I love that frittatas can be made with just about anything. As long as you have some fresh eggs and a few vegetables, you can make a frittata. Add some cheese and spices to make things even tastier. This Potato Crusted Spinach Frittata came to me one night when I was trying to come up with a quick dinner. What a fantastic experiment it turned out to be!
My stepdaughter loves all things potato. A few weeks ago I realized we had some leftover frozen hash browns– not enough for everyone to share, but I couldn’t let them go to waste. You all know I love a good breakfast-for-dinner (“brinner”) – and while my family loves my easy scrambled eggs (they are the best!), they’re always game to try something new. Suddenly the idea came to me – potato crusted frittata. It was so easy and such a success that I had to share it here.
This potato-crusted frittata is sort of like my own riff on the Spanish tortilla de patatas… and with Passover right around the corner, it could make a terrific easy mid-week meal.
Every regional cuisine has their own version of this eggy entree, from French omelets to Chinese egg foo yung to Spanish tortillas. The Italian expression “hai fatto una frittata,” which loosely translates to “you’ve made quite a mess,” is fitting given that the only required ingredients are beaten eggs, while the rest can be just about anything in your refrigerator.
In Italian kitchens, cooks will sometimes set aside the leftovers from a big meal to use in a frittata the following day. It’s unclear when the frittata first started making an appearance in Italy, but given that they can be made with simple, inexpensive ingredients, it seems likely that they’ve been around for quite some time.
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Potato Crusted Spinach Frittata
Ingredients
- 1 pound russet potatoes (about 2 medium potatoes), peeled
- 6 eggs
- 1 tablespoon water
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups fresh spinach, roughly chopped
- 1 cup crumbled goat or feta cheese (you can omit the cheese to make this frittata dairy free)
NOTES
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Shred the russet potatoes to fine shreds using a hand grater or a food processor.
- Place the shreds in a bowl and cover with cold water. Let them sit for a few minutes while you prep the other ingredients.
- Beat the eggs with 1 tbsp water, salt and pepper until fluffy. I usually use around ½ tsp salt and ¼ tsp pepper (add less salt if using feta cheese, which is quite salty). Reserve the eggs.
- Place a cast iron skillet on the stove and heat over medium high. While heating, drain the shreds in a colander, then place them in the middle of a clean tea towel.
- Squeeze the shreds in the tea towel to remove excess liquid.
- When the skillet is hot, pour 3 tbsp olive oil into it. It should be hot enough that you’ll see wisps of smoke coming from the surface. Immediately spread out the shreds into the bottom of the skillet, forming an even layer of shreds along the bottom. The shreds will sizzle.
- Cover the skillet with a lid (any pot lid that covers the top will do) and reduce heat to medium. Let the potatoes cook for 2 minutes. Uncover the skillet. Spread out the chopped spinach evenly across the top of the potatoes in a single layer. Recover the skillet for 1 minute longer until the spinach is slightly wilted.
- Uncover the skillet and sprinkle evenly with the crumbled cheese.
- Re-beat the eggs, then pour evenly across the top of the cheese to cover.
- Place the skillet into the preheated oven and let it cook at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center of the skillet comes out clean. Remove the frittata from the oven and let it cool for 5 minutes on the stovetop. Serve. The potatoes will form a golden brown crust on the bottom of each piece of frittata. Delicious!
Nutrition
Agree with you: this kind of dish is so frugal and creative; every time you make it, you discover new flavours. Love your version. Thank you so much !
Hi, I would like to make several of these for Break the Fast. Would they transfer well onto a plate and covered with tinfoil? I would like to make them the day of and only have one skillet.
Exactly what I was looking for, crust-wise this morning! Thank you!
I’m cooking for 26 this year and I have one vegetarian guest. Is it possible to make this dish a day ahead, let it cool in the cast iron pan, cover, refrigerate, then reheat in the pan before serving? Would I reheat in the oven or microwave? If in the oven, at what temp?
Hi Marianne, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. While this dish is best served fresh, it can be reheated in 350 degree oven. Cover completely with foil or parchment and place in the oven for about 20 minutes or until you reach your desired temperature. Be careful not to reheat for too long, as it may cause the potato crust to burn.
Tori, I am happy to discover your recipes. Living in Israel I experiment and create good healthy dishes too. Have also been enjoying Paleo. I live alone so I freeze a lot. I think this one is brilliant with the potato crust and greens. Goat cheese is so yummy too. Understanding spices is an art all by itself. Thank you for your creative delicious creations! I made the pea soup last night and it was great.
Valerie
So happy you’re enjoying the recipes Valerie 🙂
For this Potato Crusted Spinach Frittata recipe, can I use a Pyrex pie plate instead of cast iron pan? How do I modify the method or steps? I only have a Faberware non-stick frying pan but I am not sure if it can go into the oven at 400 degrees. Thanks.
Hi Helen, I don’t recommend using glass for this recipe. If you don’t have a hot pan to start the potato crust, it won’t brown nicely. You could potentially use a metal cake pan, but you would need to preheat it in the oven and then carefully add the oil/potato shreds to get the browning you would from a cast iron. Overall, for this type of recipe cats iron works best… if you can afford one, it’s a terrific tool to have in your kitchen arsenal.
I actually just did a little variation and worked great! I used the regular pan to do the potatoes and spinach and when ready, I moved it into a Pyrex, poured the eggs and feta and baked it! Maybe the bottom wasn’t as crunchy as with the skillet but it came out delicious!! Thank you Tori for the recipe!!
Glad that variation worked well for you Carolina!
Tori you are just too clever! I’m wondering why I’ve never seen this on a breakfast menu in a diner. I just finished having this for dinner. I halved the recipe since it was just me eating. I swapped out asparagus and smoked gouda. Simple and delicious, thank you.
Fabulous! Glad you enjoyed it Marry. It’s true, when it came to me I thought, “this should be in everybody’s recipe box!” It’s great for brinner. 🙂
Would it work to add a half pound of chopped lox to this frittata?
Offhand I’m not sure about the amount (a half pound) but chopped lox are a fine idea! Just eyeball the amount, scatter it across the full frittata, and you might cut the salt a bit since lox are quite salty on their own. Enjoy!
Another great recipe. Thanks. Would you consider formulating a quiche recipe with a potato crust for a future blog? Seems like it would work but not sure of the details ….. what to cook it in and for how long and how to get the crust started so it won’t be soggy.. Hoping you will be interested.. Love your recipes!
Your apple challah is such a hit in my house!! I FedEx it to my kids for the holidays.
I will keep it in mind Jo!
Made a variation of this last night (substitued grated cauliflower for spinach) in a stainless skillet and it came out beautifully! Didn’t want to use my cast iron, as six servings is too much for two people and figured the potato crust wouldn’t be great reheated. Cut the recipe in half, got the skillet up to temperature, and used the full 3 tbsp of olive oil…no stuck potatoes at all, just a tiny bit of stuck eggs at the sides. It was delicious and my husband, who is not a fan of frittatas or breakfast for dinner, loved it. Will definitely make again!