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This satisfying meal of eggs and spinach with toast soldiers makes an equally good breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner. Easily scaled to suit your crowd.
Why we love this recipe
I first put together this meal in an AirBnb in Spain many years ago, as a quick family dinner after a long day. Those memories are one reason why I still love it so much. Here are the others.
Fried eggs and creamed spinach with toast soldiers are:
- Full of balanced flavors and dreamy textures
- Comforting and slightly indulgent-feeling without weighing you down
- Full of protein, iron, and lots of other fortifying micronutrients
- Ready in about 30 minutes, with prep-ahead options if you prefer
I first published this recipe here back in 2014. I’ve since updated the post for clarity and made some tweaks to the recipe itself.
What you’ll need
Here’s a glance at the ingredients you’ll need to make this recipe.
- Frozen chopped spinach is your best bet for this recipe. It’s cost-efficient and easy to work with. You’ll cook it in the microwave and squeeze out as much liquid as possible before using.
- Cut the onion really small — more of a mince than a dice. That way it will practically melt into the spinach, along with the garlic.
- Butter, all-purpose flour, and whole milk create the creamy béchamel sauce that’s this recipe’s signature. Use a really good-quality butter if you can. Here and virtually everywhere, I start with a cultured, salted butter from grass-fed cows. This sounds fancy but doesn’t have to be. Kerrygold, for example, is sold in most supermarkets at a reasonable price.
- Choose a good-quality, freshly grated parmesan cheese. It adds a ton of savoriness to this simple meal.
- You can use any eggs you like, but sourcing good ones makes all the difference in such a simple recipe. Nothing beats the gorgeous golden yolk of a fresh egg from a well-treated hen. I’ve devoted a whole section to helping you parse the details.
- Any toast you love will make great soldiers. Here I’ve pictured one of my favorites, Eli’s health bread.
Sourcing eggs
The least-complicated (though often not the most convenient) way to source great eggs is to buy from local farmers whom you know and trust, either directly from the farm or at a farmers’ market or small grocery store.
If you’re shopping at a U.S. supermarket, things can get a little more complicated. Here’s a quick guide to the terminology that will and won’t help you choose the best eggs you can afford.
Words that mean something
- Organic
- Pastured (best) or free-range
- USDA A or AA
- Certified Humane or Animal Welfare Approved seals
Words that don’t mean anything
- Natural (anything can be called natural)
- Vegetarian-fed (chickens are natural omnivores)
- No added hormones (this is required by the government)
- Antibiotic-free (chickens are rarely medicated with antibiotics)
How to make it
Here’s an overview of what you’ll do to make eggs and spinach with toast soldiers. You can see the steps in action in the video that accompanies this post, and get all the details in the recipe card below.
- First you’ll make the béchamel sauce.
- Stir in the spinach and the parmesan. You can do this part up to a week in advance if you like.
- Fry the eggs and toast, butter, and cut the bread.
- To serve, place some of the spinach in a shallow dish, top with an egg (or two!), and line up a few soldiers for each serving. That’s it!
Expert tips and FAQs
Toast soldiers are one of my favorite souvenirs from our years living in London. They’re just adorably named buttered toast, cut into sticks, typically served for dipping into soft-boiled eggs. They make a great companion to any egg with a dippy yolk, including the ones in this recipe.
You can make the spinach up to a week in advance and store in an airtight container in the fridge. Shortly before serving, microwave it on half power until heated through. (Reheat leftovers the same way.)
Fry the eggs and make the toast soldiers just before serving.
More favorite recipes with eggs and spinach
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Eggs and Spinach with Toast Soldiers
Ingredients
For the spinach
- 1 pound (454 grams) frozen chopped spinach
- 3 tablespoons (42 grams) butter
- 1 small yellow onion, minced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 tablespoons (23 grams) flour
- 2 cups (473 ml) whole milk
- ? teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ? teaspoon ground cayenne
- ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ? teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ cup (50 grams) grated parmesan cheese
For the soldiers and eggs
- 3 tablespoons (42 grams) butter, divided
- 2 slices bread
- 4 eggs, more if you like
Instructions
Make the spinach
- Cook the spinach according to package directions. I like to do this in the microwave. When it’s cool enough to handle, squeeze out all the liquid that you can. Set aside.
- Melt butter in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat.
- Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until somewhat softened, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, for a minute or so, until foamy.
- Pour in milk and stir vigorously to dissolve flour mixture.
- Add nutmeg, cayenne, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for five minutes, until slightly thickened.
- Stir in spinach and grated cheese, cooking for a minute more to warm through.
- Place some spinach into each of four wide, shallow bowls.
Make the soldiers
- Toast the bread to your liking.
- Spread each piece with some of the butter and cut into sticks.
- Arrange a few soldiers near the side of each bowl.
Fry the eggs and serve
- You can fry the eggs one at a time or all at once, whichever you prefer. Place a bit of the butter into an 8-inch nonstick pan (for one or two eggs at a time) or a 10-inch pan (for four eggs) and set over medium heat.
- When butter is melted, crack an egg against your flat work surface and add it to the pan.
- Leave the egg alone until it's set underneath and beginning to set on top.
- Flip and continue cooking until the yolk gets a bit jammy. You can get an indication of the yolk's viscosity by shaking the pan a bit and seeing how much the center of the egg wobbles.
- Slide an egg atop each bowl of spinach, sprinkle with some salt and pepper if you like, and serve.
Notes
- Frozen chopped spinach is your best bet for this recipe. It's cost-efficient and easy to work with. You'll cook it in the microwave and squeeze out as much liquid as possible before using.
- Cut the onion really small — more of a mince than a dice. That way it will practically melt into the spinach, along with the garlic.
- Butter, all-purpose flour, and whole milk create the creamy béchamel sauce that's this recipe's signature. Use a really good-quality butter if you can. Here and virtually everywhere, I start with a cultured, salted butter from grass-fed cows. This sounds fancy but doesn't have to be. Kerrygold, for example, is sold in most supermarkets at a reasonable price.
- Choose a good-quality, freshly grated parmesan cheese. It adds a ton of savoriness to this simple meal.
- You can use any eggs you like, but sourcing good ones makes all the difference in such a simple recipe. Nothing beats the gorgeous golden yolk of a fresh egg from a well-treated hen. I've devoted a whole section of the post above to helping you parse the details.
- Any toast you love will make great soldiers. Here I've pictured one of my favorites, Eli's health bread.
- You can make the spinach up to a week in advance and store in an airtight container in the fridge. Shortly before serving, microwave it on half power until heated through. (Reheat leftovers the same way.) Fry the eggs and make the toast soldiers just before serving.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Subscribe to Umami Girl’s email updates, and follow along on Instagram.
