If you’ve been following the blog for a while, then you know how I love to meal prep my breakfast. It’s just so much easier to spend a little time on the weekend to get my breakfast in order so I can just pop one in the microwave every morning and have a nice hot breakfast in about 90 seconds. These Country Breakfast Bowls are one of the first breakfast meal prep recipes that I ever made. And I haven’t stopped since.
Shown with Pyrex 3-cup glass meal prep containers, which can be found in my Amazon Shop.
I got the idea for these Country Breakfast Bowls while watching TV. I saw a commercial for some frozen breakfast bowls that no doubt cost about $4 each and thought, “I can make that!” And for much less, of course. These breakfast meal prep bowls are so incredibly easy, you can make them while you’re watching TV on Sunday afternoon and have breakfast sorted for the rest of the week.
What’s in a Country Breakfast Bowl?
My breakfast bowls start with a bed of seasoned roasted potatoes, and are then topped with scrambled eggs, a little salsa, and cheddar cheese. You could also add these fun toppings:
- sautéed breakfast sausage
- crumbled bacon
- green onions
- ham
- bell pepper
- hot sauce
How Long do The Breakfast Bowls Stay Good?
You can keep these Country Breakfast Bowls in the refrigerator for about four days, or in the freezer for about three months. To freeze the bowls, make sure to cool them completely in the refrigerator first (overnight), then transfer them to the freezer the next day.
How to Reheat Country Breakfast Bowls
I reheat my Country Breakfast Bowls from the refrigerator in the microwave for about 90 seconds on high, but the total time needed will depend on the wattage of your microwave and your containers. To reheat from frozen, first use the defrost setting for about 3-5 minutes, then finish on high for 1-2 minutes. Or you can transfer the breakfast bowl from the freezer to the refrigerator the day before and skip the defrost step.
And who says you have to eat this for breakfast? NO ONE. They’re also great for taking to work for lunch, or a quick lazy dinner!
Country Breakfast Bowls
Servings 4Ingredients
- 2 lbs russet potatoes ($1.00)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.32)
- 1 tsp smoked paprika ($0.10)
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder ($0.05)
- ¼ tsp salt ($0.02)
- Freshly cracked black pepper ($0.03)
- 6 large eggs ($1.40)
- 2 Tbsp butter ($0.26)
- 1 cup salsa ($1.49)
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese ($0.85)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Wash and cut the potatoes into ½-inch cubes.
- For extra protection against the potatoes sticking, line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Otherwise, rub 1 Tbsp of the olive oil over the surface of a large baking sheet. Spread the potatoes out onto the baking sheet. Drizzle the remaining tablespoon of oil over the potatoes, along with the smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Toss to coat the potatoes in oil and spices.
- Roast the potatoes in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes, or until they are golden brown and crispy. Stir once half way through roasting.
- When the potatoes are close to being finished, crack the eggs into a large bowl and add a pinch of salt and pepper. Gently whisk the eggs.
- Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat. When the butter is melted, pour in the eggs. Gently move the eggs around the skillet until they are mostly solid, but still soft and glistening. Be careful not to over cook the eggs at this point because they will cook further when the breakfast bowls are reheated.
- To prepare the bowls, divide the roasted potatoes and scrambled eggs between four freezer safe containers. Add 1/4 cup of salsa to each container then top with about 1/4 cup of shredded cheese.
- Chill the bowls in the refrigerator before transferring to the freezer. Or, leave them in the refrigerator if you plan to eat them within 4-5 days.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!How to Make Country Breakfast Bowls – Step by Step Photos
Begin by preheating the oven to 400ºF. Clean and dice 2 lbs. russet potatoes into ½-inch cubes. Line a baking sheet with parchment for extra protection against sticking, or, if you like to live dangerous like me, just smear a tablespoon of oil over the surface of a baking sheet. Spread the potatoes out over the prepared baking sheet.
Add a second tablespoon of olive oil to the potatoes along with 1 tsp smoked paprika, ½ tsp garlic powder, ¼ tsp salt, and some freshly cracked black pepper. Toss the potatoes to coat them in oil and spices.
Roast the potatoes in the preheated oven for about 40-45 minutes or until they are golden brown and crispy. Stir once half way through roasting.
When the potatoes are almost done roasting, crack six large eggs into a bowl and add a pinch of salt and pepper. Lightly whisk the eggs.
Heat two tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Once melted, add the whisked eggs. Cook the eggs slowly, gently moving them around the skillet with a spatula, until they are mostly set, but still soft and glistening. It’s really important not to overcook the eggs at this point because they will cook even further when you reheat the bowls.
To build the country breakfast bowls, divide the roasted potatoes between four containers.
Next, divide the scrambled eggs between the four containers.
Add ¼ cup salsa to each container.
Lastly, add ¼ cup shredded cheddar to each container. Refrigerate the containers for 4 days, or freeze for longer storage.
To reheat, simply microwave until heated through and enjoy!
How do you heat them once ready?
I use the microwave to heat it through.
I think this recipe looks amazing. I am going to try adding a little cilantro to it as well.
Anything I could substitute for salsa???
Salsa is like a tomate sauce but a little bit spicy. You can try that. If you want to homemake it, just chop up some tomatoes and put them in a cacerole with some spices, salt and pepper. (and if you want you can put a little hot sauce)
Do tostinos con queso cheese sauce.
how about country gravy or hollandaise sauce?
While salsa is a decent option I don’t see why you couldn’t roast some red peppers and onions as well to mix in. This would be a good substitute for salsa. Try adding sautéed mushrooms to the mix, I bet you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Don’t forget the bacon!
Super excited to try this. Thank you!
Love this idea. Will these really still be good after 5 to 6 days in the fridge?
Yes, they should be. :)
Would it be possible to substitute potatoe cubes with hash browns? I’m not a big fan of “chunky” potato but I think shredded would make this amazing!
Yes, you sure could. :)
Could I extra lazy and use tator tots?
Hahah, yes, that would work as well. :)
These look great! I never eat a proper breakfast so maybe I should change that. However, I don’t have an oven. Do you think I could cook the potatoes in an electric skillet? Thanks!
Yes, that would also work. :)
The cost per serving is off. Everything needs to be doubled.
I guess it would depend on the part of the country you live in and where you shop. Her prices are pretty spot on for where I shop.
Look at the date this recipe was published .
I don’t like to cook with plastic in the microwave so I use glass now with a paper towel “lid”……I haven’t frozen anything in the glass container prior to microwaving it though – does anyone know if the glass container can go from freezer directly to microwave or will it break?
My guess is that it would break. That’s a VERY fast temperature change.
As long as it says it can go from freezer to microwave/oven you should be fine… I know you can do that with some pirx dishes.
Pyrex glass dishes can go from freezer to oven to table.
Sometimes I make a big batch of breakfast sandwiches to freeze. When I take one out of the fridge in the morning, I pull one out of the freezer at the same time, and stick the frozen one in the fridge for the next day. I prefer to not microwave frozen food like a breakfast sandwich because some parts will get steaming hot while others are still frozen. This method of rotating your frozen food into the fridge should work well for your purposes too.
I think if you just put it on the defrost setting it would be ok :)
If you freeze in glass, could you not just transfer one to the fridge the night before to thaw? Then the temperature change wouldn’t be so intense. I have a few Pyrex bowls that I’ve microwaved from the fridge that have been fine.
You can buy dishes that go straight from freezer to oven. ‘Temptations’ sold on the shopping channel are one option. Reasonably priced and present well. I use mine often.
look on the bottom of the glass container, it should say microwavable… if it does than it’s ok.. my suggestion is to take it out the night before and let it thaw in the refrigerator while you sleep then put it in the microwave for 4 min at Power level 5.. it will heat it slower and since it is all already cooked, you just need to heat it through and not cook it. when it’s done.. feel the bottom center of the container, it that part is warm then it’s done.. if it’s still cool but the outer edge is warm.. put it in for another min
There are several brands of glass containers that are safe from freezer to microwave. Just do a search. (Google)
Well, what you can do is that you can leave it in room temperature to defrost before putting it into the microwave or oven
You can prepare and freeze in plastic, then pop out onto a plate for reheating.
How long do you reheat them in the microwave?
It depends on your microwave, but I usually start with a minute, give it a stir and then add extra time as needed. Extra intervals of 30 seconds to a minute with stirring in between.
Whats the calorie count for these bowls?
I’d like to know the same thing!
I was wondering the same thing
For just an estimate calculation, the calories for the entire recipe is about 2,556. So if you made this into 6 servings it would come out to 426 calories per serving. 5 servings would be 511.2 calories per serving. Keep in mind that substituting things such as mozzarella cheese for the cheddar gives you a third of the calories from cheese. You could also only use 5 eggs (455 cal) instead of 9 (819 cal) and add in some cooked spinach to take away a bunch of calories, and add a tiny bit of protein. Substituting the mozzarella cheese and taking away 5 eggs and adding the spinach takes the calorie content all the way down to 313.8 calories per serving (6 servings).
I made these for dinner tonight exactly like your recipe and they were delicious and easy to make!
When I made these, I added sausage chunks (veggie ones) and LOVED this… as a chubby, I sauteed small pieces of carrot and celery to add vegetables to the breakfast. That added a nice touch.
The 2nd time I made them, I was lazy and boiled the potatoes. Well, that didn’t work out too well. That makes the potatoes too moist and heating in microwave took longer. Oven cook the potatoes! Definitely makes this breakfast wonderful!
These are so good! The second time I made them, I added sausage for a heartier breakfast. Yum!