Hot Breakfast Bowls Recipe
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This Hot Breakfast Bowls Recipe is a Jimmy Dean copycat that’s budget-friendly, lower in sodium, and without additional preservatives.
I came up with it because my teenaged son loves a hearty, hot breakfast on school mornings. I’m not a fan of getting up early to cook, though. So, I wanted to come up with something convenient, which he could microwave and eat in a bowl. I wanted it to be cost-effective, too.
This recipe fits all of our requirements. In under an hour on the weekend, I can make enough to last an entire month. In just two minutes each morning, my son can heat a breakfast that keeps him full until lunch. We’re both happy!
Hot Breakfast Bowls Recipe
Costs Less than Jimmy Dean
When we were grocery shopping one day, my son saw some Jimmy Dean Breakfast Bowls on sale, so I bought four. That week, he made breakfast every day without help from me, and we both loved it.
Then the deal ended. When I went to buy more, I discovered they cost $2.69 per bowl. That’s crazy! I can get a dozen eggs for around that price, I realized. A dozen — not just one meal.
Jimmy Dean’s hot breakfast bowls didn’t seem complicated, so I decided to make a copycat recipe. If you’re a fan of those convenient meals, but not happy with their price, give this recipe a try.
- Meal-prep style, so it’s all made in one go
- Freezable, so there’s no rush to eat it
- Much more budget-friendly
- A filling combination of proteins and carbs
- Ready to eat in minutes
Recipe Tips
Cook the bacon and sausage in the oven. You’ll be able to cook twice as much in the same amount of time. Here’s how to cook bacon in the oven. Make the sausages on a second foil-lined baking sheet at the same time.
Don’t poke the sausages before cooking. This old practice arose from post-war food rationing. Back then, sausages included a lot of bread and water to make up for the lack of meat. When the water reached the boiling point, the sausages exploded. Poking holes allowed the water to drain instead. Now, it just drains the flavor.
Pat the potatoes dry before frying. Dumping damp potatoes into a hot frying pan leads to painful grease burns. Patting them dry before frying helps potatoes cook more quickly, too.
Let everything cool completely before combining. Wait for the ingredients to reach room temperature before combing them, then spread the mixture on baking sheets to freeze. This way prevents hard, icy clumps.
Hot Breakfast Bowls Recipe for Meal-Prep or OAMC
Ingredients
- ½ lb. bacon
- 1 lb. sausage links
- 2 tbsp olive oil divided
- 2 lbs. Russet potatoes peeled and chopped in 1/2 inch pieces
- 14 eggs large, whisked well
- ½ lb. cheddar cheese grated
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F /218 °C. Line two baking sheets with foil, spray with cooking spray and place a baking rack on one.
- Put the bacon on the baking rack and arrange the sausage links on the other sheet. Cook for 15-20 minutes until done, turning sausages halfway through.
- Remove the meat from the oven and let cool, then chop.
- Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add ½ of the olive oil. Pat the potatoes dry and add them to the skillet. Cook, frequently stirring, until they are fork-tender but not browned. (About 5 minutes.) Transfer the potatoes to a baking sheet or rack and let cool.
- Wipe out the skillet and add the remaining oil. Cook the eggs, stirring occasionally until they're done. Remove them from heat and let cool.
- Once everything is cool, combine it all on the baking sheets, including the grated cheese. Put the sheets in the freezer for 30 minutes then transfer everything to resealable bags and freeze.
To Serve
- Add 1½ cups of mixture to a microwave-safe bowl. Heat for 1 minute at 50% power to defrost, stir, then cook on HIGH for 1 minute, or until thoroughly heated.
Nutrition
More How-Tos:
Can you freeze these and reheat them (i would eat one a day) is there anyway to keep it frozen. Any recommendations?
Hi Hayley,
Good news, these are designed to be frozen! See Step 6 for freezing instructions. 🙂
How many “bowls/meals” did this recipe make? Can you give tips on how to make using frozen store bought shredded hash browns or O’Brien potato’s , also I’d love to know if you have a good recipe for the sausage biscuits and gravy bowls and how to make them? Thanks in advance , I love and eat these allllll the time and it’s been way overdue for me to start saving money and make my own because their price is way to much to eat everyday!!!
Hi Amber!
Aren’t these types of breakfast super convenient? This recipe makes 16 servings at 1.5 cups each, but you can adjust that up or down as needed. Just go to the bottom of the recipe card where it says “Servings: 16” and enter the amount you’re like, then the software will do the rest.
As far as potatoes, you could probably just swap out an equal amount of frozen ones in the main recipe. Freeze it all together and the cooking directions won’t change.
I haven’t tried the biscuits and gravy bowls, so I’m afraid I can’t be of help there. But I hope you find a recipe for those that you like!
I do something similar. I purchase a package of mild sweet Italian sausage (my husband doesn’t do spicy) a package of frozen potatoes (O’Brien) with onion and bell pepper already in the potatoes. I cook the meat add in the potatoes cook until done. Cool and put in the refrig. When serving put a scoop into microwave safe bowl, which is in a microwavable bowl cozy. Make a divot in the potato/meat mixture crack an egg add to divot and sprinkle with cheese. Put in microwave for two minutes and D O N E.
That sounds absolutely delicious! Thank you so much for sharing. I’m going to give this a try. 🙂
Have you ever tried them with the potatoes nicely browned first? I wonder what that would add flavor and texture-wise.
It might add a nice color but I think once they’ve been frozen and reheated in the microwave the texture would be the same. That’s why I don’t bother. 🙂
What size do you chop your potatoes?
Hi Glenda,
Sorry for any lack of clarity. I’ve added the written instruction to chop potatoes into 1/2 inch pieces as part of the recipe, rather than relying on the included photos to give visual cues. Hopefully, this makes the recipe more helpful for those using accessibility devices, too.
Found this recipe on Pinterest, looking for a good breakfast recipe that would be quick and easy for the whole family, but yet homemade and cost efficient – THIS definitely fit the bill!! This is an AMAZING recipe, turned out DELICIOUS, and the kids are so excited that they have breakfast already in the freezer (they have no clue how excited I AM!..Lol 🙂 the only thing I added were some sauted onions, because we all love onions… These are full of flavor and super easy to throw in the microwave before school/work – DEFINITELY a keeper recipe. Thanks so much for posting this 🙂 we absolutely love it! Will be making more of these in the future, I can already hear the kids if we run out ?
Hi Keri,
I’m so glad you liked it and that it’s going to make your mornings easier! And congratulations on having kids who won’t refuse to eat food if they find a piece of onion — that is a miracle!!! ?
Thank you! As I sat here eating one of the aforementioned bowl, I looked at the ingredients and said “WAIT. *I* can do this!” And went to search to see if someone had. Thank you for all the tips about freezing, what cheeses, and all the rest- you saved me a lot of frustration! I plan to freeze mine on the sheet then into seal-a-meal portions.
Hi April,
Using seal-a-meal portions sounds like a great idea. Enjoy!
I searched awhile for a recipe that my husband and I could use for breakfast while camping, and everything I was reading didn’t seem as yummy or didnt have all the ingredients I wanted. Thanks for posting this! Itll make camping so much easier and I’m sure we’ll use it for our weeks as well.
Hi Bree,
What a smart use for this recipe! Hope you two had a fantastic time camping.
Ok, can I say this is amazing? I don’t like to microwave in plastic, so I have some way too small glass bowls to store make-ahead breakfasts for my hubby. Now he can just pull out what he wants and he won’t starve to death before lunch! Your method is nothing short of a complete game-changer for this farm wife. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I totally agree with you about not liking to microwave in plastic containers. So glad you like this recipe! I imagine as a farm wife you work some very long, very early hours, and I’m glad to have helped you save time in the morning!
My microwave is broken. Over ideas?
Get it repaired? Just kidding. If you need to reheat them in the oven, I’d do it at 350 F on a lined baking sheet for 10-15 minutes. Stir it halfway through and keep an eye on things so nothing burns.
love your writing style !
Can i bake the potatoes with the sausages and bacon instead of frying ? (i’m a lazy mom 🙂 )
Sure! In fact, that’s a great way to cut down the calories. Thanks for the idea!
Thank you. I like you knew I could make them at home from scratch allot cheaper. Inot anticipation I purchased some relatively inexpensive freezer to microwave containers that will hold 1-2 cups of mixture. I wastill going to prepare all ingredients but the eggs and freeze them then add an egg or two when cooking in microwave as wasn’t sure how well the eggs would taste after freezing them. Your post not only solved that issue for me but also the issue of ingredients clumping. I would not have thought to do it your way and freeze separated ingredients before putting them together. Thanks a bunch for the instructions and recipe. It’s been very helpful!
I’m so glad to have helped you save money! Enjoy your breakfasts. 🙂
Great Idea you have here! I’ve been using it for my airbnb guests and have been getting rave reviews on the breakfast! I added salt and pepper, garlic and onion powder to the eggs and potatoes. Thanks for the recipe!
I’m so glad your AirBnB guests are enjoying it! Your additions sound delicious — I like topping mine with Sriracha sauce or salsa sometimes just to change things up. Last time I made a batch I swapped diced ham for the bacon. Wow, was that good!
This is awesome. With my schedule this would be great for myself and my family. I can’t wait to make this tomorrow. Thanks for sharing.
I hope you enjoy them, Tammy. It really is nice being able to feed the family a hot breakfast without having to get up even earlier to do it!
This is exactly what I’ve been looking for!! I ate those Jimmy Dean breakfast bowls this summer to help me with portion control, all the while thinking I should make from scratch. Thank you so much for this information!!
You’re quite welcome!