One Pan Keto Dinner Hack

About once a week, I've been making a variation of a sheet pan keto dinner that's been a huge hit at our house. I love it because it's a time saver at dinnertime. My husband loves it because it's high-protein and low-carb, and my kids love it because... bacon. This breakfast-for-dinner is just all-around easy and damn delicious.

I've been making sheet pan bacon for years because it's just so much easier than greasing up the stovetop. But I'd never thought to recycle the bacon grease and double down on the already hot oven for the whole entire meal. That was until I did Whole30 about a month ago and saw No Crumbs Left's sheet pan breakfast. Life. Made.

Another huge perk is that it's so versatile. You can swap out the veg for practically anything, and season it all any way you want.

You start with a pound of raw bacon.

Need I go on?

Ok, ok. You start with a pound of raw, thick cut bacon -- lay the pieces out flat on a sheet pan and bake at 375 for about 20 minutes for crispy. I'm a floppy bacon person, but the kids have a hard time chewing it. Actually I don't even know how true that is. I just know that Ryan likes crispy bacon and he tells this story about almost choking on a piece of floppy bacon once, as a kid, so he's got me all freaked out about our kids choking on floppy bacon. Now I'm starting to think it's just a ploy to get me to cook bacon the way he likes it.

Children. Always ruining my life. So, anyway, we eat our bacon crispy around here, but you can cook for a shorter amount of time if you like your bacon floppy. 15 Minutes should do it if that's you.

While the bacon is cooking, prepare your veggies. This time, I used cauliflower, but other great options are broccolini, kale, okra, and brussels sprouts. Cut them, wash them, do whatever, and then season with salt and pepper. I added a little za'atar to this cauliflower, too.

Remove the bacon from the pan and let drain on a paper towel. Bump the oven up to 425.

Toss the veggies onto the pan. Yep, right into the bacon grease. And then toss them a little to get everything all nice and bacon-y, and spread them out evenly on the pan.

Pop the pan back into the oven for 15-30 minutes, depending on what you're roasting. I cooked a whole head of cauliflower and it took a good 30 minutes.

In the last 4 minutes of cooking, remove the pan from the oven and move all the veggies over to one side of the pan. If necessary to prevent sticking, you can always spray the bare side of the pan with a touch more oil -- then crack 6 eggs onto the pan. Carefully place it back into the oven and bake for 4 minutes. What will result is this sexiness, which I apparently thought was only fit to be shared in video form (or maybe I forgot my camera was on video mode and just rolled with it... get it? rolled?)

When you take the pan out of the oven at the end, squeeze half a lemon over the veggies, taste, and adjust the seasoning. The lemon cuts through the fattiness of the bacon perfectly, and adds that zing that you need with a hearty meal, like this.

This is enough to feed Ryan and myself, plus our two girls. We each get two eggs, and they each get one. Although, lately, they've been asking for more eggs once they're finished, so you might take that into consideration if you are raising tiny garbage disposals, like we are.

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One Pan Keto Dinner

Ingredients:

1lb Thick cut bacon

4 Cups veggies or greens, chopped

6-8 Eggs

Salt and pepper

Lemon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. Arrange bacon slices on a sheet pan in a single layer. Bake the bacon for 20 minutes (for crispy... less time for less crispy bacon)

3. Remove the pan from the oven and, using a slotted spatula or tongs, transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate. Increase oven temperature to 425.

4. While you're waiting for the oven to heat, season veggies with salt and pepper, then toss on the sheet pan with the bacon grease to coat. Roast the veggies for 15-30 minutes, or until browned and tender.

5. Remove the pan from the oven again. Move veggies to one half of the pan. Crack eggs directly onto the bare side of the pan. Season the eggs with salt and carefully place the pan back into the oven for 4 minutes.

6. Remove the pan from the oven and squeeze 1/2 the lemon onto the veggies.

#whole30 #paleo #keto