Photo credit: chatelaine.com
I have eggs for lunch or brunch about once a week. If I want to turn them into a full-scale dinner, I make a frittata – also known as a glorified omelette.
The one tool you need to make a frittata is a cast iron fry pan. Oh, and a stovetop, and an oven with a broiler. The ingredients are very flexible.
Homemade Frittata Infographic
To make a 4-serving frittata, you’ll need:
- 8 eggs
- 1 cup or 4 oz (120 g) grated hard cheese
- Cooking oil
- 3 cups of vegetables – I like broccoli, zucchini, mushrooms and peppers; but you can also use up anything on hand such as cooked potatoes, carrots and cabbage. Vegetables can be sliced or diced.
- You can also add leftover cooked spaghetti to a frittata!
- To jazz it up for a special occasion, you can add any of: pesto, fire-roasted or sun-dried tomatoes or peppers, sliced olives, or salsa
Begin by heating some cooking oil in the cast iron frying pan on the stove top, at medium-high heat. Add any uncooked vegetables and cook them for about 8 minutes, until they’re tender-crisp. Then add any pre-cooked vegetables or pasta you are using, and heat through.
Next turn on the broiler, and while it’s heating up, whisk all the eggs in a bowl. Pour the eggs over the cooked vegetables in the frying pan, turn down the heat to medium-low, and cook for about 5 minutes until the bottom has lightly browned. The top layer will start to set. Sprinkle the cheese over the top, remove the pan from the stove top, and broil in the oven for 3-4 minutes until the cheese is bubbly and a little browned (like pizza) and the frittata is set.
It should look: halfway between an omelette and a quiche. (I find them easier than omelettes because you don’t have to flip or fold them).
Remove carefully from the oven using your thickest oven mitts. Cut into quarters and serve.
This is a pretty quick weekday meal, especially if you have any leftover veggies. Let me know if you try it!
An Exacting Life 
This is something that I need to bring back into my cooking rotation. I think it been years since I made a frittata, but they are so goo and easy to make. Love your diagram.
Thanks, Heidi, I would love to hear what you put in them.
Yum – I haven’t had a frittata for ages 🙂 Once I made one for over 20 people – it was more like a crustless quiche though, since we cooked it in the oven.
Wow – how many eggs is that!
We don’t have a cast iron pan. But I keep wanting to try a frittata. I will have to adapt my cookware!
Let me know how it goes!
I don’t have a cast iron pan either…but this looks yummy!
Hmm, there’s not much else that would go from stove top to broiler. Maybe adapt to make a “baked eggs” recipe?
I forgot about adding spaghetti! I know my daughter would find that interesting. If I plan eggs for dinner one night, and soup another, I feel like it’s not so hard to dream up the other nights.
I have a couple of “go to” meals as well that make the week less hassle. One being, a store bought pizza crust with my own toppings!
I love frittata…it doesn’t look too difficult to make… I might just try…thanks Dar!
If you do, let me know how you like it!
We make these as a use up all the leftover veg meal and everyone is different!
I think that’s the best way; even easier than making soup!
Oh where’d my comment go – groan! We have Egg based Thursdays on our menu, and I should try a frittata – though I’m scared from years of tasteless ones! I’m sure if I make it, then I can tweak it til it’s tasty. Interestingly, I almost always enjoy quiche or an omelette, and they aren’t that different really!
I think you can make them in a pie dish – like a quiche without pastry? Provided all the vege were pre cooked
They really are just a variation of quiche and omelettes. I agree, if you precooked the vegetables, you could bake or broil a metal pie plate in the oven, if it is deep enough. I hope you do try your own – if you had them in school, they might have been bland to appeal to children’s palates!
Love your Infographic! I love omelettes but have only made mini frittatas not a large one like yours as I don’t have a cast iron frying pan. I might have to save up for one though!
Thanks! I love my cast iron skillet and I use it for all frying; I think it’s indispensable!
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