Growing up, ‘cheese and onion’ were one of my favourite crisp / chip flavours (a close second to salt & vinegar!).
Can’t believe it’s taken me until now to combine two of my favourite things in a super easy baked frittata.
Better late than never!
While the onions provide bulk and savoury goodness, they do take quite a while so if you’re short on time see the variations below.
Cheese & Onion Frittata
Ingredients
- 2 onions
- 2 sprigs thyme leaves picked (optional)
- 6 eggs
- 2 handfuls grated cheese
- salad to serve
Instructions
- Peel and slice onions to half moons. Cook in oil over a medium heat in a 20cm (8in) oven proof frying pan. If your pan isn’t oven proof you can use a spring form pan for the baking part.
- Preheat your oven to 200C (400F). When the onions are soft and golden, remove from the heat. Add thyme (if using), eggs, half the cheese and stir to combine well. Top with remaining cheese.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes or until frittata is puffy and golden brown. Divide between two plates and serve with salad leaves on top.
WINE MATCH: A nice buttery Chardonnay.
Variations & Substitutions
pantry-friendly – skip thyme. Serve with steamed buttered frozen veg.
short on time / too hot for the oven – cook the frittata on the stove top on a medium high heat. When almost cooked, slide onto a plate then toss and pop back in the pan top side down for the other side to set. Skip the onion and see the other veg options.
other veg – the onions take a while to cook you can replace with defrosted frozen spinach, cooked chickpeas or roast veggies like sweet potato, eggplant, capsicum (bell peppers) or zucchini.
different cheese – most cheese will work here. Ricotta, cheddar, goats cheese, gruyere, parmesan or even blue. Or try a mixture of cheese.
dairy-free – replace cheese with cooked chickpeas, bacon, canned tuna, canned sardines or pasta. Or sprinkle with nuts like pinenuts or sliced almonds.
egg-free – sorry! Even I can’t think of an alternative here.
hot! – add some chopped fresh or dried chilli in with the eggs or serve with your favourite hot sauce.
smaller serve – this is quite generous. Consider reducing the eggs to 4 if you’re not super hungry.
more substantial (carb lovers) – serve with buttered toast or toss in some cooked pasta or roast sweet potato.
more substantial (low carb) – extra cheese. Roast almonds. Almond bread + butter.
carnivore – serve with bacon or proscuitto.
keto / ultra low carb – replace onion with bacon + extra eggs.
Waste Avoidance Strategy
onion – will keep in the pantry for months. Best if in a dark corner in a brown paper bag.
thyme – keeps for ages in a plastic bag in the fridge or even longer in the freezer.
eggs – will keep in the fridge for weeks or use for another meal.
cheese – most hard and melting cheeses will keep for weeks wrapped in waxed paper or baking paper and stored in an airtight container (or sealed ziplock bag) in the fridge. If you need to store for longer cheese can be frozen.
salad leaves – are highly perishable. My first path would be to use them for another meal (salad for breakfast!) but if that isn’t possible you can pop them in the freezer. They will wilt down but can then be used anywhere you’d use wilted greens. At least this way they won’t go slimy.
Prepare Ahead
Best when freshly made. Leftovers will keep in the fridge for 1-2 weeks. Don’t freeze.
Add to my Old Favourite Recipes
This recipe isn’t too far from an old standard of mine (Potato and Feta Frittata), so I used feta for my cheese along with some leftover bocconcini, plus one onion (which I started frying before de-stalking the thyme and other herbs, and beating the eggs, so I didn’t have to wait for it to cook) and precooked eggplant, potato, sweet potato and capsicum. The egg cooked on top of the veg, so the result was more like a vegetarian moussaka than a frittata, though none the worse for that. Good.
ooh I’m liking the idea of the layer of eggs on top of the cooked veg Mark – Might have to play around with that one 🙂
I made this for breakfast this morning (without the Chardonnay and salad). I used a combination of ricotta and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheeses, supplemented the fresh thyme with a little French herb mixture and added chopped Genoa salami. I prepared it according to your directions. After 15 minutes in the oven, the edges were beginning to brown but the top did not look finished. I gave it 2 minutes under the broiler and it came out perfect. It was amazingly delicious, The onions provided a natural sweetness but did not overwhelm the balance of the flavors.
Thank you for another easy and tasty dish.
Excellent work Murray – love your additions (and happy to hear you skipped the breakfast Chardonnay!)
Making your cheese & onion frittata tonight. Just wanted to say thanks as you have encouraged me to cook more and to eat out less. My family is all the better for it. I hope you are well. Australia has remained in my prayers. Hope you have been okay.
I’m so happy to hear that Nancy!
And thanks for your concern. It’s been smoky here but thankfully no fires 🙂