It’s probably no surprise that if choosing between having brunch at a restaurant or making it at home, I’m squarely on team Brunch At Home, especially when we find a way to pull it off and still sleep in. There’s nothing worse than waiting too long for a table only to be served an overcooked, unseasoned omelet, home fries with those gnarly bits of green pepper in there (I will die on the hill that nobody has ever longed for green peppers in their potatoes), or soggy bacon. Maybe at home imperfections also happen but those imperfections don’t cost $150 for a family of four.
But this doesn’t mean I don’t have a favorite dish to order when we go out for brunch, one I’m generally happy to offload the work of to professionals. Eggs Florentine is wildly less popular than its sibling, Eggs Benedict, but contains most of the same elements — poached eggs, a toasted english muffin, and a buttery hollandaise. However, it swaps the crisped piece of Canadian bacon underneath for a pile of sautéed spinach. To me, it is perfect: My favorite kind of egg, my favorite egg accompaniment (you could say I like spinach and eggs together, just a little), a crisp but unheavy bread foundation, all finished with a gentle cascade of the answer to a question nobody but the French, bless them, would ever ask, “Why don’t we make mayonnaise with butter instead of oil?”
Eggs Florentine at home isn’t exactly a sane undertaking. While it doesn’t take terribly long, it involves two of the tasks many home cooks dread the most: a sauce that requires constant whisking (or blending!) to emulsify and poaching eggs, i.e. dropping an egg in a pot of near-simmering water and not letting it turn into egg drop soup. I know this recipe isn’t for everyone. But if you, like me, love this dish to the moon and back, you deserve to be able to make it at home. And I, a person who doesn’t mind a slightly deranged recipe if it results in the exact thing I’m craving, made exactly the way I love it, want to share this with you. Shall we?
Podcast! The latest episode of my podcast with J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, The Recipe with Kenji and Deb is, fittingly, all about Eggs Benedict. You can listen to it anywhere you get your podcasts and catch up on any episodes you’ve missed right here. New episodes drop every other Monday. I hope you enjoy listening as much as we’re enjoying the conversation.
Eggs Florentine
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, melted but still warm
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 1/2 to 1 tablespoon lemon juice, to taste
- A dash or two of hot sauce, to taste
- 10 ounces baby spinach
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons minced shallot (from 1 small)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 6 large eggs
- A splash of white vinegar
- 3 full English muffins, split into 6 halves
- Additional butter for toasting in the pan
Hollandaise
Spinach
Assembly
*Before you begin, this is the most important thing to check: Is the blade of your upright or immersion blender low enough to the bowl or cup you’re immersing it in that it can pick up just two egg yolks? If not, you’re going to have a very hard time getting the sauce emulsified. Don’t worry, you can still whisk it by hand (next directions).
In an upright blender or a bowl/glass for your immersion blender, blend the yolks at high speed until they’re combined and loosened up. Running the machine the whole time, drizzle in the melted butter a few drops at a time, then a spoonful at a time, and finally in a long, thin stream, until all of it is added. The sauce should have thickened quickly.
Make the hollandaise sauce by hand: Grab a medium-large bowl. I highly recommend placing it on a damp paper towel so that it stays in place while you whisk. Add the egg yolks to the bowl and whisk thoroughly until combined and loosened up. Whisking the whole time, begin drizzling the melted butter in a few drops at a time, then in a very thin stream. You’ll need to whisk the entire time you’re drizzling the butter in, ensuring none is left unmixed/pooling on top. When you’re done, the mixture should be fairly thick.
Finish the hollandaise, both methods: Season with kosher salt and half a tablespoon of lemon juice, then blend or whisk to combine. Taste again and add more salt, remaining lemon juice, and/or a dash or two of hot sauce, to taste. Transfer hollandaise to a bowl and set it aside while you prepare the spinach and eggs. If your kitchen runs cold, rest the bowl of hollandaise inside a larger bowl of lukewarm water.
Prepare the spinach: Put a small puddle of water in the bottom of a large skillet (we’ll use it again to toast the English muffins) and heat it over medium-high. Once the water is simmering, add the spinach and cook it until it is just wilted. Transfer it to a colander and press as much of the excess water out as possible, or you can wring it in fistfuls after it has cooled slightly.
Dry your skillet if it is still wet. Heat 1 tablespoon of butter over medium heat. Add shallots and cook, stirring, until they just turn golden brown at the edges. Return the spinach to the skillet and season to taste with salt and black pepper. Stir into the shallots, warming it. Transfer spinach-shallot mixture to a bowl and set aside.
Poach your eggs: [For more detailed instructions, read How To Poach An Egg, Smitten Kitchen-Style.] Heat a saucepan with a few inches of water in it. Add a splash of white vinegar, if you wish; some find that this helps the egg set. Place your first egg in a small dish; it’s always easier for me to tip the dish into the water vs. cracking the egg right into it. When the water is just below simmering — i.e. you’ll see tiny bubbles across the bottom of the pot but the surface is not bubbling; if your water has begun to simmer, reduce the heat so it stops — use a spoon or utensil to create a gentle whirlpool in the pot. Tip the egg into the whirlpool. Monitor the heat of the pot so that the water doesn’t come to a full simmer or boil. In 3 to 5 minutes, you’ll have a perfectly poached egg. I look for an egg that wobbles, but just a little, when nudged with the spoon. Use a slotted spoon to remove it from the pan; repeat with remaining eggs. If you’re feeling more confident, you can poach two or three a time.
Toast your English muffins: Back in the large skillet you used to cook the spinach, melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium-high heat. Split two of your English muffins open and place them face-down in the pan, letting them cook in the butter until golden brown. Repeat with more butter and remaining English muffins.
At last, assembly time: Arrange bottom half of toasted muffins on a platter and place a small pile of the sautéed spinach on top of each. Add a poached egg and finish with 1 1/2 tablespoons of the hollandaise. Season with salt, pepper, and a dash of hot sauce, if you wish. Finish with top half of toasted English muffin and serve right away. Bask in the glow of your unparalleled cooking skills, and please don’t forget to invite me next time.
Do ahead: If you’d like to poach eggs ahead of time, it totally works. You can rewarm them by gently lowering them into a simmering pot of water for 30 to 60 seconds, or in a bowl of hot water for a couple minutes. Rewarming hollandaise sauce can be done, but it’s trickier because the emulsion can easily break. I like to place the bowl of hollandaise in a large bowl of warm-to-hot (but not steamy) tap water and attempt to whisk every minute or two until it’s loosened and smoothed out. When the water cools, replace it with more warm water.
Previously
6 months ago: Skillet-Baked Macaroni and Cheese
1 year ago: Perfect Blueberry Muffin Loaf
2 years ago: Smashed Chicken Meatball Sliders
3 years ago: Simplest Mushroom Pasta
4 years ago: Classic Shortbread
5 years ago: How I Stock The Smitten Kitchen
6 years ago: Braised Ginger Meatballs in Coconut Broth
7 years ago: Fig Newtons and Crispy Tofu Pad Thai
8 years ago: Granola Bark
9 years ago: Caramelized Brown Sugar Oranges with Yogurt and Potato Pizza, Even Better
10 years ago: Why You Should Always Toast Your Nuts (Please!) and Obsessively Good Avocado-Cucumber Salad
11 years ago: Dark Chocolate Coconut Macaroons and Baked Eggs with Spinach and Mushrooms
12 years ago: Spinach and Smashed Egg Toast and Bee Sting Cake
13 years ago: Over-the-Top Mushroom Quiche and Banana Bread Crepe Cake with Butterscotch
14 years ago: Blackberry and Coconut Macaroon Tart
15 years ago: Baked Kale Chips and Almond Macaroon Torte with Chocolate Frosting
16 years ago: Artichoke-Olive Crostini and Chocolate Caramel Crackers
17 years ago: Spring Panzanella and Lemon Yogurt Anything Cake
18 years ago: Arborio Rice Pudding and Gnocchi with a Grater
I love Eggs Florentine and I’m assuming my bougie toddler will too! I loved the podcast about eggs Benedict and was nodding along in agreement until the egg poaching methods. I used to be a swirler of vinegared water until I learned the Melissa Clark method. Drop the whole egg in boiling water for 10 seconds, lower the water temp, then crack the eggs in to poach.
My comment posted by itself but I want to know how you crack the very hot egg? Do you fish it back out?
You fish it back out and it’s warm to the touch, but I wouldn’t say they’re hot. If it’s too hot to handle there’s no harm in waiting a few minutes. The slotted spoon I use gets hotter than the eggs.
Is that not too hot to handle? I assume not but my mind is boggling…
@ kelly and beth:
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1022828-skillet-poached-eggs
I’ve always given credit to Melissa Clark, but it is Genevieve Ko! I read it while pregnant so mins like a sieve.
Pregnant and was craving this so bad!! Made it (for my dinner..) the day before you posted. Only had two yolks to spare for my hollandaise and so many recipes were using three I had to Google for 2 yolks, gonna be making it again following your instructions TODAY and I’m very excited! :)
Must be low in iron I’m craving sautéed or even just boiled spinach so much
Hollandaise with an immersion blender works fantastic in a pint jar. Use the CI mayo method and put the eggs in, then the blender, pour in all the butter over top and then emulsify.
Your writing & word pictures are divine! Thanks for brightening a cold, dreary NY Tuesday.
I have lactose intolerant relatives. Is it possible to make hollandaise with margarine, or is it hopeless?
Lactose-free butter is now available in some places; I’ve seen it at Whole Foods, for example.
I love basking in the glow of my unparalleled cooking skills-I am especially confident of it’s a smitten kitchen recipe!
🗣️ Red peppers only
Can u develop blender recipe, Deb? I know I made hollandaise in a blender years ago
Yes, the first instructions are for an upright or immersion blender. Just check the distance between the blade and the bowl. I first developed this hollandaise recipe for my first cookbook, The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook. My blender then had no trouble emulsifying two egg yolks. My current Vitamix struggled with it, so I made this by hand.
Good information. I was thinking my Vitamix would be up to the task.
oh my gosh YAY! deb, you read my mind. I *just* learned to poach an egg (at the tender age of 33) and have a farm fresh carton of gorgeous orange-yolked heirloom eggs!
Deb, I’m looking at your Eggs Florentine here and am wondering you’ve ever experienced the joy of Eggs Sardou in New Orleans? It’s an artichoke heart with creamed spinach, poached egg, and hollandaise?
I believe I had it once in New Orleans but found it — shockingly — a bit too rich, a shame as we know how much I love all of those ingredients! I’d be happy for a do-over.
Hi Deb, This post is fascinating. Question – why steam the spinach before sauteing? Seems like an unnecessary step (though I’m one to talk, as I make creamed spinach for eggs Florentine.). And I’ve never seen the dish turned into a sandwich with a lid – typically both halves of the English muffin are dressed with spinach, an egg, and sauce and served open-face. Guess there are lots of ways to make this.
Thanks
I steam it to wilt it — we then need to remove the liquid. But I like to add butter-sautéed shallots, so that comes after. (If before, it would need to be wrung out too, and would lose precious flavor.) Add the greens back is just to combine and rewarm them.
Now that you mention it, I do rarely see it served as a sandwich. I can add a note that you could stretch these 6 english muffins to make 12 egg bases if you double the spinach and eggs.
https://www.amazon.com/Eggssentials-Stainless-Poaching-Poachers-Compatible/dp/B07G821F4Q/ref=asc_df_B07G821F4Q?mcid=e45f1964d2113ec4a7e6f67e69e84816&hvocijid=1172895060635213610-B07G821F4Q-&hvexpln=73&tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=721245378154&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1172895060635213610&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9060351&hvtargid=pla-2281435180218&psc=1
Last time I made this delicious recipe I used this gadget to poach the eggs to perfection and boy what a difference it makes coordinating the elements of the dish. 6 mins-poached perfection!
My parents used to have something like this, and that’s how I learned about poached eggs. If only I had room in my kitchen…
sorry to be ornery on a dreary wednesday morning, but I love green pepper in my diner home fries!
It’s okay; we listen and we don’t judge as the kids say on TikTok. Honestly I was just hoping their defenders would come out of the woodwork and explain it to me, a green pepper ambivalent.
Okay, I can’t resist! The pepper and onion add freshness and variation to the otherwise monotonous potatoes! And green peppers are not too sweet, like red peppers would be. They stay in their savory lane and just give a nice little bit of . . . green taste!*
*not a food writer
I have to chime in and say I would also love some green pepper in home fries! I usually don’t see peppers at diners, but at home I like to cook potato, onion, and green pepper together (so good).
I’ve always been too intimidated to poach eggs, but I find soft boiled to be an excellent substitute! I also love a slice of tomato under the spinach.
I always thought Hollandaise sauce was made over a double boiler rather than off heat like a mayonnaise. Are there multiple ways of doing this or have I just been doing it wrong? (Can attest that even if technically incorrect the double boiler method is still delicious, but it would be great to do something lower effort!)
Your writing is so good. So emotionally intelligent. As a gluten-free vegan, (who still loves food, even though my body does not…), it’s actually the reason I come here, though less often now than I used to. Been reading since the olden days and I love, LOVE seeing your long list of recipes over the years at the end of the post. I began reading long before that list began to be a feature and it blows my mind. Very happy for your success!
I’m a little confused about the number of eggs and English muffins and the assembly. By my count you have 6 eggs and 6 muffin halves, but the recipe says to use two muffin halves per egg “Finish with top half of toasted English muffin”. Is there a second bread free paleo serving of three poached eggs? Or do I need 6 English muffins (12 halves)?
I’m trying to understand the same thing
I’ve never made a full sandwich out of Eggs Florentine! It’s a fork and knife situation, so I would use this to make 6 open face Eggs Florentine.
I made the hollandaise by hand and poached eggs for the first time ever using your excellent detailed instructions. Both turned out great. Delicious dish and while it looked a bit complicated on first glance, it’s really not that difficult or time consuming to whip up (pretty sure it took less than an hour for me).
Make the Hollandaise in the microwave. Super easy and tastes exactly the same. I don’t make it any other way.
Hear me out: after a zillion failures at poaching eggs, I gave up on them–but I have decided I’m making this anyway with a halved jammy boiled egg instead. I’ll report back.
I once felt like you too! Try this method, its changed my egg poaching game.
Really great even with a handful of poaching mishaps. I’ve never had eggs Florentine before — consider me converted.
Looks delicious.