Every family enjoys hard-cooked eggs, ideal for eating as a quick lunch or snack and for salads and egg salad sandwiches. Over the past few years, we’ve learned how to bake them in the oven rather than bother about boiling them in water. We have so many eggs from our chickens every week or so, and recently, we made a couple of dozen to have on hand for quick usage all week. Making a lot of eggs without having to boil them is undoubtedly a brilliant tip. It’s hard to recall the last time I hard-boiled an egg because of this.
This approach is one of our favorite ways to prepare the same components in novel ways. Take a bite of these baked eggs! It’s an easy way to transform common foods into a spectacular breakfast. Here, you’ll place the eggs in small baking trays and top them with your pick of garnishes. Choose something straightforward like Parmesan and herbs or something sophisticated like sautéed spinach and mushrooms.
Egg Nutrition Facts
What is an Egg?
Females of a wide range of species, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, a few mammals, and fish, lay eggs; many of these have been consumed by humans for countless generations. A protective eggshell, albumen (egg white), and vitellus (egg yolk), all enclosed in a variety of thin membranes, make up the components of bird and reptile eggs. Eggs from chickens are the most widely consumed, and eggs from other poultry, such as duck and quail, are also destroyed. Both roe and caviar are terms for fish eggs.
Both egg yolks and entire eggs are frequently used in cooking and provide large amounts of protein and choline. Previously, the United States Department of Agriculture classified eggs as meats within the Food Guide Pyramid due to their high protein content (now MyPlate). The cholesterol level, salmonella contamination, and allergy to egg proteins are some potential health risks associated with eggs despite their nutritional value.
How to Bake Eggs in the Oven?
There is seldom any need for a recipe when making baked eggs! In reality, you don’t require one. Remember this easy recipe so you may prepare them often for a special brunch:
Ingredients
For Each Serving
- Two eggs
- ½ tablespoon butter (or substitute neutral oil for dairy free)
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
- Fresh ground pepper
Topping Ideas
- Shredded Parmesan cheese, fresh thyme sprigs
- Shredded cheddar cheese, salsa, or pico de gallo
- Sauteed spinach and mushrooms, feta cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. The perfect temperature for baking eggs.
- Melt ½ tablespoon butter for each dish. Throw them in the already warm oven to make quick work of it. Then brush it around your plate. Substitute neutral oil for dairy free.
- Add two eggs per dish. To avoid shells, crack them into a small bowl, then slide them in. But you can also go right into the container.
- Add salt and pepper. Just ⅛ teaspoon of salt per dish does the trick!
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Usually, ours is perfect at 13 minutes. Keep reading for more about bake time!
How Long to Bake Eggs?
The cooking time for baked eggs depends on several factors, including the oven’s actual temperature, the thickness of the baking dish, and how runny you prefer the yolk to be.
- It takes about 12 to 15 minutes to cook eggs in a ramekin to where the yolk is runny, and the white is set. The style is closest to sunny-side-up eggs.
- Cook longer to thoroughly cook the yolk, which would be closer to over-hard eggs.
- Thicker baking dishes cause the timing to be slightly longer.
- Start checking at 12 minutes: look at the whites around the yolk and make sure they are just set.
Baked Egg Toppings
The enjoyable part now is decorating your baked eggs with toppings! You can make this as straightforward or as complex as you like. Our favorite is a quick meal with just Parmesan and fresh herbs. To get your brain working, consider these suggestions:
- Parmesan and fresh herbs: Try chives, fresh thyme, or sliced basil
- Cheddar and pico de gallo: Go Tex Mex with some salsa on top! Or use pico de gallo.
- Sauteed mushrooms and feta: Try these best-sauteed mushrooms: we added a few handfuls of spinach.
- Sauteed greens: Or go big with garlicky sautéed spinach or sauteed kale.
- Bacon or vegan bacon: Try adding some crumbles of coconut bacon or shiitake bacon.
What Else to Serve with them?
Do you have a special brunch planned? We’re unsure where to start because you can serve so many delicious things with cooked eggs! Here are a handful of our preferred suggestions:
- Hash browns: Make Homemade Hash Browns on the stovetop! Or, make Oven Hash Browns or Sweet Potato Hash Browns before making the eggs (turn down the oven, and you’re ready to go).
- Breakfast potatoes: Make up a skillet of home-style Breakfast Potatoes or Home Fries.
- Toast: Quick and easy! Grab a store-bought loaf or our Easy No Knead Bread.
- Muffins: Bake a pan of Banana Oatmeal, Blueberry Muffins, or Apple Muffins with Streusel.
- Scones: Get fancy with Blueberry Scones or Dairy Free Scones.
- Biscuits: Add Flaky Homemade Biscuits or Dairy Free Biscuits.
What are the Different Cooking Methods for Cooking Eggs?
Eggs are excellent and have a lot of uses, and they are simple to prepare in various ways and go well with other nutritious foods like veggies. Also, cooking them kills harmful bacteria, making them safer to consume.
The most often used cooking techniques are broken down as follows:
- Boiled: Depending on how thoroughly cooked you want the yolk to be, hard-boiled eggs are cooked in their shells in a saucepan of boiling water for 6 to 10 minutes. The yolk will grow firmer the longer you boil them.
- Poached: Eggs are poached in water that is a little colder. They should cook for 2.5–3 minutes after being cracked into a kettle of simmering water at 160–180°F (71–82°C).
- Fried: Into a hot pan with a thin layer of cooking grease, fried eggs are cracked. They can then be prepared “sunny side up,” which means that only one side of the egg is fried, or “over easy,” which means that both sides are fried.
- Baked eggs are prepared in a hot oven until they are set.
- Scrambled: Eggs are scrambled by beating them in a bowl, pouring them into a hot pan, and stirring them as they cook until they set.
- Omelet: An omelet is made by beating eggs, pouring them into a heated pan, and then simmering them over low heat until they are set. Unlike scrambled eggs, an omelet isn’t stirred once in the pan.
- Microwaved: Eggs can be cooked in various ways in the microwave, and cooking eggs in a microwave consumes much less time than cooking them on a stove. Eggs that are still inside their shells should generally not be microwaved, and this is due to the possibility that they could explode if pressure builds up inside them quickly.
How Healthy is Eating Eggs?
Yes. Eggs are hard to beat when helping you meet your daily nutritional requirements.
The high-quality protein found in eggs is an excellent source of antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids, and 13 other critical vitamins and minerals.
The egg yolk provides the remaining high-quality protein and essential healthy fats, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, which, together with the egg white’s 60% high-quality protein content, make up a critical part of your daily nutritional requirements.
We’ve included a few of the significant, scientifically-backed health advantages of eating eggs below:
Eggs Provide Excellent Quality Protein
Most people agree that eggs are a great source of high-quality protein. The building blocks of life, proteins are necessary for the health and repair of muscle and tissue. One egg has roughly 6.3 grams of protein. The fact that eggs contain all nine essential amino acids in adequate levels to facilitate efficient muscle growth, recovery, and maintenance is a crucial benefit of the protein in eggs. Even though some other foods have a proportionately higher protein content than eggs, the excellent quality and bioavailability of the protein in eggs are unmatched.
Eggs Improve Levels of “Good” Cholesterol
Eggs have been proven to have little to no influence on heart disease risk since they assist improve high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels, sometimes known as “good” cholesterol. Low-density lipoprotein (LDL), also known as “bad” cholesterol, is what can endanger heart health. The leading causes of elevated risk levels of LDL cholesterol are meals heavy in saturated and trans fats, like deep-fried takeaways.
Eggs Provide a Great Source of Vitamin D
A select few foods naturally contain vitamin D, including egg yolks. And the case for eggs is much more robust, given that nearly a quarter of all Australian adults have a mild to moderate vitamin D deficiency.
Two eggs are a serving, which contains 82 percent of the daily recommended allowance of vitamin D, making them a crucial source of this vitamin.
Vitamin D, also known as the “sunshine vitamin,” is crucial for absorbing calcium and phosphorus, making it necessary to keep strong bones and teeth. In addition to supporting healthy muscle function and immune system maintenance, vitamin D also helps.
Eggs are Filling and Help with Weight Management
Relatively low in calories and a rich source of quality protein, eggs are one of the best food options to assist with weight management. The high satiety levels of eggs lead to greater satisfaction, less hunger, and a lower desire to eat later in the day, meaning you’ll be less inclined to reach for that mid-afternoon snack.
Studies have found that eating eggs can make you feel full for longer by:
- Increasing levels of a hormone that helps you feel satisfied after eating
- Keeping energy levels higher
- Boosting metabolic activity
- Delaying the rate at which food leaves the stomach
Eggs are packed full of high-quality protein, making them ideal as part of many different dietary patterns that can assist people in managing their weight. Consuming eggs can also help reduce variations in glucose levels, which can have great lasting benefits in regulating eating patterns.
Conclusion
For a quick and straightforward breakfast, bake one egg in the oven. Shirred eggs are another name for baked eggs. Eggs can be kept from drying out by pouring liquid over them while they bake or by spreading grated cheese on top.
Dishes only require one plate: Eggs can be baked inside rice, vegetables, or sauces. These ingredients should be heated before the eggs are added for a quicker, more equal cooking process. Use the back of a spoon to make indentations in the heated food about 2 inches in diameter. One egg should be cracked and slipped into each sauce or indentation. The benefit of cooking eggs in the oven is that they are quickly prepared and need very little manual labor.
