Easy Mini Southwestern Frittatas (Perfect For Easter Brunch!)

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Easter is only a little more then a week away! Easter happens to be one of my favorite holidays: the feeling that spring is nearly here, the flowers sprouting in my garden, a time for fun with the kids and family; and most of all a chance to celebrate our risen Savior. Of course, from a foodie perspective there’s a lot of fun to be had in the form of chocolate, eggs, and fabulous brunch food. I don’t know about you but I’m starting my menu planning. I don’t really serve brunch pretty much any other time of the year. I don’t really know why that’s the case, because I quite like brunch. Either way, I really have fun planning brunch when Easter comes around. 

I feel like an Easter brunch menu can, and should be simpler and lighter then it’s winter counter part (i.e. Christmas brunch). Of course, lighter or not, you still do need to cover all your bases with Easter brunch. Some kind of scrumptious breakfast meat, bacon, sausage, maybe even a ham, is clearly going to be a very important part of the menu, at least at my house. What can I say, my kids ❤️ pork? 

I’m kind of eyeballing this fine looking ham from Dean & Deluca myself… FYI click the photo if you’re feeling the  need to purchase one for yourself. :)

And of course, you need something properly starchy, and preferably at least a little bit sweet on the menu. Think Cinnamon Swirl French Toast Strata, Cornmeal Pancakes drizzled in maple syrup, or… I’m just going to go ahead be shameless about it… danish, Danish, DANISH! ::coughs, embarrassed:: Excuse me, didn’t mean to yell, but, danish! I just can’t restrain my enthusiasm when it comes to danish. Moving on: lets not forget potatoes. One must at the very minimum tip their hat in the direction of potatoes. I’m personally of the opinion brunch isn’t really brunch without potatoes in some form. 

And then there’s eggs. Obviously, an egg dish is usually part of brunch. I’ll be honest. I’m not so much of an egg person anymore. I used to be, but a few years back I ate scrambled eggs for breakfast literally everyday for a year. (Yes, I am aware that’s weird.) It kind of ruined eggs for me for a while. And, while I eat them now, but they need to have some oomph to be worth the trouble. You know what I mean? I usually go the large egg casserole route at Easter, since it can be made ahead and requires little to no tending from me to warm back up and serve. Filled up with lots  of potatoes, some bacon, and plenty of cheese I would say it makes eggs worth eating.

The problem is, over the years, that single egg casserole has turned into 2 or even 3 egg casseroles because each person at my table likes or needs (because of food allergies), completely different things in their eggs. And two or three egg casseroles means waaay too many leftovers that may not ever get eaten. Sadly, I am terrible about leftovers, but I hate wasting food, so I’ve been trying not to end up with so many in the first place. It occurred to me that this year perhaps I should give Mini Frittatas a try, because theoretically I should be able to make one or two batches and customize the individual frittatas for each person. Everyone gets what they need (no cheese for T, no funky veggies for Jer, extra cheese for the hubby…)  but no excessive quantities of leftovers that I won’t finish because I’m busy eating danish. Brilliant right? 

While it doesn’t sound especially Easter-y I’ve decided I will be making Southwestern style Frittatas because, well, they have oomph! Plenty of tender potatoes, plenty of melty cheddar cheese, plenty of chunky tomatoes. Crisp sweet corn and red bell pepper for some variety in texture. Smokey spices, and little bits of Poblano peppers for big flavors. Yeah, thats sounds totally delicious right? But yet it’s totally customizable. Easy enough to put no cheese in Tristan’s and extra cheese in Charlie’s. Yep. It’s Frittatas for the Easter win! 

P.S. These Frittatas taste absolutely amazing when smothered in green chile (pictured below) and I happen to have this amazing recipe right here. 

Easy Mini Southwestern Frittatas– Yields 6 frittatas. (Though recipe doubles, or even triples very well!) Adapted from Mini Frittatas by Giada De Laurentis for Food Network. 

• 1 small to medium sized potato
• 1 cup frozen mixed Southwestern style vegetables (I used a Bird’s Eye mix that has black beans, onion, red bell pepper, poblano pepper, and sweet corn.)
• about 6 tablespoons of your favorite chunky salsa
• 1/3 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 cup half and half
• 1/4 teaspoon each: garlic powder, cumin, and smokey paprika
• a generous grind of sea salt, and black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 375*. Prep a jumbo muffin tin by spraying well with spray oil. Set aside.
2. Peel and wash the potato, then cut into small bite sized cubes.  Place the potato cubes in a microwave safe bowl, fill the bowl with water until the cubes are about half way covered. Cover the bowl with a microwave safe plate and cook the potato in the microwave until just tender, which usually takes about 5-10 minutes depending on your microwave’s settings. After cooking the potato, drain off all the water. Divide the potato into six even portion and place each portion in the bottom of a muffin cup. 
3. Divide the cup of mixed vegetables evenly between the six muffin cups, scoop it on top of the potatoes.  Top the vegetables and potatoes in each cup with about 1 tablespoon of your favorite chunky salsa. Use a spoon to spread the salsa around a little bit if needed. Sprinkle the whole thing with the shredded cheese. 
4. In a small bowl, use a fork or whisk to mix together the 4 eggs, half and half, garlic powder, cumin, paprika, sea salt, and black pepper. Continue mixing for about a minute, or until the eggs have slightly increased in volume. Pour some of the mixture over each of the muffin cups. The cups will be about 1/2 full, and you may see some of the other ingredients peaking out through the eggs. This is ok. 
5. Bake the mini frittatas at 375* for 18-20 minutes, on the center oven rack. The frittatas will be very lightly browned when cooked, and should have no runny egg left.