Ham and Zucchini Skillet Frittata
Canned ham browned with onion and peppers, then set with eggs in one pan.
- calories
- 420
- weight
- 9 oz
- cal / oz
- 47
- protein
- 30 g
- serves
- 3, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 12 min
- total time
- 22 min
- water
- 180 ml cold
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Breakfast
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Grill grate
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- Dairy free
- One pot
- Grab and go
- Shelf stable
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Canned ham | 200 g | cut into 1 cm cubes |
|---|---|---|
| Powdered whole egg | 9 tbsp | equals 6 eggs; add 180 ml water |
| Dried onion or leek flakes | 1/3 cup | or one fresh onion, thinly sliced |
| Freeze-dried zucchini | 1/2 cup | or one fresh medium zucchini, seeds out, 1 cm dice |
| Dried red bell pepper | 1/4 cup | or one small fresh pepper, diced |
| Cooking oil | 1 tsp | |
| Black pepper | to taste |
Method
- Cover the dried onion, zucchini, and pepper with cold water in a cup. Ten minutes, then drain hard. Skip this if you carried them fresh.
- Whisk the egg powder into 180 ml of cold water in a mug or bottle. Let it sit while you cook the rest, or it stays grainy.
- Heat the oil in a wide pan over high heat. Add the onion and cook two or three minutes.
- Add the ham and the drained vegetables. Stir four minutes, until the ham edges brown and the vegetables give up their water. Grind in pepper.
- Drop the heat to low and spread everything flat across the pan.
- Pour the eggs over. For the first minute, drag the set edges toward the middle with a spoon and tilt the pan so the loose egg runs into the gaps.
- Once nothing runs anymore, leave it alone for five minutes. Done when the top is set and the underside is browned.
- Cut into wedges in the pan.
The order matters more than the ingredients. Browning the ham and softening the vegetables before the eggs go in builds a savory base that raw ingredients cooked together never develop. It also drives off water, which is the difference between a frittata and scrambled eggs sitting in a puddle.
The trail version swaps fresh eggs for powdered and fresh vegetables for dried, so nothing needs a cooler and nothing breaks in your pack. Canned ham is already the shelf-stable choice, so it carries over unchanged. Rehydrate the vegetables first and drain them properly; if you dump them in wet, the pan never gets hot enough to brown anything. A wide pan beats a deep pot here, since a thick frittata sets on top long before the middle cooks.
Packing
Onion, zucchini, and pepper go in one bag; egg powder in its own, since it needs measuring separately. The ham can ride in the can or get repacked into a jar at home to shed weight.
Variations
- Any cured meat works. Bacon, sausage, or prosciutto all brown the same way.
- Add a pouch of precooked potato or a handful of instant potato flakes with the vegetables to stretch it further.
- Hard cheese grated over the top in the last two minutes if you are carrying a cooler.
https://www.advrider.com/recipe-ham-and-zucchini-frittata