There are a million variations of omelets out there to explore. There are debates as to what exactly goes into a traditional Denver Omelet, but most agree that sauteed onions, green bell peppers, ham, and cheese are often included in the dish seen on most diner menus today. Apparently the first version of this started out as more of a sandwich, served between two slices of bread.
This version includes some added tang from a lemon & garlic-infused crème fraiche with chives, which you can omit if you want to simplify things.
The following recipe makes one large breakfast omelet.
Denver Omelet
There are a million variations of omelets out there to explore. There are debates as to what exactly goes into a traditional Denver Omelet, but most agree that sauteed onions, green bell peppers, ham, and cheese are often included in the dish seen on most diner menus today. Apparently the first version of this started out as more of a sandwich, served between two slices of bread. This version includes some added tang from a lemon & garlic-infused crème fraiche with chives, which you can omit if you want to simplify things. The following recipe makes one large breakfast omelet.
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 Tbsp small white onion, (medium dice)
- 3 Tbsp green bell pepper, (medium dice)
- A tiny pinch (less than ¼ tsp Kosher salt)
- 3 Tbsp cooked ham, (medium dice)
- ¼ cup+ 2 Tbsp pepper jack cheese, (shredded)
- 2 Tbsp salted butter
- 3 whole eggs, (at room temperature)
- A tiny pinch (less than ¼ tsp) Kosher salt
- A few grinds of black pepper
- 2 Tbsp crème fraiche
- ¼ clove raw garlic, (finely minced)
- Zest from ¼ lemon
- ½ tsp lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp fresh chives, (finely-sliced)
Instructions
- To begin, prepare the sauce with the crème fraiche.
- For the crème fraiche sauce, simple combine the crème fraiche with the minced garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, and chives.
- Set aside in your refrigerator for later.
- When you are ready to begin cooking your omelet, heat a tablespoon of vegetable oil in a medium-sized saute pan.
- Add the diced white onion, and cook on medium heat for 5 minutes, or until the onions are beginning to take on some color.
- Add the green bell pepper, and season with a small sprinkling of Kosher salt.
- Cook the green bell pepper with the onion for an additional two minutes, or until the peppers are just beginning to soften up.
- Add the diced ham, and remove the saute pan from the heat.
- *The ham is already cooked, we are just warming it up here slightly with the other cooked vegetables.
- Set the cooked vegetables and ham aside on a plate, and make your egg mixture for the omelet.
- For the egg mixture, whisk together the whole eggs with a small pinch of Kosher salt and a few grinds of black pepper in a medium-sized mixing bowl.
- Add two tablespoons of salted butter to a cold nonstick saute pan, and increase the heat to medium.
- When the butter has melted, add the egg mixture and quickly move the eggs around in the pan to get them warm.
- Reduce the heat on the omelet to low, and cook for an additional one minute.
- Shake the pan gently to move the eggs around in the bottom of the pan and to encourage the omelet to separate from the pan.
- While the center of the omelet is still wet but the sides and bottom are beginning to set, start to use a rubber spatula to separate the edges and bottom of the omelet from the nonstick pan.
- Add in the cooked vegetable and ham mixture to one half of the omelet.
- Cover the ham and vegetables with the shredded cheese.
- Fold the side of the omelet that does not have vegetables and cheese onto the side of the omelet that has the filling, and flip the omelet gently onto the other side.
- Gently transfer the omelet from the pan to a plate.
- Serve with a few scoops of the sauce that you made earlier that includes the mixture of crème fraiche, minced garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, and fresh chives.
Notes
Omelets aren’t amazing when served as leftovers, although you can certainly eat them at room temperature and they are still tasty.
You can use whatever cheese you want here. I personally love pepper jack cheese because it packs a bit of heat and is nice & melty.