Inspired by this recipe that showed up in my mail box last week, I decided to pair two of my favorites, kale and chorizo, into one easy breakfast frittata!
I also bought my first cast iron skillet this week, which is awesome because I was able to saute and bake all of the ingredients in ONE DISH! If you don’t have a cast iron skillet, you can still easily make this frittata by transferring the sauteed kale and chorizo to a casserole dish before adding the egg mixture (as I did in this recipe).
The other reason that this recipe is so easy is that the chorizo brings all of the flavor and seasoning to the table. There is so much flavor in the chorizo, in fact, that it is completely unnecessary to add any additional spices or herbs. Just six simple ingredients and you’ve got yourself a hearty, delicious dish. Add some toast and a piece of fruit and you’ve got a restaurant quality breakfast.
Kale & Chorizo Frittata
Kale & Chorizo Frittata
Servings 6Ingredients
- 10 oz. Mexican style chorizo ($2.75)
- 1 bunch kale ($0.99)
- 4 large eggs ($0.93)
- 1 cup milk ($0.36)
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan ($0.24)
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella ($1.00)
Instructions
- Remove the chorizo from the casings and saute in a large skillet over medium heat until cooked through. Drain the excess grease from the skillet.
- While the chorizo is cooking, remove the kale leaves from the stems and tear into small pieces. Place in a colander and rinse well. Once the chorizo is fully cooked and drained, add the kale to the skillet. Cook until the kale is fully wilted.
- Begin to preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, whisk the four eggs until they are fairly smooth. Next, whisk the milk and parmesan into the eggs. If you will be baking the frittata in the cast iron skillet, pour the egg mixture directly over the cooked chorizo and kale. If you are cooking the frittata in a casserole dish, spray it lightly with non-stick spray, add the cooked chorizo and kale to the bottom, and then pour the egg mixture over top.
- Sprinkle the shredded mozzarella over the top of the frittata. Place in the preheated oven and bake for about 45 minutes or until the frittata looks puffy and golden brown on top. Slice into six pieces and serve hot.
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Step By Step Photos
This is the chorizo I used. I only used half of this 19 oz. package and froze the rest for later use.
Squeeze the chorizo out of the casing and cook in a large skillet over medium heat.
Saute the chorizo until it is cooked through. Drain the excess grease from the skillet.
While the chorizo is cooking, remove the kale leaves from the stems and tear into small pieces. Place the kale leaves in a colander and rinse well.
Add the kale to the skillet (it will likely be over flowing) and continue to cook over medium heat.
Eventually (about 5-10 minutes), the kale will wilt down to a fraction of its original size.
Once the chorizo and kale have cooked, begin to prepare the egg mixture. First whisk the eggs until they are fairly smooth. Also, begin to preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Next whisk in the milk and parmesan.
If you’re baking the frittata in your skillet (make sure it is oven safe), pour the egg mixture right over top of the cooked kale and chorizo. Otherwise, transfer the chorizo and kale to a casserole dish that has been coated with non-stick spray, and then pour the egg mixture over top.
Sprinkle the shredded mozzarella over top of the frittata. Place the frittata in the preheated oven and bake for approximately 45 minutes.
You’ll know your frittata is finished cooking when it looks puffed and golden brown on top. The edges will begin to puff first, and when the center is puffed, you’ll know it’s done. The frittata will deflate after it comes out of the oven, but the puff during cooking is a good indicator of doneness.
Slice into six pieces and serve hot!
Mmmmmm.
Great combination!
I’ve been making this for a couple years with a couple changes…
–Soy chorizo
–Monterey jack or “Mexican” cheese blend
–Add fresh red bell pepper sautéed or roasted red bell pepper from the jar. Adjust quantity to your preference (I usually use 1/2 a bell pepper)
–Prep on the stove but bake in 9×13 pan
–Serve on toast or tortillas
The red bell pepper really levels this up for me. I’ll usually sneak in sautéed onion too
I freeze the leftovers, usually cutting into rectangles then wrapping each piece separately. The flavor is great on a reheat, texture changes but I usually use it as taco filling at that point.
Is it ok to substitute the kale for spinach?
Yes you can certainly give it a shot if that’s what you have on hand!
I made this with Soyrizo and it’s a perfect meatless Monday dinner. Thank you Beth!
Delicious! My husband isn’t a fan of kale, but he liked this fritatta. The chorizo makes the dish. I think it would be better to allow the kale and chorizo to cool a bit and stir the eggs into the mixture instead of pouring the eggs over it. I will make this again.
This was a good frittata but I wasn’t a fan of the mozzarella. We think it would be better with a harder/less chewy cheese.
Oh, yum! This is really tasty. Would like to double the recipe next time to have leftovers. Love the chorizo in the frittata. But, I mean, chorizo in anything is good ;)
Carbs? How many
This one was just OK for me. I couldn’t taste much other than the kale, even though I used less than the recipe called for. We also only got four servings out of it. It wasn’t terrible, but I probably won’t be making it again.
I just want you to know that my husband and I LOVE this dish! With eggs from our chickens, kale from our garden, and chorizo from a local store-it is the best! Thanks for the recipe!
Hi!
I love the recipies on your site! They’re great! I was wondering how well this recipe keeps as leftovers? I’m cooking for just myself and want to make it to re-heat for multiple breakfasts through the week. :)
Thanks!
It keeps pretty well! There’s always a little risk of overcooking eggs when reheating, so I just make sure to heat it just until warm, rather than hot.
Made this with spinach instead of kale and threw in some sliced onion. It was awesome – could definitely add a few more veggies too!
I love Beth’s recipes so much because they can typically be modified depending on what you have on hand or your preferences. I had some eggs that needed to be used so I did a search for frittatas and came across this one. It was perfect since I had a bunch of kale and some regular pork sausage in the fridge that needed to be used up as well. I added about a 1/2 teaspoon of paprika to the egg mixture since I used sausage rather than chorizo and used 6 eggs instead of 4 since they were organic and sort of on the small size. The only shredded cheese I had in the fridge was sharp cheddar and not mozzarella but it tasted great!
Tried this recipe today and it is great! Next time I’ll add some mushrooms and other veggies but it’s perfect without adding anything.
Made this for dinner tonight. We used the kale/spinach/chard organic power blend from costco. I added some chopped frozen leeks from trader joes too. It was awesome!!
You have amazing pictures that show how to do everything without even having to read. It’s beautiful and fantastic. Love it! Thank you.
I wonder how long it would take to bake this in a cupcake tray so that they’ll already be divided evenly for my guests??? I’m gonna try it! Fingers crossed!
I think the cooking time will be much less because you have so much more surface area to come into contact with the heat. If you tried it, let me know how it turned out! Thanks!
I am so excited, just popped my cast iron in the oven. One question, how long should I cook the chorizo? I wasn’t sure if I should cook it until it the grease is clear and the chorizo darkens. Or should I cook it until it is hard and crunchy?
Thank you so much, can’t wait to take my first savory bite!
I just cooked it until the meat was “cooked” or darkened, as you described, but not until crunchy. But it will work both ways, so it’s up to you! :)
Trying this one out ASAP! We just got fresh kale from our local CSA and I have meatless “chorizo” from Trader Joe’s. Very excited!
I parboil potatoes then fry them off and add all the other ingrediants to bulk it out a bit more :D
More portions = cheaaaper :D Yay
I just made this using soymilk instead of milk because I’m stupid and I forgot to buy milk when I was at the store D: haha. Luckily my roommate had some soymilk so we’ll see how this goes…
First meal I made using my new cast iron skillet – one of the best things to ever come out of my kitchen! Thanks for the great recipe – your site has yet to fail!
Amazing.
Your recipes are awesome. Love your site!
Jace – I believe it’s a ten inch skillet.
What size cast iron skillet did you use?
I like these dish’s images. If you have more images like these then please share.
I LOVE THIS BLOG!! what a fantastic idea :-)
Really, really good!
I have a 12″ skillet and a mini, so I scaled this up to the 12″ as follows:
1 lb chorizo
7 eggs
1.5 cups milk
1/3 cup parmesan
1.5 cups mozzarella
One bunch of kale fits nicely in the pan but then wilts down quite a lot. I didn’t have room for two bunches, so instead I added about 1 cup of frozen broccoli in addition to 1 bunch of kale.
Came out great! Smells like pizza with the mozzarella browned on top.
My husband and I love all the recipes we’ve made from your site. He isn’t a fan of kale, although I love it, and I’ve been searching for the perfect recipe to convert him. I think this is it! Btw, I didn’t know Johnsonville made chorizo; hopefully it’ll be a my local grocery store now.
Kale is my new best friend (salt? no more than any other fresh veggie)–I did this one last night for an easy supper. Just a small salad and some bread.
You can always make your own chorizo with ground pork or beef, hot pepper, garlic, oregano, cumin–and leave out the salt. There are lots of recipes online if you search a little. I find the commercial varieties taste fine and with no additional salt in the recipe, manage to fit our needs.
I’ve never found kale on its own to be salty. I’m looking forward to making this, it sounds absolutely delicious!
Hi Jessica – The only ingredients in the strata that contain salt are the chorizo and cheese, so the only way to reduce the salt would be to reduce the amount used of one or both of those. But, I didnt find it too salty, personally :)
I’m afraid that this recipe’s going to be super salty. Kale + chorizo? Is there any way to tone it down?
I have been waiting for an excuse to buy a cast iron pan… got one yesterday to try this out! You must’ve used a 10 inch pan — I bought a 12 incher — so mine turned out pretty thin. I would recommend using 6 (or even 8?) eggs if you use a big pan. Otherwise, great flavors as always, I’m a new addict to your recipes!