Breakfast Best Turkey Sausage Breakfast Skillet

A skillet breakfast is, in my humble opinion, pretty awesome. Throw together eggs, sausage, a starch, and veggies, along with maybe cheese and seasonings, and you have a lively first meal of the day.

The downside? Skillet breakfasts aren’t always the healthiest way to start a day. Most recipes and formulations include pork sausage, and skillet breakfasts can be high in things like fat and sodium. There’s also the whole potato business: while potatoes aren’t always the worst, they’re carbs.

So it’s always interesting if someone attempts a healthier version of a breakfast skillet. I respect the effort. That’s why I decided to take a chance on a certain Aldi Find even though I’m not a huge sweet potato fan.

Let’s see how it did.

The Breakfast Best Turkey Sausage Breakfast Skillet is an Aldi Find that is only in stores for a short time. Once it’s sold out, you can’t get it again until it comes back, assuming it does. If you can’t find it in stores, you’re out of luck for now and can’t order it online.

At post time, the skillet meal cost $4.99 for the 18-ounce bag. That’s about 27 cents an ounce.

I have to admit that I was surprised by how simple the ingredients are. There are just four primary ingredients: sweet potatoes, spinach, mushrooms, and turkey sausage. The turkey sausage, additionally, includes potassium chloride, salt, and natural flavorings.

In terms of nutrition, each serving contains 220 calories, 8 grams of fat (10% of the recommended daily value), 1.5 grams of saturated fat (8%), and 380 grams of sodium (17%). In addition, while there are 26 grams of carbs, there are also 5 grams of fiber, a ratio of a little over 5:1. Some research suggests that anything under 10:1 is a good carbs-to-fiber ratio, so this is a pretty solid ratio.

In fact, the nutrition alone is notable. The fat and sodium rates are lower than I would expect in a skillet. The one consideration is that I’m not certain those numbers include the eggs the directions recommend adding to this skillet, which would add modest amounts of calories, fat, and sodium.

To prepare the package, you will need 6 large eggs and 1 tablespoon of cooking oil or non-stick cooking spray. You’ll also need a stovetop, a skillet, and a large bowl.

First, crack 6 eggs in a bowl. The instructions say to beat them with a wire whisk until well-blended (I used a fork), then set them aside.

Next, add 1 tablespoon of oil to a 12-inch nonstick skillet. Heat the oil, then pour the contents of the pouch into the skillet. Cook and stir the pouch packets for 10 minutes over medium heat.

Then, pour the beaten eggs evenly over the vegetable mixture, cooking for 3-4 minutes or until the eggs are set, stirring occasionally.

And you’re done.

Our testers thought it was okay. Everyone agreed that it needed some doctoring. The package seems to acknowledge this fact, suggesting adding things like “cheese, ketchup, hot sauce, salsa, sour cream, or tomatoes.” We added some salt and pepper ourselves, and later on I added salsa and cheese.

Doctored up, it’s better. I am not a sweet potato fan and I thought the sweet potatoes had a fairly neutral flavor, which in my view is a plus. Either way, it’s definitely something that benefits from a little more.

The Verdict:

While this didn’t exactly light up our testers, I appreciate the effort. This is a healthy attempt at a skillet breakfast that does all right, especially if you season it some. Worth a look if you are trying to get a leaner, lower-sodium, lower-fat, higher-fiber breakfast skillet. And if your diet lets you, adding some extra toppings such as cheese or salsa will enhance the flavor. A worthy offering in the Aldi Find section.