Egg Strata Is The Simple Brunch Staple That Will Impress Your Guests

Weekend brunch is one of life's little luxuries: you get to relax over a meal while enjoying good company or some leisurely reading time. And when you're done, you still have most of the day ahead of you. The pleasure is real, but so is the hosting challenge: How do you make something delicious and memorable that also allows you to enjoy the experience along with your guests — and, ideally, leaves a little room for dessert?

Enter the egg strata. 

The beauty of the strata is that it combines bread, eggs, cheese, and other customizable ingredients in one dish that serves everyone. Strata takes the simplicity of the one-pot model and brings it to brunch: It bakes up brown and beautiful, ready to be admired. Strata has the richness of a quiche without the fussiness of pastry crust. Since it all cooks in one dish, you get to hang out while it's cooking instead of flipping pancakes or scrambling eggs all morning. A strata can be prepared in advance, but sometimes brunch happens last minute and you need to be ready, quick. Mashed recipe developer Kristen Carli totally understands both the taste requirements and the time challenge — which is why her spinach and mushroom egg strata recipe is so on point. The strata is the brunch dish you've wished for, and this recipe – which combines vitamin-rich spinach, savory mushrooms, and gooey, flavorful white cheddar cheese in a single, thirty-minute dish — is the strata of your dreams. 

Sautéeing the veggies before baking gives a savory depth to the strata without weighing it down, and the white cheddar permeates the dish, adding an additional layor of flavor and an umami-rich dimension.

With a strata, you really need the right ratio, since the balance of wet and dry is critical to ensuring that the egg still cooks through and the bread is moist but not wet (you want some crispy bits). A strata needs flavor without being overly intense, so the right quantities of salt and cheese are essential to giving the bread and egg mixture some oomph without complicating things — brunch is most people's first meal of the day, after all. Since most home chefs aren't excited about testing raw eggs to figure out if they've got it right, a trusted recipe makes a key difference in knowing you've gotten the seasonings right (without having to taste it) before you put the strata in the oven. Recipe developer Kristin Carli has real chops as a nutritionist, giving you extra confidence that the meal is a healthy choice in addition to being delicious. In the unlikely event that you end up with leftovers, Carli says she "recommends storing in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days," and notes that the dish "reheats best in the microwave."

With this strata on your side, weekend brunch is looking better — and easier — than ever.