Two things that are always in my refrigerator and freezer are eggs and frozen spinach. I haven’t had creamed spinach in quite some time, so when I decided to make some the other day I figured I’d throw a few eggs on top and bake it all up into a delicious brunch delight. Why not? Oh, and I had some feta too, so I threw that on top for extra flair. The feta definitely took these Creamed Spinach Baked Eggs from “this is pretty good” to “Yassssss girl.”
Do I Have to Use a Cast Iron Skillet?
I’m using a 10″ Lodge Cast Iron Skillet, but you don’t have to make this recipe in a cast iron skillet. Any other oven-safe skillet will work, OR you can just transfer the creamed spinach to a small casserole dish before adding the eggs and feta, and tossing it in the oven.
Baking Time May Vary
The bake time for these eggs is a little variable, so take the suggested 15 minutes with a grain of salt. You’ll want to watch the eggs closely starting at around 12 minutes and take them out when they reach your level of doneness. I decided last minute to broil my dish for a few minutes to get some browning on top, which ended up cooking my yolks through.
Normally I would have left the yolks runny, but it was still great with them fully cooked. If you do want some browning from the broiler, I would take 5 minutes off the bake time before switching from bake to broil (middle rack) and again, watch the dish closely.
Creamed Spinach Baked Eggs
Servings 4Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp butter ($0.27)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced ($0.16)
- 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour ($0.02)
- 1.5 cups whole milk ($0.57)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg ($0.02)
- Freshly cracked pepper ($0.03)
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan ($0.41)
- 3/4 lb frozen chopped spinach* ($1.27)
- 4 large eggs ($1.08)
- 2 oz feta ($1.12)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Add the butter and garlic to a skillet and sauté over medium heat for about one minute. Whisk the flour into the melted butter and continue to cook and stir for about two minutes. The butter and flour should form a paste that will foam and bubble as it cooks.
- Whisk the milk into the butter and flour mixture until there are no lumps. Stir in the salt, nutmeg, and some freshly cracked pepper (about 10 cranks of a pepper mill).
- Allow the milk to come to a simmer, whisking often, at which point it will thicken to a gravy-like consistency. Whisk in the grated Parmesan until it has melted. Add the frozen chopped spinach (no need to thaw) and continue to stir and cook until it has heated through (about 5 minutes). Taste the creamed spinach and add more salt if needed.
- Use a large spoon to create four wells in the creamed spinach. Crack one egg into each well. It’s okay if the whites run outside of the wells. Sprinkle the crumbled feta over the entire skillet.
- Bake the spinach and eggs for about 15 minutes in the preheated 400ºF oven, or until the whites are mostly set. Spoon the creamed spinach and an egg into a bowl and serve as is or with toast for dipping.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
How to Make Creamed Spinach Baked Eggs – Step by Step Photos
Begin by preheating your oven to 400ºF. Add 2 Tbsp butter and two cloves of minced garlic to a skillet. Sauté the garlic in the butter over medium heat for about one minute, or just until the garlic becomes very fragrant. Whisk in 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour and continue to whisk and cook for about two minutes more. The flour and butter mixture will create a paste that foams and bubbles as it cooks.
Whisk 1.5 cups whole milk into the butter and flour mixture until no lumps remain (you will still be able to see the minced garlic pieces, just make sure there are no flour lumps). Add 1/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp nutmeg, and some freshly cracked pepper (about 10 cranks of a pepper mill).
Continue to cook and whisk over medium heat until the milk comes up to a simmer, at which point it will thicken to a gravy-like texture.
Stir in 1/4 cup grated Parmesan until it has melted into the sauce.
Add 3/4 lb. frozen CHOPPED spinach (no need to thaw). I highly suggest frozen “chopped” spinach as opposed to frozen “cut” spinach, which has larger pieces and tends to be a bit stringy.
Continue to stir and cook the spinach and sauce until it is heated through. Give the spinach a taste and add more salt, if needed.
Use a large spoon to make four wells in the creamed spinach, then crack one egg into each. It’s okay if the egg whites run outside of the wells. Sprinkle 2oz. crumbled feta over the entire skillet.
Bake the creamed spinach and eggs for about 15 minutes in the preheated 400ºF oven, or until the whites are set (this will vary depending on your oven and your preferred level of doneness for the eggs). If you want a little browning on top, I suggest switching the oven’s setting from bake to broil at about 10 minutes and finish it out on the broil setting. Broiling can brown the top and cook the eggs quickly, though, so watch it closely.
Scoop the creamed spinach and an egg into each bowl and serve as is or with some toast for dipping!
I make this about once a month for our family, and is one of our go to Budget Bytes recipes. I sub oat milk instead of whole milk and it tastes delicious. I serve it with roasted chickpeas to sprinkle on top for extra protein or sausage if we want meat. It’s so simple!
This is so rich and delish! I used heavy cream, added mushrooms, and served it over steamed creamer potatoes. So good!
I want to know where you are buying eggs for $.27 apiece!
This recipe is older (published in 2017) and the estimated recipe cost is presumably not consistent with today’s grocery store prices. We calculate the costs manually for each recipe when it’s published, and it would be impossible for our scrappy little team of 4 to keep all 1200+ recipes updated. Not only that, prices for certain ingredients can vary wildly depending on where you live. That’s why Beth created a handy step-by-step guide explaining how to recalculate them for yourself! Here’s the link: https://www.budgetbytes.com/how-to-calculate-recipe-costs/
~ Marion :)
This was delicious. I successfully used almond milk, you just need to let it simmer for longer. It will eventually get creamy. I made the no knead bread recipe for dipping. 🤤
Definitely broil at the 8-10 minute mark! It won’t be pretty like the photos if not.
About how much fresh spinach would you use for this?
I’m not sure, unfortunately. I’d need to test it to see the volume after sautéing the fresh spinach (you’d want to do that before adding it to the cream sauce).