The Denver Scramble is an easy, filling breakfast. Ham, onions, and peppers are tucked into pillows of scrambled eggs for a dish that’s just as good as the namesake omelet, but a lot quicker. Yum!
When I was growing up, my parents made omelets often on the weekends, especially in the summer. Mom would chop up the veggies from Dad’s garden and array them in an omelet bar on the counter. While a parental cooked up omelets, a slow task, to be sure, kids could come fill their omelets with whatever they wanted.
One of my favorites was what Dad called The Denver Omelet. It contained ham, onion, bell pepper, and tomato. A true Denver doesn’t usually have tomatoes, but ours did.
You wouldn’t believe the number of cherry tomatoes that man can grow every summer! Sheesh. 😉
When I serve omelets at our house it takes forever. Forever! Prepping omelets for eight is no small feat.
Making a Denver Scramble is so much easier for feeding a crowd than omelets. Just saute the omelet “fillings”, add the eggs, and scramble like you normally would. Tasty, tasty, tasty.
Denver Scramble with Prosciutto
Ham is one of the more frugal pork cuts available, next to shoulder, country strips, and pork loin. In fact, I can usually get all of the above for less than $2 a pound, depending on the season.
I often buy a ham at Easter and then stretch the leftovers. I slice or chop it and wrap it into meal-sized packages in foil in a freezer bag to stash in the deep freeze. Freezing below 0 degrees keeps food safe indefinitely. However, the longer it’s stored, there is a risk of losing quality. So, we try to use things up within 4 to 6 months.
If you’re doing a Whole 30 or trying to avoid sugar or additives, you can make this with chopped prosciutto. It’s super tasty with those little bits of meat in it, and it meets all the criteria. It’s not quite as pink as ham, evidenced in the picture above.
You can add diced tomatoes on top to serve if you like. That’s how my dad would do it. 😉
Denver Scramble
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp butter or olive oil
- 1 cup diced ham or prosciutto
- 1 onion (1 cup chopped)
- 1 bell pepper (any color) any color (1 cup chopped)
- 12 egg beaten
- salt
- black pepper
Instructions
- In a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat, melt the butter or heat the oil until shimmering. Add the onion and cook until clear. Stir in the ham or prosciutto as well as the bell pepper. Cook, stirring until the mixture is hot.
- Add the eggs, season to taste with salt and pepper, and cook. Once the eggs start to turn white around the edges, stir the eggs to scramble. Continue to cook and stir until the eggs are cooked to your preference. Serve immediately.
Nutrition
Tools I use for this recipe:
- Ergo Chef chef’s knife
- plastic cutting boards
- stainless steel mixing bowls
- Wire whisk
- nonstick skillet
Got a favorite breakfast recipe at YOUR house?
*This post was originally posted on July 12, 2012.
Melanie
I love this idea. It is much easier than making an omelet. I was able to buy sugar free ham (I am on Whole30) and this was a nice quick breakfast.
Jessica Fisher
Glad you enjoyed it, Melanie!
Stacy
I’ll make this soon. Thanks for the idea. I’ve been eating egg whites lately, so I may try it that way, too. In the past, I’ve made frittatas and liked them, but my family is not in love with them.
Sandi
I just pulled out my leftover ham the other day, too. We had sliced ham for one dinner and omelets for breakfast this past weekend. I don’t generally make official omelets since they usually fall apart. (This one didn’t, and I was quite pleased!) I occasionally do a fritatta type thing (cook all the veggies in the pan, pour the whipped eggs over the top, let it sit and cook until until firm), but generally opt for what I’ve always termed “scrambled omelets”. It’s much like your Denver Scramble, except mushrooms are usually included and meat may or may not be. I also add some herbs de provence (or italian seasoning) along with the salt and pepper. I’ve found those seasonings distribute through the egg better if they are added to the bowl of raw eggs and mixed in before pouring into the pan. I don’t know why, but it has made a big difference.
Jen Blacker
Thank you for hosting. This week I shared my country style pork ribs. These are made in a slow cooker and were just what I needed last week. Freon was escaping our air conditioner again on the hottest day of the year last week. Instead of what I had planned to make I pulled these out of the freezer, seasoned and poured BBQ sauce and them, and let them slow cook all day. It was perfect!
Victoria@Snailpacetransformations
I love omelets but mine always turn out runny in the middle. The eggs are cooked but its like a watery substances left behind. Any tips on preventing this?
Jessica Fisher
We don’t like runny eggs, either. We do one of two things. Either flip it (kinda tricky) or cover and let the top steam a bit.
Lisa
Thanks for the opportunity to link up again this week! I LOVE pork, so I hope you don’t mind that I linked up to more than one recipe. Pork loin in the crockpot is a favorite around here (Easy Pork Dinner) and I always make Pork Barbeque with the leftovers. In the summer, we love Grilled Pork.
Jessica Fisher
I love pork roast in the crockpot. Awesome.
Marty Walden
Have you ever heard of omelets in a bag? I am terrible at making a good omelet and my family loves that we can personalize our own. You use a freezer quart size bag, put as many eggs as you want for your own omelet, plus whatever ingredients you want (cheese, veggies, leftovers, whatever). Smush all together (technical term) and immerse in boiling water for 13 minutes. The perfect omelet. Try it!
Jessica Fisher
I’ve heard of those for camping. It sounds fascinating. Does the plastic let off any flavor? That’s what’s made me hesitant.
Marty Walden
The plastic doesn’t affect it at all. I sometimes spray the bags inside just to make sure they slide out easily. I’ve even doubled bagged the cheaper ones to make sure they don’t melt! Try it and let me know how you like it. I’m working on a post about it but it’s hard to get good pics!
Charlene
I was thinking the same thing! I have done these. The cool thing is you can write names on the bag and then you know which bag belongs to which person. I have wondered about using the plastic. I don’t taste anything from it, but then again, does that mean that you don’t get any of the “bad stuff” from plastic? I don’t know. They do work and taste great. No burned bottoms and not done on tops, or anything like that. We don’t do it often, but it’s always fun when we do!