Here at the Culinary Exchange, we think that understanding the basics of cooking are incredibly important and help lay a solid foundation for being confident in the kitchen. This means understanding how to cook the most basic and commonly used ingredients, like eggs. In fact, eggs are such a key ingredient in so many aspects of baking and cooking, that we’ve made it our mission to try to chronicle as many different ways to cook eggs as possible: eggs over easy; what to substitute if you’re out of eggs; how to tell whether your eggs have gone bad; how to poach eggs; and even how to make a frittata. But today, we’re going to talk about a less common way to cook eggs. Today we’re learning how to bake eggs.
The Benefits of Baking Eggs
When most people think of baking eggs, they imagine a dish like shakshuka – a traditional Arabic dish consisting of eggs poached in tomato sauce and baked (you can try out our shakshuka recipe here!). But in reality, eggs can be baked in a number of ways. Surprisingly enough, you can make scrambled eggs, eggs over easy, and even hardboiled eggs in the oven. And while those are fun, the real fun is in learning how to bake eggs into a larger meal for a fun and innovative brunch, lunch, or dinner.
How to Bake Eggs
There’s more than one way to bake an egg, and we’re going to break up our instructions into how to bake eggs for each type of egg dish you’d want to make. Let’s get started!
How to Make Baked Scrambled Eggs
It might seem strange to make scrambled eggs in the oven, but this method actually is brilliant if you’re cooking breakfast or brunch for a large group of people and don’t want to stand in front of a hot stovetop for 3 hours doing it. Let’s assume you’re scrambling eggs for six people, so this recipe will use a dozen eggs (assuming each person eats two scrambled eggs).
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Gather 1/4 cup of butter, melted; 12 eggs; 1 1/4 cups milk; and 1 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Pour melted butter into a baking dish. Next, crack all one dozen eggs into a large bowl and whisk together with salt. Once mixed together, whisk in the milk slowly. Pour the egg mixture into the baking dish and bake for 10 minutes. Open the oven and stir quickly and bake for another 10 minutes. Plate and serve immediately after removing from the oven.
How to Hard Boil Eggs in the Oven
Like scrambled eggs, if you’re hard boiling eggs in the oven, it’s usually because you’re whipping up a large batch of hard boiled eggs for a larger group of people. To start, preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Use a muffin tin to place each egg that you want to hard boil in a muffin cup. Place the eggs in the oven and cook for 30 minutes. Once done, take each egg and put it directly into an ice bath to cool the eggs down. Wait until the eggs are completely cool to the touch before peeling.
How to Cook Eggs Over Easy in the Oven
The most popular and commonly known use for cooking eggs in the oven is to cook them over easy. This is the method used for shakshuka, and other baked egg dishes. Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Use a muffin tin (or you can use oven safe custard cups, which are slightly larger). Break each egg that you want to cook into a muffin cup. Sprinkle each egg lightly with salt and pepper. Once the oven is preheated, pop them into the oven and cook for 15-17 minutes. You want the yolk to thicken, but you don’t want it to be too tough (otherwise you’re veering into hard boiled territory). Remove from the oven and serve immediately (preferably with a side of bacon and a bloody mary).
Do you have any favorite tips on how to bake an egg? Share them with us in the comments below!
