This Easy 3-Ingredient Egg Bake Is The Ultimate Customizable Breakfast

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FoodTok loves to dig up old-school breakfast dishes that you rarely see today, but eggs are just as popular in the 2020s as they were back in the proverbial day. If anything, the number of eggs consumed per capita is on the rise, with numbers climbing in the past quarter-century. They may be associated strongly with the first meal of the day, but we're big fans of including eggs in all three meals (plus snacks!), as they're a pop of relatively inexpensive protein with near-endless customization potential. And no, there's not much difference between white eggs and brown eggs.

Speaking of customizations, we're a little fixated on a social media meal idea with so much potential for variation that it's dizzying. User TheHealthyHopHead on TikTok went viral with a three-ingredient egg bake that was so simple, yummy, and open to interpretation that it's flat-out genius. All you do is crack a few eggs in a greased casserole dish — individual porcelain au gratin dishes are perfect for this — layer with fresh shredded cheese, and sprinkle with crumbled bacon. Stick the dish in the oven for somewhere in the ballpark of 20 minutes (depending on how runny you like your eggs), and you have a succulent dish that's scoopable on toast, sliceable like a quiche, and plenty filling for times when you just don't have the will to cook a more elaborate repast. Again, there are so many options for stuffing these egg bakes full of yumminess that we're tempted to make one every day for a month!

Just as there are countless ways to improve scrambled eggs, so can your egg bakes soar to new heights of deliciousness with some creativity and a little prep. Basically, anything that you can do to an omelette — dozens and dozens, if not hundreds of variations — you can do to an egg bake. The format doesn't change; you just add your whole eggs and your toppings of choice, then bake. Cheese and bacon are the standard, but even switching up what dairy you use can completely change the profile. American will be melty, sharp cheddar is classic, Swiss gives a bit of nuttiness, and goat cheese has that gamey profile that makes refined palates sing. Simply swapping proteins gives you plenty of wiggle room, too. Why not swap the bacon for some crumbled chorizo, diced kielbasa (or Spam, for a Hawaiian take!), ground turkey, or even tofu?

Beyond your cheese and protein, we can think of all sorts of veggies that would be absolutely scrumptious in an egg bake. Consider cooking the veggies first, since the eggs don't bake for a terribly long time, to help with texture. Onions and mushrooms are elementary, but our mouths water to think of sautéed asparagus tips, sliced bell pepper, or diced tomatoes. Don't be shy about trying new things in your egg bakes, as the dish is pretty intuitive, and experimenting is bound to pay off in delicious, satisfying results.