26 Egg Recipes That Make Great Dinners

Eggs are an easy-to-prepare, affordable source of protein, which is why they're so popular for breakfast, lunch, and dinner all around the world. Japanese oyakodon tops a bowl of rice with a warming mixture of dashi-simmered egg and chicken, and an easy Chinese dish pairs scrambled eggs with flowering chives and shrimp. The Spanish love their tortilla española (as do we!) any time of day, while Italy favors the frittata, and topping a bowl of creamy grits with a fried egg makes for a Southern-tinged meal. Check out these 26 recipes, from North African shakshuka to vegetable fried rice, for our favorite all-day egg dishes.

Meaty

Eggs en Meurette (Poached Eggs in Red Wine Sauce)

Perhaps the ultimate dish in the eggs-for-dinner category, eggs en meurette is what you'd get if you wanted to make coq au vin without the chicken: it's got smoky bacon and meaty mushrooms swimming alongside carrots, onion, and garlic in a rich red wine sauce, perfect for sopping up with a nice thick slice of crusty bread. On top of that bread, which gets toasted and rubbed with garlic for good, spicy measure, you slide two poached eggs, whose yolks further enrich the sauce once they're broken into. It might just be a perfect meal, no matter what time of day.

Sautéed Asparagus With Chorizo, Fried Eggs, and Smoked-Paprika Allioli

Fried eggs are great at any hour, but making them into a well-rounded meal calls for reinforcements—in this case, tender asparagus and smoky chorizo. We fry the eggs in hot chorizo fat to crisp up the edges and serve them with paprika-scented allioli, the Spanish version of garlicky French aioli.

Oyakodon (Japanese Chicken and Egg Rice Bowl)

This Japanese comfort-food favorite, a rice bowl topped with chicken and egg, comes together in just about 20 minutes. Chicken thighs and eggs are simmered in a broth of dashi, soy sauce, and sake, infusing them with some serious flavor. The heady mixture is poured over steaming white rice and topped with scallions and togarashi, Japanese chile powder.

Another, equally good variation on the dish is katsudon, in which a leftover fried pork cutlet takes the place of the chicken.

Japanese Pork Fried Rice Omelette With Okonomiyaki Sauce (Omurice)

Omurice is another traditional Japanese egg dish, made by topping fried rice with an omelette. It doesn't require mastery of the rolled French omelette, since, in the end, all you'll do is drape it over a mound of stir-fried rice. This version is made with pork and drizzled with sweet-savory okonomiyaki sauce, but you can also try it with diced chicken and a tangy ketchup-based sauce.

Flipped Frittata With Asparagus, Spinach, Ham, and Cheese

Many frittata recipes start the dish on the stove and move it to the oven to set, which gives it a light, souffléd texture. This one, packed with asparagus, spinach, salty ham, and gooey cheese, goes in another direction—we cook it entirely on the stovetop, flipping it halfway, for a creamier and denser result.

Diner-Style Asparagus, Bacon, and Gruyère Omelette for Two

Fluffy diner-style omelettes are made for stuffing. Of course, they're great with down-home combinations like ham and cheddar, but you can also get a little chichi with your mix-ins— here, we use asparagus, shallots, bacon, and Gruyère. Trouble is, if you fold in the ingredients raw, they'll still be cold when the eggs are done. Our fix is sautéing the asparagus and bacon first, then mixing them with shredded cheese, giving the cheese a head start on melting before everything is cooked together.

Stir-Fried Shrimp With Eggs and Chinese Chives

There's more to Chinese egg cooking than fried rice, as exemplified by this home-style Cantonese dish, which combines scrambled eggs with gingery, garlicky shrimp and Chinese chives. Brining the shrimp with baking soda ensures that they cook up plump and juicy. Feel free to use roast pork instead, or leave out the meat entirely, but try to use Chinese chives if you can find them—their flavor is more potent than that of regular chives.

Uovo in Raviolo (Runny Egg Yolk Ravioli)

Admittedly more of a special-occasion showstopper than an easy weeknight dinner, uovo in raviolo, oversize ravioli filled with a runny egg yolk, seems like a feat of magic. It's a ring of creamy ricotta inside the pasta that does the trick, protecting the egg during cooking. You can serve them however you'd like—a simple pan sauce made with wine and pancetta works wonderfully.

French Crepes With Ham, Cheese, and Eggs

Crepes should otherwise be known as the most versatile edible wrapper of all time—almost anything can be wrapped in a crepe to delicious effect. You can go either with a standard crepe or one made with whole wheat flour (called "galettes" in Breton), but either way, stuff 'em with ham, some cheese, and an egg and I challenge you to stop at just one.

Chorizo and Egg Chilaquiles With Salsa Verde

Chilaquiles really do make a fantastic breakfast. But on days when you don't have time for an involved breakfast, they make an equally delicious dinner. Here, home-fried tortillas are stacked with salsa verde, spicy chorizo, and runny eggs. The delicious pile is served with fresh radishes and vinegary pickled onions.

Vegetarian

Chinese-Style Layered Omelette

Imagine this Chinese-style dish as the perfect marriage of a paper-thin omelette and and an impressive layered crepe cake. The simple dish is made up of layers of omelette, with a splash of soy sauce and a sprinkle of scallions between each one. Paired with a bowl of plain steamed rice, this stacked omelette is a perfect meal for those nights when you're craving something comforting and home cooked, but don't quite have the energy to pull it off. Served alongside homemade kimchi or another pickled vegetable, it's a grand weeknight meal.

Shakshuka (North African-Style Poached Eggs in Spicy Tomato Sauce)

Quick and easy shakshuka, the North African tomato-and-egg bake that's now popular throughout the Middle East, can be customized however you like it. We make ours with onion and peppers, charred and caramelized for extra flavor, as well as smoked paprika and whole cumin seeds. Whatever you do, don't forget to serve it with lots of crusty bread for sopping up the tomato.

Easy Vegetable Fried Rice

If you have a fridge full of leftovers and want dinner on the table fast, fried rice is a great option. The key to cooking everything evenly is to work in batches, since Western stovetops aren't high-powered enough to get a wok as hot as it needs to be to cook the rice all at once. We also like to keep the seasonings light so that the fried rice actually tastes like rice, so we add just a teaspoon each of soy sauce and sesame oil.

Stir-Fried Farro With Garlicky Kale and Poached Egg

Stir-frying isn't just for rice; other grains, like farro, can also be fried up with vegetables and aromatics to make a delicious meal, whether it's breakfast or dinner. Here the cooked farro gets tossed in a skillet with garlic and sautéed kale and a little vinegar is added just brighten up the mix, and everything gets topped with a perfectly poached egg.

Baked Eggs With Creamy Greens, Mushrooms, and Cheese

Ideal for brunch or dinner, this creamy baked egg dish mixes hearty greens, browned mushrooms, and sautéed leeks with a rich béchamel-like sauce. We use three different kinds of greens—spinach, chard, and kale—for a range of flavors and textures.

Classic French Omelette

Dinner doesn't have to be a heavy meal—if you're looking for something light and elegant, you can't do much better than a French omelette. It's traditionally cooked over high heat, but turning down the flame a little makes it easier to get a smooth, pale exterior and soft-scrambled interior. This is one of those dishes that you may have to practice a bit to get right (and a perfectly nonstick pan is a must!), but give it a try or two, and before you know it, you'll be turning out beautiful omelettes filled with cheese and fines herbes, too.

Tortilla Española (Spanish Egg and Potato Omelette)

One of Spain's national dishes, tortilla española is a super-simple mixture of eggs, potatoes, and sometimes onions, cooked in plenty of olive oil. We like to cook the potatoes down until they start to break apart, forming a sort of batter when mixed with the eggs—it makes it easier to flip the dish in the pan.

Cheesy Grits With Spring Vegetables

A bowl of grits is most often eaten at breakfast, but this Southern favorite is versatile enough for any meal. Our version uses coarsely ground grits cooked low and slow, with Parmesan and cheddar to make them extra creamy. A poached egg adds even more richness, while asparagus, fava beans, and peas bring a nice green snap.

Cheesy Mashed White Beans With Kale, Parmesan, and a Fried Egg

For a satisfyingly creamy dish that requires a lot less stirring than grits, try a quick bowl of mashed white beans simmered with heavy cream and cheese. We like to top the beans with sautéed kale and a crispy fried egg.

Spring Salad of Asparagus, Ramps, Snap Peas, and Peas With Poached Egg and Lemon Zest Vinaigrette

This crunchy salad uses a whole variety of beautiful spring produce: snap peas, asparagus, ramps, pea shoots, and, honestly, anything else that looks good to you at the market right now. We perk up the vegetables with a lemon zest vinaigrette, and finish the dish with a soft poached egg.

The Best Egg Salad

The best egg salad starts with perfect hard-boiled eggs. We steam the eggs instead of boiling them, which cooks them more evenly and makes for easier peeling, then crush them by hand with homemade mayonnaise to get nice pieces of whites and creamy mashed yolks.

Sabich Sandwiches (Pitas With Eggplant, Eggs, Hummus, and Tahini)

As good as falafel is, it's not the only Middle Eastern sandwich out there. Sabich might be even better: fried eggplant, hard-boiled egg, hummus, tahini, Israeli salad, and pickles, all stuffed into a warm pita. The sandwich is all about contrasting textures—we love the combination of moist eggplant, creamy hummus, soft egg, and crunchy cucumber and pickles.

The Grilled Cheese Eggsplosion (Grilled Cheese With Fried Eggs Cooked Into the Bread)

A mashup of grilled cheese and egg-in-a-hole, this sandwich is a rich, comforting, and incredibly messy treat. It also takes only 15 minutes to make. But be careful when going in for a bite—as the name implies, this sandwich really will explode.

Sweet Potato, Sage, and Fried Egg Tacos

These potato-and-egg tacos would be at home at breakfast, but they're robust enough for dinner, too. We sauté sweet potato cubes with sage for a classic flavor combination. Rather than go to the trouble of making our own salsa, we top the tacos with hot sauce and crema, which combine with the runny yolk to form a spicy, rich sauce.

Mushroom and Gruyère Eggs en Cocotte

Eggs en cocotte is an easy, under-appreciated dish that makes for a light, elegant, and totally customizable dinner. The only constant is that the eggs are baked in ramekins. This version features a mushroom duxelles and grated cheese, but you might prefer a variation made with crab or tomato and goat cheese.

Skillet Barley With Kale and Eggs

This one-pot baked egg dinner highlights chewy, malty pearl barley and wilted kale. We simmer the grain in broth and stir in the kale before cracking the eggs into the pan. After it's cooked under the broiler, we sprinkle the hot dish with parmesan, lemon zest, and parsley.