The only thing I hate more than a sink full of dirty dishes is WASHING a sink full of dirty dishes. So this “No Washing Up Ham, Egg & Cheese Bread Bowl” post is dedicated to everyone who hates doing the dishes as much as I do!
“Perfect for feeding an army. You can make ahead, eat it with your hands and I swear, there is not a single dish or pan or utensil to be washed!”
In my next life, I hope to be reborn with slim hands and long, elegant fingers instead of pudgy, midget hands. My friends call me “Baby Hands”. Truly! I do everything I can to avoid “hand shots”, but sometimes it just has to be done.
Enough about my Baby Hands, let’s put the focus back on the food. If I wrote this post like my other posts, it would go on for pages as I ranted on and on about why I think these No Washing Up Ham, Egg & Cheese Bread Bowls are so nifty. So I’m going to do both of us a favour and simply list out the pros and cons!
PROS
1. NO WASHING UP – no pots, no pans, no baking tray, no cutting board, no bowls. These are baked wrapped in foil which you need to do otherwise the bread roll burns before the egg cooks. The only kitchen equipment you’ll use is a knife to cut the top off the rolls. If you’re as lazy as me, you’ll just run a dishcloth along the blade and put it right back in the knife rack!
2. FAST TO MAKE – it will take you all of 4 minutes to assemble 4 to pop into the oven. Possibly 3 minutes. And if you like your yolks really runny like I do, these will be out of the oven in 10 minutes.
3. EAT WITH YOUR HANDS – just like a burger!
4. FEED A CROWD – FAST. You can make loads of No Washing Up Ham, Egg & Cheese Bread Bowls in one go – as many as you can fit in your oven!
5. MAKE AHEAD. Yes, you really can! The only thing is to make sure the bread bowls are properly lined with ham to stop the egg from seeping through to the bread. Just assemble completely and wrap with foil, then leave them in the fridge until you need them. Then pop them in the oven!
6. VERSATILE. Get creative! These are pretty boring – just ham, eggs and cheese. Fill it with whatever you want! The only thing to ensure is that you line the bread with ham so the egg doesn’t soak straight into the bread. I tried making these with bacon once but because it is thicker and not as pliable (especially after you fry it), you can’t mould it into the bowl as well so I struggled to make enough space for even an egg, let alone anything else.7. BUDGET. Ham is cheaper than bacon. And you don’t need to use any fancy bread for this. Just ordinary bread rolls. Even stale is fine. Once stuffed and baked, you won’t be able to tell if they are fresh or stale bread.
8. FOOD ON THE GO. Because you can eat this with your hands, it’s great for on the go! I was munching on this while wandering around packing up the props after taking the photo!
9. GREAT FOR A CAMP OUT. Can you imagine how great this would be cooked over a campfire?? Just place it on the edge of the fire near (not on) hot coals. The foil traps the heat well and it will cook in no time!
10. ONLY 339 CALORIES PER SERVING. Believe it. It’s only 1 bread roll, 1 egg, 1 small slice of ham and 2 tbsp of cheese. Actually, I just realised it’s less than 339 calories because I didn’t factor in that the centre of the bread roll is removed.
11. SO, SO TASTY. Why I haven’t put this as #1 is beyond me!
“This is a great way to use up bread rolls that are slightly stale. Once stuffed and baked, no one would ever be able to tell whether the rolls are fresh or not!”
CONS
1. Eerm….no greens? Though I DID add a sprinkle of parsley on the No Washing Up Ham, Egg & Cheese Bread Bowls. Isn’t that enough?
OK, so perhaps I’m being completely pig-headed by not coming up with more cons. I am the excitable type and can get blindsided. So if you’re the sensible type and can think of more “cons”, leave a comment below and I’ll update the list!
Aren’t my wrapping skills shocking? You should see the presents I wrap! Well, you won’t, because I won’t ever be showing you!
Don’t toss the bread you scoop out! Save it to make croutons or breadcrumbs. Or how about this Chicken and Spinach Bread Bake or this Creamy Bacon, Chicken and Broccoli Bread Bake?
Love to hear what you think, or any other suggestions you might have for other fillings! Just leave a comment below and I’ll be sure to respond :). – Nagi x
MORE BREAKFAST EGG RECIPES
-
Frittata – the classic done right!
-
Shakshouka – baked eggs made exotic
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No Washing Up Ham, Egg & Cheese Bread Bowls
Ingredients
- 4 bread rolls (soft or crusty)
- 4 small slices of ham , or 2 big ones cut in half
- 4 eggs , at room temperature
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 tbsp fresh parsley , finely chopped (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
- Cut the tops off the bread rolls.
- Scoop out the centre and reserve (see notes for ideas to use). To be neat, use a small knife to cut a round outline before scooping out the centre.
- Line the bread bowl with a layer of ham. Try to use one whole piece if you can because then there is less chance of egg seeping through and being soaked up by the bread.
- Crack in an egg.
- Top each with 2 tbsp of mozzarella cheese and a sprinkle of parsley (optional).
- Put the top back on each roll. Wrap with foil and place in oven to bake for ~15 to 25 minutes. Take a peek at 20 minutes to check them. 20 minutes = runny yolks. 25 minutes + = just cooked yolks. (See notes for more information)
- Remove from oven, unwrap and serve immediately.
Recipe Notes:
a) Your oven. Mine is a fan forced oven which cooks food faster than normal ovens.
b) How many you are making - the more you are making, the longer it will take.
c) How thick the bread bowl walls are. The thicker the wall, the longer it will take for the heat to get to the centre of the bread to cook the egg. I made mine quite thin - about 1cm/1/3".
d) The type of bread you are using. A dense bread like a sourdough will take longer. I used soft standard bread rolls.
e) Whether the eggs are at room temperature or are cold, straight out of the fridge.
Nutrition Information:
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
No Washing Up Ham, Egg and Cheese Bowls recipe video!
Cornel Ormsby says
I have an old friend (in Norway) with hands like yours, her husband calls them “Baby Doll Hands”. This recipe looks perfect for a single man (me) because of the short prep-time, and “no cleanup” is a big plus. Thanks!
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Ha ha!! I love hearing about fellow Baby Hands! Glad you like this recipe!! 🙂 Thanks for making me feel better about my tiny pudgy hands!!
dody says
It might be good to add some spinach under the egg, voila there is you greens. Going to try
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Hi Dody! I tried that before, the problem was that spinach leaks water during baking so it needs to be sautéed (in which case it wilts alot!!). Love to here if you try it! 🙂
Marne says
To make the spinach work, get frozen chopped spinach in the bag, take out enough to add about 2 tbsp to each bread bowl before you do any of the other prep. Lay it in a think layer on a paper towel lined plate ( would use 2 or 3 paper towels, toss in the microwave just long enough to thaw, and pat dry with a towel. no mess, great addition to the meal. Rinse the plate, dry it and put it away.
Nagi | RecipeTin says
YES! I always have frozen spinach in the freezer!! 🙂
Brian Keith says
I shall be trying this…Thank you for posting this 🙂 btw I have baby hands but they aren’t pudgy but still very small lol they haven’t changed since 4th grade or so and I am 29 now lol
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Hi Brian – I feel for you!! My hands haven’t changed since 4th grade either – except gotten pudgier!! 🙂 Too funny!
steve d. says
my wife has small hands as well but I always tell her that the growing for her hands went to her heart because she has such a big loving heart . that always makes her smile just like the no wash up bread bowls . we get creative sometimes an maybe dirty a fry pan. best part of this comment other than your recipe is I’m not very good cook!!!!!!! yes that bad. wife had web page open an had take phone call I ,I started scrolling seen your recipe printed it an thought that seems easy . long story short made it served her breakfast in bed favorite coffee whole 9 yards. wanted know where come from cause never heard my truck leave told her story she loved it the recipe an me! Now sat. morning ruteine . next is dinner with your easy to understand recipes .( the notes help a lot ) I sure will be another success .THANK YOU so much for sharing your talents with us..
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Awwww Steve, what a wonderful message to receive, thank you so much! I adore what you say to your wife about her heart and hands – that is just about the sweetest thing I have never heard (definitely the sweetest thing to say about tiny hands!). She is one lucky girl, for you to make breakfast in bed for you!! Wow, we need more men in the world like you!! I will set up a recipe Collection for you with Easy Dinner recipes that might give you some ideas for where to start! Give me a couple of days, the check under Collections in the menu bar and it will be there. 🙂 Thanks again for your message Steve!!
Linda B says
My husband is allergic to eggs, so I think I will mix some cheese with spinach and place on top of the ham.
Nagi | RecipeTin says
That will work fine Linda! And you won’t need to bake as long, just enough to warm the filling and melt the cheese 🙂
Sarah says
You can easily add greens to this! Just layer spinach with your ham, probably bread, ham, spinach, eggie, cheese… The spinach would prevent leakage too if you overlap the leaves well, so for vegetarian option you could sub spinach for ham. 🙂 See, greens are easy! I LOVE this recipe idea, I think it will be breakfast next week. I need to pick up rolls.
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Absolutely agree!! Just need to bear in mind that it will impact the baking time as it’s another layer that the oven heat needs to get through to cook the eggs 🙂
Anita Warner says
Hi Nagi, I have just found your website on Pinterest, I have only looked at these bread bowls so far, my heart is pounding so hard, like you, I get excited so fast, I just can’t wait to check out all your other recipes! I have 4 sons plus hubby and I’m always looking for yummy, quick and filling meals for them. Now, back to the homepage…. Too excited!!!
Teresa A. says
The only “con” I can come up with is not wanting to share them!! 🙂 Have you tried them with veggies added (i.e.-mushrooms, spinach, pepper, onions)? If so, did it affect the cook time?
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Hi Teresa! Yes I have added vegetables in them, mushrooms and spring onions. I sautéed them and popped them in before the egg. It affected the cooking time just marginally, but as per the recipe notes, the cook time really fluctuates depending on so many factors (please read the notes!) so I didn’t really notice any difference!
EJ says
i’m wondering if two or three slices of canadian bacon would work instead of a piece of ham? it’s difficult to get a thin piece of ham around here
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Hi EJ, I’m not familiar with Canadian bacon but my concern would be that it doesn’t provide enough of a “seal” and the egg might leak into the bread. A couple of ideas to get around that: 1. Butter the inside of the bread, this will create an extra “seal” 2. Are there other cured meats available you could use? In Australia, we have Pancetta slices which are round and thin which would also work well 3 Smoke salmon or trout works well. Because they are “wetter” than bacon so they stick together well to form a good barrier to stop the egg from soaking in.
Jalisa92 says
So what kind of ham do you use?? Like buy a whole ham or use the thick lunch meat kind of ham??
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Hi there! I buy the round sandwich ham which is sliced fairly thinly so it fits perfectly inside the bread bowl. If it is cut too thick then it won’t “mould” so well in the bowl. Hope that helps!
Terri A. says
Oh my, Oh my, Oh my!!! We are empty nesters and these sound great for those times when it is a “what do you want to eat when you don’t know what you want to eat”, kinda night. LOL I can make a few when it is just us or a whole oven full when the kids and grandkids pop in. Ham, eggs, cheddar cheese and rolls of one kind or another are always a staple in this house so I wouldn’t have to make that mad dash to the store. The possibilities are endless. Thank you so much for posting this dish.
EJ says
would two or three pieces of canadian bacon work instead of one piece of ham?
Nagi | RecipeTin says
YES that’s exactly right!! Which is what I’m feeling right now and I think I’m going to make this for dinner!!
Deb says
Not sure why, but ours were an epic failure. At 10 min, the eggs were totally raw, at 15 min, whites were still raw. Decided to open foil, remove tops and broil, but got distracted and left in too long, burned the bread and hard-cooked the egg. We ended up taking out the ham/egg/cheese basket and eating with the top. Wanted mine to look as good as yours!
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Hi Deb, I’m so sorry to hear that. I’ve provided quite a few notes to help with making sure this works as per the recipe directions. It is one of those recipes that is really easy to do but is dependent on a few key factors to make it work, including: oven strength (I have a fan forced oven), how thick the bread “wall” is (I make mine thin), how much foil you use (less = faster baking) and whether the eggs are at room temperature. Please refer to Note 5 in the recipe. I hope those notes help! I’m sorry again you had problems with it 🙁
jennifer says
This looks really delicious and planning on making a breakfast for supper tonight. However, there are a couple of us who prefer scrambled eggs instead of the runny yolk….have you ever tried doing this with scrambled egg mix in the middle?????? Crossing my fingers it would work.
Renee says
Hey there Jennifer, I was wondering the same thing so how did it turn out?
Thinking of making this Feb. 13 2015! hope to hear from you!
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Hi Jennifer! Nope, I haven’t tried it with scrambled egg mix in the middle. Do you mean whisking raw egg then pouring that in? I would just be concerned about how long it takes for the middle to cook. In theory it should work though 🙂 Love to hear how it turns out!
larry lorgeree says
wish I could load a pic and say “here’s mine” going for a second
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Send it to me! I’ll load it up 🙂
Ed says
A friend posted this on Facebook. Great idea!
Pork roll and Hillbilly bacon are local favorites that will be great for this egg sandwich.
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Thanks so much for your message! Pork roll? Yup, sign me up. Any roll with any type of pork in it has my name all over it!!
Jasmine says
So I get the ham is used to prevent the egg from seeping through but do you have any ideas for a vegetarian version? Do you think a particularly large leaf of kale would work in place of the ham?
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Hi Jasmine! I think that will work based on experiments I recently did with a quiche 🙂 What I would recommend though is this: get 2 to 3 kale leaves (or swiss chard would work too), cute the white stem part out (which is hard). Then rinse to clean, shake the water off (but don’t pat dry with a paper towel), wrap with cling wrap and microwave for 30 seconds (or until almost wilted). Squeeze out excess water then use to line the bowl. Then follow the recipe. As long as the leaves line the bowl to prevent the egg from soaking the bread, it will work fine, I think! I used 2 layers of kale leaves for a quiche recipe recently and it worked 🙂
Shalene says
Mmmm… This is definitely going to be a must try on those mornings when we need something fast that doesn’t require a lot of cleaning up!! ^_^
Awesome sauce!!
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Thanks Shalene!! This is perfect for those busy morning. I often eat this on the run – grab it out of the oven, throw it in a paper bag and hit the road with it in my bag!
Karen says
I found your recipe over on Buzzfeed and and followed the link as I do when I see something really yummy looking and I have to say one thing I really like about your post is the notes at the end. I’ve never seen that before and I think it’s brilliant. Well done and of course I’ll be making them delicious looking boats in the morning.
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Thanks so much Karen!! I’m glad you find the notes useful!
Rhonda says
What a fantastic idea and looks so good!!! We love breakfast in this house. Thanks for sharing and I cant wait to try this.
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Thanks Rhonda! I’m glad you like the look of this!!
Mark says
Someone posted this on Facebook. They look delicious and plenty of room to alter and make it your own. What a great creative idea. I’m thinking quick breakfast for dinner as well. You could totally eliminate the con by steaming up some tiny broccoli florets on top of the egg. Change out the cheeses and add fresh herbs like dill or chopped chives. These pictures have me drooling. 🙂
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Thanks Mark! I am so glad you like this. I love the idea of adding broccoli florets, thank you for the suggestion! And yes, you can absolutely use any cheese you want so long as it melts well 🙂 Thanks for your kind message!
Kena says
I made these today. I started off placng the foil pouches on a cookie sheet. It seemed to slow things down quite a bit. When I place the foil pouches right on the oven right they began to cook pretty fast. The whole family enjoyed them and I definitely plant to make them again. I love the smoked salmon recommendation from one of the others comments, may try that next time. Thanks for the recipe.
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Hi Kena – thanks for coming back to leave a comment! Yes, putting it on a cookie sheet slows down the cooking time. I am glad your family enjoyed them! I would love to hear what you think if you try it with smoked salmon, which I haven’t done yet 🙂
Kathy says
Can you make ahead and freeze these?
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Hi Kathy, I do not recommend freezing these because while cooked yolks freeze ok, the whites become quite rubbery.
Susan W says
I wanted to know about freezing as well. I love this idea, especially for my Sister who works. I’ve been trying to find ways of making a breakfast sandwich she can nuke and be on the run. I think though I will take the concept, cooked everything soft set, put it in the breadbowl, finish cooking in oven, make sure they are wrapped tightly, then have her test it out in the microwave to see if this is something I can make ahead for her. I have Fibro/Lupus, so I can’t do the cooking thing every day. Wish I could…LOVE LOVE LOVE to cook for and feed people! BTW, Love your blog! Thank you!
Kristina says
http://exploringdomesticity.blogspot.com/2013/04/frozen-breakfast-sandwiches-to-last-3.html?m=1
I found this on Pinterest! It’s make-ahead freezer sandwiches using English muffins, eggs, sausage, and cheese. This may be something you could do for your sister (;
Nagi | RecipeTin says
That’s sweet of you to share that Kristina!
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Hi Susan! Thank you for your lovely comment, I’m glad you enjoy my blog! I do not recommend freezing them because yolks come out rubbery (though the whites are ok). To make a freezable version, I would scramble eggs, place them in the bowl lined with ham then freeze it. Then you can nuke and eat on the run! Though the bread will be soft, not crusty like it is when baked. In order to get the crusty bread shell, you will need to bake it to reheat. 🙂
Nathan Ganley says
Hey Nagi. These are great! My only gripe is that the cooking times were way off for my oven… the eggs seemed to be runny forever and then all of a sudden they were hard. I really wanted a runny yolk! Hehe. One suggestion would be a tiny bit of seasoning on top of the egg, as it was quite bland. I think it’s because mozzarella is such a mild cheese, there needs to be something on the top layers to make everything shine through. Thanks for a great, and simple recipe!
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Thanks Nathan! I know what you mean about the yolks. I find that with any baked eggs, they go from runny to hard in a flash. Baking eggs perfectly every time is actually one of the hardest things to do, even professional chefs struggle with it (I remember Gordon Ramsay having a rant about it once!). Regarding cook time, I know, I am getting a lot of feedback that the times vary a lot. A friend of mine just emailed to say 4 took 16 minutes in her oven. I added some notes to try to address people’s concerns. For a recipe like this, there are just so many variables it’s hard for me to pin down an exact time.
Regarding your suggestion to seasoning, I will add that in the notes, thank you for the tip. I found that the ham I used was salty enough to carry throughout but it is a great tip. Thanks for your comments Nathan!! I really value it.
Donna says
Just had one of these for lunch. It was so yummy. I did use a small sourdough round so it took a lot longer to cook the egg but it was worth it.
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Sourdough bread roll? You fancied up my recipe!! 🙂 So glad you enjoyed it Donna. Thanks so much for letting me know!!
mila furman says
NAGI! What the! This is such pure genius!!! So making this… SUNDAY!
Nagi | RecipeTin says
I am definitely not a genius!! But yay to trying it, love to hear what you think 🙂