Simple Camping Breakfast Recipe: The Mountain Man

For a filling camping breakfast recipe you can easily throw together, look no further than the mountain man. This meat, egg and potato masterpiece can be made at camp or created at home and warmed in a dutch oven for ultimate convenience.

If you aren't familiar with a mountain man breakfast, it's basically a breakfast casserole that is traditionally cooked in a dutch oven. The best part about this meal is that you can easily customize it to your tastes, even if you don't consider yourself a cook.

We kept our mountain man simple but encourage you to get creative. Here's what you'll need to make the basic version of this camping breakfast classic.

Basic Mountain Man Ingredients

1. 1 lb ground pork sausage
   
2. 10-12 eggs
   
3. 4 medium red potatoes (or a bag of frozen hash browns)
   
4. 1 onion
   
5. 2 cloves garlic
   
6. 2 cups shredded cheese
   
7. 1/4 cup water
   
8. 1 tbs butter or vegetable oil
   

Mountain Man Recipe at Home

This is a simple recipe to put together at home and heat in a dutch oven at camp.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
   
2. Wash potatoes and cut into cubes. Add 1/4 cup water and potatoes to pan and set burner to medium-high heat.
   
3. Once water starts boiling, cover and cook for 5 minutes or until water is evaporated.
   
4. Meanwhile, brown pork sausage in a separate pan.
   
5. After water has evaporated from potato pan, stir and add butter or vegetable oil. Cook for another 5 minutes along with onion, garlic and any other vegetables you are including.
   
6. Add potato mix and browned pork sausage to an oiled baking pan.
   
7. Beat eggs in separate bowl and pour over potato sausage mixture.
   
8. Sprinkle cheese on top and bake for 20-30 minutes.
   

Mountain Man Recipe at Camp

A classic mountain man camping breakfast is usually made in a dutch oven over a campfire. If you decide to make this meal at camp, I would recommend cooking potatoes ahead of time or using a package of frozen hash browns instead. The chopping of onions, garlic and any peppers or other veggies you want to include is also something that should be done ahead of time for convenience. Eggs can be beaten and stored in a water bottle for easy transportation.

1. In a dutch oven, cook pork sausage over hot coals along with onion and garlic until sausage is no longer pink.
   
2. Add any other vegetables, such as peppers, and pre-cooked potatoes or hash browns. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes.
   
3. Pour eggs over potato sausage mixture. Sprinkle cheese on top.
   
4. Cover and cook over hot coals for about 30 minutes, or until eggs are firm.
   

This hearty camping breakfast is perfect fuel for hiking or other activities you have planned for a day of outdoor exploring. Scoop into tortillas for a delicious meal on-the-go. However you cook or eat this camping breakfast, it's sure to be a crowd-pleaser.

What's your take on the mountain man breakfast recipe? Share your add-ons in the comments!