Cheddar Egg Bake With Spinach

Nutrition Snapshot

  • About 21 grams of protein in one small square, from eggs, cottage cheese, and cheddar.
  • About 285 calories in that same square, most of it from the cheese and the eggs, so a few bites carry a lot.
  • The trade-off: cheese makes this a higher-fat, higher-sodium dish. That is by design for someone eating very little, and the card shows the amounts.

Eggs whisked with cottage cheese and milk, poured over thawed spinach and shredded sharp cheddar, and baked in a square pan until just set. It cuts into six soft squares that keep in the refrigerator for four days and in the freezer for two months. One square reheats in the microwave in about a minute.

The texture is soft and moist all the way through, more like a savory custard than a frittata, and the flavor is mild: cheddar, a little onion, spinach, and pepper. Nothing sharp, nothing spicy.

Why This Egg Bake Is Great When Appetite Is Small

During an illness or a course of treatment, two things happen at once. The body needs more protein than usual to repair tissue and fight infection, and appetite falls, sometimes to a few bites a meal. A plate of plain food cannot close that gap, because the person cannot eat enough of it.

The answer is to put more nutrition into every bite. Eggs, cheese, cottage cheese, whole milk, nut butter, and olive oil all raise protein and calories without raising the amount of food on the fork. A square of this egg bake a little larger than a deck of cards carries about 21 grams of protein, roughly what a person would get from a full plate of eggs and toast.

Every Ingredient Is Doing Two Jobs

The eggs are the base and about half the protein. The cottage cheese is stirred into the eggs, where it disappears, and adds protein while keeping the texture soft. The cheddar adds protein, calories, and most of the flavor. Whole milk instead of water does the same on a smaller scale.

The spinach is there for iron, folate, and color, and because a small amount of vegetable is easier to eat when it is baked into something soft. How to fortify other everyday foods the same way, and how much protein a day of illness calls for, is in Protein Density: Eating Enough When Appetite Is Small.

Make It on a Good Day

Fatigue is as much a barrier to eating as appetite. This is a recipe for a good day, or for a friend to make: fifteen minutes of work, then the oven does the rest. Cut it into squares while it is warm, cool it, and store the squares in a single layer.

On a hard day, one square goes from the refrigerator to the microwave to the plate in about a minute, with no cooking smell to face. Frozen squares reheat in about two minutes.

Soft, Mild, and Not Too Hot

For a sore mouth or a changed sense of taste, serve the square warm rather than hot, and skip the black pepper. A spoon of plain yogurt or sour cream on top adds moisture and a little more protein. For a metallic taste, the sharpness of the cheddar helps; use extra-sharp.

Cheddar egg bake with spinach cut into squares, one on a small plate in a shallow bowl.

Cheddar Egg Bake With Spinach

No ratings yet
Eggs, cottage cheese, sharp cheddar, and frozen spinach baked into soft squares that reheat in a minute. About 21 grams of protein in one square.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings: 6 square
Course: Breakfast, lunch
Cuisine: American
Calories: 285
Ingredients Equipment Method Nutrition Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 8 large eggs
  • 1 cup 2 percent cottage cheese
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach thawed and squeezed dry
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (6 ounces)
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
  • 1 tablespoon butter for the dish
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • black pepper to taste

Equipment

  • 8-inch square baking dish
  • Whisk

Method
 

  1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8-inch square baking dish.
  2. Squeeze the thawed spinach in your hands or in a clean towel until no more water comes out. Spread it over the bottom of the dish with the chopped onion and 1 cup of the cheddar.
  3. In a bowl, whisk the eggs with the cottage cheese, milk, salt, and pepper until blended; small curds of cottage cheese are fine.
  4. Pour the eggs over the spinach and cheese. Scatter the remaining 1/2 cup cheddar on top.
  5. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, until the center is set and no longer jiggles and the top is lightly golden. Cool 10 minutes before cutting into 6 pieces.
  6. Refrigerate up to 4 days or freeze up to 2 months. Reheat one square in the microwave for about 1 minute from the refrigerator, or 2 minutes from frozen.

Nutrition

Calories: 285kcalCarbohydrates: 6.6gProtein: 21gFat: 20gSaturated Fat: 9.6gSodium: 552mgPotassium: 309mgFiber: 1.5gSugar: 3.4gCalcium: 362mgIron: 2mgMagnesium: 52mgPhosphorus: 355mgCholine: 220mg

Notes

For more calories in the same square, whisk 2 tablespoons of olive oil into the eggs or use 4 percent cottage cheese. For a sore mouth, leave out the pepper and serve warm rather than hot. Lower-sodium version: use no-salt-added cottage cheese and skip the added salt. Frozen broccoli, thawed and chopped small, can replace the spinach.

Tried this recipe?

Let us know how it was!

Gluten Free

Eggs, cheese, cottage cheese, milk, and spinach are naturally free of gluten, and this recipe uses no flour or bread. For people with celiac disease, check the shredded cheddar label, since a few brands dust shredded cheese with wheat starch to keep it from clumping; a block of cheddar shredded at home avoids the question. People who avoid gluten by preference can use any shredded cheese.

Go deeper

Related Posts