French Baked Eggs in Oven (Shirred Eggs/Oeufs Cocotte)
French baked eggs in the oven (aka shirred eggs/oeufs cocotte) combine eggs baked in a ramekin with cream and cheese for a simple and hearty breakfast or brunch dish! All you need is 5 ingredients and under 30 minutes for these decadent, creamy, breakfast French eggs.
Generously butter the ramekin/s and crack in the two eggs. Then pour over the cream and add the freshly grated cheese and salt and pepper. Then cover the ramekin with a lid.
Step 2: Bake the French Eggs
To a large, oven-safe dish, add about an inch of water (a bain-marie) and then place the ramekin into the water.
Bake the eggs in the oven for 15 minutes (10 minutes covered, 5 minutes uncovered) for soft-boiled eggs or 18 minutes (13 covered, 5 uncovered) for hard-boiled.
Step 3: Garnish and serve
Remove the oven-baked eggs from the oven and top with your fresh herbs, then serve with the bread of your choice.
How to Store?
Storing: I prefer to enjoy my shirred eggs immediately for the best texture and runny yolk. However, feel free to refrigerate any leftovers, covered, for between 3-4 days.Reheat: you can gently reheat the baked eggs in the microwave for 1-2 minutes.
Notes
When serving a large crowd: instead of serving each portion in an individual ramekin, you could bake lots of eggs in a large casserole dish. Though, the baking times will need adjusting somewhat, so keep an eye on it.
For a single egg serving: you could use a greased muffin tin instead of the ramekins and reduce the baking time by 2-3 minutes.
When making oven-baked eggs for the first time: I recommend keeping an eye on your oven as each oven is slightly different, and the times needed to bake the eggs might vary. However, once you have the times and temps sorted, it'll be the same every time.
If baking eggs from room temperature: you may need to reduce the time slightly.
Optional add-ins and Variations:The ways to adapt this French oven-baked eggs recipe are practically endless as eggs and cream pair well with so many ingredients. Here are just a few suggestions on ways to customize your baked eggs in the oven.
Smokedsalmon: line the ramekin with smoked salmon before adding the egg mixture for a smoky, salmon-infused dish.
Other protein: if you eat them, you could also add lardon pieces of bacon or ham for salty, smoky flavor.
Greens: alternatively, line the ramekin with spinach or arugula. Finely chopped and sauteed Swiss chard or kale would also work
Other vegetables: as long as they cook fairly quickly, there are all kinds of veggies you can add to this dish, including bell peppers, zucchini, shredded broccoli, asparagus, olives, sun-dried tomato, cherry tomatoes, etc. Certain veggies do best with pre-sautéing them like leeks, mushrooms, eggplant, etc.
Aromatics: minced shallot, red onion, and/or garlic would make excellent additions.
Spice: to add a hint of spice, sprinkle over a pinch of red pepper flakes. Alternatively, add some chili or chili sauce to the egg-cream mixture.
Tomatobase: as I mentioned in this eggs in purgatory recipe, you could easily spoon some of the tomato sauce (or marinara) into the bottom of a ramekin and top with the egg mixture, then bake.
Potato: my favorite spud addition is to press thawed hash brown into the bottom of the ramekin, bake for 13-14 minutes, then add the egg and bake once more. You could also add pre-baked diced potato or sweet potato.
Other cheese: for non-traditional options, there are tons of cheese varieties that would work well: feta, goat cheese, Boursin, brie, etc.
Truffle: for a 5-star breakfast, add a drop of truffle oil to the top of the baked eggs (or shave some truffles if you have them).
Pesto: swirl a little green pesto over the top of the egg before or after baking.
Check the blog post for serving suggestions and answers to top FAQs!