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.
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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.
When my husband and I were married in 1968, my grandmother said I was to have the cast iron skillet Grandpa gave her on their wedding day. They were poor sharecroppers in the MS Delta and the treasured cast iron skillet was as special to her as the pearl earrings my husband gave to me. Anyway, I finally got this skillet in 2010. I love it and I’m so grateful to finally have it. Have fun at the Cornbread Festival. Our Sunday School class went a few years ago and had great fun!
I’m sad to say my “heirloom” iron skillet was accidentally broken when we moved 5 years ago. It was a complete shock – we didn’t even know it was possible to break an iron skillet. Such a tragic loss! I’m not sure how old it was because I’m not sure how long my mother had it before she gave it to me, but only 40 or 50 years I guess. I do still have a small one (maybe 6 inches) and a cornbread stick pan that are both old and were my mother’s, and a brand new miniature cornbread stick pan.
My cast iron skillet is square, which is a shape I haven’t seen around very often.
It was my mother’s, her mother’s before that, and her mother’s before that! Needless to say… it’s been seasoned well. It’s almost as non-stick as the best non-stick pan out there!
I love to make Dixie Cornbread in it and it’s wonderful to sear a steak in.
90% of what we cook, we use cast iron. we have several skillets and various pots for deep frying fish, chicken and taters. We even have a cast iron bundt pan!~heavy!!~
Bless your heart Christy, but South Pittsburg is in Tennessee, and you take a cue, not a queue (that’s where you stand in line at Disneyworld). I’m a retired newspaper editor. Let me know if you need a copy editor!
I grew up cooking in cast iron. When I got married, my mother gave me 2 skillets in different sizes. That has been 37 years ago. I only own cast iron skillets and now have about 8 from very tiny to huge. My son’s friends (in their twenties) think we are so cool to use cast iron. I think it is funny because I do it so routinely. I cook everything in those skillets. They have been scrubbed, washed, soaked. They are indestructible. What else can you say that about these days? Guess what I will be buying my son when he gets married?
I was born and raised in MI but a few months ago moved to Greenville, SC. My heart kept telling me I belonged in the South…My Mama never cooked in cast iron and I’m sure my Grandmama did at one time but I have never witnessed it. I LOVE cast iron…I have started collecting it…I got some new pieces from the Lodge store in TN. and I snatch up every piece I see at a yard sale. I recently bought some down here in SC from a gentleman that had quite a bit. I got 2 old cast iron waffle irons and a skillet that is 18-20 in. in diameter. I did pay a pretty penny for those but I HAD to have them, and Hubby obliged. I have some rust to take care of and some seasoning to do but that’s ok with me, as these are my new pride and joys…