Get ready for your day with this delicious and easy to make paleo breakfast skillet! It’s loaded with veggies, complex carbs, and protein. This is made completely egg free as well, but you can serve this with an egg on top for extra protein and healthy fats!
If you’re looking for some allergy friendly and balanced breakfast options, make a batch of our paleo breakfast skillet (we also call this a breakfast hash or stovetop breakfast casserole).
Our recipe has simple ingredients and it’s a great recipe for meal prepping breakfasts for a busy week!
We made this recipe egg free since I can’t have eggs (which I really miss). We added an egg to some of our photos as a serving suggestion, but eggs are completely optional and aren’t required for this recipe.
This colorful dish is a great way for people with egg allergies to get more protein and veggies in their breakfast without using protein powders. I also included instructions for adding dairy free cheese to this if you want!
Our breakfast skillet is:
- Paleo and gluten free (depending on your choice of breakfast sausage)
- Dairy free
- Peanut and tree nut free
How to make paleo breakfast hash
Our breakfast hash recipe is pretty simple to make, we make it all in one pan and it’s a great way to start the day! This is just an overview of the steps, the full recipe card is at the end of the blog post.
- Add some oil to a large skillet (we used a deep 18-inch pan) and heat up the skillet as you dice and prep your veggies.
- Add the diced bell pepper and zucchini to the heated pan along with the all purpose cajun spice and saute for several minutes.
- Add the cubed butternut squash (we recommend using packaged cubes to save time), the garlic powder, and onion powder, and saute a few more minutes until the vegetables begin to soften but are not completely soft yet.
- Next, add the breakfast sausage to the skillet and break it up as you cook the meat. If you need this to be paleo, look for brands without added sugar.
- The veggies will continue to cook as the meat cooks so it can all cook in one pan.
- We used lean sausage, so we didn’t have to drain excess oil from our skillet, but if you use regular sausage, you might have to drain the excess oil when the meat is about 3/4 of the way through cooking.
- Once the meat is fully cooked and the vegetables are softened, serve hot or cool and divide into meal prep containers.
- Optional: you can add an egg to the top of this before serving, or you can add dairy free cheese to the top as well.
Since I have IBS and can’t eat a lot of whole onions, I used onion powder in this recipe instead of fresh onions.
But you can add onions to this recipe if you like instead of using onion powder, just dice 1/2 a medium onion and add it to the skillet first while you cut up the other ingredients to add to the skillet.
What kind of breakfast sausage can I use in this recipe?
As I mentioned earlier, we used leaner pork breakfast sausage for this recipe. We try to get local meat when possible, so we split a pig with my parents from a local rancher and had a local meat packer process the meat for us and make sausage.
We prefer the taste of pastured pork, but if you don’t have this as an option, you can definitely use a leaner breakfast sausage for this recipe. If you notice a lot of excess oil, you can drain the skillet when your meat is 1/2 to 3/4 of the way done cooking.
This recipe would also work perfectly without pork as well if you can’t have it for dietary or religious reasons! Just swap the pork sausage for turkey breakfast sausage, chicken sausage, or even beef breakfast sausage.
Great variations for our stovetop breakfast casserole
One way to make our breakfast skillet recipe even faster is to use cooked ham instead of uncooked breakfast sausage.
This works really well with leftover ham steaks that you can cut up and add to the sauteeing veggies as your protein (like we did with our cauliflower fried rice recipe). You’ll just saute until the vegetables are soft to your liking and the ham is heated through.
You can also add some grated dairy free cheese to the top of this as well and cover it with a lid to melt the cheese for a couple of minutes after everything is cooked. It won’t really be “paleo” at that point (depending on the brand of dairy free cheese you use), but it’s pretty amazing!
Check out our other allergy friendly breakfast recipes:
- Gluten Free and Dairy Free Brunch Recipes
- Gluten Free Waffles (Dairy Free)
- Low Carb Meal Prep Scrambled Egg Cups
- Gluten Free and Vegan Buttermilk Pancakes
Paleo Breakfast Skillet (Dairy Free)
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil or coconut oil (or dairy free butter if you don't need this to be paleo)
- 1 cup diced red bell pepper
- 1 ½ cup chopped zucchini
- ½ teaspoon cajun spice (our favorite all purpose seasoning)
- 2 cup packaged cubed butternut squash
- 1 pound lean pork breakfast sausage (opt for a gluten free or paleo variety)
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- Black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat a large skillet on the stove over medium heat and add the oil to the skillet.
- Chop the red bell pepper and zucchini and add to the skillet with the cajun spice and saute for about 2-3 minutes.
- Add the butternut squash cubes and saute together for about 3 to 5 minutes until the vegetables begin to soften.
- Add the breakfast sausage to the skillet, along with the garlic powder, onion powder, and black pepper, breaking up the sausage as it cooks. The veggies will continue to cook and soften as the sausage cooks, so everything will be cooked fully at the same time in one pan.
- Cook, stirring regularly, until the breakfast sausage is completely browned and cooked through and the vegetables are softened.
- Allow to cool for a few minutes and serve. You can serve this with an egg on top if you like or dairy free cheese.
- If you'd like to add dairy free cheese, as soon as this is done cooking, sprinkle dairy free cheese on top and cover it with a lid for a few minutes to melt the cheese. This won't be paleo anymore if you add dairy free cheese (depending on the brand you choose).
Notes
Nutrition
Sarah Jane Parker is the founder, recipe creator, and photographer behind The Fit Cookie. She’s a food allergy mom and healthy living blogger based in Wyoming. Sarah is also an ACSM Certified Personal Trainer, ACE Certified Health Coach, Revolution Running certified running coach, and an ACE Certified Fitness Nutrition Specialist