How to Make a Frittata

Frittatas are one of the easiest and most versatile dishes! They’re good for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Add any veggies you have in the fridge to your frittata recipe and enjoy the delicious outcome hot or cold! 

Why We Love Frittatas

It’s rare to find a dish that can be served for breakfast, lunch, AND dinner, hot or cold, and is easy to prepare ahead of time. Sounds impossible? Enter the mighty Frittata! Making the best frittata recipes is easy and can be made in a million different ways with your favorite additions. Vegetables, cheeses, herbs, and vegetarian meat substitutes can all be added to whatever combination sounds good to you! Just check what's available in your fridge add some eggs and you can easily create a frittata.

What is a Frittata?

Let’s start with the basics! If you’ve never had an eggs frittata before you’re probably wondering what it is and how it’s different from a quiche or an omelet. Frittatas, quiches, and omelets are all egg-based breakfast or brunch dishes, that can also be enjoyed for lunch and dinner.

Frittatas vs. quiche:

Frittatas are an egg bake made in a large pan they can be made entirely on the stove top, in the oven, or a combination of the two.

Quiche is an egg baked with a crust and it usually contains milk and cheese.

An omelet is also an egg dish made by mixing eggs with veggies and maybe cheese. Omelets are made on the stovetop, they are smaller than a frittata and they are usually folded over

Today we are sharing with you a guide on how to make frittatas, it's up to you how to customize it with your favorite ingredients.

How to Make A Frittata

Basic Frittata Formula

Cooked veggies and other add-ins of your choice
+
4 to 6 Eggs
+
25 to 45 minutes in the oven
(they can also be made on the stovetop)

Our easy frittata recipe works as the perfect base for all of your favorite mix-ins and variations. This easy recipe starts with a base of 6 eggs, an 8x8 pan, and 25 minutes in the oven. Make sure your frittata is baked until the eggs are no longer runny.

Frittata Recipe Variations

You can really add any of your favorite savory mix-ins to a frittata recipe!

• Leafy greens - Spinach, arugula, or kale all cook down and add great flavor and nutrition to your dish.
• Spices - Onion or garlic powder, crushed red pepper for spice, Herbes de Provence, or classic salt and pepper all add flavor and variety.
• Fresh Herbs - Parsley, chives, thyme, basil, cilantro, dill
• Vegetables - The sky's the limit! Tomatoes, mushrooms, potatoes, asparagus, onions, bell pepper, artichoke hearts, zucchini, broccoli...make a vegetable frittata!
• Vegetarian Meat Substitutes - Vegan Bacon, veggie meat crumbles, smoked vegan chorizo, or vegan sausage would all be great add-ins.
• Cheeses - You can choose your favorite cheese. Here are some of our favorites: Feta, provolone, cheddar, mozzarella, goat cheese, Parmesan
• Other Dairy: you may add yogurt, whole milk, or heavy cream to the egg mixture for extra creaminess.
• With egg whites - Make an egg white frittata for a lower calories frittata recipe! Use 1 cup + 1 tablespoon of store-bought egg whites for every 6 eggs or 6 egg whites.

Recommended Frittata Flavor Combinations

Spinach Frittata: Mix together spinach, feta cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, olives, and caramelized.

Mushroom Frittata: Combine mushrooms, zucchini, kale or spinach, cooked quinoa, cheddar cheese, and feta cheese.

Artichoke or Asparagus Frittata: Onions, garlic, fresh parsley, artichokes or asparagus, and feta cheese.

Potato Frittata: potatoes and onions. Is that simple but really delicious!

Zucchini Frittata: Include onions, garlic, zucchini, Herbes de Provence, cheddar cheese, and feta cheese.

Vegetable Frittata: You can use any vegetables you have on hand. Try onions, garlic, bell peppers, kale or spinach, artichoke, asparagus, mushrooms, zucchini, broccoli, and leeks. Add cheese or enjoy a dairy-free frittata.

Broccoli Frittata Mix up chopped broccoli, garlic, onions, and a blend of cheeses for a delicious breakfast frittata.

Pizza Frittata: Combine garlic, mushrooms, veggie pepperoni, veggie sausage, mozzarella, oregano, tomatoes, and parmesan cheese for a pizza-flavored frittata.

Mexican: Mix in veggie taco meat, cheddar, salsa, corn, and black beans for a Mexican frittata. Top the finished egg bake with sour cream or guacamole.

Traditional Frittatas vs. Baked Frittatas

A traditional frittata is made by cooking the vegetables and other mix-ins first on the stovetop in a cast-iron skillet or oven-safe skillet adding the eggs, and transferring the whole thing to the oven.

If you have leftover cooked vegetables, simply place the cooked vegetables in your frittata pan of choice, add the egg mixture, and bake.

The key is to get your vegetables cooked before you put your frittata in the oven.

Pro Tip: The Instant Pot does a beautiful job making frittatas! Use the pan-in-pot method to pressure cook your frittata super fast.

Fritatta Tips

How to Make Mini Frittatas

If you’d prefer to make several smaller frittatas rather than one big one, you can easily separate this recipe into smaller muffin tins, ramekins, or oven-safe dishes. You will likely need to reduce the cooking time, so keep an eye on it and pull them out of the oven when the eggs are no longer runny. Muffin cups frittatas are a great grab-and-go breakfast or snack.

Making Frittatas Ahead of Time

The veggies for your frittata recipe can be made up to two days ahead! You can make the frittata ahead of time and store them in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. They’re very easy to heat up, but they can be enjoyed hot or cold. You can also store frittatas in the freezer, simply let them thaw at room temperature and heat them just for a few seconds in the microwave.

Adding Vegetables to Your Frittata

If you’re including veggies that require longer cooking time, make those on the stovetop ahead of time before mixing them in. You could even use a cast-iron skillet to cook the veggies, then pour the eggs over and transfer the pan straight to the oven...or make the whole thing on the stovetop!

FAQ

How can you tell when a frittata is done?

You should cook your frittata until the eggs are no longer runny. The center might jiggle a little but in general, the eggs should be fairly stationary when you shake the pan. In addition, the eggs puff up just a little bit in the last few minutes of baking.

Frittata Serving Suggestions

Serve your delicious frittata hot with buttered toast, muffins, coffee cake, coffee, hot tea, fruit salad, hashbrowns, or any breakfast food. Smoked salmon would be a special treat if you are making frittatas for brunch.

More Frittata Recipes

• Tortilla de patatas
• Artichoke and Asparagus Frittatas
• Quinoa, Mushroom, and Zucchini Frittata
• Spinach and Cheese Bites
• Baked Zucchini Frittata

The Story Behind This Recipe

One of the most popular items in Spanish cuisine is, without a doubt, what we Spaniards call tapas.

Tapas are simply a variety of appetizers served on small plates. They are extremely popular all over the country, each region featuring different variations. Some are hot, some are cold, and they can be served as appetizers or even as a main meal.

Having grown up in Spain, you can probably imagine how many different varieties of tapas we've had the opportunity to try! Something we absolutely miss but can be easily made at home.

The recipe we're sharing today is a spicy eggplant frittata montadito

A montadito is a type of tapa from Spain that consists of a small piece of crunchy bread (usually a slice of baguette), topped with, well,  pretty much anything!  In the Cataluña region of Spain, where we're from, the bread is usually rubbed with fresh, ripe tomato, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, and seasoned with a pinch of salt (Pan con Tomate).

Here, we topped the bread with an eggplant frittata (called tortilla in Spain) and added a spicy mayo just to give it a little kick.

If you enjoyed this recipe, it would help us tremendously if you left us a star rating in the comments below or on the recipe card. Do you have any questions about the recipe? Do you need a swap for any of the ingredients? We are here to help, just leave us a question in the comments below.

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