Rich, Comforting Monte Cristo Skillet
This Monte Cristo Skillet recipe flips the classic, dipped sandwich into a simple, shareable skillet bake. Using cast iron ensures you still get those crisp, buttery edges while the inside stays rich, custardy, and loaded with savory meats!
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- ✅ Recipe Name: Rich, Comforting Monte Cristo Skillet
- 🕐 Ready In: 55
- 👥 Serves: 8
- 🥣 Main Ingredients: Martha White Cotton Country Cornbread Mix, cooking spray, chopped cooked turkey, chopped cooked ham, shredded Swiss cheese, eggs, milk, mayonnaise, honey mustard, salt, pepper, currant jelly, powdered sugar
- ⭐ Why You'll Love It: You'll love this Monte Cristo Skillet recipe because it's part lunch, part breakfast, part sandwich, part dessert, and all the way good! There's no bad time to whip this up.
Summarize & Save This Content On
A Humble, Award-Winning Brunch Favorite!
This Monte Cristo Skillet was the Grand Prize Winner of the 2006 National Cornbread Festival. It caught my eye because I recently had my very first Monte Cristo Sandwich and absolutely loved it. Southern Living sent me to Charleston to do some presentations for the Taste of Charleston Festival. Have you ever been to Charleston? Oh my goodness gracious, is that a beautiful town! With every sight and sound, I became more determined to bring my family back there someday so I could experience it with them (it is hard to enjoy a trip without the folks you want to share it with beside you).
As I’ve started traveling from time to time, I’ve taken a cue from my adventurous counterparts at SL and started making it a point to try something new in each place if possible. In Charleston, I had my first Monte Cristo Sandwich, and it was right up my alley. I ate it in the cafe of a beautiful hotel right downtown. The flavors were a unique combination for me: Ham, cheese, battered and toasted bread drizzled with a sweet fruit preserve and sprinkled with confectioner’s sugar. It was part lunch, part breakfast, part sandwich, part dessert, and all the way good!
So when Martha White offered to guest post, I got nosing around for what recipe I thought would appeal the most to everyone, and as soon as this skillet came before my eyes, my heart just settled on it. This recipe is quick to throw together and feeds six people. I like strawberry preserves with mine, but feel free to use whichever you like best.
What You’ll Need to Make the Monte Cristo Skillet:
- Martha White Cotton Country Cornbread Mix
- cooking spray
- chopped cooked turkey
- chopped cooked ham
- shredded Swiss cheese
- eggs
- milk
- mayonnaise
- honey mustard
- salt
- pepper
- currant jelly
- powdered sugar
How to Make a Monte Cristo Skillet
1. Bake and Cube the Cornbread
Whip up your cornbread mix according to the box directions, but bake it right in your 10 1/2 inch cast-iron skillet.
Because the pan is wide, the cornbread will turn out thin, which keeps the final dish from feeling too heavy. Once it’s done, pop it out to cool for a few minutes, then slice it into bite-sized cubes.
2. Build the Layers
Set your oven to 350°F. Wipe any loose crumbs out of your skillet with a paper towel and hit it with a good spray of non-stick oil. Drop those cornbread cubes right back into the bottom of the pan, then layer your turkey, ham, and cheese evenly over the top.
3. Whisk the Egg Mixture
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, mayonnaise, a tablespoon of mustard, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Whisk until it’s completely smooth, then pour it evenly over everything in the skillet so the cornbread can start soaking up that savory custard.
4. Bake Until Golden
Pop the skillet in the oven for 30 to 35 minutes. You’ll know it’s ready when the center is completely set, and the cheese on top is melted and lightly browned.
5. Whisk the Sauce and Serve
While that’s going, warm your currant jelly slightly in a small bowl until it loosens up. Whisk in a tablespoon of honey mustard until smooth.
Slice the hot skillet into wedges, hit it with a quick dust of powdered sugar, and serve it warm with that sweet-and-tangy jelly sauce on top or on the side!
Ingredients
- 1 6 oz. package Martha White® Cotton CountryTM Cornbread Mix
- Crisco® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray
- 1-1/2 cups chopped cooked turkey
- 1/2 cup chopped cooked ham
- 1-1/2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons honey mustard divided
- 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 cup Smucker’s® Currant Jelly
- Powdered sugar
Instructions
- Prepare the cornbread mix according to package directions, except bake in a 10 1/2-inch cast iron skillet (cornbread will be thin). Remove cornbread from skillet; cool and cut into cubes. Wipe out skillet with paper towels; spray generously with no-stick cooking spray.
- Heat the oven to 350°F. Place cornbread cubes in skillet. Top with turkey, ham and cheese. In medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon mustard, salt and pepper until well blended. Pour evenly over ingredients in skillet. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until set and lightly browned.
- Melt currant jelly by warming slightly. Add 1 tablespoon honey mustard; whisk to blend.
- Remove skillet from oven. Cut in wedges, sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with currant jelly and mustard sauce.
My mouth is watering just reading about all thie good food which has been cooked in the cast iron skillets over the years. I have a large skillet and a small one. We will have been married 55 years in June and I’ve been using both skillets all these years. They are all I use when I bake cornbread. YUM! Thanks for sharing the recipe today. I’m anxious to try it.
I grew up eating chicken fried steak, and fried chicken (with the cream gravy made from the drippings) fried in a cast iron skillet. Mom always used her 10 inch to bake the cornbread in for the dressing. Now, I’m the proud owner of her skillet. Wouldn’t take anything for it!
I can’t believe you’re doing this post today on cast iron cooking. I just this morning made my pineapple upside down cake in my cast iron chicken fryer. I always use I stick butter, or you can use I stick of ICBNB. I cup of packed dark brown sugar. Melt the butter on medium heat in the skillet, add brown sugar.drain one 15 oz can crushed pineapple, using any juice in cake mix instead of part of the water. Stir until mixed. I top with pineapple cake mix( made on the side in a seperate bowl) and pour the cake mix on top. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.
When you pull the skillet out if the oven, I have a large plate that I lay on top on with much care, flip the skillet and plate over.
Not as pretty as using pineapple rings, but much tastier. Also, the cast iron takes care of my weight lifting for the day!!
I too love my cast iron. Did you know that it also hols health benefits? I have gone to the doctors several times and they always brag on my iron levels. One nurse argued with me that I had to be a smoker that she had been a nurse 40+ years and had never seen a person with as high of iron levels as I have and not be. Well I can tell you never have and never will smoke. The doc came in and I told him of our conversation and asked him about it – as we discussed — I don’t eat dark leafy greens or anything like that and I told him I cook almost nightly in cast iron – he said well there you go! Small portions of the iron leaches into the foods and it is good for us!
Happy Cooking To You All!!!
If you have hemochromatosis, an genetic inability to rid your body of iron, you CANNOT use cast iron. This is because it leaches into the food and you absorb it. I have this condition and even though I was raised on cast iron cooking and love it, I sadly cannot use it.
OH I do so love my cast iron skillets. I have several sizes and shapes but ONE is my all time favorite! This particular one is square and was a wedding gift to us in 1968. The woman who gave it to us helped raise my husband after his father died; My mother-in-law was left with four children ages 11 and under, and this woman was a Godsend to the family. She cooked, she cleaned, she ironed…and she had one arm. This skillet is my ‘Sook’ skillet, as that’s what the children called this wonderful woman.
I have 4 cast iron skillets. An 8″ for cornbread, a 9″ for most everything, one 9″ for fudge only and a 10″ for fried chicken. I also have a dutch oven that I use for beef stew, soups and as a deep fryer. I learned to make fudge at the age of 9 in an iron skillet. It’s the only way it turns out for me. BTW, all the pans except one of the 9″ belonged to my mother or my grandmother.
My cabinets are well stocked with cast iron. I have my Mothers cast iron skillet, which she got when she married in 1929 and come September it will have been in use for 82 years.