Recipes › Breakfast & brunch› Cottage cheese spinach and feta egg bake
Breakfast & brunch · Easy · Serves 6

Cottage cheese spinach and feta egg bake

A make-ahead breakfast bake with eggs, cottage cheese, wilted spinach, and feta. Forty minutes in the oven, six servings, and quietly 22 grams of protein per slice.

Anna Lind Harper
by Anna Lind Harper
Tested twice · Published 2026-06-07
A 9x13-inch parchment-lined ceramic baking dish on a white marble counter, holding a finished spinach and feta egg bake: a thick fluffy custard cooked through, deep green wilted spinach folded throughout, generous crumbles of white feta scattered across the surface and browned at the edges, a snow of finely chopped fresh dill, sliced scallions, and a few cracks of black pepper. One corner has been cut into a tidy 3-inch square and slightly lifted. Beside the dish: a small cream-speckled stoneware plate holding one cut square, a small ceramic dish of more crumbled feta, a small bunch of fresh dill, a folded striped cream-and-blue linen tea towel, and a halved lemon. Soft mid-morning kitchen light.
Prep
15 min
Cook
35 min
Serves
6
Difficulty
easy

This is the breakfast I make on a Sunday afternoon, slice into a tray on Monday morning, and reach for every weekday through Friday. Eggs, cottage cheese folded in, wilted spinach, crumbled feta, scallions, fresh dill. Forty minutes in the oven. Six tidy squares that reheat in 60 seconds and quietly hand you 22 grams of protein before your day has properly started.

The cottage cheese is the thing. It makes the bake creamy in a way that a straight egg casserole never quite manages, and it adds a tang that the feta plays off of. The whole thing is the kind of practical, slightly Nordic-feeling breakfast that fits the rhythm of a normal week.

“One sheet pan, six servings, 22 grams of protein per square. The Sunday afternoon hour that makes a week of breakfasts.”
Why this one earns a weeknight

What you'll love about it

  • 01Twenty-two grams of protein per square without a single piece of meat. Eggs + cottage cheese + feta do the work.
  • 02Make it once on Sunday and you have breakfast for the next five mornings. Reheats in 60 seconds in the microwave.
  • 03The cottage cheese is the trick that keeps it tender. Without it, the bake turns rubbery; with it, it stays fluffy and creamy through Friday.
  • 04Forgiving. Swap kale for spinach, goat cheese for feta, basil for dill. The structure (eggs + cottage cheese, salt, lemon at the end) is what matters.
A near-overhead view of a large cast iron skillet on a lit gas stovetop holding deeply wilted dark green spinach with visible minced garlic, the spinach collapsed down from a much larger volume, glossy with olive oil and no longer giving off liquid. A wooden spoon rests at the edge of the skillet. Beside the stove on the marble counter: a sieve catching draining spinach liquid, a heap of fresh baby spinach not yet cooked in the back, a small ceramic dish of crumbled feta, a small bunch of fresh dill, and a folded striped cream-and-blue linen tea towel.
Wilt the spinach all the way down and drain it well. Soggy spinach is the difference between a beautifully set bake and a wet one.
Ingredients

For the bake

  • 1 Tbspolive oil
  • 10 ozfresh baby spinach
  • 2garlic cloves, minced
  • 10large eggs
  • 1½ cupsfull-fat (4%) cottage cheese
  • 1 tspkosher salt
  • ½ tspblack pepper
  • ¼ tspground nutmeg
  • 6 ozfeta, crumbled, divided
  • 4scallions, thinly sliced, white and green parts
  • 3 Tbspfresh dill, chopped, plus more to finish

To serve

  • lemon wedges
  • more fresh dill
  • flaky salt and cracked black pepper
Method

How I make it

  1. 01
    Heat the oven.
    Preheat to 375°F. Lightly oil a 9x13-inch baking dish or line with parchment with a small overhang on the long sides for easy lifting.
  2. 02
    Wilt the spinach.
    Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the spinach in 2 batches, stirring as it collapses; add the garlic with the second batch. Cook 2 minutes total, until everything is wilted and there's no visible liquid in the pan. Transfer to a sieve and press gently to drain off any extra moisture; this step keeps the bake from getting watery.
  3. 03
    Whisk the custard.
    In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, cottage cheese, salt, pepper, and nutmeg until fairly smooth (the cottage cheese curds will still be visible; that's fine). Stir in the wilted spinach, half the feta, the sliced scallions, and the chopped dill.
  4. 04
    Pour and top.
    Pour the mixture into the prepared dish and spread evenly. Scatter the remaining feta across the top in a single layer.
    A pair of women's hands in a beige linen apron worn over a fitted white tee at three-quarter forearm length pouring the egg-cottage-cheese-spinach mixture from a large cream-speckled stoneware mixing bowl into a parchment-lined 9x13-inch ceramic baking dish on a white marble counter. The mixture is a pale yellow with visible green spinach pieces and white cottage cheese curds; it has filled about two-thirds of the dish. A thin gold band visible on one finger. Beside the dish: a small ceramic dish of crumbled feta ready to scatter, a small bunch of fresh dill, a folded striped cream-and-blue linen tea towel, sliced scallions on a small wooden cutting board.
    Pour the whole thing into the dish in one motion. The cottage cheese curds and spinach distribute themselves; don't fight it.
  5. 05
    Bake.
    Bake 30 to 35 minutes, until the center is just set (a knife inserted in the middle should come out clean and the top should be lightly golden at the edges). Don't overbake; pull it the moment the center stops jiggling.
  6. 06
    Rest, slice, serve.
    Let rest 10 minutes. Slice into 6 squares. Top each with a pinch of flaky salt, more cracked pepper, and a small shower of fresh dill. Serve warm with lemon wedges; the squeeze brightens the whole bake.
Macro close-up of one square of finished spinach and feta egg bake on a small cream-speckled stoneware plate on a white marble counter. The square shows a thick fluffy egg-and-cottage-cheese custard cooked through, deep green wilted spinach folded throughout, generous crumbles of white feta scattered across the top with golden-browned edges, a snow of finely chopped fresh dill, sliced green scallions, and a few cracks of black pepper. A small lemon wedge rests beside the square. The cut edge shows the moist tender interior.
A note from Anna

Two things make this bake reliably good. First, drain the wilted spinach really well; soggy spinach is the difference between a beautiful set custard and a wet bake. Second, pull it the moment the center stops jiggling, even if the timer hasn't gone off. Egg bakes go from set to overcooked in about 90 seconds, and overcooked eggs turn weepy in the fridge.

What to serve with it

Round out the table.

  • ·01
    A pile of cherry tomatoes
    Halved, with a tiny pinch of salt. The acid cuts the richness.
  • ·02
    A piece of grilled rye or sourdough
    Buttered while warm. Push the last of the bake onto it.
  • ·03
    A cup of strong coffee
    The Tuesday morning version. Or a small glass of cold orange juice.
Storage & reheating

Keeping the leftovers good.

Fridge: Squares keep for 5 days in a sealed container. Reheat covered in the microwave for 60 to 90 seconds or in a 325°F oven for 10 minutes.

Reheat: Microwave on medium power so the eggs don't turn rubbery; cover loosely to keep them from drying out.

Make ahead: The whole bake can be assembled the night before and refrigerated unbaked; pull from the fridge 30 minutes before the oven so the dish doesn't crack from a cold start.

Freezer: Individual squares freeze well for up to 2 months. Wrap tightly, thaw in the fridge overnight, reheat covered.

Recipe card

Cottage cheese spinach and feta egg bake

A make-ahead breakfast bake with eggs, cottage cheese, wilted spinach, and feta. Forty minutes in the oven, six servings, and quietly 22 grams of protein per slice.

Prep
15 min
Cook
35 min
Serves
6
Total
50 min
Ingredients
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 10 oz fresh baby spinach
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 10 large eggs
  • 1½ cups full-fat (4%) cottage cheese
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
  • 6 oz feta, crumbled, divided
  • 4 scallions, thinly sliced, white and green parts
  • 3 Tbsp fresh dill, chopped, plus more to finish
  • lemon wedges
  • more fresh dill
  • flaky salt and cracked black pepper
Method (short version)
  1. 01Heat the oven.
  2. 02Wilt the spinach.
  3. 03Whisk the custard.
  4. 04Pour and top.
  5. 05Bake.
  6. 06Rest, slice, serve.

Nutrition information is an estimate. See full nutrition disclaimer.

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