Weekend café vibes without leaving your kitchen
If you need an easy baked eggs recipe that feels special, this creamy baked eggs with spinach and prosciutto delivers. Soft yolks bake into cream and wilted spinach in one simple dish. Ready in under 20 minutes and perfect for breakfast, brunch, or a quick dinner.
Why you will love These Creamy Baked Eggs
- QUICK AND STRAIGHTFORWARD
Crafting this dish is a breeze, requiring only a handful of ingredients, some ramekins, and you’re good to go. - PREP AHEAD, BAKE WHEN READY
Prepare this delightful dish in advance, store it covered in the fridge, and when you’re ready to enjoy, simply bake it in the oven with the prosciutto. Make it on Saturday, and your Sunday breakfast becomes effortlessly delightful! - VERSATILE
Feel free to choose from various leafy greens like baby spinach, silverbeet, English spinach, chard, kale, or warrigal greens (which I used). The cheese is also interchangeable, so use whatever variety you have on hand – options like tasty, vintage, goat’s cheese, mozzarella, blue vein, and more. - EXQUISITELY DELICIOUS
Elevate your egg experience with this recipe, perfect for those seeking a change from the usual egg dishes. Give it a try; these creamy baked eggs might just become your new favourite way to savour eggs!
Before joining the magazine, I worked at a charming cafe in Mona Vale, nestled on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. These baked eggs took the spotlight on our menu and quickly became a customer favourite. Instead of the usual roll or sandwich, I often opted for these eggs for my lunch. My love for them started then and continues to this day.
The inclusion of toast is non-negotiable when serving these eggs. It provides the perfect vehicle for dunking into the eggs and savouring all that creamy goodness. Personally, I enjoy them with sourdough but Turkish toast or wholegrain seed options are also fantastic choices.
For those following a gluten-free diet, ensure there’s a gluten-free toast option available. To make it vegetarian, simply omit the prosciutto!
And, let me tell you, these baked eggs reach new heights of deliciousness when drizzled with my Chilli Garlic Crisp Oil!
How to Make
These baked eggs are a breeze to prepare and don’t require much time at all. You can easily make them in advance by covering and refrigerating until you’re ready to bake. If preparing ahead of time, add an additional 1-2 minutes of cooking time to account for the chilled ramekins or dishes.
1. Blanch the Greens
To blanch the greens, immerse them in a pot of boiling water for approximately 1 minute. Quickly transfer them to a bowl filled with ice-cold water to halt the cooking process, preserving their vibrant green colour. After draining well, squeeze out excess liquid and gently separate the leaves. (Refer to the ‘Alternate Options for Spinach‘ section below if opting for baby spinach.)
2. Prepare the Ramekins or Mini Dishes
Gently grease each ramekin with softened butter or non-stick cooking spray. Using the spinach, form a figure 8 in the base of each dish, creating small nests to cradle the eggs. Crack two eggs into each dish, placing one in each round of the figure 8. Drizzle cream around the figure 8, avoiding pouring it directly over the yolks. Add a sprinkle of feta, followed by Parmesan, and season to taste.
3. Bake and Serve
Position your egg-filled ramekins on a baking tray. Arrange the prosciutto next to them, ideally in a single layer. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until the egg whites have just set while the yolk remains soft. Adjust the baking time to achieve your desired egg consistency. If the eggs need more time but the prosciutto is crisp, remove the prosciutto around the 12-15-minute mark and set it aside. Serve the eggs with the crispy prosciutto, toast, and enjoy the delicious dunking experience! 🥚
Alternate Options for Spinach
Feel free to choose from a variety of nutritious greens for this recipe, including English spinach, silverbeet, perpetual spinach, chard, kale, baby spinach, or Warrigal Greens (the variety I used in this recipe).
If opting for baby spinach, gently cook it in a lightly oiled pan over medium heat until just wilted, instead of blanching it in boiling water. Remove from heat and let it cool before arranging it in your ramekins. Baby spinach has tender leaves, so it only needs to be wilted.
At the cafe, we used silverbeet, blanching large batches at a time. Silverbeet works well because it’s firmer than baby spinach and creates a sturdy “nest” for the eggs to sit in.
More Breakfast & Brunch:
- Chilli Garlic Crisp Oil – serve a dollop of this amazing oil on your eggs for a gorgeous ‘chilli’ hit
- Savoury Cheese Crescent
- Zucchini & Sweet Corn Fritters
- Chocolate Buttermilk Pancakes with Ganache
- Banana Bread (With Oil, No Butter)
Creamy Baked Eggs with Spinach & Prosciutto
Equipment
- 2 large ramekins or small dishes
Ingredients
- 120g fresh spinach leaves
- 4 large eggs
- ⅓ cup thickened cream
- 40g firm feta cheese, crumbled
- 2 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 4 thin slices prosciutto
- Sea salt and cracked black pepper, to taste
TO SERVE
- Sourdough or your favourite bread, lightly toasted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C (160C fan forced). Lightly butter 2 x 1 1/4 cup ramekins with butter and line a large baking tray with baking paper. Set aside.
- Bring a saucepan of lightly salted water to the boil. Add the warrigal greens and blanch for 60 seconds. Transfer to an iced water bath to refresh and then drain well. Squeeze out as much excess liquid as you can.
- Take one of the ramekins and using half of the warrigal greens, arrange it in the ramekin in a figure eight. Crack two eggs into the figure eight (one into each circle of the 8) then drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the thickened cream around the outline of the figure eight. (you don't want it on top of the egg yolks if you can help it). Sprinkle with half of the feta and the parmesan cheese. Season with sea salt and pepper. Set aside and repeat the process with remaining ramekin and ingredients to make 2.
- Transfer the ramekins onto the baking tray and arrange the prosciutto in a single layer next to them if you can. Lightly spray the prosciutto with olive oil spray. Bake in the oven for 15-18 minutes or until the whites have set but the yolks are still soft and the prosciutto is crisp (you may need to remove the prosciutto at about the 12-15 min mark – so keep an eye on it). Remove from oven. Serve baked eggs topped with crispy prosciutto and with toast of your choice for dunking. If desired and you really must try – serve with my Chilli Garlic Crisp Oil to take it to the next level – or not!
Notes
- COOKS NOTES:
Oven Temps: Oven temperatures are for conventional, if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C.
Measurements: We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon = 5 ml, 1 tablespoon = 20 ml & 1 cup = 250 ml.
Eggs: We use extra-large size and eggs are 55-60 g each, unless specified. - COOKING TIME
This will depend on a few factors. If your eggs are chilled they may a minute or two longer. Also depends on your oven and the dishes you are using. I suggest to start checking how the eggs are cooking at the 12 minute mark then check regularly till they are cooked to your liking. I love my yolks runny but some prefer firmer or well done. Just remember they will keep cooking for while after being removed from the heat. - SPINACH OPTIONS
Choose from a range of different spinaches. English, silverbeet, perpetual spinach, baby spinach, chard, kale or warrigal greens (native bush spinach).
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