Spinach and Egg Breakfast Sandwich

I am always drawn to things that will make my life a little bit easier and I think I found the mother of all easy/delicious breakfast options! Prep on Sunday or before you start your week and you have something nutritious to grab for almost 2 whole weeks!
This WONDERFUL recipe came from http://www.macheesmo.com/ 

Spinach and Egg Breakfast Sandwiches

Yield: 12 sandwiches

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

12 eggs, scrambled
2 cups baby spinach
2 tablespoons butter
6-8 ounces cheese, grated
12 whole wheat English muffins

Helpful Equipment:
Muffin tins

Cooking the Eggs

Artsy.

Scramble the eggs before cooking them which makes sure that they cook evenly.

I like to add a few tablespoons of water to my 12 eggs and then I just lightly scramble them with a fork.

New technique!

A number of commenters said that the eggs were sticking in their muffin tins when they made these.

There’s only one way to avoid this consistently: butter. If you use nonstick spray or whatever, don’t come yelling at me if it doesn’t work. I use butter and it works like a charm.

You just need a light layer of it coating the whole muffin tin.

Butter is better.

While you can just do the eggs, I’ve started adding in things to my eggs while they cook.

I generally don’t eat a lot of meat in the mornings, but you could definitely add some crumbled sausage or ham to the tins. I went with spinach though on this occasion.

Almost anything that you could put in an omelet would work here.

Just a few leaves.

Then just evenly divide the eggs in the tins. Obviously it should be about an egg per tin and the tins will be about 3/4 full.

Evenly divided...

Baking the Eggs

Bake these guys at 350 degrees for about 20-22 minutes and they should be perfectly cooked. Be sure to check them to make sure the very centers are cooked through. If they aren’t, then cook them for a few extra minutes.

Once they cool for a few minutes, the egg cups should easily slide out of the tins.

Awesome.

Making/storing the Sandwiches

There are basically three ways to deal with storing these bad boys.

Eat them immediately

You just made some delicious sandwiches so plan on eating one or two of them right away. I like to toast my muffin and then add some cheese to it. Then I just toss on one of the egg cups and press it down a bit so the egg squashes out to the edges of the muffin.

Then I bake it for a few minutes to melt the cheese and eat it. Delicious!

Whole wheat muffins.

Make the Sandwiches – Freeze the Sandwiches

This is my preferred method of storing the sandwiches. I just cut a muffin in half, add some cheese to it, and toss on the egg cup.

Then I wrap the whole thing in foil and store all the individually wrapped sandwiches in a large freezer-safe bag.

Once they are frozen they keep fine for months.

Making and wrapping.

Freeze Just the Eggs

A number of commenters mentioned that this is their preferred way to store these and it works great.

Basically, once you pop all the egg cups out, let them cool briefly and then wrap each egg cup in plastic wrap (or foil) and store the individually wrapped eggs in a freezer safe bag.

This method cuts down on the freezer space you’ll need and some people think that the egg by itself reheats better than the whole sandwich.

Reheating the Sandwiches

If you just froze the eggs, reheating is very easy. Just unwrap the egg and microwave it on high for about 90-120 seconds. Then toast the muffin and add some cheese if you want.

Sandwich done!

If you froze the whole sandwiches, which is my preferred method, you can also unwrap them and heat them in the microwave.

The best way to reheat them though is in the oven. Just toss the frozen sandwich (still wrapped in foil) in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes and the finished sandwich will be as good as on day one.

30 minutes? You’re crazy!

About 20% of the hundreds of comments on the original post say that my reheating method doesn’t make sense. After all, it takes 30 minutes for the sandwich to cook!

Here’s the thing though… when it comes to prep time in the morning, there is no active time needed for the oven method. You don’t need to stand over your oven while the sandwich reheats.

The idea is that you wake up, toss the sandwich in the oven, take a shower, get ready to go, and then as you are leaving… BAM… your sandwich is done.

I don’t know anyone who gets out of the door faster than 30 minutes after waking up so you just let the sandwich cook while you are doing other stuff.

It works like a charm and you’re left with a really delicious breakfast any day of the week.

Pretty hard to beat!

I still make these sandwiches pretty regularly and they are a great way to start the day.