Is there anything more appropriate for an Easter breakfast than baked eggs in little nest-shaped sweet potatoes? Methinks not.
If you celebrate Easter this weekend, I hope all of you have a wonderful day tomorrow, and I hope you make these egg nests. And if you don’t celebrate Easter this weekend, I hope you have a wonderful day tomorrow, and I hope you make these egg nests!
Either way, these are a win-win: adorable, delicious, easy to make with only TWO INGREDIENTS (!!!), and best of all, very healthy. They’re paleo/whole30 compliant, gluten free, dairy free, vegetarian, and a great way to eat some veggies in the morning. Or in the evening- this is great for an easy, cheap dinner as well.
I recently have become the proud owner of my very own spiralizer and I’ve been using it SO much. If you don’t know what a spiralizer is, here’s a basic rundown. You put a veggie in it, turn a crank, and it turns the veggie into these wonderful noodle shaped slices. It’s become very popular with the grain free movement as an alternative to traditional pasta: you can spiralize zucchini, sweet potatoes, carrots, etc. and use them in place of pasta in almost any dish! I absolutely recommend getting one.
The spiralized sweet potatoes create an awesome texture in this dish, not to mention make the “nest” shapes for which this recipe is named. Some parts get super crispy, and some parts stay soft. Each bite has a bit of a crunch to it- kind of like curly fries or hash browns. But if you don’t have a spiralizer, don’t worry- you can still make this recipe. Just use diced sweet potatoes instead.
The other part of this that makes it so adorable? Individual miniature cast iron skillets. I bought these on a whim once thinking that they were cute but I probably would never use them. WRONG. I use them all the time!
They’re the perfect size for an individual meal (such as baked gnocchi), and the ultimate oven-to-table serving ware. Zach and I eat directly out of them, which is advantageous in two ways: 1) fewer dishes to wash (yay!), and 2) the cast iron keeps the food nice and hot while you are eating it.
Just be careful not to accidentally touch the pans while eating- they stay hot for a very long time! Handle covers help with this danger immensely.
If you don’t have small cast iron skillets, you can use a larger skillet or baking dish to make this as well. The result won’t be as “nest” shaped, but it will still be delicious.
So, here’s what to do.
All you need are sweet potatoes and eggs!! Plus olive oil, salt, and pepper, and some green onions for garnish if you want.
It couldn’t be easier. Just roast the sweet potatoes until they start to get crispy with olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste, then create a well in the middle of the potatoes with a wooden spoon (if you are using a large baking dish/skillet, just create wells throughout the potatoes for however many eggs you want to use). Crack an egg in the middle of each well, and back in the oven for about 7 minutes. Done!
Told you it was easy.
And it’s totally flexible. You can make this with really any veggie you want. Zucchini, squash, white potatoes, carrots… so many possibilities! Spice it up with crushed red pepper, cumin, fresh herbs, etc. It’s one of those meals that you really can’t mess up.
You may also like these Bird’s Next Potato and Egg Cups. Recipe below- enjoy! And Happy Easter!
Baked Egg and Sweet Potato Nests
Equipment
- Small cast iron skillets
Ingredients
- 1 sweet potato spiralized (or diced)
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- kosher salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
- 2 eggs
- chopped green onions for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Place sweet potatoes in individual skillets or a larger skillet/baking dish and mix with olive oil (2 tablespoons), salt, and pepper.
- Roast for approximately 30 minutes, until starting to get crispy and browned.
- Remove from oven and, using a wooden spoon, make small wells in the center of the potatoes.
- Crack an egg into each well.
- Bake for an additional 5-7 minutes, or until egg is cooked to desired doneness.
- Serve sprinkled with more salt and pepper and sliced green onions.
Notes
- The provided nutrition information does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. Feel free to calculate it yourself using this calculator or by adding the recipe to Yummly.
Nutrition
Nutrition Information Disclaimer
The provided nutrition information is my best estimate and reflects one serving of the recipe (total servings indicated at top of recipe card). It does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. I use an automatic API to calculate this information. Feel free to calculate it yourself using one of these tools:
Carl frost
Absolutely gorgeous will be making again
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Gabriella
Delicious easy lunch! Don’t have a spiralizer, so just diced the sweet potatoes! The timing was right for the potatoes, but my egg only needed 3 mins. 10/10 would make again!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it, and glad it worked well with dicing the sweet potatoes!
Sandy
This is the first recipe I tried after getting my spiralizer and man it was a winner. I loved it! The crunch of the tops of the sweet potatoes adds just the right texture to the dish. But you do have to watch closely once they begin to brown, they are done fast. Now I have no regrets for getting the spiralizer, even if this is only dish I make.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it! If you like cucumbers, I also have a spiralized cucumber salad that’s delicious- https://www.bowlofdelicious.com/sesame-cucumber-spiralized-salad/
Leticia E Moran
So this was amazing! But the potatoes burnt. It still tasted delicious, but I definitely recommend that you check on the potatoes while they are roasting about half way through the time.
Elizabeth Lindemann
Oh no! Sorry to hear the potatoes burned, but really glad you liked it overall :-) Once they start crisping up, things happen quickly, so it’s great advice to check on the potatoes!
Sharina
Omgoodness this was soooo good that I had to make it again for lunch! Definitely adding to my list of favs!
Elizabeth
So glad you liked it!! Thanks for the comment :-)
Rick Hall
I just made this for dinner tonight. So good! I added Tobasco at the end
Elizabeth
Yum- love the idea of adding tabasco! So happy you liked it!
Jean Jagodzinski
Neve thought of spiralizing sweet potatoes. I love sweet potatoes with eggs!
Elizabeth
Sweet potatoes + eggs are a match made in heaven! I love spiralizing sweet potatoes- they hold up really well since they are less watery than something like zucchini.
Shelly
Wow this looks delicious! I love sweet potatoes and these spiralized sweet potatoes look extra yummy! I think this is the recipe to make me finally take my spiralizer out of the box and give it a go.
Thanks for another great recipe!