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The perfect way to kick off your plaid shirt days, this paleo pumpkin breakfast bake is an absolute autumn dream! One bite and you’ll fall head-over-heels in love with this incredible blend of sweet potatoes, apples, puréed pumpkin, raisins, walnuts, vanilla bean, and spices, tied together with plenty of eggs for protein. Say “hello” to your new favorite breakfast!
Before You Get Started
- When you’re grocery shopping, pay attention to the types of apples you’re getting! I recommend honeycrisp, fuji, pink lady, Granny Smith… any variety that holds up well to high temperatures. Since you’ll be sautéeing them and then baking them, you don’t want a type that becomes mushy or mealy when cooked.
- To keep this dish paleo, make sure your raisins are unsweetened, with no added oils. You’ll also want to use an unsweetened coconut milk from a can, not a carton.
- Make sure you’ve got a can of 100% pure pumpkin purée and NOT a can of pumpkin pie filling! Pumpkin pie filling has spices and sweetener added, which means it’s not paleo-compatible. Aside from that, those extra spices will throw off the other flavors of the pumpkin breakfast bake.
How to Make This Recipe
See recipe card below for full list of measurements, ingredients, and instructions.
Sauté the Sweet Potatoes & apples.
In a cast-iron skillet, sauté the diced sweet potatoes in melted ghee until they begin to soften, then add in the apples, raisins, and spices. Stir everything well and sauté it all together until you can easily pierce the potatoes and apples with the tines of a fork, then stir in the chopped walnuts and salt.
Make the creamy pumpkin base.
Add the eggs, pumpkin, vanilla bean seeds, and coconut milk to a mixing bowl and whisk everything together until it’s all fully combined. Pour the egg mixture into the skillet with the sweet potatoes and apples, spreading everything out into a smooth, even layer.
Bake!
What’s a pumpkin breakfast bake without the bake? Pop the skillet into the oven and bake it for 20-ish minutes, until the eggs are fully cooked.
If you don’t have a cast-iron or other oven-safe skillet, don’t worry. You can use a regular skillet for all the stovetop steps, then transfer the apple-sweet potato mixture to a 9×13 baking dish. Add the egg mixture to the dish and bake as instructed!
What I Love About This Recipe
- I’m not a big breakfast person to begin with, but skipping meals is a no-no when you’re on a Whole30 round, so I would always give it my best effort. Inevitably, though, there would be a morning every round (ok, every week) where I just couldn’t stand the thought of another egg-centered savory breakfast. The texture. The repetition. I couldn’t take it. Until I figured out the pure magic that is this Whole30-compatible, paleo-friendly, pumpkin breakfast bake.
- Similar to a breakfast casserole, this breakfast bake is so easy to make, and it’s loaded with filling, satisfying ingredients. We’re talking plenty of fiber, tons of healthy fats and proteins, nourishing vitamins and minerals. This isn’t a quick-burn, empty-calorie breakfast that has you hungry again hours before lunch.
- I can’t talk about this dish without talking about the flavors! Cozy sautéed sweet potatoes and apples coated in cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. A hint of pumpkin and an added richness from the optional-but-encouraged vanilla bean. It’s savory with a light, natural sweetness, and it’s easily my favorite way to get my PSL fix every autumn.
Recipe Variations
- A Breakfast Bake for the Holidays: Replace the raisins with dried cranberries, and use chopped toasted pecans instead of walnuts. Make sure neither of your subs contain any sweeteners!
Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions or variations listed are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.
Paleo Pumpkin Breakfast Bake
Equipment
- Oven
- 12-inch cast-iron skillet
- stovetop
- Large wooden spoon
- medium mixing bowl
- whisk
- butter knife
Ingredients
- ¼ cup ghee or refined coconut oil
- 2 medium sweet potatoes approximately 6 ounces each; peeled, diced
- 2 medium apples approximately 6 ounces each; cored, diced
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice store-bought or make your own
- 1 cup organic unsweetened raisins
- ⅓ cup roughly chopped walnuts
- ¼ teaspoon salt more or less to taste
- 8 large eggs
- 1 cup 100% pure pumpkin purée
- vanilla bean seeds optional, scraped from 1 vanilla bean pod
- ½ cup unsweetened, full-fat coconut milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325° Fahrenheit.
- Place large cast-iron skillet on stovetop over medium heat. When skillet is warm, add ¼ cup ghee. Let ghee melt completely, swirling and tilting skillet as needed to distribute ghee across entire surface.
- When ghee has melted, add 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced, to skillet. Stir to incorporate.
- Sauté sweet potatoes, stirring often, 5 to 10 minutes or until sweet potatoes begin to soften.
- When sweet potatoes have just started to soften, add 2 medium apples (cored and diced), 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1 ½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, and 1 cup organic unsweetened raisins. Stir to incorporate.
- Sauté mixture, stirring often, 8 to 10 minutes or until raisins are plump and apples and sweet potatoes can be easily pierced with fork. Note: if needed, stir in small amounts water to prevent sticking and burning.
- When apples, sweet potatoes, and raisins are ready, add ⅓ cup roughly chopped walnuts and ¼ teaspoon salt. Stir all ingredients to combine, then continue sautéeing mixture 2 to 3 minutes.
- While mixture sautées, crack 8 large eggs directly into medium mixing bowl. Add 1 cup 100% pure pumpkin purée, vanilla bean seeds (optional), and ½ cup unsweetened, full-fat coconut milk. Stir until ingredients are fully combined.
- Remove cast-iron skillet from heat and let cool slightly, then pour egg mixture into skillet. Use silicone spatula or back of spoon to smooth out ingredients, spreading mixture evenly across skillet.
- Place cast-iron skillet in preheated oven. Bake dish 20 minutes, or until eggs are fully set. To check doneness, insert butter knife in center of pumpkin bake, then remove knife and check. When knife comes out of pumpkin bake cleanly, remove cast-iron skillet from oven and set aside.
- Let dish rest 5 minutes, then slice pumpkin bake into desired number of servings. Serve warm.
- Dice the sweet potatoes and apples into equally-sized pieces (or as equally-sized as possible) so that they cook evenly.
- Apples: I recommend apples like Honeycrisp, Green Apple, Pink Lady, or Fuji, which all maintain a pleasant texture after cooking.
- Raisins: Make sure your raisins don’t have any sweeteners or oils added.
- Pumpkin Purée: Make sure to use a can of 100% pure pumpkin purée and NOT a can of pumpkin pie filling.
- Coconut Milk: Use an unsweetened coconut milk from a can, not a carton.
- Cast-Iron Skillet: If you don’t have a cast-iron skillet, any oven-safe skillet will work fine. You can also use a regular skillet for the stovetop portion of the recipe, then transfer everything to a 9×13 baking dish before adding the egg mixture. Stir well and follow the baking instructions as written.
Approximate Information for One Serving
Nutrition Disclaimers
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
Did You Make This Recipe?
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Can’t-Miss Paleo and Whole30 Recipes
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- The Best Paleo Stuffing (Gluten-Free, Grain Free)
- Whole30 Breakfast Tacos
- Paleo Pancakes (Gluten Free, Dairy Free)
- Loaded Sweet Potato Fries (Whole30 & Paleo)
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- Easy Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy (Whole30, Paleo, Low Carb)
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The nutrition facts you have listed is for the whole recipe or whole final “product”, correct? It is not for a slice of the bake? I want to be sure for counting macros. Thank you…stumbled upon your website & printed out so many recipes!!
Yes, for six servings. 🙂
Do you think I could substitute cranberries for the raisins, and pecans for walnuts? Excited to try this!
That would be delicious!
This looks delicious! Do you think I could use pecans instead of walnuts? And how much vanilla should I use if I don’t have a vanilla bean?
Thanks!
You could totally use pecans instead. People have told me they have successfully used a tablespoon of vanilla extract!
Found this recipe while finishing up my Whole30 and having major pumpkin cravings!! It was amazing and will now be a staple in my recipe rotation. I will also be making this for Thanksgiving brunch!! So good.
Hi
This looks great! Do you think the Apple/sweet potato mixture can be purées after cooking?
That would be yummy!
Can you provide the macros per serving ?
Updated with a label!
Can you freeze portions of this?
I think that would work just fine!
This was delicious but it needed to bake for about 40 minutes in a 13×9 pan. How many inches is a “large” cast iron skillet?
My cast iron skillet is 12” wide. The cast iron skillet is already hot when everything starts baking so that might be why it took yours 40 minutes. I’ll try it in a 13×9! I’m glad you liked it!
This looks incredibly delicious and I’d eat this every day – Whole30 or not!
I’m right there with you Melissa! 😀
Whole30 follower or not, this looks fantastic! Love all the fall flavors in there. Perfect way to start the day!
I agree Karly! It feels indulgent 😀