This gluten free frittata is filled with loads of nourishment from the large amounts of greens, including broccoli and spinach, to the high quality protein in the eggs, milk, and cheese. It is also filled with lots of flavor from the caramelized onions and cheesy goodness. This is such a balanced meal that can be served throughout the week, on the weekends for a special Saturday brunch, or at breakfast for dinner with friends.
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I stumbled across this delicious recipe from Cookie & Kate as I was searching for a star of the show for my breakfast for dinner that we were having with friends! I paired it with my Protein Banana Bread.
What Is Gluten Free Frittata?
Isn’t a frittata a quiche? Wait, is a quiche a frittata? Wait, maybe they are the same thing with two different fancy names. The truth is, a quiche is usually creamier and custard-like and will almost always be paired with a crust. Quiche and crust go together like peanut butter and jelly. Whereas, a frittata is less creamy and does not have a crust. We are parking in the frittata camp for this gluten free frittata! And, since it doesn’t have a crust we don’t have much to worry about when it comes to gluten free! Let’s jump right in.
What is a gluten free frittata like?
Now that we have semi-discussed what frittata is, let’s talk about what else is in a frittata. Obviously, I’m sure you guessed that eggs are the star of the show. A frittata is similar to an omelet in texture, concept, and taste. But it is made in a dish and feeds more than a simple omelet. In order to give you an idea of the taste of a gluten free frittata, other ingredients include: milk, garlic, cheese, onion, broccoli, and spinach. There are a few other ingredients that will be mentioned in the full ingredients list below. But I wanted to give you a glimpse of the simple deliciousness you are getting into with this gluten free frittata.
Ingredients
- Eggs – Vital Farms
- Milk – Organic
- Garlic
- Salt
- Pepper
- Cheddar Cheese – Organic
- Yellow onion
- Water
- Broccoli florets
- Baby spinach – Organic
- Green onions
See recipe card for quantities.
Choosing High Quality Ingredients For Your Gluten Free Frittata
If y’all know me, you know I like to choose the highest quality ingredients. Every time I eat is a sacred moment to enjoy the blessings placed in front of me and to see as a moment that I can fill my body with healing nutrients. Let’s talk about choosing the highest quality ingredients so that you can nourish your body, as well. I am only going to discuss the major ingredients in this recipe such as: eggs, milk, spinach, broccoli, cheese, and avocado oil.
Dirty Dozen For Choosing Quality Gluten Free Frittata Ingredients
There is something called the Dirty Dozen presented by the Environmental Working Group. This is a helpful list for understanding what should absolutely be purchased organic and which items you can buy non-organic to save an extra penny! The Clean 15 is a list that will show you what you can get away with and what does not necessarily have to be organic.
Spinach Should Always Be Organic
Spinach is on the Dirty Dozen list, meaning that if possible you should purchase this item organic. Spinach is loaded with pesticides. Pesticides are pretty harmful for the body. So, if you can get organic spinach for the gluten free frittata recipe, make sure to do that.
Broccoli
Broccoli is neither Clean 15, nor Dirty Dozen. I always choose organic when I can, but this is one of those with a little leeway.
Milk, Cheese, & Eggs
I like organic, grass-fed, and pasture raised as quick guidelines. This means that the animals are going to live in environments where they are free to roam and well cared for which is better for them and for us. When they are nourished and cared for, we are better nourished from their product. Here are some brands I recommend:
Eggs: Vital Farms
Cheese: Organic Valley
Milk: Organic Valley Grass-Fed Milk
Avocado Oil
The reason I am mentioning oil is because of smoke temp, something we don’t talk about enough. We have been told to eat lots of olive oil – which is good. But, it is only good when it is used as a finishing oil or in very lightly heated cooking. When olive oil is used to cook at higher temperatures, it can quickly break down and turn into a trans fat. Trans fat is so toxic that it has now been banned for use in the United States. Avocado oil has a much higher smoke point at 520 degrees fahrenheit.
Instructions
Use this step by step process for help making gluten free frittata!
Preheat the oven to 425°F & prepare all ingredients as shown on the recipe card below.
Using a large bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, ¼ teaspoon of salt, cracked pepper, and half of the cheese.
Heat a 10 inch cast iron skillet using avocado oil or another cooking oil (olive oil is not necessarily the best cooking oil. It’s healthier when used as a finishing oil. I wrote about this above). Add diced onions and stir until oil covers the onions. Stir frequently and cook until the onion is translucent and tender.
Add broccoli florets and water. Cover with a lid or sheet pan and cook for 2-3 minutes. The broccoli should be bright green and tender.
Uncover the skillet and add chopped spinach, garlic, green onion, and remaining salt. Stir until spinach has wilted. This does not take long, so keep watch!
Evenly spread and disperse the mixture across the base of the skillet.
Whisk the egg mixture again and pour over the greens mixture into the skillet.
Top the egg mixture with the remaining cheese.
Cook until you jiggle the pan and see that the middle of the egg is just barely set (12-15 minutes). When my frittata was done it had a nice big golden bubble on the top!
Slicing: See slicing methods above under Slicing – Reheat frittata using the same cast iron.
Reheating: I actually made this gluten free frittata the morning of a breakfast for dinner with friends. Once the skillet cooled, I chilled it in the refrigerator until I was ready to reheat it for dinner. I heated it on 350 for about 10 minutes. Make sure to keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn!
Substitutions
Dairy Free: To make this recipe dairy free, choose to omit the cheese or go for a vegan cheese (encourage against this option as vegan cheeses can have undesirable ingredients).
Check out the Bobby Approved App by Bobby Parrish. He created an amazing app for checking ingredients in His favorite place – the grocery store. His app is programmed with his stamp of approval on almost anything you might find in the grocery store that you want to know if it is made with clean ingredients.
Broccoli – exchange with chopped asparagus.
Spinach – can be exchanged with chopped chard or kale.
Variations
This gluten free frittata is highly versatile! There are so many delicious additions or variations that can be made. A good rule of thumb in order to keep ratios tasty, simply exchange equal parts veggies (spinach/broccoli) for equal parts other veggies. You might like to try any veggies from this list:
- Baby bella mushrooms (diced)
- Green bell peppers (diced)
- Grape tomatoes (also think about adding in some dollops of your favorite pesto)
Other Important Details
When To Serve Frittata
For temperature – serve right away.
Gluten free frittata is such a scrumptious choice for any meal or filling snack for that matter. But it is especially delightful to use as a breakfast item. This does not only mean when you are rushing off to work – though the gluten free frittata does make well, keeps in the refrigerator, and can be reheated! But you might enjoy this meal most over brunch with the ladies, breakfast for dinner with friends, or for a special Saturday breakfast item for family time.
Cookware for Gluten Free Frittata
I like to make gluten free frittata in a 10 inch cast iron skillet. However, you can also use a 10 inch pie dish or another circular dish. If you are okay with making a frittata that is shaped like a square, you can also choose to use a 8-10 inch square baking dish. This will work nicely as well as it will also help you to cut frittata squares easier.
Storage
Store for 3-4 days in the refrigerator – well covered! See reheating above!
All Credit Due
All credit is due to Cookie & Kate. This is a version of her Broccoli, Cheddar, and Spinach Frittata and wanted to also share it with the world. Thank you Kate!
Top tip
Don’t be scared! Make it beforehand and reheat it later!
FAQ
This gluten free frittata should be safely removed from the oven before it is “just set”. That means there will be the slightest amount of jiggle in the center. But, eggs cook very quickly so the heat that remains in the gluten free frittata will help the frittata cook the rest of the way through. After about 5 minutes, there will be no more jiggling in the center. If it seems to not be done all the way through after 5 minutes, you may have removed the gluten free frittata too soon.
Any circular dish: The gluten free frittata is best cut into 6 slices. Simply cut the frittata down the middle vertically, cut it down the middle horizontally. Then cut an “x” beginning from the top left hand corner to the bottom right hand corner. Finish the “x” from the top right hand corner and continue cutting to the bottom left hand corner.
Square dish: Begin cutting every 2-2.5 inches depending on if your dish is 8-10 inches. Make vertical cuts all the way from the left to the right. Then do this again horizontally. You should have squares of frittata when you are finished cutting.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Pairing
These are my favorite dishes to serve with [this recipe]:
Gluten Free Frittata
Equipment
- 1 cast iron skillet 10 inch
Ingredients
- 8 eggs cracked
- ½ cup milk grass fed, organic
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 5 twists ground pepper
- 1 cup organic shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil or other cooking oil
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- ⅓ cup filtered water
- 2 cups broccoli florets copped very small
- 2 cups organic baby spinach chopped
- ⅓ cup green onions thinly sliced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 °F & prepare all ingredients.
- Using a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, ¼ teaspoon of salt, cracked pepper, and ½ cup of cheese.
- Heat a 10 inch cast iron skillet using avocado oil or other cooking oil (olive oil is not necessarily an ideal cooking oil). Add diced onions and stir until oil covers the onions. Stir frequently and cook until the onion is translucent and tender.
- Add broccoli florets and water. Cover with a lid or sheet pan and cook for 2-3 minutes. The broccoli should be bright green and tender.
- Uncover the skillet and add chopped spinach, garlic, green onion, and remaining salt. Stir until spinach has wilted. This does not take long.
- Evenly spread and disperse the mixture across the base of the skillet.
- Whisk the egg mixture again and pour over the greens mixture into the skillet.
- Top the egg mixture with the remaining cheese.
- Cook until you jiggle the pan and see that the middle of the egg is just barely set (12-15 minutes). When my frittata was done it had a nice big golden bubble on the top!
- Let the frittata sit for 5-10 minutes. But don’t let it get cold! Frittata is best eaten right away, though it does keep quite swimmingly in the refrigerator!
Notes
Food safety
- Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
- Wash hands after touching raw egg
- Don’t leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
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