Sweet Potato Egg Nests
Shredded sweet potato crisped in a skillet, with eggs set into wells cut in the pile.
- calories
- 400
- weight
- 10 oz
- cal / oz
- 40
- protein
- 16 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 25 min
- total time
- 35 min
- water
- none
- 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
- Grill grate
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Vegetarian
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Day one only
- Basic
Ingredients
| Sweet potato | 1 large | shredded or diced small at home |
|---|---|---|
| Eggs | 4 | |
| Extra virgin olive oil | 2 tbsp | |
| Kosher salt | 1/2 tsp | |
| Black pepper | 1/4 tsp | |
| Green onions | 2, sliced | optional, they wilt fast in a cooler |
Method
- Set a skillet over the grate on a moderate fire. Coals are better than flame here.
- Add the oil, then the sweet potato. Salt and pepper it.
- Cook 15 to 20 minutes, turning every few minutes with a spoon. Some of it should go brown and crisp; the rest stays soft. That is the point.
- Push the potato into four low mounds and hollow a well in each with the back of the spoon.
- Crack an egg into each well. Cover the skillet with a lid or foil and pull it to lower heat.
- Give it 6 to 8 minutes, until the whites are set and the yolks still move. Scatter the green onions and eat out of the pan.
Shredded sweet potato behaves like hash browns without needing a parboil, which is why this works on a fire. The shreds hit the pan with enough surface area to crisp in fifteen minutes, and the pieces that don’t crisp turn soft and sweet. You get both textures out of one skillet.
The eggs are steamed, not fried. Sitting them in wells and covering the pan traps enough heat to set the whites from above without turning the bottoms to rubber. Eggs are the only thing here that doesn’t keep, so this is a first-morning meal out of the cooler. The potato itself needs no refrigeration at all.
Packing
Shred the sweet potato at home and pack it in a bag with a paper towel; it browns a little but cooks the same. Eggs travel in a hard case in the cooler and get used the first morning.
Variations
- Diced potato instead of shredded works, but add five minutes and stir less so it can brown.
- No lid means no set whites. A sheet of foil over the pan does the same job.
- A spoonful of hot sauce or a shake of smoked paprika covers for the cheese this recipe does not have.
https://www.bowlofdelicious.com/two-ingredient-baked-egg-and-sweet-potato-nests