You’ll never spend an hour caramelizing onions again after you’ve tried this 15-minute method.

Onions are quick-caramelized for the base of this amazing lazy recipe. Fried potatoes and eggs round out the perfect country breakfast, brunch, lunch, or even dinner, all made in one pan.

Some people call this a country skillet. I call it a one-pan wonder. This comes together relatively fast, and aside from the caramelized onions, is mostly hands-off. Or, I dunno. Do you consider “stirring occasionally” hands-off? Whatever. Make this recipe.

Potatoes, eggs, and onions are a food match made in heaven.

When my mom had no cards left to play come dinnertime, this all-the-time skillet potatoes and eggs meal would come together in no time. Onions are quickly caramelized to save time and maximize flavor, potatoes are diced (sometimes sliced, sometimes shredded) and fried and eggs come cracking in at the last second. All in a glorious amount of butter.

This recipe is for you to have in your back pocket. It’s cheap, fast, and easy, and can stand in for breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner (or midnight snack) whenever you need it to. I always have eggs and onions on hand, and potatoes are a delicious and budget-friendly way to stretch some pantry staples into an amazing lazy meal.

Skillet potatoes and eggs begin with: the skillet.

Cast iron is always preferred here (or a similar heavy-bottomed pan). Cast iron retains heat better than any other cooking metal, so while it can take a moment to heat up, it gets ripping hot and staying ripping hot. It works great for quick-caramelizing our onions, and is ideal for getting potatoes super crisp. At the end, we’re going to crack in our eggs, cover to steam, and almost immediately take our pan off the fire to let the residual heat cook the eggs to perfection.

If you don’t already own a cast-iron, walk this way. Cast iron:

• retains heat for a very long time, and can safely reach temperatures high enough to perfectly sear, brown, and crisp up just about anything
• is naturally non-stick after an initial seasoning
• lasts forever, improves with age, and is truly very difficult (read: impossible) to mess up
• is chemical-free
• bonus: it’s cheaper than most other types of cookware!

If you can avoid using non-stick, please avoid using non-stick. While cooking with newer non-stick pans on high heat is generally deemed safe nowadays, I always try to avoid it anyway (you never know). Either way, most non-stick coatings on cookware are not designed for high heat, which means your pan’s surface will deteriorate and will absolutely be worse for the wear. If you don’t have a cast-iron, use a stainless steel or carbon steel pan for this recipe.

Here’s how to make skillet potatoes and eggs with caramelized onions that taste like they took way longer than they actually did.

Start with a yellow onion. Slice it up thinly, please. The thinner the better. I aim for 1/16th of an inch. Use a sharp knife and be careful. Normally, caramelizing onions is like, an hour-long ordeal over the lowest of low heats and is absolutely labor of love. I discovered this much quicker way tried and tested by Serious Eats and I’ve never, ever looked back. On medium-high heat, in goes your butter, followed shortly by your onions, and you’ll cook them until they’re beginning to see some color, about 5 minutes. A splash of water, and continue to cook until dry. Do this again, twice, maybe thrice, and you’re done! Caramelized onions in 15 minutes flat. Scrape them out before adding your potatoes or they’ll burn, and your hard work will be all for nothing.

Another pat of butter. Next, ideally, use new or “baby” potatoes. New potatoes aren’t really a variety of potato – any potato that has been purposefully yanked out of the ground early is a new potato. They’re more delicate, have thinner skin, and are a tad sweeter. I like Yukon Golds or red potatoes for this recipe, but my mom always made them with russets and they hold up to a good frying, too. I like to leave the skins on, even with the russets. Yum. Do what you want!

Just be sure to dice the potatoes evenly into 1/2 inch pieces.

Cook the potatoes until perfectly roasty-toasty and golden brown, and you’re pretty much there. By the way, if at any point here your potatoes could use some more butter, throw it in there! Don’t be afraid. Back in with the perfect onions, and give it all a good stir. I like to make little wells in the potatoes for the eggs – give them a place to go and they’ll cook more evenly. Work quickly! We’re still on high heat here!

Crack in your eggs. I like to pre-crack them into a bowl and slide them into their wells, one by one, to minimize the amount of time I spend cracking eggs while the others are already cooking away. Season generously, then cover. Still on high heat, let them cook, covered, for about 30 seconds. Take them off the heat. Let them rest, covered, for 30-45 more seconds. Voila! Perfect steam-basted eggs.

Season to taste with pepper, maybe some parsley, perhaps some ketchup, and definitely some hot sauce. Avocado on the side, anyone?

This is breakfast. Or brunch. Or lunch. Or dinner. Do you.

Variations

• If you’re not a fan of runny yolks (who hurt you?) scramble the eggs ahead of time, then stir them into the potato-onion mixture as soon as you take it off the heat. Stir frequently to prevent the eggs from overcooking.
• Add meat to this recipe by frying bacon or turkey bacon in the pan beforehand, then crumbling it over the top of the finished dish. Use the leftover grease to caramelize those onions!
• Add veggies by adding diced bell peppers or mushrooms in with the potatoes, or add spinach, chard, or kale in towards the end of the potato cooking time to wilt them down.