Quick & Healthy Eggs Florentine Recipe
A great breakfast recipe is good any time of the day, and our delectable, low-calorie Eggs Florentine is no exception. Learn how to prepare eggs in a new and exciting way with our special tips and tricks!
Now, you may be wondering, What exactly is ‘Florentine’ anyway? Well, it is quite simply a dish that involves spinach. Recipes that are prepared ‘à la Florentine’ are a part of French cuisine and have deep roots dating back to the 1500s (and have been enjoyed ever since!). So, when you see a menu item that has ‘Florentine’ in the title, think spinach and think French origins.
The classic brunch dish of Eggs Florentine takes the poached eggs and English muffins of Eggs Benedict and gives it a healthy makeover by swapping bacon for creamy spinach. To really take the health factor to the next level, we prepare our spinach with Greek or plain yogurt to give you a great probiotic boost, and serve it with a side of balsamic marinated tomatoes for an extra dose of fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Each serving of this low-cal recipe is only 374 calories, with 23g of protein and 5g of fiber.
Before we get into our recipe, let’s walk through our tips for getting this 35-minute meal on the table even faster! If you like our time-saving ideas, remember that every recipe in our meal plan service includes ways to cut hours of weeknight cooking time through integrated technique videos and instructions on how to prep ingredients days before you need them. Find out more about all of our fabulous features here.
Prepping Smarts
- Learn how to poach eggs before you start cooking! Just like reading a recipe before you start cooking can save you time and stress, understanding a cooking technique will spare you from fumbling around the kitchen.
How to Poach Eggs
Poached eggs are such a lovely way to enjoy eggs and they're way easier to make than you think!
- This recipe’s side dish calls for cherry tomatoes. Instead of spending oodles of time cutting each individual tomato, we have a handy hack that will let you cut several at once! Watch how in this short, 1-minute video:
Hack for Halving Cherry Tomatoes
See how easy it is to halve a lot of cherry or grape tomatoes in one slice with this great hack!
- Aromatics and herbs bump up the flavor in this dish. Learn how to chop garlic, shallots, and cilantro with these videos, and prep these a day in advance, so that cooking comes together quickly:
How to Mince or Crush Garlic
Garlic adds great flavor and aroma to any dish. Learn how to impart the flavors of garlic to any dish with this short video.
How to Dice Shallots
This short video shows you how easy it is to chop shallots, which lend a lot of flavor to your cooking.
How to Chop Cilantro or Parsley
Learn how to chop parsley using the 'pivot-and-fan' chopping technique with this short video.
Equipment Smarts
- One of the most helpful tools for poaching eggs is a slotted spoon. The design easily allows liquid to drain, so it is perfect for cooking and serving.
- Poaching is best done in a sauté pan. This cookware has sides that are high enough to be filled with just the right amount of water for poaching. If you don’t already have one, it’s a worthy investment because it is also great for preparing one-dish meals and cooking anything that would benefit from a bit of tossing.
For more kitchen and equipment and tool smarts, visit our Essential Kitchen Cookware and Tools
Ingredients
- Shallots - 1 clove, chopped
- Garlic - 3 cloves, chopped
- Tomatoes, cherry or grape - 2 cups, halved
- Cilantro - 1 Tbsp, chopped
- Vinegar, balsamic - 1 Tbsp
- Oil, olive - 2 tsp
- Spinach, baby - 10 oz, chopped
- English muffins - 4, halved
- Eggs - 8
- Vinegar, sherry - 1 Tbsp (sub red or white wine vinegar)
- Butter - 2 Tbsp
- Yogurt, plain or Greek - 1/4 cup
- Lemon juice - 1 tsp
Instructions
Prep
- Shallots / Garlic – Prep as directed and store in separate containers. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Tomatoes / Cilantro – Prep as directed and combine. (Can be done 1 day ahead)
- Marinate tomatoes – Combine shallots, tomatoes, cilantro, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil. Marinate for at least 30 minutes and up to a day. (Can be done 1 day ahead)
- Spinach / English muffins – Prep as directed.
- Eggs – Crack each egg into a small ramekin or teacup. (Don’t skip this step as it will help you to transfer all the eggs to hot water quickly so they cook evenly.) Learn how to poach eggs with this video.
Make
- Fill a large saute pan with water. Add sherry vinegar and some salt. Heat over high heat until it begins to boil. (Note: A large saute pan with straight sides is the best pan for poaching many eggs at a time.)
- Line a plate with paper towels and set it near the stovetop.
- While water comes to a boil, heat a frying pan with butter over medium-high heat. Add spinach and garlic to melted butter and cover with a lid or foil. Cook spinach covered until wilted, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Remove pan from heat and drain off any excess liquid. Stir in yogurt.
- Add lemon juice to spinach and season with some salt and pepper. Set spinach aside and cover to keep warm.
- When water for the eggs is boiling, reduce heat to a low simmer (a few small bubbles rising from the bottom). Gently pour each egg into the simmering water, so that none of them are touching. Simmer eggs to your desired degree of doneness (for cooked whites and soft yolks, this should take 4 to 5 minutes; if unsure, remove one of the eggs and test it).
- Use a slotted spoon to transfer eggs to paper towel.
- Toast English muffins.
- Top English muffin halves with spinach and then poached eggs. Season eggs with some salt and pepper. Enjoy with marinated tomatoes on the side!
A little note:
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