Roasted Vegetable Cottage Cheese Egg Bake
on Dec 18, 2024
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Baked in a pie dish, this easy cottage cheese egg bake is loaded with roasted broccoli and mushrooms. As I assemble the casserole, I include baby spinach and parmesan cheese before pouring in the whisked egg-cottage cheese mixture. This is a protein-packed vegetarian recipe that you can serve for a healthy breakfast, brunch and so much more.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Cottage cheese is a trendy, it ingredient with staying power. I have childhood memories of lunch with my grandma eating cottage cheese sprinkled with sunflower seeds—she was ahead of her time. Cottage cheese has been all over social media lately. It’s a great source of protein, and for this egg bake, it makes each bite light and fluffy.
With the oven preheated, you can take advantage of that heat to roast the broccoli and mushrooms. You should put cooked veggies into an egg bake rather than raw ones, and you can go 100% oven for this recipe. There’s no need to sauté anything on the stove.
This egg bake is great for meal prep. That can be for breakfast, lunch or even dinner. I love eating leftovers cold, at room temperature or I will warm them up. You can also make this simple egg recipe to feed a group if you’re entertaining.
The Ingredients
This is what you need:
- Eggs: The recipe calls for 6 large eggs. You may not think that’s enough when you look at other breakfast casserole recipes, but since this egg bake goes into a pie dish and not a 13 x 9 pan, you don’t need an entire carton.
- Cottage cheese, like yogurt, comes in different milk fat percentages. You can use 2% – 4% or full fat cottage cheese, but avoid non-fat.
- Broccoli: You can buy broccoli crowns and cut them into florets or buy them precut. Just make sure you have small to medium-size florets.
- Mushrooms: Go with either baby bella mushrooms or cremini mushrooms. I find that they have more interesting earthy flavor than button mushrooms.
- Baby spinach: You can tear the leaves with your hands instead of chopping them. Those smaller pieces will be well distributed throughout the egg bake, better than whole leaves. Do not use frozen spinach because it has too much water content.
- Parmesan: With grated parmesan you don’t end up with overly cheesy, gooey bites. You can substitute with cheddar cheese or crumbled feta.
- Garlic: After I take the roasted broccoli and mushrooms out of the oven, I stir both minced garlic and scallions with them on the hot baking sheet.
- Scallions add mild onion flavor. I do not recommend swapping for another onion. Since scallions are delicate, all they need is to make quick contact with the heat of the pan. That would not be the same if you used diced onions. They would have to be sautéed.
- Chives: For more of that green onion taste, I include minced chives when I assemble the egg bake in the dish.
- Milk: You can use any type of milk to whisk into the eggs.
- Olive oil is for roasting the mushrooms and broccoli and for greasing the baking dish.
- Kosher salt and black pepper season the vegetables and the egg base.
How To Make This Cottage Cheese Egg Bake Recipe
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F with a baking sheet on the middle rack. This gives the vegetables a head start on roasting because you put them on a preheated pan.
1. Prep the vegetables. Toss the broccoli and mushrooms with olive oil, salt and pepper.
2. Spread the mushrooms and broccoli across the pan. They should be in a single layer using all the space you have.
3. Roast the broccoli and mushrooms. This will take 12-15 minutes. Flip them over about halfway through roasting. The broccoli will turn bright green and the mushrooms will shrink up a bit and turn more brown.
Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9-inch pie dish with oil.
4. Whisk the eggs and cottage cheese with milk, salt and pepper in a large mixing bowl.
5. Assemble the egg bake. Put about 3/4 of the roasted mushrooms and broccoli, half the spinach and half the parmesan cheese into the prepared baking dish. Pour in the egg mixture. Top with the rest of the roasted vegetables, spinach and parmesan plus the chives.
6. Bake the egg casserole for 40-45 minutes until it is just set in the middle and lightly browned at the edges.
Serving
Just like a frittata, an egg bake is a good choice for meal prep for breakfast, lunch or dinner. This recipe is packed with vegetables and protein from the cottage cheese and eggs. Especially for brunch, I like to pair it with an arugula salad with lemon vinaigrette and a piece of crusty bread. Not everyone is a sweet breakfast person, so I am a big fan of egg bakes for holiday entertaining like Christmas morning or Easter. You can also serve it with fresh fruit.
Leftovers & Storage
Let leftovers cool to room temperature. Then store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 4 days. Warm a slice in a quick 10-12-second blast in the microwave. To save leftovers longer, up to 1 month, wrap them tightly in aluminum foil or plastic wrap and freeze them. Thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating them. You can also eat them cold, chopped and tossed into a salad.
Recipe Tips
- Don’t skip roasting the vegetables. If you add raw ingredients, you will miss out on those fantastic roasted and caramelized flavors.
- You don’t need to line the pan with parchment paper. I like when the broccoli florets and mushrooms make direct contact with the hot pan, so they brown better.
- You can treat this egg bake recipe as a starting point. You can use other cooked vegetables you have in your kitchen such as sweet potatoes, asparagus or cauliflower. It is a great way to use leftovers.
More Egg Recipes
Egg White Frittata
Spinach Feta Egg White Bites
Crustless Mushroom Quiche
Spinach Parmesan Mini Frittatas
Pesto Eggs with Roasted Tomatoes
Roasted Vegetable Cottage Cheese Egg Bake
Ingredients
For broccoli and mushrooms
- 2 cups small to medium broccoli florets
- 8 ounces sliced baby bella or cremini mushrooms
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 scallion, thinly sliced
For egg & cottage cheese base
- 6 large eggs
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 3/4 cup 2% – 4% cottage cheese
- 1 cup torn baby spinach
- 1/3 cup grated parmesan
- 1 tablespoon minced chives
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F with a sheet pan on the middle rack.
- In a large bowl, toss the broccoli and mushrooms with olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper.
- Carefully spread the broccoli and mushrooms across the hot sheet pan. Roast for 12-15 minutes, flipping halfway through roasting. The broccoli should be bright green and the mushroom should be lightly browned. Take the pan out of the oven and toss the garlic and scallions with the vegetables on the baking sheet.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9-inch pie dish with oil.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper and cottage cheese.
- To assemble the egg bake, spoon about 3/4 of the roasted mushrooms & broccoli, half the spinach and half the parmesan cheese into the pie dish.
- Pour in the egg mixture. Top with the remaining mushrooms & broccoli, spinach, parmesan and chives.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes until just set in the middle.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
