Italian Baked Eggs
You’ll never believe that these marinara cheesy baked eggs can be made in just 10 minutes for a complete breakfast!
I’m so excited to have joined forces with Kitchen PLAY and the National Milk Mustache “got milk?”® campaign to help build a better breakfast with milk. Milk is a breakfast powerhouse, packed with nine essential nutrients, including high-quality protein, but 85% of Americans fall short of milk recommendations.
By incorporating lowfat and fat free milk at breakfast with the help of MyPlate – a guide illustrating the five food groups that are building blocks for a healthy diet – we can help close the gap between actual and recommended milk consumption. Research has even shown that milk drinkers and breakfast eaters have more nutritious diets and tend to be leaner than non-milk drinkers and breakfast skippers. And did you know that an 8-ounce glass of milk has 8 grams of high-quality protein? That’s more protein than in an egg!
So with breakfast as the most important meal of the day, I’ve started to begin my mornings with baked eggs. It’s unbelievably easy to make, and the variations are endless. I made an Italian-style one here with some leftover marinara sauce, gruyere cheese, Parmesan, fresh basil and milk, and boy, was I in for a treat. Once you pop those egg yolks and dunk in that crusty bread, you’ll never want to skip breakfast ever again! Best of all, it takes 5 min to prep and 10 minutes in the oven – it doesn’t get easier, or quicker, than that! Just be sure to drink a glass of milk with this breakfast to incorporate a full serving of milk!
Visit TheBreakfastProject.com for more tips and recipes to build a better breakfast plate that follows MyPlate, getting you closer to meeting recommended daily milk intake as outlined by the US Dietary Guidelines.
Italian Baked Eggs
Ingredients
- 1 cup marinara sauce
- 4 large eggs
- ¼ cup fat free or lowfat milk
- ¼ cup shredded gruyere cheese
- 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- ¼ cup basil leaves, chiffonade
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly oil two 10-ounce ramekins or coat with nonstick spray.
- Divide marinara sauce evenly into the ramekins. Top with eggs, milk, gruyere and Parmesan; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Place into oven and bake until egg whites are cooked through, about 10 minutes.
- Serve immediately, garnished with basil leaves, if desired.
Did you make this recipe?
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Disclosure: This post is sponsored by the National Milk Mustache “got milk?”® Campaign and Kitchen PLAY. All opinions expressed are my own.
This was a wonderful Father’s Day brunch for my Italian husband! I substituted whipped mascarpone for the milk- he said, “that was delightful!” Thanks for the inspiration!
Love your recipes! It’d be really awesome if you also showed the nutritional information for us viewers who are trying to keep track of our calories. Thanks. ❤️
I don’t usually comment on recipes, but this was excellent. I wanted to make a few recommendations for those that are having trouble. I baked mine in le creuset mini cocottes. I added the sauce and then put them in my countertop oven during the preheat. I think this makes a difference with the eggs. I used heavy cream and I mixed the Parmesan in. So once the oven is preheated, take out the cocottes/ramekins, then add the eggs, milk/cheese mixture, and top with Gruyère. Bake for 8ish minutes, then broil for another minute. For the bread, I sliced up a baguette, brushed with olive oil, then added some garlic powder, kosher salt, cracked pepper, and I sprinkled on a little bit of the cheese. I threw it in the oven for some perfectly toasty, crusty dipping bread.
Hello,
I’m Jackson, I’m a chef who loves food, I’m always interested in new foods. Italian Baked Eggs is great! I just finished them tonight, taste is great and i had a great dinner with my little family. Thanks for your sharing.
Sincerely grateful!
Looks delicious! So is it egg whites or eggs? I would like to make it because it sounds and looks so good. Probably read something wr0ng or missed something…sorry
After reading the other reviews about the egg issues, over cooked yolks, or whites not cooked enough, I decided to heat the marinara first, then add the eggs and cheese…I also used heavy cream in place of the milk. Cooked it on the 1 inch rack of my NuWave for exactly 11 minutes. Perfection! This was “breakfast for dinner” for us! Will be making again!
This was a fun recipe and very tasty. After reading the reviews I decided to use a little heavy cream instead of milk to make it less soupy. I also used some Prosciutto because I had some and the hubby like meat. I baked mine for 12 min and it turned out delicious. It was still a little goopy but having the bread to dip it in made it worth leaving it a little goopy. It was delicious and definitely a make again. I might throw some spinach in there next time.
Took much longer than 10 minutes for me to set the whites and unfortunately with the extra cook time my yolks weren’t very runny. However this was delicious! I had leftover marinara sauce that I’m glad didn’t go to waste.
Great recipe! I just finished it last night and the result was unexpected, my wife and daughter both liked it, which made me happy. Thanks for your recipe!
This is a game changer! So many variations! I added bacon, only used 1 egg, sprinkled basil and thyme, used mozz instead of parm and omitted toast. Great low carb meal!
Wow! I wasn’t sure I’d enjoy this, simply because I was doubtful about marinara for breakfast, but I thoroughly enjoyed it! Great and easy recipe that went great with the french loaf I made yesterday. So good!
Taught my g-daughter this recipe to teach her how to read a recipe and cook it. Came out delicious.
I see others having issues with too soupy, well maybe I made a stupid mistake that was a benefit,
I mixed the milk and cheeses together, I added more cheese if I wanted to…FANTASTIC!!!
I Was Hesitant about this…
Well, I am so happy, I tried it!!!
Now I can’t wait to make it again and again!!
The olsd saying” DON’T KNOCK IT,
UNTIL YOU TRY IT “??
Well I that is the truth, with this recipe!!!
Thank You so very much for this INCREDIBLE RECIPE!!!
Taught my g-daughter this recipe to teach her how to read a recipe and cook it. Came out delicious.
Really good one
I made these for brunch but I didn’t have tomato sauce so I used salsa about a quarter of a cup and I added some diced fresh tomatoes some diced pepper 1/3 cup of beans some sour cream and Mexican cheese and dropped the eggs on top. I used an 8 inch covered casserole dish.
Baked in 425 oven for about 18 minutes. Yolks were cooked through so next time I’ll cut down the time maybe to 15 minutes
Very delicious
Delicious!
This was sooooo good. I’m really sad that I have no more left. I threw a pasta sauce together w/some minced onion, garlic/red & yellow peppers, fresh basil, dried oregano & diced tomatoes. While that was cooling in it’s ramekin in the fridge, I started a couple slices of bacon to crumble on top and made a tequila bloody mary. Then I threw the eggs, salt/pepper, milk, a combo of bellavitano herbes de provence & mozzarella cheeses on top. After 10 minutes I added my garlic bread to the toaster oven. By the time the garlic bread was done, everything was ready to go. I threw a few more bits of fresh basil on top with the bacon & went to heaven. I wish I’d added some chili pepper seeds for a kick, but the peppers added a nice (semi) crunchy surprise every now and then. The milk was weird. NOT complaining…it was all so good…will just use less next time. THANK YOU!
This was so good tons of flavor, I added some canned mushrooms and spinach just because I love both those and it made it a bit more substantial as a meal. This will be a regular in my house thank you.
Really easy and so delicious. Did need to bake twice as long.
I’ve made this twice and both times it took way longer than 10 minutes to cook even with the right temp and using the center rack. But once cooked, it tasted great.
Too many ads!!!
Good recipe.
Another damn delicious winner! Will definitely be making these again and trying other variations.
Can air fryer be used instead of oven?
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. But if you get a chance to try it, please let me know how it turns out! 🙂
Do you pour the milk on top of the marinara sauce?
Yes, that is correct.
I used convection, baked for 10 minutes then broiled for 3 minutes to brown the cheese and the whites weren’t even close to being set.
I do not have ramekins – what can I use for substitutes? This sounds really good and
I want to try it soon!!!
Small jam-type jars (that are oven-safe) should do the trick!
Does anyone have a suggestion for how to grate the Tablespoons? Are they necessary or should I just use two tablespoons of grated parmesan? HA! Other than being stumped for a couple of minutes on the missing ingredient, looks great, cant wait to try it.
The recipe calls for 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan. Hope that helps, Sheila!
This looks and sounds amazing. How would I make it with a bigger dish other than a ramkin for my big family
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment when making substitutions and modifications.
I’ve done it in a cast iron, maintaining similar proportions and it turned out great. It took about 10 eggs if I remember right and took significantly longer. I stopped timing at 18 minutes and went by feel but I’m thinking it was close to 22 minutes.
I also read above that someone used a muffin tin to make a bunch at a time but I have not tried that yet.
I made this in a large glass casserole dish. It came out fine. I wish I had had ramekins because I like the individual serving aesthetics.
I just made this recipe,they were so good,the only thing the egg yolk was hard i would have prefer it a little running.
This looks like the perfect breakfast. Eggs are my favorite and I am bored with the usual scrambled eggs and toast, so I was searching for some quick recipes. Yours is by far the easiest I have found, Chungah. I;m going to try this out for my breakfast tomorrow morning. Although, I’m not sure what gruyere cheese is. Will need to research or I;ll just use regular supermarket cheese. Also going to leave out the basil. It’s something that I can’t stand. Anyways, i’ll tell you how it goes. Thanks.
These are great! I have a bed and breakfast and these are always a hit. Like others, I tend to overcook the eggs. Am I correct in assuming your eggs and all ingredients are at room temp? My oven is accurate for temperature. Would you recommend convention or convection baking? Thanks
Yes! I recommend using a conventional oven. Convection is always a bit hotter than I prefer.
Calories?
Nutritional information is provided only for select and new recipes at this time. However, if it is not available for a specific recipe, I recommend using free online resources at your discretion (you can Google “nutritional calculator”) to obtain such information. Hope that helps!
I made this and it inspired me to make two others… Spanish style and Texas Style! I made a Youtube video of them as well. I wont put a link directly there but if you want my channel is KalindsLife where it can be found. I purchased the mini bake dishes at AC Moore. I did have to cook longer than in this blog but no biggie! They were awesome! Thanks!!!
I finally made these, and they are delicious! I only have 8 Oz Ramekins so I did one egg in each and they turned out perfectly
Recipe sounds delicious. I would use organic whole milk (preferably from pastured cows). Skim & low-fat milks are not nearly as healthy than whole. Adding some cooked ground beef sounds good (or Italian sausage).
This recipe is ridiculous. When you put the cheese on top of the raw eggs, it only bakes the cheese and leaves the eggs raw! I thought the directions sounded counter-intuitive but I went ahead anyways and was left with a giant, wasted mess.
Ashley, I’m sorry that this recipe did not turn out the way you had imagined. However, I am not entirely sure how the egg isn’t cooking through. It may be best to invest in an in-oven thermometer to check whether your oven is sufficiently preheated – it’s really the only reliable way to know what’s happening inside your oven! You can read more about it here.
This took way longer than 10 minutes. It was the right temp and in the middle of the oven. The milk made it really soupy? I think next time that aspect is being left out.
After 10 minutes, the whites we’re still clear, so I put it in for another 3 minutes. By the time the whites were set, so were the yolks. From your pictures, I assumed they were supposed to be runny. Any idea what could have gone wrong?
Ellie, where did you place the eggs in the oven? The middle rack is really best to ensure even cooking throughout.
This was delicious! I hate eggs but I love tomato souce. Idea to combine them was brilliant.
I will try these at home and make a little bit of twist by adding some spices, ground beef and my favorite cheese these will definitely be so delicious.
I’ve made this twice now. I love it with a sourdough crostini.
Thank you for the amazing recipe.
I went out and gathered some fresh eggs this morning and I used some raw milk. The smell is just divine as I added a little bit of rosemary to the mix. I can’t wait for them to finish cooking. I have wanted to make this for awhile, just was waiting to buy ramekins.
I over cooked it a bit, but it still came out great! Next time for dinner, I’m going to use this recipe for “eggs in purgatory”. Omit the milk and add minced garlic and red pepper flakes to the marinara. Makes my mouth water just thinking about it! Thank you for this recipe!!!!!
These were very nice! I also used mozzarella as that was what I had, and baked them all in one round dish, so they had to be in the oven a bit longer. Had them with polenta, maybe sounds a bit strange but it was great! 🙂 Thanks for the recipe!
These were delicious! I didn’t have gruyere, so mozzarella worked fine! Also, because I don’t own ramekins, I improvised and made them in muffin tins. It worked well, except less sauce work better (a bit less than a 1/4 cup). Muffin tins = many servings at once?
Thank you for this great recipe!
Thanks for a fabulous breakfast idea. I made mine in individual ramekins. I had only cheddar and mozzarella cheese at home, so I used a combination of both, and it was delicious. The whites weren’t set at 10 mins and I put them in for an extra 5, then the yellow good a little over cooked (it was partially set still a little runny though). I think 12-13 mins would be the right time to get a perfectly runny yellow and set whites. But otherwise, absolutely delicious. We had it with toast..thanks again!
Did a variation of this recipe & added spicy habanero sauce to the marinara and it was delicious! Great recipe and so easy to make 🙂
Can this be done without marinara sauce
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
Thank you so much for putting all of these amazing recipes online. I love all of them and so does my family!!! I wish I was creative like this, but thanks to you I am able to try new and better foods 🙂
Hi, I saw your lemon cheese cake – I hope to find the recipe. I am having a Thermomix demonstration on Saturday and want to giv eit to my guests.
But I love the way you have presented your site, nice and simple and the food looks great. I am still feeling my way around with my sit,- will get there.
This looks great but can I use Almond milk instead of cows milk? Or can I make these without using milk?
You can certainly try substituting almond milk but without further recipe testing, I cannot speak for how much this will change the overall taste/texture of the dish. It is always best to use the ingredients listed in the recipe to obtain the best results possible but if substitutions must be made, please do so at your own risk.
I’m not in a position to compare the recipe with or without milk as I’ve only made them without milk, but when I made the recipe without milk, it was delicious 🙂
One of the best damn breakfasts I continue to make. Thanks for the fantastic recipe!
Looking forward to making these. When I make these for dinner I am going to add some baby spinach leaves before adding the eggs .
My Nonna made our eggs this way but instead of baking them she would warm her homemade sauce in medium sized skillet with a glass lid over medium heat. When the sauce was bubbling slightly she would add the eggs to the pan (4) and poach them in the sauce. It only takes a few minutes for them to set to your liking. She would put crusty bread with cheese under the broiler or in the toaster oven and the bread and eggs would finish at the same time. I would put mine on my cheese toast but she always dunked hers in the eggs. I think of her every time I make them. 🙂
I just made this for breakfast for my son and I – we both loved it but it took longer to cook (20 minutes) to get the egg white cooked through and by that time the yolks were completely solid. Would have preferred a runnier egg but I don’t know how I could cook it differently to get the “right” result. Thanks for the recipe though – yum 🙂
Mylene, the oven temperature may be set to high. I recommend using an internal oven thermometer to ensure that the right temperature is set.
I added mushrooms and holy chicken eggs, that was soooo good! Thanks for sharing!
I’ll share this tomorrow on my facebook page Fresh Eggs Daily. I’m ALL about different ways to eat eggs! These look yummy!
THIS. WAS. AMAZING. Holy smokes. I put the two servings into one larger baking dish, so it took a bit longer to bake (18 minutes) but WOWOWOWOW!!! I think next time, when I have more time, I’ll saute some onion and bell pepper to put into the sauce. I made this for dinner, too! Eggs for all meals!
I enjoy what you guys tend to be up too. Such clever work and coverage!
Keep up the superb works guys I’ve you guys
to my blogroll.
This was delicious! I found the amount of marinara a little much, so I cut it back to 1/3 cup/ramekin, which I liked better, but really, just a superb breakfast, and quite easy. Clean up is a breeze, too.
can it be made using microwave oven?
I have never tried this method myself but you can certainly give it a try. You will have to adjust cooking time as needed.
These are as delicious as they are beautiful. I’ve already made them three times this week.
I’m making this in the morning! It looks spectacular……..and easy!!!! Thanks!
Can you use any cheese or doea is have to be the one listed? All I have is mozzarella and would really love to try this reciepe.
Maria, I recommend using the cheeses listed in the recipe for optimal results.
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Thinking of trying these…but I’m trying to feed 7. Can this be doubled/tripled/etc. and cooked in a casserole dish?
I’m sure that should be fine but you may have to adjust cooking time as needed.
I tried this receipe yesterday and it was delicious. Thanks for posting it!
This looks absolutely amazing! I love this concept 🙂
Minus the bread, this is a gluten free feast for Celiac me. I crave spaghetti and lasagna but even the GF pasta hurts me. I make Italian omelets, which are amazingly like lasagna and eat meaty spaghetti sauce over cooked cabbage, but this Italian baked eggs ideas looks really promising!
Try the spaghetti squash for Italian. My friend follows a paleo diet and swears by it.
Delicious!!!!!
I made this today for my daughter and I for breakfast. Oh my! So very delicious! I need to buy some bigger ramekins, because mine were spilling over with the liquid. I also had a hard time discerning if the whites were set, probably because of the small ramekins, so I ended up over cooking the eggs. It was still very tasty! I will make it again, but be more careful about the baking time. 🙂 Thank you so much for a keeper of a recipe! (Found on Pinterest.)
I’ve never made baked eggs before! Considering how quick this is, totally works for breakfast.
This totally makes me hungry right now for an Italian egg! So simple yet so ridiculously delicious!
I could eat this anytime of day! So simple and so pretty! These would be gorgeous for holiday brunches!
This looks so simple and delicious. I instantly thought dinner when I saw it!
How beautiful and I can only imagine … delicious. I would totally eat this for dinner, as well.
Me too – breakfast for dinner is the best!
These eggs look so so good – what an amazing breakfast treat!
I want to pin this, but there is no P
There is a pin it button in the upper right corner if you hover your mouse on each photo and there is also a pin it button at the bottom of the post.
I always eat breakfast, but usually I have a hard time finding one that keeps me full. THIS looks perfect! I also work with MyPlate at work, so excited to see you mention it here!
I love these Italian flavors, fab breakfast idea!
How yummy. Would make a great breakfast for dinner addition as well
Um yes PLEASE
Such a great, easy recipe! This is so impressive for the time that it takes to make… definitely going to put this into the rotation! 🙂 Thanks!!
Oh I could eat this every day!! Thank goodness for milk and cheese! I’m a cheese lovah!
This is totally my kind of meal! And I would eat this at any time of the day. Man, what I wouldn’t give to have a chunky piece of bread and this ramekin in front of me right now. Best breakfast ever!
Love love love baked eggs, and these look nothing short of fabulous!
Holy cow! These are stunning and so perfect for a holiday brunch!
Yes you are right but hope you can do it. Hahaha
This is such a fabulous breakfast!
I’m all about Italian food and baked eggs is one of my favorites! So happy you posted this up.