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One of my mother’s favorite breakfasts to prepare for our family has always been German Farmer’s Breakfast, also known as Bauernfruhstuck.
I remember eating this several times a month as a kid. It’s sort of like a large breakfast hash of potatoes and ham or bacon, with onions and bell pepper and some egg mixed in.
It’s a hearty meal, and I imagine just the sort of breakfast that a German farmer might eat.
Our last name being Bauer, no wonder we like foods like this! I love mine with a lot of ketchup. A great use of leftover ham.
German Farmer’s Breakfast Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 large potatoes, skinned and quartered lengthwise
- 3 tablespoons bacon fat or extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cups roughly chopped green and white onions (include the greens from the green onions)
- 2 cups roughly chopped bell peppers
- Salt to taste
- 1-2 cups chopped ham
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- 4 eggs, whisked
Method
1 Boil the potatoes in a saucepan of lightly salted water for 10-15 minutes until just cooked (test for doneness). Drain, rinse with cold water to cool. Cut into 1-inch squares. Set aside.
2 Brown the onions and bell peppers: Heat 2 Tbsp bacon fat (or olive oil) in a large skillet on medium high heat. Add the onions and chopped bell peppers. Increase the heat to high. Brown the onions and bell peppers, stirring frequently, about 2-3 minutes.
3 Add the potatoes and then the ham: Push the vegetables to the side of the pan, add the potatoes and another Tbsp of bacon fat (or olive oil) to the pan.
Brown the potatoes for about 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Sprinkle on salt to taste as you cook.
Add the ham to the potatoes and cook, stirring frequently until the ham is heated through, 1-2 minutes.
4 Add parsley, eggs: Mix all of the vegetables, potato and ham together and mix in the parsley. Add the eggs, stirring to distribute the eggs among the vegetables and ham.
As soon as eggs begin to firm up, remove from heat.
Serve immediately. Great with ketchup on top.
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Elise Bauer is the founder of Simply Recipes. Elise launched Simply Recipes in 2003 as a way to keep track of her family's recipes, and along the way grew it into one of the most popular cooking websites in the world. Elise is dedicated to helping home cooks be successful in the kitchen. Elise is a graduate of Stanford University, and lives in Sacramento, California.
German Farmer’s Breakfast
Bauernfruhstuck was a favorite breakfast when the family went skiing. Good hearty breakfast that kept everyone satisfied until lunch. We use corn instead of green pepper and topped with cheese like several others have commented. And salsa or ketchup was always good on top. The children are grown; my husband and I are empty nesters. I’m going to make this tonight with leftover potatoes and ham. It’s gonna bring back memories!
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Can you kindly give the amount of potatoes in pounds? And can the small, new Yukon gold potatoes be used? Thanks!
My family used raw or boiled potatoes and usually bacon. But ham or sausage or pork chops are good too. Whatever I want to use up or leftovers in the fridge sometimes find their way into the pan too but that is not really the recipe.
We call that ‘camping hash’ it is a great campout1 skillet breakfast.
When I make Bauernfrühstück I just finely dice the potatoes and throw them into the pan *first* so they don’t need to be boiled. As long as you cook it long enough they will soften and brown nicely.
Ketchup is good for the kids but I like mine with hot sauce. :)