5 of 21 votes

Prep time: 5

Cook time: 15

Zoom on an oeuf cocotte or French Baked Egg

Oeuf cocotte is one of my favourite egg dishes to make when I have friends over. It’s usually served as a first course, but I think it’s a great way to wow them with a fancy hotel-style breakfast or brunch.

I decided to use a shallot and mushrooms for the filling of this recipe. The sweet flavor of the shallot will complement the earthy flavors of the mushrooms.

What are Oeufs Cocotte?

Oeufs means eggs and cocotte means enameled cast-iron cooking pot used for braising but it is also the little nickname for a chicken.

The oeufs cocotte is a classic French recipe that is simple and quick to make. It is an individual dish prepared with eggs, crème fraîche, and additional ingredients such as mushrooms, cheese, ham, or herbs.

Top view of four oeufs cocotte or French Baked Eggs

The principle of the preparation consists in breaking one or two eggs in a small ramekin or casserole dish, then adding crème fraîche or cream and ingredients of your choice. The eggs are then cooked in the ramekin or casserole in the oven or in a pan of hot water (bain-marie cooking) until the white is set and the yolk remains runny.

Why I love Oeufs Cocotte

Quick to prepare: This recipe is quick and easy to prepare.
Looks super cute: These French baked eggs look super cute and are sure to impress the guests.
Versatile: You can vary it as much as you want. You can add mushrooms, spinach, asparagus, cherry tomatoes, ham, cheese, goat cheese or even foie gras for a festive meal.

List of ingredients

Eggs: When baking and cooking, picking the right eggs does matter. For example, when baking, use non-prime eggs. Use the finest and freshest eggs you can find when making sauces, puddings, ice cream, and other dishes that call for eggs, such as sunny side up, poached, fried, omelets, hard-boiled, and so on. Eggs from healthy hens are healthier and more nutrient-rich. As opposed to the bright yellow hue of regular eggs, those eggs have a richer, orange tone.
Crème fraîche: Crème fraiche is a French dairy product with min 30% fat. It can be replaced with sour cream or heavy cream.
Mushrooms: I like button mushrooms because it’s easy to find but you can add other types of mushrooms such as chanterelle. You can even replace them with spinach, ham, or cheese.
Chives: Chives gives a nice punch to these baked eggs. It can be replaced with parsley.
Shallot: I love to sauté mushrooms with shallot. You can replace it with a yellow onion or garlic.
Butter: For getting a more rich flavor. I use unsalted butter but salted butter works too!
Olive oil: I prefer using olive oil because it is super healthy and has a nice taste. You may substitute it with any other type of oil like avocado, canola, palm, etc.
Seasoning: Season with salt & black pepper as per your liking.

You will find the exact quantities in the recipe card.

How to make Oeufs Cocotte?

Clean the mushrooms and cut them into strips. Slice the shallot.
Sauté shallots and mushrooms in olive oil. Add butter and season with salt & pepper.
Divide the mushrooms in individual ramekins or casseroles. Add a spoonful of crème fraîche to each ramekin.
Break an egg into each ramekin.
Place ramekins in a water bath and bake in the oven.
Add fresh chives or parsley. Serve and enjoy!

How long do I need to bake oeufs cocotte?

the cooking time depends on how you like your eggs. The egg yolk by oeufs cocotte is supposed to be runny but you can bake it so that it is almost hard. Bake the eggs for:

10-12 minutes: If you want the white to be set but a runny yolk.
13-15 minutes: If you want the white to be set but the egg yolk to be creamy.
15-17 minutes: If you want both the white and egg yolk to be set.

How to serve Oeufs Cocotte?

Oeufs cocotte is often served with toasted bread or mouillettes for dipping in the yolk.

What we call mouillettes are simply slices of bread 1 to 2 cm thick, usually grilled to make them crispy and dipped with eggs whose yolk is still runny.

Variation ideas

You can replace the mushrooms and shallots with the following ingredients.

Spinach and feta: Brown the spinach and add pieces of feta cheese.
Asparagus and parmesan: Pre-cooked white or green asparagus and grated parmesan cheese.
Smoked salmon and dill: Smoked salmon cut into small pieces and dill mixed with cream or crème fraîche.
Ham and Emmental cheese: Small cubes of ham and Emmental cheese
Caramelized onions: Onions caramelized in a pan with sugar or honey

Géraldine’s tips

While breaking the egg into each ramekin be careful not to pierce the yolk.
To avoid cracked yolks I suggest breaking the eggs into a cup or glass first, then carefully transferring them into each ramekin.
These French baked eggs taste the best right from the oven so I don’t suggest making them ahead or storing them in the refrigerator.

Don’t hesitate to leave me a comment, it always makes me happy!

Portrait of Geraldine Leverd, author of La Cuisine de Géraldine, a blog of simple, healthy French recipes.

You can also find me on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok to see behind the scenes of my blog

Don’t hesitate to leave me a comment, it always makes me happy!

You can also find me on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok to see behind the scenes of my blog

Print Recipe