How to Make the Perfect Frittata (Easy, Delicious, Healthy, Great in an Emergency)
NOTE: This article is for the person who needs to feed a family quickly and frugally, with easy, healthy ingredients. You’ll find directions to make a frittata with eggs and vegetables….perfect. Fast. Easy. Healthy.
I realized about an hour before I was to start fixing dinner that I forgot to take the meat out of the freezer that morning! Oh, No! What do you do when you have nothing to fix and a hungry husband on the way home at that very moment? Or starving kids begging for dinner? Has this ever happened to you?
Here's my solution: EGGS! Here's how to make an emergency frittata!
This is not the first time I've needed to make an emergency frittata. I'm going to share my tips with you so you'll be able to make the perfect frittata every time, in case you run into a snag like I did!
Now, you do need some eggs on hand for this meal, but most of us keep a dozen handy, right? At our place, we have lots of chickens, so we always have eggs. Sometimes we just have too many, and in that case, a frittata for dinner is the right thing to do.
My recipe is super adjustable. That means that you can add all kinds of things (or even very little), and it will still turn out great!
This frittata recipe will provide eight good size slices! My husband and I eat some, then we each have the leftovers for lunch the next day. Perfect! Or, it will feed four normal eaters just fine.
Need a healthy dinner fast? Don’t want to spend a lot of money? Aren’t the greatest cook? My directions for how to make the perfect frittata will help you eat cheaply and save money, be healthy, be flexible, and it’s SO easy. You’ll love this recipe, and I’m hungry looking at this! #frittata #directionstomake #howtomake #easymeal #cheapmeal #healthymeal #eatclean #healthyfood #eggdish #eggs #mealwitheggs #healingharvesthomestead
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How to Make the Perfect Frittata
This is an easy, simple, and very forgiving recipe. don’t worry if you want to add more or less vegetables or other additions.
Ingredients for Your Frittata:
1) About a dozen eggs
I say "about" because our eggs are all different sizes, so I just make adjustments. Sometimes I'll add up to 15 eggs if we have tiny eggs in the bunch. But if you are using store-bought eggs, a dozen should do just fine.
2) Meat of choice (optional)
We like meat. Sometimes I'll add a pound of ground beef, leftover chicken breast meat, or sausages. I like the organic, nitrate-free ones you can find at Costco. If you are trying to eat clean, please read this article, “Don’t Eat That Meat!”
3) Veggies
Gosh. This is where making your frittata is fun! Right now we have tons of zucchini in the garden. So guess what ended up in our frittata? Two whole zucchinis! Here are some other options I've tried in the past that work great:
Tomatoes, spinach, zucchini (small ones are best, but we used the biggies yesterday), asparagus, onion, peppers of all kinds, olives, carrots, kale....
Basically, any kind or combination of vegetable(s) will work great! Just chop them up, and if they are harder vegetables, then just give them a quick little sauté first to soften them a bit!
4) Spices
I use garlic, black pepper, a little salt, and smoked paprika almost every time. Adjust for your own tastes. I tend to use a lot of spice and just a tiny bit of salt. One reason I love using spices is they are so good for you in so many ways. You can find out more in this article about Kitchen Spices: Your Own Home Apothecary.
Feel free to mix the spicy tastes up! Feel like Mexican? Add some Cumin and Chili pepper. Want Italian? Try Italian seasoning or just toss in some oregano, thyme, and/or marjoram! Want a taste of the islands? Try some Jamaican Jerk! You can do all kinds of things with a frittata!
This is a super versatile dish, so add what flavors you love!
NOTE: I like to get my bulk spices at Starwest Botanicals because they are inexpensive for the quantity you get, and they are FRESH.
5) Cheese
We are not eating cheese right now (bummer for me---I LOVE cheese), but if I was, I'd use some feta. Any kind of cheese will be delicious on this frittata, though!
Directions for Making the Perfect Frittata
**Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
1) Cook your meat, unless you are using already cooked meat. I use a large pan that can serve as the baking dish too. That way, I've got only one thing to wash up!
2) Add in any vegetables you want to soften up a bit---onion, garlic, zucchini, asparagus, peppers---I'll usually give these a quick stir around the pan for about five minutes or so.
If your meat is not already in the pan, go ahead and add it now. You might want to warm it up a bit (or not). It's up to you. If you cooked the meat beforehand, it will already be hot.
3) Mix up your eggs so you have a nice yellow liquid. Add any other spices to your eggs or to the meat mixture as it cooks. Either way is fine.
4) Pour your eggs over the meat and veggies into the pan you cooked your meat/veggies in already. Just be sure it can go in the oven. Using a large cast iron pan is perfect, or there are many dutch-oven style pans that can serve a dual use. I love ours. It's the Emeril Bam Pan.
Here are all the ingredients together in the Bam Pan---ready to go in the oven.
5) If using spinach, you can just stir the leaves in gently, unless you wilted them a bit with your veggies. Add sliced tomatoes on top, if you want.
6) Place the pan into the oven, no lid needed.
7) After about 15 or 20 minutes, go ahead and sprinkle any cheese you're using on top. Except feta or soft cheeses. You can just sprinkle these kinds of cheese over the top after you pull it out of the oven.
8) Check it after about 25 minutes. You'll know it's all done with you can insert a knife into the center and have it come out clean. It should be perfectly done on top, and not all browned up. It has taken a couple of my frittatas up to 35 minutes to cook, depending on if I use more eggs or if there are more "wet" type veggies used.
9) When it's ready, remove from the oven and let "sit" for about five minutes.
10) Cut it into eighths!
11) Enjoy!!!
A finished frittata---ready to be cut and served!
Final Thoughts on How to Make a Frittata
That's all there is to it.
Forget the meat? No problem!
Have very little time? Frittatas are fast!
Want something easy? Here you go!
Want to use up some of those extra vegetables before they go bad? Yep! A frittata is the way!
Need to eat cheap for awhile? This great dish fits the bill!
You've probably figured out by now, if you've been reading my stuff for any length of time, that I don't post many cooking recipes. That's because I'm pretty incapable of measuring anything out. I tend to eyeball pretty much everything. So, I hope this wasn't too vague!
I just figured since this recipe is so flexible anyway, exact measurements are not necessary.
What is your favorite fast, easy, and inexpensive meal? I'd love to hear what you do when you're in a dinner jam, so please leave a comment in the comments section :-) And, feel free to share/join us on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook!
You may also enjoy these other easy dinner or lunch time recipe ideas:
Southwest Immune Boosting Soup
And there are many other good things over on the blog! So head on over and browse around.
Hugs, Health, & Self-Reliance,
Heidi
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