Country Eggs Benedict

My Country Eggs Benedict is a somewhat more homespun version of the classic recipe. Use your leftover Easter ham along with roasted asparagus, an easy hollandaise sauce, and over-easy fried eggs to make this mouth watering brunch or luncheon dish!

I’ve never really known what to call this recipe. In concept, it’s Eggs Benedict. But in application, it’s not nearly so refined as that classic dish.

Where Eggs Benedict uses a beautifully toasted and buttered English muffin, I use whole grain toast. And where the classic calls for Canadian bacon and a poached egg, I use leftover ham and an over-easy fried egg. Oh, and I also add roasted asparagus.

So, since my ingredients are a little more, shall we say ‘homespun,’ I decided that Country Eggs Benedict would be just the right description of this gem of a recipe.

I make this recipe whenever I have leftover ham and roasted asparagus, two items that are nearly always on our Easter menu. You can probably make this from your Easter leftovers, too, and it’s great for either breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner. That’s what I call versatile! Add a glass of crisp, white wine and a lovely fresh Spring salad and you have a delightful meal.

Why This Recipe Works

• It uses leftovers from the traditional Easter meal.
• The salty ham, creamy hollandaise, and fried eggs are perfect flavor counterpoints.
• Great for breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner.

Ingredients You’ll Need

For the asparagus:

• Fresh asparagus (if you don’t have it leftover, it will take just a few minutes to roast while you make the sauce and eggs; I’ll explain in the recipe directions below.)
• Olive oil, salt, and pepper (for roasting and flavoring the asparagus)

For the sauce:

• Eggs (the main component of any hollandaise)
• Lemon juice, butter,  chives and parsley (classic flavoring and emulsifying elements for this sauce)

For the eggs:

• Eggs, butter, and oil (we’ll be frying them over-easy)

To assemble:

• Whole grain bread, toasted (the base that the ingredients sit on)
• Ham (use any type of ham you like; I typically serve a baked ham for Easter and would use some of the leftovers from that)

How to Make Country Eggs Benedict

Hopefully, you’ll have some leftover roasted asparagus from Easter dinner. If so, reheat it for a few minutes in the microwave or on the stovetop and hold it to the side for when you’re ready to assemble everything.

Roast the Asparagus

If you don’t have leftover asparagus, it only takes a few minutes to prepare. Preheat your oven to 425. Trim the asparagus spears if needed. Place them on a baking sheet and drizzle over the olive oil. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Pop the baking sheet into the oven and let it cook while you get on with the rest of the recipe.

Make the Hollandaise

For this dish, I make an herbed hollandaise sauce using a tried and true hollandaise recipe from my 1975 edition of the Betty Crocker Cookbook. It turns out perfectly every time and is very easy to make. Here’s how you do it.

Place three egg yolks in a medium saucepan with the lemon juice. Whisk the yolks and lemon together briskly. Add ¼ cup of butter, cut into pieces. Cook the mixture stirring all the while over very low heat.

Note: When I say “very low” I mean the lowest possible heat on your stove. Cooking over low heat will give the egg yolks time to cook without curdling.

When the first ¼ cup butter is completely melted add the remaining butter and continue whisking until all the butter melts and the sauce thickens. Stir in the chives and parsley. Set the sauce aside over the lowest heat possible while you continue with the recipe.

Toast the Bread

Toast the bread either in a pop-up toaster, toaster oven, or under the broiler in your oven. Cut the crusts off of the toasted bread.

Cook the Eggs

In a non-stick skillet over medium heat, melt half the butter and canola oil. Add three of the eggs and cook until the whites are cooked through but the yolks are still runny. Repeat with remaining butter, oil, and eggs.

Assembly

For each serving, place one slice of toast on the plate. Top with a slice of cooked ham, several asparagus spears, and a fried egg.

Drizzle with a generous amount of the herbed hollandaise sauce and sprinkle with additional chives or parsley.

Recipe Tips

• There are a lot of little, separate steps in making this recipe, but it’s not difficult. Be sure to read all the way through and assemble your ingredients before starting. 
• Cooking fried eggs is as simple as melting some butter and oil, cracking an egg into the pan and letting it sit there until it’s done. To make it even easier, crack each egg individually into a small cup and then slide it from the cup into the pan.
• Cutting the crusts off the toast isn’t absolutely essential but it gives the finished presentation a bit of flair. Don’t throw the crusts away. Keep them in a ziptop bag in the freezer and use them from bread crumbs later.
• Don’t be intimidated by the thought of making Hollandaise sauce. It’s nothing but eggs, butter, lemon juice, and a few herbs cooked together. Follow my easy recipe and you’ll have a delicious sauce!

FAQs

🧾 More Recipes You’ll Like

• Creamed Mushrooms with Poached Eggs
• Eggs in Purgatory
• Alpine Eggs
• Deviled Eggs
• Steak and Eggs
• Classic Deviled Eggs

More Questions? I’m happy to help!

If you have more questions about the recipe, or if you’ve made it and would like to leave a comment, scroll down to leave your thoughts, questions, and/or rating!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Recipe

Country Eggs Benedict

Use your leftover Easter ham with asparagus, Hollandaise, and over-easy eggs to make Country Eggs Benedict for brunch, lunch, or dinner!

5 from 6 votes

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Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes minutes

Servings: 6 servings

Calories: 470kcal

Author: Lana Stuart

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Ingredients

For the asparagus:

• ▢ 1 bunch fresh asparagus
• ▢ 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ▢ Salt and pepper

For the eggs:

• ▢ 6 eggs
• ▢ 2 tablespoons butter
• ▢ 2 tablespoons canola oil

For the sauce:

• ▢ 3 egg yolks
• ▢ 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• ▢ ½ cup firm butter
• ▢ 1 teaspoon snipped chives
• ▢ 1 teaspoon finely chopped parsley

For Assembly:

• ▢ 6 slices whole grain or whole wheat bread toasted
• ▢ 6 slices cooked ham
• ▢ Additional chopped chives and/or parsley for serving.

Instructions

Roast the asparagus:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
• Trim any tough ends from the asparagus and place in a single layer on a baking sheet.
• Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roll or toss the asparagus to evenly distribute the oil over all the spears.
• Cook for approximately 20 minutes. Exact cooking time will depend on the thickness of the spears. Start checking after about 15 minutes and use your own judgment as to when the spears are done.
• Remove from the oven and set aside.

Prepare the hollandaise sauce:

• Place the egg yolks and lemon juice in a medium saucepan and stir with a wire whisk.
• Add half the butter. Heat over very low heat, whisking constantly until the butter has melted.
• Add the remaining butter and continue whisking until the butter is melted and the sauce thickens.
• When the sauce has thickened, stir in the chives and parsley. Keep over very low heat.
• Toast the bread, remove the crusts and set aside.

Prepare the eggs:

• In a medium non-stick skillet over medium heat, melt half the butter and half the canola oil. Add three of the eggs and cook until whites are cooked through but yolks are still runny.
• Repeat with remaining butter, oil, and eggs.

Assembly:

• For each serving, place one slice of toast on the plate. Top with a slice of cooked ham, several asparagus spears and a fried egg. Drizzle with a generous amount of the herbed hollandaise sauce and sprinkle with additional chives or parsley.

Notes

Tips and FAQs

• Where the recipe says “very low,”  it means the lowest possible heat on your stove. Cooking over low heat will give the egg yolks time to cook without curdling.
• There are a lot of little, separate steps in making this recipe, but it’s not difficult. Be sure to read all the way through and assemble your ingredients before starting.
• Cooking fried eggs is as simple as melting some butter and oil, cracking an egg into the pan and letting it sit there until it’s done. To make it even easier, crack each egg individually into a small cup and then slide it from the cup into the pan.
• Cutting the crusts off the toast isn’t absolutely essential but it gives the finished presentation a bit of flair. Don’t throw the crusts away. Keep them in a ziptop bag in the freezer and use them from bread crumbs later.
• Don’t be intimidated by the thought of making hollandaise sauce. It’s nothing but eggs, butter, lemon juice, and a few herbs cooked together. Follow my easy recipe and you’ll have a delicious sauce!

What size eggs do you use? In all my recipes, I use large eggs unless specified otherwise.

I don’t like runny eggs. Can I cook mine longer? Of course. You can cook your eggs any way you like. You could even substitute in scrambled eggs.

What about the bread? Any suggestions for substitutes? Yep. Use any kind of bread under the sun that you like. You can even use the leftover dinner rolls from Easter. Or that loaf of pumpernickel and rye that’s lurking in the back of the freezer. Anything at all.

My family just doesn’t like asparagus. Any suggestions? Roasted broccoli, roasted cauliflower, even roasted zucchini would be delicious. Or just simply leave that part of the recipe out.

Nutrition Information

Serving 1 | Calories 470kcal | Carbohydrates 15g | Protein 18g | Fat 38g | Saturated Fat 16g | Trans Fat 1g | Cholesterol 332mg | Sodium 672mg | Potassium 379mg | Fiber 3g | Sugar 3g | Vitamin A 1533IU | Vitamin C 12mg | Calcium 92mg | Iron 4mg

Nutrition information is calculated by software based on the ingredients in each recipe. It is an estimate only and is provided for informational purposes. You should consult your healthcare provider or a registered dietitian if precise nutrition calculations are needed for health reasons.

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