Baked egg boats are our brainchild from almost a decade ago and has been duplicated by many ever since! We originally posted this recipe for Baked Egg Boats way back in 2012 and it’s been by far our most popular and most made recipe! We love this recipe so much because it results in a truly delicious, eggy breakfast dish!
This breakfast recipe can be scaled up to feed a larger crowd and is also very portable with endless variations and possibilities! We think it’s the perfect, handheld breakfast!
What are Baked Egg Boats?
It’s basically a quiche that uses a hollowed out demi baguette as its base instead of a buttery pie crust. The egg filling is poured into the hollowed out baguette and baked until the eggs have set and the baguette is toasted. We like to think of this as a simplified quiche that is also very portable.
How to Make Baked Egg Boats
Ingredients
Process
- Preheat oven. Cut a deep “V” through the tops of each baguette until about a ½ inch to the bottom and remove cut top. Un-stuff demi baguettes as much as possible, while keeping the shell of the baguettes intact. It’s very important not to puncture through the crust while slicing the tops off and while un-stuffing. Set hollowed baguettes aside and discard the tops and removed stuffing.
- Sprinkle some shredded cheese into the bottom of each hollowed baguette.
- Add eggs, cream, cheese, pancetta and green onions to a bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
- Whisk together until fully combined.
- Place baguettes onto a baking sheet and fill each with half the egg mixture. (the egg and cream will pour out faster than the filling “bits” so it’s best to switch off pouring into each baguette to ensure each one get equal parts of everything in the egg mixture)
- Transfer baking sheet to oven and bake for 35 to 30 minutes or until golden brown, puffed and eggs have set. Remove baked egg boats from oven and cool for about 5 minutes.
Make Ahead and Freezing Baked Egg Boats
Make Ahead
Our baked egg boats can be made up to 2 days ahead of time. Bake egg boats as per recipe instructions. Cool, then tightly wrap in foil and store in the refrigerator.
To reheat in oven, place foil wrapped egg boat into a 325˚F preheated oven and bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until egg boat is heated through. Remove from oven, carefully unwrap from foil, slice and serve.
To reheat in microwave, unwrap egg boat from foil and wrap completely in a slightly damp paper towel. Heat for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes (depending on strength of microwave). Remove from microwave, carefully unwrap, slice, and serve.
Freezing
Our baked egg boats can be frozen up to 2 months (for maximum freshness). Bake egg boats as per recipe instructions. Cool, then tightly wrap in foil, place into a resealable freezer bag, and store in the freezer.
To reheat in oven, place foil wrapped egg boat into a 350˚F preheated oven and bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until egg boat is heated through. Remove from oven, carefully unwrap from foil, slice and serve.
To reheat in microwave, unwrap egg boat from foil and wrap completely in a slightly damp paper towel. Heat for 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 minutes (depending on strength of microwave). Remove from microwave, carefully unwrap, slice, and serve.
Tips and Tricks for Baked Egg Boat Success
- Our preference is to use a sourdough baguette because the crust is usually thicker and heartier, which helps to keep the filling from leaking. If using a French baguette, just make sure it has a nice even crust.
- It’s very important not to puncture through the crust while slicing the tops off and un-stuffing to prevent the filling from leaking out
- It’s also important to evenly and thoroughly unstuff the baguette to ensure all the filling fits (you really just want to use the baguette as a ‘crust’ for the egg filling)
- Don’t replace the cream with milk. Milk contains less fat and more water, and will effect the way the eggs set (sometimes it’ll even prevent the eggs from setting at all). If you really don’t want to add the small amount of cream or you don’t have any, you can omit it all together. The texture of the filling will be not quite as creamy, but it will still be delicious.
- Carefully wrap baguette in foil, if filling hasn’t set after 30 minutes (which really shouldn’t be the case!), leaving the top open. This will prevent the baguette from over toasting and becoming hard.
- Save the baguette discards for later use! They can be dried out, blitzed in a food processor and used as homemade breadcrumbs.
Variations
There are TONS of variations that can be made with this recipe! Some of our favorite variations are below!
- sliced and sautéed mushrooms, diced shallots, and spinach
- caramelized onions, diced ham, sliced green onions or chives, and shredded cheese
- spinach, crumbled turkey breakfast sausage, and crumbled goat cheese
- diced and sautéed bell peppers, crumbled feta, and spinach or kale
- sliced chives, minced thyme, minced parsley, and shredded or crumbled cheese
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Baked Egg Boats
INGREDIENTS
- 2 sourdough demi baguettes (each about 12"x 2.5" in size)
- 6 eggs
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
- 2 ounces finely diced pancetta
- 4 ounces grated gruyere cheese divided
- 2 thinly sliced green onions
- salt and pepper to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Cut a deep “V” through the tops of each baguette until about a ½ inch to the bottom and remove top. Un-stuff demi baguettes as much as possible, while keeping the shell of the baguettes intact. It's very important not to puncture through the crust while slicing the tops off and while un-stuffing. Set hollowed baguettes aside and discard the tops and removed stuffing.
- Sprinkle about tablespoon of shredded cheese into the bottom of each hollowed baguette.
- Whisk together eggs and cream, then stir in the remaining ingredients. Lightly season with salt and pepper.
- Place baguettes onto a baking sheet and fill each with half the egg mixture. (the egg and cream will pour out faster than the filling "bits" so it's best to switch off pouring into each baguette to ensure each one get equal parts of everything in the egg mixture)
- Transfer baking sheet to oven and bake for 35 to 30 minutes or until golden brown, puffed and eggs have set.
- Remove baked egg boats from oven and cool for about 5 minutes. Cut each baguette into pieces and serve.
NOTES
- Our preference is to use a sourdough baguette because the crust is usually thicker and heartier, which helps to keep the filling from leaking. If using a French baguette, just make sure it has a nice even crust.
- It’s very important not to puncture through the crust while slicing the tops off and un-stuffing to prevent the filling from leaking out
- It’s also important to evenly and thoroughly unstuff the baguette to ensure all the filling fits (you really just want to use the baguette as a ‘crust’ for the egg filling)
- Don’t replace the cream with milk. Milk contains less fat and more water, and will effect the way the eggs set (sometimes it’ll even prevent the eggs from setting at all). If you really don’t want to add the small amount of cream or you don’t have any, you can omit it all together. The texture of the filling will be not quite as creamy, but it will still be delicious.
- Carefully wrap baguette in foil, if filling hasn’t set after 30 minutes (which really shouldn’t be the case!), leaving the top open. This will prevent the baguette from over toasting and becoming hard.
- Save the baguette discards for later use! They can be dried out, blitzed in a food processor and used as homemade breadcrumbs.
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Peak! can’t stress enough how dear to me this recipe is
Egg boats are one of my very favorite breakfasts. I find it’s much easier to put the toppings into the bread first and then pour the egg mixture over top rather then mix it all together and struggle to make sure they are filled evenly.
Came out perfectly! Wouldn’t make any changes.
These were terrif, great instructions. I wanted to shred my gruyere is bigger shreds. What kind of grater do you use for those noodle shaped shreds or did you purchase already shredded. That is a useful shred for several recipes I use.
We do something similar in leftover baked potatoes!
Is the pancetta pre cooked and then added to the egg mixture?
I didn’t have to go far to find that this was the breakfast I was making this morning. I loved that you could tweak it. I added ham and turkey along with asparagus. I used cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese and hoagie rolls. (The only rolls I had in the house) after placing them in the oven to bake I looked at the bread pieces I pulled out and decided to mix them with melted butter and everything bagel seasoning and toast them for an added crunchy texture on top of the egg boats. YUM!! It was so good. Thank you
The recipe instruction did not indicate what temperature to use for the oven
Hi Aireen! You can find the full recipe in the recipe card at the bottom of this post. The first instruction says the oven temp which is 350F
This was a great meal. Perfect blend of cheese and egg. The cream tied them all together. I made both boats at the dame time and refrigerated one for the next day. MMMM What a treat!