It’s no secret that I love a simple easy egg bake. I make some kind of egg bake or quiche about once a week or every other week and I just don’t get tired of them. They are really easy meatless (or nearly meat-free) dinner options that the whole family loves. I love that I always have eggs on hand (thank you backyard chickens), that I can sneak vegetables in to dinner, and that it reheats really well. I’ll often make a double batch and eat the second half for quick breakfasts the rest of the week.
Few things are simpler than this egg bake, but it’s still very filling, full of flavor, and hearty. It’s great for breakfast, brunch, and dinner. If I plan ahead and have the time, I might make our favorite biscuits, healthy banana muffins, or some breakfast cookies to go with it. If I’m short on time, then I might just serve the egg bake with a simple fruit salad or a smoothie. Both options are great.
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Easy Vegetable and Cheese Egg Bake
Ingredients
- 1/2 an onion
- 1/2 pound of squash
- 4 slices of bacon
- 8 eggs
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 cup grated cheese, about 4 ounces (I used sharp cheddar)
- 4 ounces of spinach
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Grate the squash and onion with your cheese grater (or dice them nice and small).
- Spray a 9×9 inch baking dish with cooking spray and preheat the oven to 375 degrees
- In a medium skillet cook the bacon until tender crisp. Remove the bacon from the pan and lay it on paper towels to help absorb extra grease. Pour the extra bacon grease from pan and return the pan to the stove (it will still have a layer of grease on the bottom since you haven’t cleaned it). Add the grated squash and onion to the pan and cook over medium high heat until the vegetables are tender and any cooking liquid that they have released has cooked off.
- While the veggies are cooking, break your eggs into a bowl, add the milk and salt and pepper and beat with a fork to combine well.
- Place the cooked vegetables in the bottom of the prepared dish. Add the spinach. Add the cheese. Crumble the cooked bacon over the top of the cheese. Pour the egg mixture over everything in the dish. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the center of the dish is set and no longer jiggles. Let the dish cool for 3-5 minutes before serving hot.
Notes
I like to chop the spinach because I just want little pieces to eat, not a whole leave. If you like the spinach more wilted, you can cook it with the other vegetables, but this makes it too mushy for my taste.
You can bake this in different sized dishes, including a round pie plate. This also doubles well in a 9×13 inch dish. You will have to adjust the baking times depending on the dish you use. You know when it’s done when the center is set. I just shake the pan gently in the oven, and if the middle moves then I cook it another few minutes before repeating the shake test.
I love to grate the squash. When it is grated and cooked before adding it to the eggs it looks, feels, and tastes a lot like a hash brown style potato! The Costco bag had yellow and green zucchini in it and I choose to use the yellow squash in this dish because it really will get mistaken for potatoes (which go over better with my kids than squash). If I only have zucchini, then I’ll peel the outside to hide the green from them.
If bacon isn’t your thing, skip it and sauté the vegetables in olive oil. You can also sub the bacon for 4 ounces of cooked sausage or some cubed ham, which are all delicious.
This freezes great and reheats very well. I like to a batch to keep in the fridge for easy breakfasts. If I’m going to freeze this, I’ll just cut it into squares and put them in a single layer in a freezer bag or container.
Serve with a side of fruit, a smoothie, or even some muffins.
I love using yellow squash in this recipe because once it is all cooked it looks, tastes, and has a texture similar to potatoes. My kids just assume the dish has potatoes in it and I don’t tell them any different. Cooking the veggies a little before baking helps to release the extra moisture and makes them so really tasty.
Seriously delicious and easy. You are going to love this easy meal all summer long.I can’t wait for you to try it!
Disguising veggies….. oh bah ha ha! Thanks for the yellow squash idea… hadn’t thought of that one! Basil leaves hide spinach really well too!