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Sweet Potato Hash With Bacon and Spinach

Sweet Potato Hash with Bacon and Spinach makes for an amazing side dish for breakfast! Serve it up with your favorite egg scramble, omelette, or frittata for a drool-worthy way to start the day. Only four ingredients needed for this tasty treat!

Sweet Potato Hash Recipe with bacon, onion, and spinach. This easy breakfast recipe results in perfectly crispy potatoes

When was the last time you hashed it out?

I know…I know…food jokes are the lowest form of comedy. But in all seriousness, if you haven’t consumed a hash lately (or regularly), this recipe may just ignite the flame!

This sweet potato hash recipe includes bacon, spinach, and onion, and is so incredibly easy to make.

The more you make it, the more you’ll perfect the technique of getting the potatoes irresistibly crispy, which is of course one of my favorite parts about this recipe.

Technique is everything when it comes to making an amazing hash, and I have included everything you need to know about hash perfection right here!

Before I get too ahead of myself…

Let’s hash it out.

Sweet Potato Hash with spinach and bacon. An easy side dish to level up your breakfast or brunch!

What is a Hash?:

A hash, not to be confused with hashbrowns, is a mixture of sautéed cubed potatoes, breakfast meat, and vegetables designed for breakfast. Hashes often include onion and garlic and are frequently served alongside some form of egg dish such as an omelette, frittata, and/or scrambled eggs.

While hashes at restaurants more commonly include white potatoes, I absolutely love a good hash made with sweet potatoes!

In fact, I ate some rendition of this sweet potato hash for breakfast for years! Sometimes I would use breakfast sausage, sometimes chorizo, sometimes incorporate bell pepper and/or zucchini… But I would always, always eat it with eggs.

Here’s what we need!

Sweet Potato Hash Recipe with bacon, onion, and spinach. This easy breakfast recipe results in perfectly crispy potatoes

Sweet Potato Hash Ingredients:

Bacon: We use thick cut bacon in this hash for two purposes: 1.) delicious, and 2.) fat. Crispy bacon is everything in life, and the fat rendered from the bacon is what we use to cook the entire dish. No added oil needed, as the bacon fat provides us plenty of lube. 

I recommend using pork bacon since it has plenty of fat and crisp appeal. If you use a very lean bacon, you may need to add 1 to 2 tablespoons of avocado oil if not enough fat has rendered to keep the potatoes from sticking to the skillet.

Onion: One half of a yellow onion gets sliced and sautéed to caramelized perfection to add a great deal of flavor to this sweet potato hash. If you love garlic, you can add a few cloves as well!

Sweet Potatoes: The star of the show! All you need is one ginormous or two medium sweet potatoes to make the recipe. You’re looking for about 6 cups of chopped sweet potato. If you love the concept of this recipe but you don’t love sweet potatoes, you can easily swap them out for yukon gold potatoes.

Spinach: Let’s be honest. We add spinach just to say we ate spinach. I kid. I do enjoy spinach ish, but I mostly add it to hash because it contains iron and some great nutrients that we don’t find from many other sources. Skip it if you hate it, or kale it if you prefer.

Sea Salt: That element that makes every dish sing! Add sea salt at the end of the cooking process to your personal taste. I go pretty wild with sea salt, but I know some folks out there aren’t big on it. Season ‘er up!

Optional Add Ins:

Toss in some fresh or dried herbs, black pepper, half of a bell pepper, and/or some sun-dried tomatoes to give the hash even bigger flavor. Go wild!

Easy Sweet Potato Hash Recipe with onions, bacon, and spinach

How to Make Sweet Potato Hash:

Cook the Bacon: Heat a large (10 to 12-inch) cast iron skillet over medium-high heat and add the bacon. Cook, stirring frequently, until the bacon has crisped up and much of the fat has rendered, about 5 to 8 minutes. Use a metal spatula to transfer the bacon to a bowl or plate and set aside.

Chop the bacon and cook it in a cast iron skillet until crispy

Sauté the Onion: Add the onions to the skillet and cook in the bacon fat until they begin to turn translucent, stirring occasionally, about 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer the onions to the same plate/bowl as the bacon, leaving the bacon drippings behind.

Cook the onion in the bacon fat

Cook the Sweet Potatoes: Transfer the sweet potatoes to the skillet and stir very well until the potatoes are coated in bacon fat. Note: if at any point you run out of fat, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of avocado oil to the skillet.

Cook the potatoes in the bacon fat, covered

Cover the skillet and allow potatoes to cook undisturbed for 5 minutes. Use the metal spatula to stir the potatoes well, then cover the skillet again and cook another 2 to 3 minutes. 

Cook the sweet potatoes in cast iron until crispy.

Put it All Together: Add the bacon and onions back to the skillet and incorporate them into the potatoes with the spatula.

Add the bacon and onions back to the skillet

Add the spinach on top and cover. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes until the spinach becomes easier to stir into the mixture.

Cook the spinach into the hash

Uncover the skillet and incorporate the spinach into the hash. Continue cooking until spinach has wilted completely, the potatoes are crispy and cooked through.

Stir the spinach into the hash and continue cooking until potatoes are cooked through

Serve the sweet potato hash alongside your favorite omelette, scramble, frittata, and/or breakfast casserole.

Finished Sweet Potato Hash

Cooking Tips:

Using a metal spatula is key to ensure you can get underneath the potatoes so that they don’t break apart and maintain a nice crisp around the edges.

Recipe Adaptations:

  • Use 8 ounces of breakfast sausage or chorizo instead of bacon. 
  • Swap the spinach for kale or rainbow chard or omit it altogether.
  • Add your favorite veggies, like broccoli, cauliflower, and/or zucchini.
  • Serve with scrambled or fried egg to keep it simple or serve with your favorite breakfast entrée.
  • Add fresh or dried herbs, such as oregano and parsley.

If you love hashes, also check out my Butternut Squash & Bacon Hash with Sun-Dried Tomatoes, and Butternut Squash Hash with Apples, Sausage and Kale.

Sweet Potato Hash Recipe with bacon, onion, and spinach. This easy breakfast recipe results in perfectly crispy potatoes

Serving Suggestions:

Here are some of my favorite breakfast recipes for eating with the sweet potato hash.

Easy Sweet Potato Hash Recipe with onions, bacon, and spinach

Sweet Potato Hash With Bacon and Spinach

An easy sweet potato hash with bacon and spinach is an excellent addition to your breakfast or brunch.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
4 Servings

Ingredients

  • 6 strips thick-cut bacon, ½ pound, chopped
  • ½ medium yellow onion, sliced
  • 6 cups chopped sweet potato, 1 large or 2 medium potatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 3 cups baby spinach, loosely packed
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt, to taste

Instructions

  • Heat a large (10 to 12-inch) cast iron skillet over medium-high heat and add the bacon. Cook, stirring frequently, until the bacon has crisped up and much of the fat has rendered, about 5 to 8 minutes. Use a metal spatula to transfer the bacon to a bowl or plate and set aside.
  • Add the onions to the skillet and cook in the bacon fat until they begin to turn translucent, stirring occasionally, about 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer the onions to the same plate/bowl as the bacon, leaving the bacon drippings behind.
  • Transfer the sweet potatoes to the skillet and stir very well until the potatoes are coated in bacon fat. Note: if at any point you run out of fat, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of avocado oil to the skillet. Cover the skillet and allow potatoes to cook undisturbed for 5 minutes. Use the metal spatula to stir the potatoes well, then cover the skillet again and cook another 2 to 3 minutes. 
  • Add the bacon and onions back to the skillet and incorporate them into the potatoes with the spatula.
  • Add the spinach on top and cover. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes until the spinach becomes easier to stir into the mixture. Uncover the skillet and incorporate the spinach into the hash. Continue cooking until spinach has wilted completely, the potatoes are crispy and cooked through.
  • Serve the sweet potato hash alongside your favorite omelette, scramble, frittata, and/or breakfast casserole.

Nutrition

Serving: 1of 3 - Calories: 371kcal - Carbohydrates: 57g - Protein: 15g - Fat: 8g - Fiber: 9g - Sugar: 12g
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Keyword: bacon, breakfast, brunch, healthy, paleo, sweet potato hash, whole30
Servings: 4 Servings
Calories: 371kcal
Author: Julia
Quick and easy Sweet Potato Hash with onions, bacon, and spinach is an incredibly tasty addition to breakfast or brunch!
Recipe Rating




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Danielle

Wednesday 24th of January 2024

This was simple and delicious! Easy to do but I couldn't have made it without the recipe as it gave the sweet potatoes the perfect balance of soft and crispy—without having to cook them first. Thanks!

Jennifer

Friday 24th of December 2021

Do you cook the potatoes first or add them in raw?

Sylvia W

Tuesday 30th of March 2021

omg, i cannot wait until i have the ability to do the prep work for this. typing with one finger is bad enough, not attempting chopping sweet potatoes lol this is definitely going into rotation once i can do it!

Julia

Tuesday 30th of March 2021

LOL you crack me up!! So thrilled you're excited to make it...let me know once you do!! xoxo

Shirley

Tuesday 30th of March 2021

My other half loves potatoes for breakfast. This recipe would be "Sunday morning" for him.

Julia

Tuesday 30th of March 2021

Yeees I hope he loves it! The combination of onions, bacon and sweet potatoes is such a dream! xoxoxo

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