A fresh and delicious version of a restaurant classic, mediterranean egg scramble is made with spinach, bacon, tomatoes, olives and feta cheese. It's a great option for breakfast, brunch, OR a quick and easy dinner!
Our family doesn't go out to restaurants often, but when we do it's often a brunch date to a nearby restaurant called The Pump. It's a remodeled garage full of antiques, road signs and great food.
While everyone else has tried a number of things from the menu, I always get their version of a Mediterranean egg scramble, a dish made with fresh spinach, tomatoes, olives, feta and - the pièce de résistance - bacon.
You know how they say everything tastes better with bacon? Yeah, that. Though of course, you can leave it out if you want to.
But remember how I said we don't eat out much?
Months and months would go by with no mediterranean scramble, a scenario that I just found sad, so I finally decided to recreate it at home.
Was it surprising how easy this was to make at home? Not really - it's basically just a scramble, so I knew it would come together quickly.
Make Mediterranean Egg Scramble
Simple Ingredients
Since we love Mediterranean flavors, I often make things like 20 Minute Mediterranean Chicken Pesto Pasta and Mediterranean Fish Bake, as well as other recipes like Carrot Salad with Feta & Olives, so I usually have the ingredients on hand to make this, too.
To make Mediterranean egg scramble you'll need the ingredients shown above in addition to salt and pepper to taste, of course.
What about Substitutions?
- Try chopped kale instead of spinach.
- Another flavorful cheese could be used instead of feta - parmesan would be good.
- Any olive will work - try Kalamata or green olives if you'd like a bit more flavor.
- To make this meatless, leave out the bacon.
- Replace the bacon with ground lamb or any kind of sliced sausage.
Equipment Needed
- Cutting board and chef's knife.
- Well-seasoned cast iron pan or nonstick skillet.
How to Make Mediterranean Egg Scramble
There are three easy steps to this scramble:
- Cook the bacon (if using).
- Sauté the onions and garlic in the bacon fat (or added oil if going meatless).
- Add the eggs and cook, stirring the spinach in right when the eggs are starting to set, letting them wilt a bit before stirring in the tomatoes, olives, feta, and reserved bacon.
Plate it up with more feta if you'd like and dig in!
My first thought when I made this at home was, "Why did I wait to make this?"
Seriously, this is SO good and I love that it's full of fresh vegetables in the morning. It's a great way to start the day.
However, I've also really loved through the years that it's also such a great last minute, healthy dinner idea, too!
Be warned though, once you make this, you might find like I did that regular scrambled eggs are kind of boring.
Mediterranean Egg Scramble with Spinach & Bacon FAQs
I use to do this all the time! But I recently learned that you should NOT be adding milk to eggs before scrambling. It doesn't make them fluffier, as I always thought, but instead can cause them to be rubbery and dilute the flavor of the eggs. (source)
Well, it's not milk, lol. There are actually two things you can do - one is to whisk in a lot of air before cooking and the second is to cook lower and slower. Fast cooking can result in rubbery eggs.
This has happened to me so many times! The best thing I've found is to slightly undercook the eggs (cook until set, but still have a moist sheen) and then set the pan of eggs, covered, into an oven on the lowest heat possible (170-200 degrees, depending on your oven). You should be able to keep them for about an hour.
Mediterranean Egg Scramble with Spinach & Bacon
Equipment
- Cutting board and chef's knife
- Well-seasoned cast iron pan or nonstick skillet
Ingredients
- 4 slices bacon
- 1/4 cup diced onion
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 6 eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 3 cups fresh spinach, baby leaves or chopped
- 1/2 cup olives, quartered (regular or Kalamata)
- 1/2 cup fresh tomatoes, chopped
- 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
- salt to taste (though it doesn't need much with the salty feta)
Instructions
- Cook the bacon in a medium to large skillet until crisp. Remove from skillet, drain, crumble and set aside.
- Add onion and garlic to bacon fat in skillet and cook for medium-low heat until softened and starting to brown.
- Whisk eggs well until foamy with a pinch of salt and the black pepper. Add to skillet and gently scramble with the onions.
- When the eggs are almost set, add spinach and fold in. Cover and let cook about a minute for spinach to wilt. Add in the remaining ingredients along with reserved bacon pieces and gently mix all together just until warmed through.
- Transfer to individual plates or a platter, sprinkle with a bit more feta, if desired, and serve passing salt as needed.
Notes
Nutrition
More Breakfast Recipes to Try
Joyce @ It's Your Life says
I'm featuring this post tonight on Real Food Fridays, thanks for posting.
Susie says
This is SO good! I made it for breakfast this morning and everyone loved it! Thank you.
Vicki says
Thank you for your great blog and yummy recipes. We had this for dinner-it was awesome and everyone loved it! God bless you!
Jami says
So glad you liked it, Vicki!
Joyce @ It's Your Life says
This is different which is good, I never thought of putting tomatoes with eggs. Love for you to share this, and some of your organic gardening posts on Real Food Fridays.
http://yourlife7.blogspot.com/2014/02/real-food-fridays-25-link-up-giveaway.html
Jami says
Thanks, Joyce, I will! 🙂
Kari J. says
Oh my goodness. I am so making this as soon as I get some spinach. I'm sure no one but me, my husband & one of my older sons will eat it, since most of my kids are the "plain eggs" type, but that just means more for us, right? 🙂
Do I dare ask how goes the power outage? I keep thinking of you cooking on your wood stove insert -- ingenious, in my opinion. Hope y'all are keeping warm.
angi says
Looks yummy! We always add lots of sutff to our eggs. My daughter had a friend stay with us a couple of days and I made eggs the first morning with swiss chard, garlic, some leftover cubed potatoes, and bacon. The next morning when I said I was making eggs again, the friend said "Can you just make normal eggs?" It was pretty funny.
Jami says
Ha! I've had that same response, too, Angi, though most often it was from our own kids. 🙂 So glad they both like dishes like this now!
Diana says
This is so completely perfect! I was just sitting here wondering what I could fix that's easy for supper (my mother is in the hospital and I am worn out), and my chickens have stepped up in their egg laying so I actually have more than a dozen. Thank you thank you thank you!
Jami says
So glad to help, Diana, though I'm sorry to hear about your mom. 🙁 This should be a nice way to use your fresh eggs!
Lisa says
This looks delicious!