Puffy Omelet

Puffy Omelet-1-6It has been almost 18 years since I first tried this omelet.

The scene: Dad at home with 5 kids. Mom in the hospital after giving birth to our last sibling. We were all so excited! We were old enough to understand the joy of a new baby and couldn’t wait to bring her home.

The reality: The five children needed to eat and Dad just didn’t really have any cooking experience. Mom’s cookbooks to the rescue. He found a doable recipe, read the instructions on making an omelet and started whisking the ingredients together.

I was almost 10 at that time, and having watched Mom in the kitchen creating delicious masterpieces many, many times, I thought I knew a thing or two about cooking. It was weird enough seeing Dad in the kitchen, but his technique just didn’t look right at all. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings and say something, but I had serious doubts that it would be edible. I had never seen Mom make an omelet in the oven, and frankly, the egg mixture looked WAY too runny. Dad didn’t know any better, he just nonchalantly continued with the recipe instructions.

The verdict: Half an hour later, we were all enjoying a puffy, scrumptious omelet that DID turn out perfectly, much to my  relief.

Give this recipe a try. It couldn’t be any easier, and it tastes like you’re eating a fluffy omelet cloud. I added a bit of toasted breadcrumbs for a crisp texture and parsley for a fresh flavor boost. 

Ingredients:

5 eggs

1 cup milk

salt, pepper

1/2 Tablespoon butter

1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs

1/2 Tablespoon fresh parsley, minced

Instructions:

Puffy Omelet-1Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Use half the butter to grease a 1 qt baking dish.

Toast the bread crumbs in a skillet with the remaining butter until golden brown. Puffy Omelet-1-4Whisk the eggs and milk together and season with salt and pepper. Puffy Omelet-1-2

Puffy Omelet-1-3Pour the egg mixture into the prepared baking dish. Puffy Omelet-1-5Bake the omelet in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes. The omelet will puff up significantly but will deflate a bit when you take it out of the oven. Sprinkle with the toasted breadcrumbs and parsley.Puffy Omelet-1-6

Puffy Omelet
 
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Author:
Serves: 2-3
Ingredients
  • 5 eggs
  • 1 cup milk
  • salt, pepper
  • ½ Tablespoon butter
  • ¼ cup panko breadcrumbs
  • ½ Tablespoon fresh parsley, minced
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Use half the butter to grease a 1 qt baking dish.
  2. Toast the bread crumbs in a skillet with the remaining butter until golden brown. Whisk the eggs and milk together and season with salt and pepper. Pour the egg mixture into the prepared baking dish.
  3. Bake the omelet in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes. The omelet will puff up significantly but will deflate a bit when you take it out of the oven. Sprinkle with the toasted breadcrumbs and parsley.

47 Comments

  • KL

    This looks so good! If I add stuff to the eggs like mushrooms, onions, green pepper, and kalbasa will it still rise?

    • olgak7

      I don’t think the omelet will rise as much and the texture will probably not be as fluffy and tender. I really prefer this omelet to be as simple as possible, so I don’t add anything to it, and I can’t really give you an accurate answer. I do like to add other ingredients to omelet type recipes, just not this one.

  • Alyona

    Oh my looks heavenly too bad I just are breakfast :(, but I will try it on weekend for sure. Thank you for your awesome recipes.

  • Yulia

    It reminds me the taste of Soviet Union kindergarten/ school cafeteria, they all used to make it for kids breakfast, and I loved it! Soviet standart 🙂

  • Julia

    Your dad is awesome. Where there is a will, there is a way! It looks a little bit like a Fritatta I make; I use 8 eggs though and a 9-inch pie plate. I add cheese and sometimes chopped ham or kielbasa. It also puffs up nicely! I like how you add breadcrumbs, might have to try that next time. Looks delicious. We usually have the Fritatta for supper.

    • olgak7

      Frittata is a lot firmer in texture. This omelet is really, REALLY tender and fluffy. It almost makes me think I’m biting into a cloud:). I’m a huge fan of frittatas too. LOVE them, especially with potatoes and other veggies.

  • Oksana

    This is a good omlet. I make a similar one (minus the breadcrumbs, might have to try that one day), I just use a bit less milk and cook it on a skillet, covered, puffs up really nicely. Now I know what I might be making soon, this looks appetizing.
    Another thing my mom used to add is leftover macaroni, usually about a handful, that added a bit of texture and a good way for the macaroni not to be wasted.

    • olgak7

      We make it in the skillet too. I like using the oven because it’s such a hand free approach.
      That’s a great use of leftover macaroni too:). My brother is a huge fan of pan fried macaroni.

  • Anita

    This post made me chuckle! Why is it dads reach for a carton of eggs when the mom is at the hospital with a new baby? My dad cubed bread into scrambled eggs before frying in a skillet and all us kids though it was the best thing ever! :))))

  • Nina

    I don’t know why but my omelet turned out not so perfect like yours. Maybe I should use smaller baking dish or use half and half instead milk. However I was kind of disappointed. But I would leek to try again.
    Sorry Olga, I know how busy you are with your little ones, work and your blog…. but can you give me more tips because I really want to learn making this “Puffy Omelet”

    Thanks much.

  • Mariya

    Olga, do the eggs AND milk have to be in room temperature before u whisk them up?? And do you cover ur omelet with aluminum foil at all?? Cuz my omelet didn’t rise that much, and I had an elevated little “hill” on one side lol 🙂 what did I do wrong? It seems like u really can’t mess up with this recipe, but I guess u can :-/

    • olgak7

      Hi Mariya,
      I don’t think it matters what temperature the eggs and milk are, I’ve done it both ways and didn’t notice any difference. I don’t cover the baking dish with aluminum foil. What size baking dish did you use?

      • Mariya

        I used the smaller one, Not 9×13, but the size down, I think it’s 7×11. Do u think it could be because I used 2 “home eggs” (one guy from our church has chickens so we get the eggs from him sometimes) and 3 store eggs, could that mess something up possibly?? 🙁

        • olgak7

          Sorry, Mariya, but you used the wrong size baking dish. In the recipe instructions, I wrote that you have to use a 1 qt baking dish, which is MUCH smaller than the one that you used. I believe the one that you used is 2 quarts. You can double the recipe and use it in the dish that you used.

          • Mariya

            O, wow so THAT’s what it is!!! Thanx soooo much Olga! I don’t think I saw the size in the instructions 🙁 sorry, and thanx so much again, will defenetly try this recipe again! 🙂

  • Marcella

    Haha cute story. Growing up, my dad was equally as helpless when my mom wasn’t home, but he always went with a classic Hamburger Helper 🙁 🙁 🙁

  • Galina

    Hi, Olya. Just made this omelet. It is delicious! I make the same one but without crumbs. It was a good addition since the omelet is so soft and fluffy. Thank you!

  • Bozhena J

    I grew up in Russia but live in California for the last 20 years now. Your recipes are of my childhood and I love how wonderful and precise they are. I have a cooking group on Facebook mostly of Russian moms who love to cook. We all love your recipes. Today I am making a recipe from your collection “puffy omelet”, I haven’t had that in ages. Thanks for all that you do.

  • natalya

    Olga, I want to try this recipe with an 9×13 baking dish. How many eggs and milk should I use and would it puff up? I need to feed a bigger crowd 🙂

  • Corinne

    Hi Olga! Your puffy omelet looks so good… I know you said in the recipe to use a 1 quart baking dish, but I was wondering, what dimensions/length, width, height are the baking dish you use? I tried making this with an 8 in. by 8 in. square glass baking pan with a height of 2 in. and it must have been too big, because the omelet didn’t puff up much… It turned out more like a custard without the sugar, haha :). Well, the 8 in. by 8 in. and 2 in. tall pan can hold a max of about 7 cups of water, so almost 2 quarts… Do you think a glass loaf pan would work better? I have one that is about 8.5 in. long by about 4.5 in. wide and about 2.5 in. tall… I say “about” because the sides slope outward a bit, but that is also what it says on the pan, along with 1.5 qt. Maybe I should shop for a different pan? I would really appreciate any advice you could give me! 🙂

    • olgak7

      Hi Corinne!
      Yes, this recipe is intended for a small dish. The loaf pan would work. If you’d like to make it in the 8×8 inch baking dish, you will need to double the recipe.

  • Marina E.

    Hey Olga, thank you for posting this recipe, I was looking for this to make for my picky girls. I used to love this when I was a child, so I know they should too!

    • olgak7

      You might have to bake it longer, Yelena. If the omelet is thicker, it usually takes longer to bake through all the way. However, if you double the ingredients but bake it in a larger baking dish, it might take the same amount of time.

  • Mary

    I made the omlet but made a few changes. I added an additional separated egg and whipped that egg ‘white with a mixer until somewhat stiff then added 1/2 cup of almond milk and 1/2 cup half & half to the other eggs, beat till fluffy and added the whipped egg white.. Then folded in some chopped ham, cheddar & fresh parmesan cheese and a little onion. It was fluffy and delish! Loved the toasted bread crumbs on top.

  • Kimm

    I thought it would be useful to say mine came out great! I left off the breadcrumbs, but didn’t change anything else. Took an extra 3-4 minutes in my oven. Puffy and simple.

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