Easy Green Chile Egg Casserole

My go-to savory breakfast egg casserole, made without bread and a small amount of cheese. Instead, its richness comes from the green chile flavor and protein-packed cottage cheese, creating a tender breakfast casserole that's all about flavor, protein and healthy eggs. Best of all, it's super flexible, it bakes up perfectly in a casserole dish, a cast iron skillet, muffin tins, ramekins and even in a tart pan. And did I mention? De-lish! Brunch, anyone?!

Low Carb. High Protein (wow, 22 grams!). Weight Watchers Friendly. Perfect For a Relaxed Weekend Breakfast. Great for Meal Prep. Vegetarian.

~ Skip Straight to the Recipe ~

It's Enough, Just One Great Recipe Per Cookbook

My excuse explanation for bookshelves full of both oft-used and rarely-touched cookbooks is this: If I get just one really good recipe from a cookbook, it's worth its weight in gold. Emphasis on weight: said bookshelves are sagging from cookbooks collected over two ... hmmm, make that three decades.

A library card helps, so does staying acquainted with the many cookbooks I already own. This year I resolved to flip through a different cookbook I already own every week. How's that going? Week 12, four cookbooks. Harumph.

Do Digital Cookbooks Work? For Me, Not So Far.

But last fall, I fell for a $2.99 Amazon Kindle special for a 2014 cookbook. (Please know, that was a one-time price ... )

Oh my, a-w-k-w-a-r-d.

Really, in the Year 2018, don't the Kindle developers know that browsing a cookbook is different than reading a novel? At first, sure, you might flip through the pages one by one, maybe even read the cookbook cover-to-cover.

But to actually cook from a digital cookbook?

• Kindle developers, think links, links and more links!
• A detailed table of contents with links!
• A detailed index with links! (Did I mention links?)

Links would make a digital cookbook so easy to navigate.

Could a linked digital-cookbook experience rescue my bowing bookshelves? Maybe. Instead, it'll be a long while before I buy another cookbook on a Kindle.

How NOT To Build an Egg Casserole

That said? That three-buck cook-buck purchase more than paid for itself!

Cuz here's the thing. I am super-super picky about breakfast casseroles.It's a no-go if the casserole is:

• too bready (stratas!)
• too cheesy (more stratas aka, at least in my Canadian family, Christmas morning wife savers)
• too rich (sausage and bacon smothered with said cheese-cheese-cheese)
• and even too eggy (is anyone else entirely over oh-so-tough egg muffins?)

Instead, High-Protein But Tender Eggs
in an Easy-to-Bake and Easy-to-Serve Casserole

I just want some eggs, people, just cooked all at once! What I do like – or aspire to, since until now I've yet to find one I truly love – are breakfast casseroles that:

• remain essentially eggs but tender
• can be eaten without a nap afterward
• scale to feed a family or feed a crowd

This Easy Green Chile Egg Casserole is it!

Thanks to that Kindle sale, I found "my" egg casserole. It's been my go-to casserole since last fall, I've made it numerous times. And it's flexible!

Here's how I make it:

• In a casserole dish, that's the favorite, especially for a group or for meal prep
• In muffin tins, handy to have on hand mid-week
• In a tart pan, very pretty for brunch
• In a cast iron skillet and mini cast iron servers
• Even a scrambled version, now see Green Chile Scrambled Eggs!

Kid Friendly!

Once, this sweet guy helped out in the kitchen, as he so often does. He's a great eater with a curious palate, ready to try anything. His twin brother? Lots more selective. This time, they both loved the Egg Casserole!

The "Secret Ingredient" in Easy Green Chile Egg Casserole

The secret ingredient? Cottage cheese! I love working cottage cheese into recipes because it's so high in protein. But in a breakfast casserole, it also adds structure, richness and tenderness.

All without being able to tell it's even there! Yes, that's right, the cottage cheese "melts" right into the eggs, completely disappearing while the casserole bakes. That's especially good for people who some times have texture issues with cottage cheese.

You'll Like My Easy Green Chile Egg Casserole If You ...

• like bread-free breakfast casseroles
• love the creamy-tangy yin-yang of eggs and green chiles
• usually cook from common pantry ingredients
• appreciate an easy, healthy crowd-pleaser





• Ready to get started? Here's your recipe!

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EASY GREEN CHILE EGG CASSEROLE

Hands-on time: 20 minutes
Time to table: about 90 minutes
Serves about 8, easily halved but leftovers are good

IN THE BLENDER
• 10 large eggs
• 1/2 cup (62g) flour
• 1-1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

IN A LARGE BOWL
• 24 ounces low-fat (I use 2%) cottage cheese
• 2 tablespoons melted butter or bacon fat
• 2 ounces (55g) mild cheese (smoked gouda, farmers cheese, mozzarella, etc.), cut in tiny cubes
• 1 4-ounce (114g) can green chiles
• Blended Eggs

IN THE BAKING DISH
• Egg-Cottage Cheese Mixture
• Another 3 ounces (85g) mild cheese, also cubed
• Green chile sauce

Heat oven to 350F/180C. Spray a 9x13 (thinner pieces) or 10x7 (what I use for thicker pieces) baking pan with spray.

BLENDER Blend the eggs until well combined and frothy, then add the remaining blender ingredients and blend until smooth.

BOWL With a spatula, gently stir together all the bowl ingredients, including the eggs.

BAKING DISH Gently pour the Egg-Cottage Cheese mixture into a prepared baking dish. With your fingers, push the 3 ounces of cubed cheese into the dish one at a time, submerging most of them, leaving a few partially submerged. With a spoon, drop small mini dollops of green chile sauce all over the casserole, so sorry, I wish swirls would work but they just don't!

BAKE Bake until the center is no longer liquid, it should be firm but still soft (check by first jiggling the pan a bit, then later by pressing a finger onto the surface), that's about 35 - 50 minutes, less time for the larger 9x13 pan with thinner slices and more for the smaller 10x7 with thicker slices. Remove the dish from the oven, cover with foil and let it rest for about 5 minutes before cutting.

MAKE-AHEAD TIPS Easy Green Chile Egg Casserole could be mixed the night before but you want to avoid getting the baking powder wet, which would activate it too soon. Me, I would plop the eggs, flour, cumin and salt into the blender the night before and refrigerate it. Then in the morning, I'd add the baking powder and carry on. It also reheats beautifully, either casually in the microwave or rewarmed in a skillet.

I've had such good luck with baking Easy Green Chile Egg Casserole in other dishes.

MUFFINS! Spray the muffin tins well but do know that muffins are still slightly fussy to remove from the muffin pan, that's because the cooked egg is quite tender (a good thing) versus the usual tough egg muffins I've (not) enjoyed. Standard-size muffins bake in about 15 minutes and yes, they're handy to have on hand during the week.

LOAVES? But instead of muffins, next time I'll try baking some of the batter in a loaf pans, making sure the Egg-Cottage Cheese mixture goes no deeper than a couple of inches. The idea is to slice the loaf into take-away hand slices without all the fuss of muffins.

RAMEKINS! Ramekins are great for individual servings, slightly more elegant for a brunch with friends, say. You may well have one-cup ramekins hanging around already. How long to bake? I'd say 20 to 30 minutes.

CAST IRON! On Christmas morning, we kinda-sorta followed this recipe and baked it in the oven in a cast iron skillet. Very pretty! But I love these mini cast iron serving dishes from Lodge in ovals, squares and rectangles. How long to bake? About 30 minutes.

TART! A small tart baked up very pretty in about 30 minutes. A few days later, I gently rewarmed the tart in the oven at about 200F/100C.

All these variations can actually be made from a single batch, if you're so inclined. Once I baked up an 8x8 pan for breakfast that day, then used the rest of the batter for a small tart and a half dozen muffins. Nobody guessed I'd cooked breakfast just once for serving half the week!

SERVING SUGGESTIONS In summer, I'd serve this with a fresh salsa and avocado slices. In winter, I serve them with quick-to-make Savory Cornbread Muffins. Oh wait, the very summery Cornmeal Muffins with Peaches would be a great match warm weather, too!

ALANNA's TIPS The cheese that goes in the bowl (about 1/3 of the total) mostly sinks to the bottom, that's why I add more cheese on top (about 2/3 of the total), some submerged, some partially submerged. Combined with the dollops of green chile sauce, this also makes a casserole with a fairly plain appearance slightly less plain. I do think that cutting your own cubes of cheese is important here. Yes, pre-grated cheese is convenient but it also melts into the eggs. I just love the bursts of richness from the cubes, you can use less but taste more! Once I accidentally omitted the butter. At first, I thought, Oh my, I can't tell the difference! Then I realized that that particular casserole was slightly less tender. So me, I leave it in but you may want to try it without butter to save some calories. No judging, okay? I love this egg casserole cold!

NUTRITION INFORMATION Per Serving, assumes 8: 271 Calories; 17g Tot Fat; 8g Sat Fat; 303mg Cholesterol; 752mg Sodium; 12g Carb; 0g Fiber; 4g Sugar; 22g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS Old Points 7 & PointsPlus 8 & SmartPoints 9 & Freestyle 6 & myWW green 9 & blue 6 & purple 6 CALORIE COUNTERS 100-calorie serving = 1/3 serving (8g protein). This recipe has been "Alanna-sized".

Adapted from Sunday Casseroles by Betty Rosbottom. My Disclosure Promise

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Getting That Green-Chile Fix

(hover with a mouse for a description; otherwise click a photo to view the recipe)

~ more green chile recipes ~

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Breakfast Ideas with Easter Style

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~ more breakfast & brunch recipes ~
~ more Easter recipes ~

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Shop Your Pantry First

(helping home cooks save money on groceries)

~ egg recipes ~
~ cottage cheese recipes ~
~ cheese recipes ~
~ green chile recipes ~
~ green chile sauce (salsa verde) ~

~ All Recipes, By Ingredient ~
~ How to Save Money on Groceries ~

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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail via recipes@kitchen-parade.com. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. If you make my Easy Green Chile Egg Casserole, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below.

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