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Creativity is key in a household like ours. I used to feel bad when I would have to mix and match leftover pantry items for family meals, but this dinner hash recipe have turned out to be my family’s favorite!

Image of last minute dinner hash with avocado in a green bowl | Mama on the Homestead

Use this last minute dinner hash recipe to use up excess produce & meat!

Jump to Recipe

Living on a single income with 4 kiddos and a bunch of animals can make a family’s budget pretty tight. Our kids eat a ton so by the end of the month our pantry looks a little bare. No matter how much or how little we have we never go without a good meal.

The PERFECT Last Minute Dinner: Skillet Dinner Hash Recipe

My go-to last minute dinner is a dinner hash recipe that is inspired by a comfort food meal that my mom made during my childhood.

The dinner hash recipe that I grew up with consisted of canned green beans, diced potatoes, and sliced hot dogs. We called it “goulash”. Sounds odd, but it was my absolute favorite meal. I have adapted this nostalgic recipe to fit my family’s taste preferences, but it is still extremely simple and customizable.

This is a great way to use up excess veggies AND make a delicious meal!

*Many of my veggies came from Misfit’s Market. You can read more about MM at the bottom of this post.

24 Simple Freezer Meal Recipes E-Book Preview | Mama on the Homestead

Last Minute Dinner Hash Ingredients:

Use this ingredient list as a guideline for your dinner hash because my pantry leftovers might be a bit different than yours. These veggies can be substituted with different fresh varieties or even with canned or frozen vegetables. Just be sure that you keep the potatoes or you will lose the “hash”.

*Feeds a family of 6.

4-5 medium potatoes
Ground Beef or Ground Sausage
1 clove garlic
Green Beans
Green or Red Bell Peppers
1 White Onion
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Salt & Pepper

Image of 2 potatoes, one green bell pepper, 1/2 of a yellow onion, fresh picked green beans, and mushrooms with a white background | Mama on the Homestead

Ideas for Different Veggies to Substitute in This Dinner Hash Recipe:

sweet potatoes
black beans
green onions
butternut squash
brussels sprouts
avocado
Eggplant (requires a little extra prep)

Dinner Hash Recipe Directions:

1. Preheat

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Wash

Wash all of the vegetables thoroughly.

2. Prep Veggies

Dice the onion, bell pepper, potatoes, mushrooms, and any other vegetables that you have.

3. Prep Garlic

Peel and crush the garlic clove if you are using fresh garlic. If you are using minced garlic, skip this step.

6. Prepare the meat

I used ground beef for this dinner hash recipe, but you could substitute italian sausage, ground chicken, leftover roast beef, or any other leftover meat that you have on hand.

Image of ground beef and onions cooking in a cast iron skillet | Mama on the Homestead

Brown the meat in your skillet (a cast iron skillet is best) over medium heat until cooked through.

8. Saute

Add the garlic into the skillet with the meat and saute until fragrant.

Add in the onions and the peppers. Saute until tender. Finally, Add in the mushrooms and cook through.

You can remove the meat first if you wish, but I sauteed my garlic, onions, and peppers with the ground beef and the grease that was produced from the beef.

7. Cook Potatoes

Toss the potatoes into the skillet with your veggies. If the skillet isn’t big enough to hold it all, you can move the cooked veggies to a bowl while the potatoes cook.

Image of ground beef, onions, potatoes, and veggies cooking in a cast iron skillet | Mama on the Homestead

If there is no grease from the meat, add in some grease or oil. Then cook the potatoes until they are tender and browned.

9. Cheese it Up

Put all of the cooked ingredients for your last minute dinner together in the oven-safe serving dish like a cast iron skillet. Sprinkle the cheese on top.

10. Bake

Pop the entire dish into the preheated oven at about 350 degrees F for 5 minutes to melt the cheese.

OR you can turn your oven on broil. Keep a close eye on your dinner hash if you choose to broil as the cheese could burn quickly.

11. Enjoy!

This dinner hash recipe isn’t fancy, but it is so simple and it will keep your tummy full until you hit the grocery store again!

Image of last minute dinner hash in a green bowl | Mama on the Homestead

If you like to meal plan to avoid scrounging in the pantry (I try my best, but life happens) then you should try out the meal planning sheets in my Household Management Notebook!

The Household Management Book Preview | Use this Printable Home Planner to Manage Your Cleaning, Meal Planning, Home Maintenance, and Finances | Mama on the Homestead

Want a Breakfast Hash?

Simply add a couple of sunny side up eggs, a few slices of bacon, a little fresh cilantro and (if it suits your taste) some drops of hot sauce!

Image of last minute dinner hash turned into a breakfast hash with an egg and bacon in a skillet | Mama on the Homestead

What is Misfit’s Market?

Misfit’s Market is an amazing service that allows you to purchase imperfect produce at a discount to save you money and to save the produce from going to waste.

You can purchase the large “Madness” box (18-22 pounds) or the smaller “Mischief” box (10-13 pounds). Each box is full of fresh, organic, mixed fruits and vegetaibles that might have a couple of imperfections, but are perfectly fine to consume.

This is what I received in my Madness box in December:

If you want to try Misfit’s Market for yourself, you can use this code–> COOKWME-NX7CHH to receive $10 off of your first box!

Image of one month's Misfit's Market vegetable & fruit haul | Mama on the Homestead

If you want to try Misfit’s Market for yourself, you can use this code–> COOKWME-NX7CHH to receive 50% off of your first box!

Bottom of the Pantry Dinner Hash

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Ingredients

4-5 medium potatoes
1 clove garlic
1 Eggplant
1 Bell Pepper
1 White Onion
2 Chicken Breasts (or other meat options like ground beef, sausage, or even hot dogs)
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Salt & Pepper to taste

Instructions

Wash all of the vegetables thoroughly.
Dice the onion, bell pepper, potatoes, eggplant. Peel and crush the garlic clove.
Place the diced eggplant in a colander over a bowl or the sink and sprinkle a generous amount salt across the top. Let this sit for 30 minutes to an hour. If you don't have time for this step, you can skip it, but the eggplant might end up a little more bitter and soggy.
Rinse the salt off of the eggplant.
Prepare the meat. I used chicken breasts for this recipe. I placed the chicken in a cast iron skillet, drizzled olive oil over the top, and sprinkled it with salt & pepper. The chicken baked in the oven at 400 degrees F for 30 minutes. Set the cooked meat to the side.
Prepare the potatoes in a cast iron skillet with lard (or oil of your choice) until they are cooked through and browned.
Move the potatoes to a large oven-safe serving dish and set aside. You can also keep the potatoes in the skillet if you have another one to use for cooking the other ingredients.
Saute the garlic in olive oil until fragrant. Add the onions and bell peppers.
Season with salt & pepper.
Continue cooking until the onions are translucent.
Add the mushrooms & eggplant and cook through.
Move the onions, peppers, eggplant and mushrooms on top of the potatoes in the oven-safe serving dish.
Add the chicken (or other meat).
Sprinkle the cheese on top.
Pop the entire dish into the pre-heated oven at about 350 degrees F for 5 minutes to melt the cheese. Enjoy!

Skillet Last Minute Dinner Hash Recipe