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.
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Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!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!
Hey, great recipe! My gf loves this recipe. Just recently experimented by adding penne pasta and some chicken to make a quite delicious pasta. Added a bit more garlic to help bring out the flavor and exempted the eggs. I wouldn’t mind some broccoli with it as well personally. Just an idea if it sounds appealing to anyone.
Also just want to say thanks for all the great ideas. You’re the only cooking website I have a profile with so I can save all the recipes and look forward to ones as well! P.S. Not being bombarded with adds is a huge win, keep up the great work!
My family & I thoroughly enjoyed this recipe. We were intrigued how creamed spinach and eggs go together, but it works well. We will definitely make this again. 5 stars.
Thank you for this recipe! I really wanted to try something new at the start of this year, and this recipe was perfect. As many of your readers, I also added some bacon in it, just before I added the spinach. My spinach was pre-portioned and it took a little longer to incorporate, so I will defrost it partially next time. I served it with a hot polenta – but that might be too much for those who want more texture in their food.
This was delicious! I added about a 1/4 cup of real crumbled bacon bits (from a bag) and used an Italian blend cheese instead of feta. Everything else the same.
Plus it’s so quick and easy! Making this one again! Thank you for such delish and easy on budget and time recipes!! I have never been disappointed in any of your recipes 😊
This looks soo yummy! What could I sub for the feta though? I have mozz, muenster, provolone, and cream cheese, (and the parm of course). Thanks!
Provolone would be delicious!
Hi Beth!
My husband recently refurbished our cast iron pan and we finally have one again, yay! I’d like to make this recipe, but am wondering if it can be made in a 12″ skillet. Our skillet measures 12″ at the rim, but 10″ at the bottom (the actual cooking surface). I never know which measurement to go by when skillet size is mentioned. Is my pan too big for this recipe? Does this recipe need a skillet whose RIM measurement is 10″?
Thank you in advance!
Tiina
Description measurement is from the rim (not the base). Seriously, I wouldn’t worry about it being “too big” to use.
Yum!!! This was delicious and so easy to make! We enjoyed it so much we didn’t leave any leftovers!
Yum!! This was so good I could not stop scarfing it down. I didn’t have nutmeg so I added a dash of cinnamon, and I LOVE rosemary so I added crushed rosemary just for the heck of it. Also added chopped up breakfast sausage, everything else stayed the same. Popped some rosemary sourdough bread and regular wheat bread into the toaster and me and my mom spooned the stuff onto toast. It was SO GOOD. To those commenting on over cooking it, I think mine took about 13 min, just keep an eye on it and take it out when the tolls have turned white. I have leftovers but whenever microwaving eggs, they cook more. Any suggestions on how to heat it up without making the eggs all rubbery?
There’s not a whole lot you can do when reheating eggs, except making sure that you’re not reheating to the point where it’s blazing hot. Just reheated until it’s just heated through and try not to go further because then the eggs will start cooking more.
We have tons of kale in our garden, I steamed it about 10 minutes and added to sauce, I also added bacon and onion. Yummy! Thanks for the recipe.
Delicious!
can i use corn starch for thickening as i don’t use flour?? i looks really good and i’d like to try it…
I’ve never used cornstarch in this type of sauce, so I’m not sure how that might affect it.
Usually, you may need to use half that the quantity for flour when you choose corn starch or potato starch instead. Also, it burns faster as the texture is different, so you also have to reduce the cooking temperature before adding the milk and the rest. I received a large quantity of corn starch and I hate to waste food, so now you know the facts too!
I have taken frozen cut spinach and chopped it myself while still frozen with good results.
Mmmmmmm. I made this for lunch today and nearly licked the bowl. It was amazing! Thanks for the recipe.
Would it work ok with fresh spinach?
I can only find whole leaf frozen spinach here.
Yes, I would chop the spinach a little first, then just stir it into the sauce until it has wilted.
Question – how good is this leftover? My boyfriend won’t touch spinach (more for me!) so I hoped I could make this for work lunches, but does it reheat well?
I thought it was good. :)
I have never eaten creamed spinach before, the name sounds downright disgusting to me, however I took a chance on this recipe after reading the ingredients and seeing that it had eggs and was served with toast dippers. It was a hit! My kids loved it, I loved it, and after working outside on a friends car all day, my husband popped his head inside and said “that smells really *bleeping* good!”. Thanks for the great recipe!
😂 I’m glad you ended up liking it!