I purchased three rather expensive ingredients for a different recipe this week: roasted red peppers, feta, and a large bag of fresh spinach. I was really intent on not letting any of that go to waste, so after I made my Roasted Red Pepper Hummus Wraps, I grabbed up the leftovers and tossed them into a Roasted Red Pepper and Feta Frittata.
Frittatas are great because you can throw just about any leftover vegetable, meat, or cheese into them and have it turn out pretty spectacular. They’re like a big omelet that you don’t have to worry about carefully folding. Just bake everything together, then slice and serve. Easy and good.
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What is a Frittata?
Frittatas are an egg dish originating in Italy, where eggs are cooked in a skillet with other ingredients added like, meat, cheese, and vegetables. Think of them kind of like an open-faced omelet. A small amount of milk or cream is sometimes added to keep the eggs tender, but not nearly as much as a quiche, which is more of a baked custard.
What Can You Put in a Frittata?
The wonderful thing about frittatas is that you can put just about anything in them, which also makes them a great catch-all for your leftovers. For this frittata I added spinach, roasted red peppers, and feta, but you can add virtually any meat, cheese, vegetable, or herb. Just be sure to pre-cook any watery vegetables, like zucchini, so they don’t make your frittata soggy.
Here are some other frittata flavor ideas:
- Broccoli, cheddar, bacon
- Ham, Swiss, and bell pepper
- Sausage and sun dried tomato
- Portobello mushroom and goat cheese
- Ratatouille
- Zucchini and corn
- Kale and Chorizo
Basically, any flavor combination that is good on pizza will probably be good baked into a frittata, too. ;)
How Long Do Frittatas Stay Good?
You can keep your leftover frittata in the refrigerator for about four days, or you can freeze it for about two months. When freezing, first chill it completely in the refrigerator, wrap it tightly to prevent exposure to air, place it in a freezer safe container, then transfer to the freezer.
Do I Have to Use a Cast Iron Skillet?
No, you can use any oven-safe skillet.
Roasted Red Pepper and Feta Frittata
Servings 4 to 6 servingsIngredients
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.04)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 3-4 cups baby spinach ($1.25)
- 1/2 12oz. jar roasted red peppers ($1.25)
- 2 oz. feta ($1.12)
- Salt and pepper to taste ($0.05)
- 1 pinch crushed red pepper (optional) ($0.05)
- 6 large eggs ($1.62)
- 1/4 cup whole milk or cream ($0.16)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Mince the garlic and add it to a 10-inch oven safe skillet, along with the cooking oil. Sauté over medium heat for 1-2 minutes, or just until the garlic is soft and fragrant. Fill the skillet with fresh spinach (about 3-4 cups packed) and continue to sauté until it has wilted (1-2 minutes).
- Remove the peppers from the jar and slice them into thin strips. Add the sliced peppers to the skillet and sauté for 1-2 minutes more. Season the vegetables with salt, pepper, and a pinch of red pepper flakes if desired. Remove from the heat and crumble the feta over top.
- Whisk together the eggs and milk, adding a pinch of salt and pepper. Pour the eggs over the vegetables in the skillet, then transfer the skillet to the fully preheated oven.
- Bake the frittata for 20-25 minutes, or until the center is puffed and the top is light golden brown. If more browning is desired, place the frittata under the broiler for 1-2 minutes. This will quickly brown the top without over cooking the egg inside. Slice into 6-8 pieces and serve (1-2 pieces per person depending on size and appetite).
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Equipment
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!How to Make a Frittata – Step by Step Photos
Begin by preheating the oven to 350ºF. Mince two cloves of garlic and sauté them with 1 Tbsp cooking oil in a 10″ oven-safe skillet. Sauté over medium heat for about one minute, or until the garlic becomes fragrant and soft (try not to let it brown).
Fill the skillet with fresh spinach (about 3-4 packed cups) and continue to sauté until the spinach wilts. Spinach wilts fast, so it will only take about two minutes.
Remove 1/2 the peppers from a 12oz. jar of roasted red peppers, and slice into thin strips.
Add the peppers to the skillet and continue to sauté for a minute or two more, just to remove some excess moisture. Season with salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper (optional) to taste.
Crumble about 2 oz. of feta over the vegetables in the skillet. Remove from the heat. I buy my feta in an 8 oz. block, so it’s easy to just cut it into four pieces to estimate a 2 oz. chunk.
Quickly whisk together 6 large eggs and 1/4 cup milk (whole milk or half and half work best). Season with a pinch of salt and pepper.
Pour the egg mixture into the skillet over the seasoned vegetables and feta. The skillet should still be pretty hot at this point. Carefully transfer the skillet to the oven.
Let the frittata bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the center is puffed up and the top is light golden brown. If you want the top more browned than having just a kiss of color, place the frittata under the broiler for a minute. The broiler will quickly brown the top without overcooking the rest.
Brunch is served! You could also add some shredded mozzarella to this Roasted Red Pepper and Feta Frittata (before pouring in the eggs or sprinkled on top), or maybe some crumbled bacon, artichoke hearts, or ham. Frittatas are extremely versatile!
Just made this with some zucchini since I didn’t have enough spinach. Another winner, Beth!
Amazing, added swiss cheese as we did not have any feta, looking forward to leftovers tomorrow
Hi Beth! I’m trying to find easy weekday meals for my family, and I think this would be a good one where I can prep the veggies the night before and then throw it all together once I get home. My one question is that this looks very similar to your crustless quiche. Am I correct in thinking that? If so, the baking times are different…just let me know. I’m new to this quiche-frittata world :)
No problem! They are, in fact, a little different. The quiche is more custardy in texture (it has more milk and cheese), whereas the frittata is more like a baked omelet (mostly egg, just a little milk for moisture and cheese for flavor). Baking times might also vary depending on how many ingredients go into the frittata or quiche. A thinner frittata will bake faster and more stuffed or thicker one will take longer.
Think this can still be done with the same steps, except scrambling eggs? Unfortunately I don’t have a lot of oven cookware so I’d have to resort to my stovetop :/
Probably. I think I’d remove the vegetables, scramble the eggs by themselves until almost fully set, then fold the vegetables back into the scramble. That will give you a better texture than trying to scramble with everything still in the skillet.
I’ve started buying all of my feta at Aldi–it’s good, and the price is unbeatable!
I made this the other day and it was great. It was my first time making a frittata and since I wasn’t sure if it was safe to put my nonstick skillet in the oven I sauted the veggies and put them in a glass pie plate then poured the egg mixture over the top after adding the cheese. Will this freeze okay? I made this Tuesday and plan to have leftovers tomorrow for lunch but think I’ll have a serving or two left.
Thanks. Love your site and recipes.
Good work. Non-stick should not go in the oven. :) Egg dishes like this freeze just okay, they can tend to overcook when reheated and seep some moisture. It just depends on your tolerance for that sort of thing.
I was just thinking I didn’t have a big enough oven safe skillet! A pie plate is a great idea.
Just keep in mind that the cooking time may be longer because the skillet was hot and a pie plate will be not be and will require some extra time to heat up.
how long did you cook the frittata for in a glass pie plate? I don’t have a skillet and would love to try this recipe :) thanks!
You could put the pie plate in the oven while you’re sautéing the veggies and the oven is preheating, that way it will already be hot and you won’t have to adjust the cooking time.
Yes, that would be a good idea. Cooking *might* still vary a bit, though, due to the different material of the cooking vessel (glass or ceramic vs. cast iron). I think that it will still work pretty well, though! Just watch the center and make sure it’s puffed up.
Oh this looks amazing! I must try it. I’ve been making a lot of frittatas this summer with zucchini, mushrooms, mozzarella, and fresh basil on top. I eat it with some tomato sauce on top and it’s like a healthy pizza alternative :)
How would frozen spinach work with this? I know it won’t be as good as fresh, but would it still be worth it?
Frozen wouldn’t be too bad with this, actually. I’ve used frozen spinach in frittatas before and it’s pretty good. Just thaw out the spinach and then squeeze out as much moisture as possible, then add it to the skillet. :)
I made this yesterday. Added some mild Italian sausage, and used a little kale we had in the fridge with the spinach. Yummy! Thanks for ANOTHER delicious recipe, Beth! :D
This looks so delicious and easy! What do you think would be the best non-dairy milk substitute for this dish?
The frittata looks delicious!! Great for breakfast, or lunch with a salad on the side!!! ;-)
Can I use almond milk as a milk substitute? It’s all I have :/
I’m not sure that will work so well because it’s the fat in the milk that really helps create the correct texture here. I think almond milk might be too thin.
I love frittatas, but I always make mine in a nonstick pan–when I’ve tried them in cast iron, they stick disastrously. How do you keep yours from sticking?
This flavor combo sounds great; thanks for the idea!
It stuck a little, but I was still able to scoop out whole slices and the stuff that remained scrubbed off fairly easily. :) I think the oil from sautéing the garlic helped. Just make sure to spread that around a lot, as well as up the sides.
In my opinion, eggs are “Foods for the Gods”. This recipe is wonderful. I love that you used roasted red peppers instead of sauteing fresh peppers. I love the feta cheese and the spinach. I will definitely be making this recipe as I love all the ingredients. I think I will add some mozzarella, but nothing else. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
How does this reheat?
It’s not quite as good as it is fresh because the eggs will continue to cook further, but I still find it quite delicious upon reheating.