into evenly sized pieces. To ensure even cooking, cut the potatoes into evenly sized cubes. 1” is the perfect sized cube to ensure each cube gets cooked through within 10 minutes without over cooking and getting mushy. Don’t worry if every piece isn’t perfectly uniform, just make sure they’re all in the ball park of about 1” cubed.
• Cover the pan well. When cooking the potatoes, make sure you cover the pan well to trap the heat and moisture. If you don’t have a lidded pan, you can use a cookie sheet to cover the top of the skillet.
• If you want to use butter, use half butter and half oil. Adding some butter to the recipe will  add flavor and richness to the dish. If you want to include butter, replace half the olive oil with butter (equalling 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 of olive oil). Butter has a lower smoke point than oil, meaning it can’t handle being heated as much as oil. Mixing butter with oil raises it’s smoke point. 

Serving ideas

These Tex-Mex inspired scrambled eggs with potatoes are great on there own, but some toppings and sides can bring them up a notch.

• Sprinkle on some hot sauce (a favorite around here is Cholula!)
• Dollop on some sour cream
• Put some extra salsa on the side
• Grab some tortilla chips to enjoy alongside

Southwest Scramble with Potatoes

April 24, 2024

Healthy and delicious, this southwest scramble with potatoes only takes 15 minutes and one skillet to make.

Print Pin

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 15 minutes mins

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Servings 4 people

Equipment

• 12" nonstick or castiron skillet with lid

Ingredients

  

• 2 TBS olive oil
• 4 small russet potatoes (or 2 medium potatoes) cut into 1" cubes
• ½ tsp paprika
• ½ tsp cumin
• ½ tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 whole eggs
• ¼ cup salsa
• 2 handfuls spinach roughly chopped

Instructions

 

• Heat the skillet over medium-low heat. Add the oil.
  2 TBS olive oil
• Put the cubed potatoes into the skillet. Add the spices and salt in with the potatoes. Stir the potatoes to evenly coat with the seasoning and oil.
  4 small russet potatoes (or 2 medium potatoes), ½ tsp paprika, ½ tsp cumin, ½ tsp chili powder, 1 tsp salt
• Spread the potatoes into an even layer, then place a lid over the skillet. Let the potatoes cook undisturbed for 10 minutes.
• As the potatoes cook, prep the eggs and spinach. Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk with a fork until combined. Add the salsa to the eggs, and whisk again briefly.
  4 whole eggs, ¼ cup salsa
• Place the spinach on a cutting board and roughly chop into smaller pieces.
  2 handfuls spinach
• Remove the lid from the skillet. Continue to cook the potatoes for 5 minutes, stirring to evenly brown the potatoes.
• Push all the potatoes to one side of the pan, then pour in the eggs. Gently stir around and scramble the eggs for 1 – 2 minutes.
• Turn off the heat, then add the spinach to the skillet. Gently stir the spinach, eggs, and potatoes all together to combine and wilt the spinach. Add more salt if needed.
• Enjoy with sour cream and hot sauce.

Keyword easy, one pan, quick