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There is an old feeling that breakfast for dinner is what you make when you have given up. The cupboard is bare, nobody has the energy, and so out come the eggs. Opinion alert: that feeling is wrong.
Some of the best meals we have served were eggs at six o’clock. It is fast, it is cheap, and it feeds a table full of different tastes.
The case for it
Breakfast foods are built for speed. Eggs cook in minutes. Pancake batter takes five. A pan of potatoes and onions is quick and forgiving. Few dinners beat that for effort against reward.
It is also flexible. The same plate pleases the person who wants sweet and the person who wants salty. Pancakes for one end of the table, an omelet for the other, and nobody argues.
Diners built a business on this idea. Breakfast served all day is not a gimmick. It is a recognition that hunger does not read the clock.
Plate one: a Western scramble with home fries. Sauté diced ham, onion and green pepper in a bit of butter, add beaten eggs and stir gently over medium-low heat until just set. Serve with crisp potatoes. A slice of toast finishes it.
Cook the eggs until firm. Egg dishes should reach 160 degrees F, per the USDA, and a bit of extra time on low heat protects the texture.
What breakfast for dinner does for a busy house
Weeknights ask a lot of a cook. Practices, homework, late meetings, the thing that ran over. Few dinners rescue such an evening like a skillet of eggs. The ingredients are almost always on hand, nothing needs thawing, and the cleanup is a pan and a few plates.
It also takes the pressure off. A table that was expecting a full roast is happy with pancakes, because pancakes are an event of their own. The mood in the room changes. People linger, ask for seconds and argue happily over who gets the last piece of bacon.
There is a kind of low-key fun in it, too. Breakfast at night feels like getting away with something.
Plate two: pancakes with sausage
Pancakes and sausage patties are the classic. Cook the sausage first and keep it warm in a low oven while you make the pancakes. Ground pork patties reach 160 degrees F. Syrup on the side, butter on top.
A good nonstick griddle pan makes batches fast. Keep the batter lumpy; overmixing makes pancakes tough.
Plate three: a frittata from the refrigerator. A frittata is the dinner-friendly omelet. Sauté any vegetables you have in an oven-safe skillet, pour in eight beaten eggs with a handful of cheese, and cook until the edges set. Finish in a 375 degree F oven until the center is firm, about ten minutes. Cut into wedges and serve with a salad.
It uses up odds and ends: cooked potatoes, wilted greens, the last of the ham. It is also forgiving.
Plate four: French toast with bacon
Sweet and salty, and everyone’s favorite. Soak thick slices of stale bread in a custard of eggs and milk, griddle until golden, and serve with crisp bacon. A pan of bacon baked in a 400 degree F oven on a rack takes about fifteen to twenty minutes and needs no tending.
Plate five: hash and a fried egg. Dice leftover potatoes and any leftover meat, brown them in a skillet until crisp, and top with a fried egg. Add a dash of hot sauce. It is the best use of the last of the roast.
Make it feel like dinner. The one thing that separates a rushed meal from a good one is setting the table. Plates, napkins, real silverware. Pour something to drink in a glass. Put the syrup in a small pitcher. A few minutes of attention makes pancakes at night feel like a decision, not a surrender.
Add a vegetable or fruit on the side: sliced tomatoes, a green salad, roasted asparagus, a bowl of berries.
Stocking up so it takes ten minutes
Keep eggs, butter, a loaf of bread, a bag of potatoes and an onion as constants. Add a package of bacon or sausage in the freezer, and a bag of frozen pancakes or a mix on the shelf. With those, a plate of breakfast is always twenty minutes away.
Cook bacon in the oven in bulk, then reheat what you need. Par-cook potatoes on Sunday and brown them in minutes during the week. A little preparation makes the quick version even quicker.
Eggs keep best in their carton, in the main body of the refrigerator and not on the door, where the temperature swings. Check the date on the carton before cooking.
Drinks and sides that finish the job
Coffee at night is a personal call. Orange juice, cold milk or a pot of tea work just as well. Fresh fruit, sliced tomatoes with salt, or a simple green salad lighten the plate and give it color. A bowl of grits or oatmeal joins the table without effort.
The last word. Nobody ever complained about getting a hot plate of eggs and potatoes at the end of a long day. Call it a compromise if you like. We will call it dinner.
