‘The Pioneer Woman’: Ree Drummond’s Ham and Cheese Loaf Is the ‘Perfect Breakfast Bread’

Ree Drummond makes an easy breakfast recipe with a simple shortcut ingredient that’s a huge timesaver. The Pioneer Woman star calls the dish the “perfect breakfast bread.”

Ree Drummond makes an easy ham and cheese loaf breakfast recipe

Drummond made her easy breakfast recipe during an episode of The Pioneer Woman dedicated to dishes with just three ingredients. “I’m often asked for quick, shortcut recipes so I thought it’d be fun to share a whole bunch of three-ingredient dishes, starting with the most scrumptious breakfast loaf,” she said.

“Ham and cheese loaf is just off the charts good,” Drummond added. “You won’t believe there are only three ingredients — it tastes like it’s much more complicated.”

How to make Ree Drummond’s easy breakfast bread

Drummond started by grating Irish cheddar cheese. “But the beauty of this loaf is you can use whatever cheese you want,” she said.

The Food Network star rolled out dough for the breakfast loaf on a floured surface and shared her simple shortcut ingredient. “Part of what makes this recipe so easy is that I am using frozen bread dough that I thawed out,” she explained. “It hasn’t risen yet and that’s when you want to roll it out.”

Drummond made the dough as flat as possible before adding the toppings. “I tell you what, if you have not ever used frozen bread dough, it really is a revelation of an ingredient,” she shared. “I use it for things like this, ham and cheese loaf, but I also use it as pizza dough. It really works well.”

‘The Pioneer Woman’ star adds toppings and bakes the breakfast bread

Drummond placed thinly sliced deli ham on top of the bread dough, slightly overlapping the pieces. “I am really excited about these three-ingredient recipes but I have got to give myself a little break and have some ‘free ingredients,’ like oil, salt, and pepper,” she shared. “If you couldn’t have those as free ingredients I think it would be almost impossible to pull off three-ingredient recipes.”

She left a small border around the edge of the dough, then layered on the cheddar cheese, pressing it into the ham. Drummond rolled up the dough next. “The key to rolling this up is to keep it as tight as you can to avoid having big gaps of air in the loaf,” she said. “So as I go, I’m just going to keep rolling it tight.”

The Food Network host pinched the edge to close the seam, then placed it in a loaf pan sprayed with baking spray. Drummond baked the loaf in a 325 degree Fahrenheit oven for 1 hour. When it was golden brown, she removed the bread and allowed it to cool on the counter for 10 minutes.

She sliced the loaf to reveal the ham and cheese inside. “And the thing is, it’s delicious warm but it’s also great at room temperature,” Drummond said.

The full recipe is available on the Food Network website.