Packed with nourishment, the egg is one of nature's powerful foods. One large egg has varying amounts of 13 essential vitamins and minerals, which make them a great option for breakfast. Here are Food & Wine's best egg breakfast recipes which include fluffy omelets, perfectly poached eggs, and inventive frittatas.
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Soft-Boiled Scotch Eggs
A common picnic and party dish in the UK, Scotch eggs were likely first inspired by the Indian and Pakistani dish nargisi kofta, which encases a hard-boiled egg in spicy ground meat. This soft-boiled approach presents an unexpectedly tender egg yolk within a crispy exterior.
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02of 31
Breakfast Banh Mi Sandwiches
This outstanding Vietnamese banh mi includes duck pâté and spicy pickles along with, less conventionally, five-spice-flavored bacon and a fried egg.
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03of 31
Phoenicia Diner's Breakfast Skillet
Phoenicia Diner in Phoenicia, New York, offers an impressive list of breakfast “skillets.” This creamy egg scramble studded with smoked trout is meant for one, but it can be easily doubled or quadrupled.
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Spinach Shakshuka
Instead of making shakshuka with red tomatoes, as is customary, Portland, Oregon, chef Jenn Louis opts to make hers with a mix of Malabar spinach and tomatillos, along with jalapeños, cilantro, and spices. The result is a bright, tangy, and spicy brunch dish that’s ideal with slabs of rich, toasty challah.
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Bacon and Egg Breakfast Enchiladas
Enchiladas aren’t just for dinner! Your brunch party guests will love this morning time twist.
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Open-Face Egg and Griddled Ham Breakfast Sandwiches
F&W editor at large Justin Chapple poaches a dozen eggs at once in a muffin pan in the oven, making his cute and tasty breakfast sliders extraordinarily easy to prepare for entertaining.
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07of 31
Steak and Eggs Benedict with Red Wine Hollandaise
Classic hollandaise sauce is prepared with butter, egg yolks, and lemon juice. Here, Neal Fraser adds a red wine–and–port reduction to the rich sauce, which is delicious with the juicy tenderloin steak that accompanies the poached eggs.
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08of 31
Wild Mushroom and Goat Cheese Omelets
The idea for this creamy-tangy omelet comes from a fish dish that includes some of the same ingredients here: shiitake mushrooms and delicate fresh pea shoots.
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09of 31
Bacon, Tomato, and Cheddar Breakfast Bake with Eggs
This breakfast bake topped with runny eggs by former F&W editor Grace Parisi develops a terrific texture as it cooks slowly in a glass dish (which makes it easy to see when the bottom is perfectly browned). As one F&W editor remarked on tasting it, “I worship the crisp bottom and the chewy, moist bread.”
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10of 31
Baked Eggs with Chorizo and Potatoes
Chef David Kinch loves to say that this hearty combination of crumbled chorizo, chunks of crispy potatoes and eggs — all cooked together in a big cast-iron skillet — is his Mexican-Californian twist on rösti, the classic Swiss fried-potato breakfast.
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Eggs Baked in Roasted Tomato Sauce
Marisa May cooks these eggs in an antioxidant-rich tomato sauce, roasting plum tomatoes with garlic and oil and then pureeing with oregano.
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Omelet with Pressed Caviar and Sour Cream
In a superlative combination of fish eggs and chicken eggs, Jacques Pépin stuffs a classic French omelet with sour cream, chives and diced pressed caviar. For an extra indulgence, he also drapes the omelet with long, thin strips of pressed caviar.
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Eggs Benedict with Bacon and Arugula
In her version of eggs Benedict, Tara Lazar swaps in applewood-smoked bacon for the usual Canadian bacon because she prefers its rich flavor and crisp texture.
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14of 31
Salmon Hash with Poached Eggs
Hash is a such a great way to use leftovers, like the cooked salmon called for here. Any other cooked or smoked fish — or diced ham — could be used in place of the salmon.
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15of 31
Potato, Salami, and Cheese Frittata
Fortified with sautéed potatoes, strips of salami, and bits of goat cheese, this robust egg dish makes a fine dinner too. Add a salad and you're all set. Though we like them warm, frittatas are traditionally served at room temperature.
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16of 31
Poached Scrambled Eggs with Goat Cheese Sauce
Chef Daniel Patterson’s ingenious scrambled eggs are cooked for seconds in a vortex of boiling water, then topped with a creamy cheese sauce.
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17of 31
Ratatouille Toasts with Fried Eggs
This luscious ratatouille is perfect for brunch because it tastes even better when made the day before, making it quick and easy for a mid-morning meal.
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18of 31
Eggs Florentine with Smoky Mornay Sauce
This recipe for eggs Florentine is based on eggs Benedict: Poached eggs rest on toasted English muffins and a bed of garlicky spinach, topped with a light cheese sauce.
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19of 31
Breakfast Burrito
For this light-but-hearty breakfast, chef Spike Mendelsohn scrambles eggs with egg whites, then mixes them with red onion, feta, turkey bacon, tomato, and spinach. The eggs and vegetables are folded into whole wheat tortillas, making this an ideal morning meal on the go.
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Omelet Soufflé
Here, Aki Kamozawa and H. Alexander Talbot share their method for creating a fluffy omelet from their book, Ideas in Food.
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21of 31
Breakfast Biscuit Sandwiches
A giant step up from fast-food, this breakfast sandwich is topped with eggs, cheese, and country ham, jam optional. The tender biscuits have a salty edge. If you prefer, decrease the amount of salt in the recipe to 1 1/2 tablespoons.
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22of 31
Broccoli Frittata
This simple, garlicky frittata is great for a healthy brunch or lunch.
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23of 31
Poached Eggs with Cubanelle Pepper Puree
Cubanelles are long, sweet peppers that are usually light green (you can occasionally find red ones as well) and sometimes have a slight kick. After 2005 F&W Best New Chef Tony Maws chars the peppers, he blends them with green hot sauce and serves the puree with meaty mushrooms and runny poached eggs.
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24of 31
Brioche with Prosciutto, Gruyère and Egg
Star Los Angeles chef Suzanne Goin has perfected this outstanding open-faced sandwich — a cross between a frisee salad and a croque monsieur — topped with a sunny-side-up egg.
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25of 31
Poached Eggs with Parmesan and Smoked Salmon Toasts
Dipping a crispy toast finger (the French call it a mouillette) in a soft egg yolk has to be one of life’s great pleasures. Here, Jean-Georges Vongerichten wraps smoked salmon around half of the toasts and sprinkles the rest with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, so it melts and forms a salty crust when baked.
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Shakshuka with Fennel and Feta
Gail Simmons eats these eggs cooked in a tomato and bell pepper sauce for any meal of the day. She "developed an ardent affection for humble egg dishes like shakshuka" working in Israel one summer.
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27of 31
Potato Frittata with Prosciutto and Gruyère
This cheesy frittata is the kind of dish — fast, flexible and easy to reheat — that Tom Valenti likes to have around for all kinds of holiday eating. "A frittata is just as good, or maybe better, at midnight," he says.
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Spanish-Style Scrambled Eggs
For this dish, chef Neal Fraser uses spicy chorizo and Spanish lomo (cured pork loin) in scrambled eggs, along with potatoes, piquillo peppers, and smoky paprika. Since lomo can be hard to find, we’ve substituted readily available serrano ham.
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Three-Egg Omelets with Whisky Bacon
"I've been making a version of our 'hangover breakfast' since before I was old enough to drink," says Mark Canlis, co-owner of Seattle's Canlis restaurant. He adds a little whisky to the bacon, along with brown sugar, to caramelize and flavor it. In Scotland, they use "rashers," or ham-like Canadian bacon.
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Leeks Vinaigrette with Fried Eggs and Smoked Prosciutto
When Paul Kahan develops recipes, he starts with something traditional — like leeks vinaigrette, the time-honored French dish — then adds a twist. Here he substitutes fried eggs for the standard hard-boiled-egg topping and adds crisp strips of speck, a smoked prosciutto.
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Scallion Scrambled Eggs with Potato Chips
To give scrambled eggs a fun twist, Hugh Acheson trades a side of hash browns for kettle-cooked potato chips.
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