Frittata

Frittata is a quick, easy, versatile Italian egg dish that looks like an open omelet.

It's made with beaten eggs, often mixed with cheese and seasonal vegetables, and cooked on a pan on the stovetop.

Frittatas are excellent for brunch, lunch, dinner, and potlucks. They're delicious warm or at room temperature and a perfect dinner saver.

Jump to:

• What is frittata?
• Ingredients for frittata
• How to make frittata?
• Cheese frittata variation
• Serving suggestions
• How to cook frittata in the oven?
• How do you cook frittata in the microwave?
• Storage
• More Easy Italian Recipes
• Recipe

You'll love frittata because it's easy to make with simple ingredients and tastes delicious.

The basic recipe includes eggs, parmesan cheese, extra virgin olive oil, salt, black pepper, and herbs.

You can add vegetables to the batter depending on the season. For example, in spring, you can make asparagus or artichoke frittata.

In summer, try zucchini frittata, while in autumn, mushroom frittata and spinach frittata are best.

In winter, you can add leafy greens like kale, chard, or thinly sliced leek.

All year-round classics are onion frittata and potato frittata.

You can serve frittata as a starter or for an aperitivo, as a quick lunch or easy dinner, or in a sandwich with some ham and mayonnaise (a popular Italian breakfast sandwich).

It's also perfect for making ahead and bringing to potlucks, picnics, and barbecues.

Quantities are in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.

Eggs: A frittata is made with the whole egg. However, you can substitute egg whites for whole eggs and have a protein-rich frittata. The flavor won't be the same, of course, but it's an excellent alternative if you are looking for an easy, high-protein recipe.

Olive oil: Extra virgin olive oil is best. You can substitute avocado oil or a neutral vegetable oil for olive oil.

Parmesan cheese: Finely grated parmesan is added to the batter to boost flavor. You can substitute pecorino cheese for parmesan cheese or omit the cheese.

Salt and black pepper: they are added directly to the batter.

Herbs: add oregano or other Italian herbs like thyme, sage, or an Italian herb mix.

Vegetables: you can use onions, zucchini, asparagus, artichokes, mushrooms, spinach, potatoes, leek, chard, kale, fennels, and bell peppers (less common).

Cheese: Cheese is optional, but if you like, you can add thinly sliced cheese on top of the frittata as it cooks. Similar to when you make a cheeseburger. We recommend provolone, fontina, or scamorza, but any other thinly sliced cheese will do.

1. Cook the vegetables

If you are adding vegetables to your frittata, you must sauté them first in olive oil, salt, and black pepper in a non-stick pan for 5 to 10 minutes or until cooked.

When cooked, let the vegetables cool down for 15 minutes and make the egg batter.

Tip: Pre-cooking the vegetables is essential to add flavor to the frittata and reduce moisture. Adding uncooked vegetables to the batter will result in a flavorless frittata with too much water released by the raw vegetables.

2. Make the egg batter

To a mixing bowl, add eggs, grated parmesan, oregano, salt, and black pepper.

Beat the eggs with a whisk or hand mixer until well-mixed and foamy.

Add the sautéed vegetables. Please make sure the vegetables are not hot, or they will cook the egg.

3. Cook on a non-stick skillet

Heat the olive oil in a clean, non-stick pan.

Pour the egg batter and move it around the pan for the first minute to spread the vegetables evenly across the pan and help the egg firm up.

Scrape off the batter from the sides of the pan, cover with a lid, and cook on medium-low heat for about 5 minutes.

You can turn the frittata when the egg has mostly firmed up on top and the bottom is golden brown (check by lifting a side with a spatula).

4. Turn the frittata

Guys, turning the frittata is much easier than you think, and you can totally do it.

Rock the pan back and forth to ensure the frittata doesn't stick. If it does, help yourself with a spatula.

Turn the heat off and put a large flat plate upside down on top of the pan.

Firmly grab the pan handle with your dominant hand and put the other hand flat on the plate, pushing down so the plate is firmly attached to the pan.

Turn the pan around swiftly while holding the plate in place.

The frittata is now upside down on the plate.

Slide it back into the pan.

Cover with a lid and finish cooking on the other side for a few minutes until golden.

Slide it onto a clean plate, cut it into wedges, and enjoy!

As soon as you turn the frittata upside down, add cheese slices. Cover with a lid and cook for a few minutes or until the cheese melts.

Slide your cheese frittata on a flat plate and cut into wedges.

Tip: You can use Italian cheese like provolone, scamorza, taleggio, or fontina. Or you can pick your favorite cheese, as long as it's thinly sliced and melts.

Serving suggestions

Frittatas are delicious for breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, picnics, and potlucks. They're also delicious at room temperature.

We recommend topping it with fresh herbs like basil, chives, or parsley.

We recommend serving the cheese frittata hot, topped with thinly sliced scallions and black pepper.

You can make it a meal by adding a salad on the side or, as we do here, on top.

We recommend doubling the recipe when making oven-baked frittatas, as they should be a little thicker than the stovetop ones.

Preheat the oven to 375°F or 190°C. Meanwhile, cook the vegetables and make the frittata batter as instructed in the main recipe.

Line your baking dish with parchment paper. Pour the batter into the dish.

You can add diced cheese, such as gruyere, provolone, scamorza, crumbled feta, or any other cheese that can melt.

Depending on the thickness of your frittata, bake for 20 to 30 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out mostly dry.

Cut into squares and serve right away!

The process is the same as for an oven-baked frittata. Pour the batter into a microwave-safe dish (we like to use a pie dish or a round Pyrex dish).

Cook for 3 to 5 minutes at 650 W. Finish with grill mode for 3 minutes.

If your microwave doesn't have a grill, you could either finish it in the oven with the grill function or keep cooking at 650 W in intervals of 1 minute until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly dry.

Storage

Make ahead: Frittata is excellent for meal prep because it keeps well and reheats beautifully.

Refrigerator: Store it in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days max.

Freezer: Let the frittata cool completely. Cut it into portions and put them in a freezer-friendly bag, each slice separated by a piece of parchment paper.

Thaw: Defrost frozen frittata in the microwave for a couple of minutes. You can also defrost slowly in the refrigerator.

Reheat: Warm your frittata in the microwave or on a pan with a few drops of olive oil.

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