Baked Eggs Are The Ultimate One-Pan Breakfast
Baked in a deeply savory mixture of cream, chard, and briny green olives, the humble egg goes from everyday staple to absolute luxury. Sprinkle some toasted panko breadcrumbs to give it a little textural punch, and some salty feta on top and your breakfast of champions is done. No sickly sweet sugar crash or carb coma to follow, but all the flavor, heartiness and satisfaction you love about a breakfast done right. Pair simply with good coffee and bread for sopping up every last creamy dreg—brunching at home never tasted so good!
Baked Eggs vs. Oeufs En Cocotte—What’s The Difference?
You could call these oven-baked eggs either of these things—but we’re calling them “baked eggs” because it’s the simplest, most straightforward moniker. But if you want to impress your friends, go ahead and say you’re making oeufs en cocotte for brunch, because you won’t be lying! You probably won’t be completely surprised to learn that the concept of baking eggs pools of cream (and whatever other little flavor-enhancing ingredients you may choose to add) is French—those smarties, they think of everything. That said, most eggs en cocotte recipes call for you to bake the eggs in tiny ceramic ramekins, and as cute as that is, brunch is more of a “the more the merrier” affair in our house. So our recipe is really more of a baked eggs for a crowd situation—it yields one big dish of oven-baked eggy goodness.
Baked Eggs: Tips and Ingredients
You don’t need anything too crazy to make this simple baked egg recipe—it’s a breakfast recipe that is made to satisfy all you people out there who, like us, crave salty things over sweet. Olives, feta cheese and bacon (if you’d like to add it) all make this dish absolutely sing with bold, savory flavors. Here’s everything you’ll need to make it:
- Eggs.
- Olive oil
- Garlic
- Swiss chard. Tip: you can use most dark, leafy greens interchangeably. If you’ve got kale, use kale! If you prefer spinach or collard greens, use those. If you’ve got some beets with the greens still attached, use those wonderfully dark, super nutritious beet greens. In other words, use what you’ve got!
- Castelvetrano olives. We’re head over heels for these briny, buttery olives. There’s just no comparison. That said, this dish would work well with kalamata olives, too, if that’s what you have available.
- Feta cheese. Any feta you love will work nicely here.
- Panko. For a little crunch amidst all the creamy—yum.
- Chives. For garnish! Nice to have, but not a must.
- Bacon. If you leave the bacon out, then this dish is a gorgeous vegetarian breakfast (or lunch, or dinner—it’s good anytime!). But if you’re a bacon lover, try adding it!
How to Bake Eggs in the Oven
One pan, ten minutes in the oven—this recipe is so simple and so stunning, we almost can’t get over it. Here’s how to make baked eggs:
- Sauté the onions, then then garlic and chard until everything is fragrant and the chard is wilty.
- Stir in the castelvetrano olives and cooked bacon pieces, if you’re using it.
- Spread this mixture out evenly and make four little wells for your eggs.
- Crack one egg into each little well.
- Carefully and slowly, pour the cream around the eggs.
- Bake! And now, for the million dollar question—how do you tell when baked eggs are done?—the answer is that you should pull the baked eggs out of the oven as soon as you see that the whites are no longer translucent. Baked eggs are all about those runny yolks, so you definitely want to keep a close eye on the eggs as they bake!
- Top with panko and feta, and dig in!
Tools You’ll Need
More One-Pan Breakfast Recipes to Try
Good Morning Sunshine!
It’s easy to be sunny in the mornings when you’ve got breakfast like this to look forward to! But don’t limit yourself to just enjoying this in the morning—it makes a wonderful easy dinner, too. If you make our baked eggs, let us know how you like it! Share a photo and tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper so that we can see your stuff! Happy eating!
