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Baked Eggs with Collard Greens, White Beans, and Mozzarella

Ribbons of collard greens softened in olive oil with onion and garlic, simmered with crushed tomatoes and white beans, then baked with eggs and a scatter of torn mozzarella.

By Camille McLaughlin, RDN, LD, registered dietitian nutritionist

Built forAnti-InflammatoryBreakfast
Also fits Mediterranean Balanced Vegetarian Low-Carb
Collard ribbons go dark and glossy in olive oil long before the eggs turn up, softening into crushed tomatoes with sliced garlic and smoked paprika until the whole pan smells like a market stall. White beans thicken it, torn mozzarella melts into pale pools between the eggs, and a squeeze of lemon at the end sharpens the greens.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe

Sunday greens that need using, and an oven willing to do the last ten minutes, is the whole setup here. Collards get treated as a long braise vegetable in a lot of American kitchens, but sliced into thin ribbons they soften in about eight minutes on the stove, which puts them well inside breakfast range. Along the Black Sea coast of Turkey they turn up in almost everything, cooked down with beans and tomato, and that combination underneath a set egg is one of the most useful things I know how to put on a table for four people.

The technique worth learning here is the order of the pan. Onion and garlic go into the olive oil first over gentle heat so the garlic sweetens rather than browning, then the collard ribbons go in by the handful and collapse to about a third of their volume. Only then do the tomatoes and beans arrive, which gives the greens time to lose their squeak. Making proper wells with the back of a spoon matters more than it sounds, because an egg cracked onto a flat surface spreads thin and overcooks before the yolk sets. Deep wells hold the whites together.

It eats like a real breakfast, the kind you sit down to with a fork and a slice of something to push it around with. The greens keep a little chew, the beans go creamy against the tomato, and the mozzarella pulls in soft strings wherever it landed. Smoked paprika and oregano do the heavy seasoning and the lemon at the end lifts all of it. I make this on a morning with nothing else planned, and any leftovers become lunch out of the same skillet the following day, which is half the reason it goes into my week so often.

Dark green collard ribbons and white beans in a brick red tomato base, eggs set in shallow wells with firm whites, torn mozzarella melted in pale pools between them. Save
Prep: 15 minsCook: 25 minsTotal: 40 minsMakes: 4 servingsServing: 1 1/2 eggs with about 1 cup greens, beans, and tomato

Ingredients

Serves4Amounts change with the number. The nutrition panel is per serving, so it stays the same.
  • 6 large eggs
  • 1 large bunch collard greens, about 10 oz trimmed, stems removed and leaves rolled and cut into thin ribbons
  • 1 1/2 cups canned cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 1/4 cups canned crushed tomatoes
  • 2 1/4 oz low-moisture mozzarella, torn into rough pieces
  • 1 small yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced
  • 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice, added at the end
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1/2 tsp coarsely cracked black pepper

Instructions

  1. Prepare the greens: Strip the collard leaves off their thick center stems, stack four or five at a time, roll them into a cigar, and slice across into ribbons about a quarter inch wide. You want roughly ten ounces of trimmed leaf. Wash the ribbons and leave them damp, because that water helps them steam down in the pan.
  2. Soften the aromatics: Heat the olive oil in a 12-inch ovenproof skillet over medium-low. Add the onion and cook for four minutes until translucent, then add the sliced garlic and cook one minute more, just until it smells sweet. Do not let the garlic take on color, or it will turn bitter under the eggs.
  3. Wilt the collards: Turn the heat to medium and add the collard ribbons in two or three handfuls, stirring after each so they have room. They will collapse to about a third of their volume. Cook for six to eight minutes, until they are dark, glossy, and tender enough to cut against the side of the pan with a spoon. Heat the oven to 400°F while this happens.
  4. Build the base: Stir in the crushed tomatoes, the beans, the oregano, the smoked paprika, and the black pepper. Simmer for four to five minutes, until the sauce has thickened enough that a spoon dragged through it leaves a track that fills in slowly. Taste it now, while you can still adjust.
  5. Bake the eggs: Make six deep wells with the back of a spoon and crack an egg into each. Scatter the torn mozzarella over the spaces between them. Slide the skillet into the oven for ten to fourteen minutes, until the whites are firm all the way to the yolk and the yolks are set through with no wobble left. Squeeze the lemon over the top and serve straight from the pan.
Nutrition Facts
4 servings per recipe
Serving size1 1/2 eggs with about 1 cup greens, beans, and tomato
Calories307
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 14g18%
Saturated Fat 5g23%
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 288mg96%
Sodium 461mg20%
Total Carbohydrate 26g9%
Dietary Fiber 8g29%
Total Sugars 5g
Includes 0g Added Sugars 0%
Protein 22g
Vitamin D 1.6mcg8%
Calcium 352mg27%
Iron 4.5mg25%
Potassium 781mg17%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Values are computed from USDA FoodData Central and are estimates. Per serving (1 1/2 eggs with about 1 cup greens, beans, and tomato).

Variations

  • Chickpeas and cumin: Swap the cannellini beans for chickpeas and add a teaspoon of ground cumin with the paprika for something earthier.
  • Sardines on top: Lay drained tinned sardines over the base before the eggs go in so they warm through in the tomato.
  • Green and herby: Skip the tomatoes, cook the greens with a splash of water, and finish with a great deal of dill and parsley for a paler, herb-heavy version.
  • Hotter: Add a pinch of chile flakes with the garlic, or stir a spoonful of harissa into the tomatoes.
  • Ricotta rather than mozzarella: Drop spoonfuls of part-skim ricotta between the eggs, which stay separate and creamy rather than melting into strings.

Storage & Leftovers

This keeps three days covered in the refrigerator and it is one of the rare egg dishes that holds up, because the yolks are cooked through and the tomato base protects them. Store it in the skillet with a lid if there is room, or move it to a shallow container so the eggs are not stacked on one another.

Reheat portions in a covered skillet over medium-low for five minutes with a splash of water in the pan, which steams everything back to life without drying the whites. A microwave works if you go at half power in one minute bursts, since full power makes cooked egg white turn rubbery and squeak against a fork.

The greens and bean base freezes well on its own for up to three months, so it is worth making a double batch of that part alone. Freeze it flat in a sealed bag, thaw overnight in the refrigerator, warm it in a skillet, and crack fresh eggs into it in the morning.

Notes & Tips

A few notes from my kitchen, mostly about cutting the greens thin and giving the eggs a proper hollow to sit in.
  • Cut the ribbons thin: A quarter inch is the difference between eight minutes and twenty. Thick collard ribbons stay squeaky no matter how long the pan sits over the heat.
  • Leave the leaves damp after washing: That clinging water turns to steam under the greens and helps them collapse without any added liquid.
  • Keep the garlic pale: Sliced garlic browns fast in a shallow film of oil. Add it after the onion has already softened and give it one minute, no more.
  • Make the wells deep: Push the spoon all the way to the bottom of the pan. A shallow dent lets the white run and you end up with thin overcooked edges.
  • Use an ovenproof handle: A skillet with a plastic or wooden handle will not survive 400°F. Cast iron or a heavy stainless pan is what this wants.
  • Add the lemon off the heat: Squeezed over the hot pan at the table it stays bright. Cooked into the tomatoes it goes flat and you lose the point of it.

Nutrition & Mindful Eating

A skillet built on greens rather than starch, with beans for weight, eggs set into the top, and enough smoked paprika and garlic to make it taste like something you were served rather than something you assembled.
  • Collards, beans, eggs, and a little cheese are doing four separate jobs in one skillet. The greens give the pan its body and its color, the beans make it filling, the eggs set into it as the protein, and the mozzarella melts through as the richness.
  • Collard greens are sturdy, cabbage-family leaves that cook down into something silky rather than slippery, and they are one of the better plant sources of calcium, which the body absorbs from them readily.
  • Cannellini beans go creamy at the edges as they sit in the tomato and give the skillet its substance. They carry iron and a soft fiber, and the tomatoes and lemon around them help your body take up that iron.
  • Eggs baked into a tomato base stay tender because the sauce shields them from the direct heat of the oven. The yolk is where most of the vitamin D and the choline in an egg sit, and it is also where the flavor is.
  • Smoked paprika, oregano, sliced garlic, and lemon squeezed over at the end are what keep a pan of greens and beans from tasting flat. The paprika brings the smell of a wood fire and the lemon lands on top of it and lifts everything.
  • As you eat, break a yolk into the tomato and notice how the greens keep a little chew against the softness of the beans, and let the pan sit in the middle of the table so the meal takes as long as it takes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use another green?

Yes, and the timing is the only thing that changes. Kale ribbons want about the same six to eight minutes, mustard greens want four and bring more pepper to the pan, and chard cooks in two or three since the leaves are thin. Whatever you choose, cut it into ribbons and cook it down before the tomatoes go in.

My egg whites were still loose. What went wrong?

Almost always shallow wells or a base that was not hot enough going into the oven. Push the spoon right down to the metal so the whites sit in a hollow, and make sure the tomato is bubbling when the skillet goes in. If they are close but not there at fourteen minutes, give it two minutes more and check again.

Can I make it ahead for a weekday morning?

Make the greens and bean base up to three days ahead and keep it in the refrigerator. In the morning, warm it in the skillet until it bubbles, make your wells, and bake. That puts a hot breakfast on the table about fifteen minutes after you walk into the kitchen.

Is there a way to serve this to more people?

Stretch it with a second can of beans and two more eggs in a larger pan, or serve it in shallow bowls with toasted bread underneath to soak up the sauce. The base is forgiving and takes another handful of greens without complaint.