This is one of my favorite quick, savory breakfasts and I’ve made about a hundred versions of it. It’s going to seem gross or weird to a lot of you, but I LOVE it. Plus, I got so many questions about it when I used a picture of a similar version for this soft boiled egg post, that I knew at least some people would be interested. :)
The basic formula is rice, greens, a soft boiled egg, and a splash of hot sauce. You can use different types of rice, different seasonings, different types of sautéed greens, and even different kinds of fat. My favorite combination is jasmine rice (white or brown), virgin coconut oil, jerk seasoning, and spinach. The coconut oil is absolutely magical in this breakfast bowl, but for the SNAP challenge, I used butter to save a few pennies. I love this Mccormick jerk seasoning, but can’t find it at my usual grocery store, so I made the seasoned rice instead, to hopefully make up for it. So, here is the SNAP version of my favorite savory breakfast, packed with fiber, greens, and a deliciously creamy soft boiled egg. (directions for making a soft boiled egg here)
Spinach Rice Breakfast Bowls
Servings 1 bowlIngredients
- 1/2 cup cooked seasoned rice ($0.11)
- 1/2 cup frozen chopped spinach ($0.16)
- 1/2 Tbsp butter ($0.08)
- 1 large egg ($0.21)
- pinch of salt and pepper ($0.03)
- splash of hot sauce ($0.05)
Instructions
- Place one inch of water in a small sauce pan. Bring it up to a boil over high heat with the lid on top. Once it reaches a full boil, add the egg in the pot, replace the lid, and let boil/steam in the shallow water for exactly six minutes. After six minutes, pour out the hot water, rinse with cool water, then peel immediately.
- While the egg is cooking, add 1/2 cup of precooked seasoned rice to a bowl along with 1/2 cup frozen chopped spinach. Microwave on high until heated through (about two minutes, stirring once half way through). Season the spinach and rice with butter and a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Once the egg is cooked and peeled, add it to the bowl with the spinach rice, drizzle hot sauce over top, and eat.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
See my full tutorial and video on how to soft boil an egg here.
How to Make Spinach Rice Breakfast Bowls – Step by Step Photos
Begin by bringing one inch of water to a full boil in a small pot. Once it begins to boil, add the egg, cover the pot, and let it boil/steam for exactly six minutes. After six minutes, pour out the hot water, and rinse with cool water. Peel the egg immediately.
While the egg is cooking, add 1/2 cup of precooked seasoned rice to a bowl along with 1/2 cup of frozen, chopped spinach. Microwave on high for about two minutes (stirring once half way through), or until the rice and spinach are hot.
Once the rice and spinach are fully heated, season with 1/2 Tbsp butter (or virgin coconut oil) and a pinch of salt and pepper. You can experiment with adding extra herbs here. Sometimes I add a little thyme and red pepper flakes.
Finally, add the cooked and peeled soft-boiled egg and drizzle with hot sauce (I use sriracha! Woo!). And that’s one of my all time favorite breakfasts! (yes, I’m a little unusual)
This sounds like a dish I’ve been obsessed with (it happens). Cook up some rice and top it with a fried (runny yolk) egg, some scallions, a splash of soy sauce, and some avocado. EMG. They used to serve it at the Chinese restaurant where I worked, and it is sooo good and cheap.
I need to try this way too. Fried eggs are easy to mess up, but soft boiling looks more forgiving and hands off :)
My hot sauce of choice is Frank’s Red Hot, I believe you can get that in Australia.
I’m going to try this as breakfast with my kids. Both are getting into their autumn sports, hours of training per week, and complain that they can’t get enough protein in the mornings… and an egg on toast every day gets painfully repetitive.
This bowl has become my new everyday breakfast. I crave it. And your other recipes? The sesame chicken, veggie lentil soup, the chickpea curry!?
Beth, I don’t know you but I love you.
Before you came into my husbands’ and my life, we worked 10-12 hour days and couldn’t muster up the energy or creativity to cook a two hour healthy meal that didn’t cost $20-30 worth of ingredients. I also could never convince my husband to eat a meal without meat! You’re just the tops, Beth-you and your recipes. Keep on keeping on, girl.
Awww, that’s the sweetest thing ever! Thank you! :)
It’s been a while since I was here (back when I was doing a year without buying anything new I was a regular visitor), but since reconnecting, I’ve made a bunch of your college fav recipes, as well as the SNAP dijon soy chicken, and these breakfast bowls. I love them!! So thanks for inspiring me to cook, keep it simple, and be thrifty and healthy. It’s a lovely thing you are doing here :)
What would be the equivalent of hot sauce in Australia? Is this like tabasco? Love the sound of this dish. :)
Tabasco would work, yes. I used sriracha, which is a Vietnamese hot sauce. It’s thicker than tabasco and almost has a slight sweetness. But, any hot sauce would work. :)
I’ve been eating this all week for breakfast, except with grits instead of rice because I’m a proper southern girl. It is my new favorite. Thanks for the recipe! And I love your blog!
Holy yummy! I just made this with microwave minute brown rice (you know, the pouch kind) I had on hand for a quick delicious lunch. My 3 year old twins even liked it! I think I found my regular weekday breakfast!
Have been wanting to try soft boiled egg with spinach for a couple months and when I saw this post, just got up & tried it. No microwave, no froz spin, no rice. Washed, spun & sauteed (in coconut oil) fresh spinach & used a jumbo egg. Lots of ground pepper to finish.
All totally yummy but needs some tweaks: a minute or two more for the jumbo. While there was no water in the saute pan, the spinach released some water when I plopped the egg into the bowl on top of it. How can I release that water earlier in the process? Thank you for this wonderful addition to my bkfst repertoire!
Sorry, tried to give five stars! ***** :)
Try leaving the spinach in the sauté pan for a few minutes after you turn off the heat. The spinach will release the water as it cools and then you can separate out the spinach from the water.
Thank you! I’ll try this for lunch today & report back :)
That worked, squeezed out some green water…seems like that should be saved to add to another recipe later. Thanks so much!
I made this for dinner and loved it! It was the perfect comfort food. Easy and cheap too!
I made this for dinner and loved it! A perfect, easy, and inexpensive comfort food.
I’ve now made this twice. So, so good! I had a big bag of bulgur so I used that instead of rice, still came out great.
Just made this with your savory coconut rice recipe. Completely heavenly!
I’m making soft boiled eggs tonight…kind of scared!! I have a ton of tomatoes from the garden that I’m going to sauté up with markdown kale. I would totally recommend hitting up the markdown produce cart to help stretch the budget! Also, coupons!! I get markdown Earthbound Farm kale and freeze it…after coupons it’s usually 50 cents!
Similar to Bibimbap, one of my favourite Korean dishes. I use Gochujang and a bit of sesame oil instead of hot sauce and butter, raw shredded veggies, and a fried egg. My rice bowls are constantly changing depending on what veggies I have available. If no egg in the house, I’ll use tuna, or chicken (though those are normally for supper). If you can find Gim (seasoned seaweed), shred some on there, really delicious. Love how cheap of a meal it makes! I never realized just how cheap. Your SNAP challenge is certainly making me re-think my budgeting and cooking strategies. Love your site.
I for one am 100% into greens with breakfast! Especially greens with egg and hot sauce — so good. I would eat a bowl like this pretty much any time of day, and since it’s so fast & affordable, there’s no reason not to. Yay!