20 Frittata and Strata Recipes Just Right for Brunch or Dinner

Yunhee Kim

Whether you have the time to plan ahead or prefer to improvise on the spot, frittatas and stratas are a two delicious categories of egg dishes that will meet the moment.

Start Slideshow

1 of 20

Bryan Gardner

What unites the delicious frittata and it's bready casserole counterpart, the strata, is the mighty egg. Both stratas and frittatas are incredibly versatile dishes, and we think they're just the thing for breakfast, brunch, or even dinner.

You've likely heard of a frittata, and while everyone has their favorite recipe, we think the perfect rendition is one with zucchini and provolone, as shown here. Whatever ingredients you choose, every frittata is a dish of Italian origins that resembles a round, open-faced omelet or crustless quiche. The frittata is the ultimate "everything but the kitchen sink" recipe, where eggs and the various nubs of cheese and ends of veggies or meat are all you need to make something fabulous. Frittatas also make a mighty fine blank canvas for displaying beautiful in-season produce all year round, be it sliced heirloom tomatoes or earthy sautéed mushrooms.

While not as quick as an egg scramble, frittatas still come together quite fast for those occasions where you're wanting something prettier and sliceable. If you have eggs, 20 minutes, and a good nonstick skillet, then you can have an easy and delicious lunch or dinner using nothing but leftovers and forgotten produce!

Where a frittata is the last-minute hero of mealtime, a strata could be more aptly described as the calculated general. Right at home in the casserole family, a strata at its simplest is a mixture of stale bread, eggs, and cheese, though we like to think of that as a starting point—mix-ins like crumbled sausage or bacon, sautéed greens, and leftover cooked veggies like mushrooms will make wonderful additions and help add interest and texture.

Stratas are a natural candidate for assembling the night before—the more time you give the egg mixture to soak into the bread, the more custard-like the final texture will turn out. Then, come morning, all you'll need to do is turn your oven on and bake it, making stratas the perfect anchor dish for an easy brunch or for a holiday morning. A bonus: Because stratas are so dense, they will stay warm on the counter for at least an hour, so they're great to put out for guests who prefer to graze.

So, whether you flip through this collection of recipes and get inspired to make an elegant frittata for lunch, or you're finally ready to put that old baguette in your freezer to use in a strata, learn to speak their language by following a few of these recipes at first, then forge your own path with whatever ingredients you have on hand.

Account

More

20 Frittata and Strata Recipes Just Right for Brunch or Dinner

1 of 20

1 of 20

2 of 20

Vegetable Frittata with Roasted Potatoes and Garlic

2 of 20

3 of 20

Spinach-Bacon Frittata

3 of 20

4 of 20

French Toast Bread Pudding

4 of 20

5 of 20

Blistered Green-Bean and Corn Frittata

5 of 20

6 of 20

Ham, Zucchini, and Gruyere Frittata

6 of 20

7 of 20

Swiss Chard Frittata with Rye Berries

7 of 20

8 of 20

Jewish Deli Strata

8 of 20

9 of 20

Spinach Frittata Bites

9 of 20

10 of 20

Ham and Cheese Strata

10 of 20

11 of 20

Mushroom and Scallion Frittata

11 of 20

12 of 20

Pasta and Cheese Frittata

12 of 20

13 of 20

Pizza Frittata

13 of 20

14 of 20

Spinach and Cheddar Strata

14 of 20

15 of 20

Frittata Hash Sandwich

15 of 20

16 of 20

Tomato Pesto Frittata

16 of 20

17 of 20

Sausage and Swiss Chard Strata

17 of 20

18 of 20

Mushroom, Cheddar, and Toast Frittata

18 of 20

19 of 20

Mexican Frittata

19 of 20

20 of 20

Spinach and Fontina Strata

20 of 20

Share the Gallery

Up Next

Share the Gallery