Cheesy Baked Eggs with Potatoes

These Cheesy Baked Eggs with Potatoes make the most perfect dinner for a change from the classic Spanish omelette or other classic egg dishes. The egg, potato and cheese trio is a winner combination and if we add some onion to it… Well, what can I say? It gets even better! It’s a simple and easy dish that calls for less than a handful of ingredients. Grown ups and children love it alike which makes it always a big hit! Simply perfect, and even more so if I tell you that it’s one of my grandma’s recipes.

This Cheesy Baked Eggs with Potatoes recipe always takes me back to my childhood, when we were asking my grandma “what are we having today?” and she replied “Cassoletes”. “Cassoleta” means little cooking pot in Catalan, but when my grandma replied “cassoletes” it meant having eggs and potatoes served in an individual ceramic baking dish. I don’t have such ceramic baking dishes or cooking art, but I do have the beautiful memory of how to make them. They key is to properly cook the potatoes first and to use a lot of cheese! Whether you have these or not, the result will be amazing cause eggs, potatoes and cheese seem to have been born to be together.

Some Notes on the Cheesy Baked Eggs with Potatoes Ingredients

This recipe only requires 4 main ingredients (I consider salt and oil as must-haves so I don’t count them :P), and one of them is even optional if you don’t like it.

• Potatoes: it’s what makes this dish hearty and today we will fry them. Below I have explained in a bit more detail which potato variety I’d recommend.
• Egg: try to use fresh eggs from free range chickens that eat decent chicken food. The better they eat, the better the egg will taste and in dishes like this one where the egg flavour is noticeable, if the egg itself is good, the result will be sublime.
• Cheese: I usually use a blend of mild Cheddar that melts well with Gruyère, which is a bit more pungent but doesn’t overpower. My grandmother used to exclusively use Emmental, the typical cheese we use in Spain for pasta au gratin :P. You can use the cheese that you like the most, but if you can, try to buy a wedge and grate it at home to make sure that it does not contain odd ingredients or starches that will prevent the cheese from properly melting.
• Onion: the controversial ingredient (as in the case of the Spanish omelette, where some people love it and others hate it). At home we’ve always made it with onion, because in addition to the sweet touch that it provides, it contrasts great with the cheese. You can omit it if you want, I won’t judge you.

Tips and Tricks to Get the Perfect Yolk (Oozy or not)

If you like a hard yolk, there is no real trick here, just than leaving the eggs cooking in the oven for a longer time, but… If you like the runny yolk like me, here are a couple of tips:

• When you place the egg into the baking dish, make sure there’s potato underneath. The egg yolk shouldn’t be in direct contact with the baking dish surface. If it was, the yolk would cook from the bottom in no time, since the material from the baking dish will get super hot in comparison with the potato temperature.
• You can also start by adding egg white only, keeping the yolk aside for later. Doing this means no risks and also helps with ensuring that the egg white is fully cooked without overcooking the yolk. I personally use this trick when I either have guests I don’t want to risk it with, or if I use very large eggs that have a decent quantity of egg white. In this second case, if you use small individual baking dishes, the white could get very concentrated around the center if it. Consequently, the cheese could be melted and the yolk on point, but the egg whites could still look raw.

Algunas Preguntas Frecuentes

Which potato should I use?

There are so many potato varieties that choosing the best one in each case seems like an odyssey. Depending on the proportion between the water, the starch and the sugars they have, one type or another will be better for the dish. In this case I recommend the Kennebec ones. As an alternative you can also use Monalisa which is a very versatile variety thanks to having a fairly balanced proportion of starch and water, this ensures they hold their shape and don’t crumble. Yukon Gold would also work great, it’s also very versatile and quite compact.

Can I make this ahead?

You can fry the potato and onion a few hours in advance and let them drain at room temperature, but I wouldn’t recommend cooking them the day before. Over time the potato loses its crunchiness but a bit is recovered when baked.

More Incredible Egg Recipes

• Easy Courgette Fritters with Lemony Herby Crème Fraîche
• Eggs in Purgatory with Courgette (or Italian Style Eggs with Courgette)

If you make this Cheesy Baked Eggs with Potatoes recipe, be sure to leave a comment and rate it. Hearing from you is everything! Oh, and don’t forget to tag me on Instagram, I absolutely love seeing your creations. I’m sure you’ll love this eggs with potatoes and cheese combo. Happy cooking! 

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Cheesy Baked Eggs with Potatoes

These Cheesy Baked Eggs with Potatoes make the most perfect dinner for a change from the classic Spanish omelette or other classic egg dishes. The egg, potato and cheese trio is a winner combination and if we add some onion to it… Well, what can I say? It gets even better! It's a simple and easy dish that calls for less than a handful of ingredients. Grown ups and children love it alike which makes it always a big hit! Simply perfect.

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Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time45 minutes mins

Total Time55 minutes mins

Servings: 2 people

Author: Paula

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 600 g potatoes - peeled, quartered and sliced
• 1 medium onion - julienne cut
• 40 g mild Cheddar - grated
• 40 g Gruyère - grated
• 300 ml olive oil - approx. There should be enough to almost cover the onion and potato.
• 1 tsp salt

Instructions

• Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan at medium heat.
• When the oil is hot, add the onion with the potatoes. Reduce the heat to low and cook 15-20 minutes stirring every now and then. At this point the potatoes will be cooked (poached) but not toasted or crunchy yet.
• Increase the heat to medium-high and cook the potatoes 10-15 more minutes so they get slightly fried and crunchy. They need to look mid-way between being cooked and fried.
• Drain off any excess oil (I put them in a strainer on a bowl and let the oil drip away for 5 minutes) and season with salt. Save the oil for another use.
• Preheat the oven to 200ºC. Place the potatoes and onion in an ovenproof dish or medium-sized skillet or divide them between 2 individual baking dishes. If you place them into individual baking dishes, make a well in the center of each. The bottom should be fully covered by potatoes (there must always be potato under the egg yolk). If you place both eggs them in one baking dish, make a couple of wells.
• Place the eggs in the wells and sprinkle the cheese all over the potatoes.
• Bake for 10-15 minutes in the middle rack of the oven until the cheese has melted and the yolk is cooked to your liking. If you like it oozy, 10 minutes should be enough (see notes).
• Serve immediately, mix the egg with the cheesy potatoes and onion and enjoy!

Notes

• Trick to always get oozy yolks: separate the egg white from the yolk and add only the egg white part first. We will add the yolk at the end (you can add it for the last 5 minutes or directly when you remove the baking dishes from the oven). Doing this means no risks and also helps with ensuring that the egg white is fully cooked without overcooking the yolk. I personally use this trick when I either have guests I don’t want to risk it with, or if I use very large eggs that have a decent quantity of egg white. In this second case, if you use small individual baking dishes, the white could get very concentrated around the center if it. Consequently, the cheese could be melted and the yolk on point, but the egg whites could still look raw.