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It’s 6 p.m. and you haven’t thought about dinner yet. Or you’ve thought about it but the ideas aren’t coming. Don’t stress or shell out for Uber Eats just yet.
Even if your fridge is a barren wasteland, you probably have a carton of eggs.
And even as the price of food has gone up in recent months, you can still get a dozen store-brand eggs for just over $2. You will pay more for eggs from free-range chickens or those that eat organic feed.
But they’re still relatively cheap when you consider all that you can make with them.
It’s a shame that most people think of egg dishes as just for breakfast when there are so many delicious ideas suited for dinner that span cuisines and cooking abilities.
Plus, they’re loaded with protein and one large egg is only 75 calories. A diet rich in eggs can help keep your wallet fat and your waistline trim.
Two Dozen Delicious Egg Dishes
From fried to frittata, savory bread pudding to bowls, here are two dozen delicious ways to eat eggs for dinner from a variety of food sites and food writers.
1. Eggs Florentine Grain Bowls with Yogurt Hollandaise
Bowls continue to be a hot trend and they are easy to eat and serve. Eggs Florentine Grain Bowls with Yogurt Hollandaise from Turnip the Oven are barley bowls topped with sautéed spinach, fried eggs and healthy yogurt hollandaise sauce.
Barley is cheap, nutritious and filling, so this dinner will keep you full until breakfast, and maybe beyond.
2. Chili Pasta with a Fried Egg
Simple pantry ingredients are needed for Chili Pasta with a Fried Egg from Sprinkles & Sprouts. Garlic and chili flakes add the flavor to this pappardelle pasta topped with a fried egg.
The magic happens when the yolk breaks and mixes with the garlic oil — you’ll be transported straight to an Italian village.
3. Shakshuka Soup with Swiss Chard
Shakshuka is a traditional Israeli dish of eggs poached in a spicy tomato-pepper sauce, usually topped with a shower of feta cheese and served with fluffy, warm pita. It’s popping up on restaurants menus all over the country.
This version from Turnip the Oven turns it into a soup — Shakshuka Soup with Swiss Chard — that you can make ahead and freeze for up to three months. Just reheat, top with a poached egg and dinner is done.
4. Zucchini and Chive Quiche
Even die-hard carnivores will never miss the meat in Zucchini and Chive Quiche. The crust is made from 100% whole wheat flour, and the filling is loaded up with fresh local veggies and tons of sharp cheddar cheese.
Leftovers are delicious cold for lunch the next day. Thank you, Simple Seasonal.
5. Baked Eggs in Tomatoes with Lentils and Whipped Goat Cheese
Protein-packed, fiber-rich (and incredibly cheap!) lentils get all fancy and French in Baked Eggs in Tomatoes with Lentils and Whipped Goat Cheese. This baked egg dish from Mid-Life Croissant is topped with light and creamy whipped goat cheese.
Check out the video that accompanies the recipe to see how quickly it comes together. Weeknight dinners, for the win!
6. Sheet Pan Eggs
No time for a quiche? No problem. Sheet Pan Eggs from Sweet Peas and Saffron are quick, easy and are a perfect way to use your leftover produce. Make a sheet early in the week and eat your sheet pan eggs on breakfast sandwiches, burritos or just by themselves the rest of the week.
7. Slow-Cooker Ratatouille with Fried Eggs
Got any leftover red wine languishing on your counter? Don’t pour it out!
Throw it in your slow cooker with a bunch of veggies and herbs and make this fragrant, flavorful ratatouille topped with fried eggs. Turnip the Oven’s recipe for Slow-Cooker Ratatouille with Fried Eggs tastes meaty but it’s meatless.
8. Spaghetti Frittata with Turkey Meatballs
Who isn’t bad at eyeballing the right amount of spaghetti to cook?
If you made too much (again!), turn the extra into Spaghetti Frittata with Turkey Meatballs from Turnip in the Oven. This kid-friendly frittata is topped with juicy turkey meatballs and gooey mozzarella cheese. Start it on the stove and finish in the oven to brown and melt the cheese.
9. Literally the Best Egg Salad
Those leftover dyed eggs are good for more than just decorating the inside of your fridge. Use them to make Literally the Best Egg Salad from the Recipe Critic. And the best thing about it?
You can add almost anything to it. Avocados? Yes. Swap that mayo out for Greek yogurt? Do it. Bacon bits? Absolutely. You may have your own variations but this is a good place to start.
10. Bird in a Grilled Cheese Nest
Bird in a Grilled Cheese Nest just might be the ultimate late-night comfort food: a grilled cheese and an egg-in-the-hole in one.
There are times to be healthy and there are times to go for it. This sandwich from Rhubarbarians, with mayonnaise, two kinds of cheese and plenty of butter, is definitely a well-worth-it splurge.
11. Easy Avocado Toast with Egg (Four Ways)
There is no wrong way to enjoy avocado toast, but if you’re not adding an egg to it, it’s just not quite as right as it could be.
Boiled, scrambled, poached or fried, Feel Good Foodie’s Easy Avocado Toast with Egg (Four Ways) is a simple way to upgrade your avo-toast.
12. Bacon Kale and Sweet Potato Hash
Bacon Kale and Sweet Potato Hash is a one-skillet dinner that has only five simple ingredients, and is both waistline- and wallet-friendly. In fact, this recipe from A Saucey is perfect if you are doing a Whole30, an eating regime that focuses on whole and unprocessed foods. Eggs fit that bill.
13. Savory Ham and Cheese Bread Pudding
Transform day-old bread into this luscious Savory Ham and Cheese Bread Pudding powered ham, cheddar, nutmeg and fresh thyme.
You can assemble it in advance and then just pop it in the oven an hour before dinner. This is just one of many breakfast ideas from The Worktop but fans of breakfast for dinner will like it too.
14. Ina Garten’s Fine Herbs Omelet
If you’ve ever seen episodes of the Food Network’s Barefoot Contessa you know that host Ina Garten loves a simple French Omelet. Make her Fine Herbs Omelet and imagine yourself in a Parisian cafe with your own paramour.
Eggs can upgrade any meal, but with this simple, herby omelet, you’ll want them to be the main event. Has Ina ever led us astray before? (Never.)
15. Easy Huevos Rancheros
Get dinner on the table in less than 30 minutes with stove-top Huevos Rancheros from She Wears Many Hats. Many of the ingredients are pantry items, such as canned beans and jarred salsa, and there’s enough leeway to substitute cheeses and even the type or size of tortilla.
Have a ripe avocado on the counter? Slice it and top the egg dish with it. Likewise, use up those last scoops of sour cream.
16. Traditional Egg Drop Soup
Why make Egg Drop Soup at home when you can get it via takeout? Because you can and it’s delicious. The Wok of Life recipe for Egg Drop Soup at home will rival anything you buy out.
It only calls for three eggs and sliced scallion on the top makes a beautiful presentation.
17. Asparagus Frittata with Peas, Mint and Feta
Think of Asparagus Frittata with Peas, Mint and Feta as the perfect dish for spring — bright and fresh.
This recipe from Little Big H is a versatile template and you can use whatever veggies are languishing in your refrigerator.
18. Spring Celebration Salad
Spring is the ultimate cause for celebration after a winter of quarantines and long-distance holiday video calls. Enter the greenest, most gorgeous salad we’ve ever seen from BBC Good Food.
Spring Celebration Salad is topped with a soft boiled egg. That pop of color (and protein) is worth celebrating.
19. Sheet Pan Patty Melts with Egg
So you overestimated how many eggs you would really get to dye this Easter. Fear not. Turn those extra dozen (or two) eggs into breakfast sandwiches for the week.
Tasty’s Sheet Pan Patty Melts With Egg is so easy, the kids can help, too. And, bonus cleanup is a snap.
20. Easy Hollandaise Sauce
The best things in life are free, but the next best things are the things that seem expensive, but are actually cheap, easy and delicious.
All you need to make this Easy Hollandaise Sauce from the Food Network is 10 minutes of cooking time and you’re on your way to the perfect eggs Benedict.
21. Healthy Fried Rice
Easy, versatile, delicious — Healthy Fried Rice from food writer and blogger Elizabeth Rider is the ultimate end-of-week recipe.
Toss your leftover produce in a skillet, season, add rice and then an egg (or three) to finish and you’ve got a balanced, healthy meal everyone will love.
22. Mexican Egg Nachos.
This recipe from My Foodbook had us at Mexican. No, wait, nachos. Mexican Egg Nachos borrows lots of favorite flavors from a much beloved cuisine. It’s not exactly a meal in minutes thanks to a fair amount of prep but it’s worth the effort. Plus, nachos.
23. Breakfast Scramble Stuffed Avocado
Got an avocado toast craving, but short on the toast? No worries, you won’t need it from Breakfast Scramble Stuffed Avocado from Spoon Fork Bacon.
This recipe skips the toast and stuffs a perfect, creamy avocado with warm, fluffy scrambled eggs. It’s the perfect morning comfort food that you can eat after a long day at work.
24. One-Skillet Creamy Chickpeas with Eggs and Prosciutto
One-Skillet Creamy Chickpeas with Eggs and Prosciutto from Bon Appetit is mess-free plus calls for ingredients you probably already have in the fridge and pantry. It can be served as a starter or doubled for a main course.
Lucy Baker and Anna Brugmann are contributors to The Penny Hoarder.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.