If supermodel and TV personality Chrissy Teigen’s first cookbook left you quite literally hungry for more, you’re in luck — she’s back with her second, appropriately titled “Cravings: Hungry for More.”
But a lot has changed since “Cravings” debuted in 2016. Chrissy and husband John Legend have had two babies — now 2-year-old Luna and 4-month-old Miles — traveled the world, moved homes, and cooked up even more crave-worthy dishes.
In the introduction to her sophomore cookbook, she also opens up about her struggles with postpartum depression. “One of the ways I knew I was healing was that I found my way back into the kitchen,” she writes. “So I hope this book is as stabilizing and filling a force in your life as the making of it was for me.”
And with more than 100 brand-new recipes, you will undoubtedly be full for a very long time. We are most excited to get in the kitchen to make one of her most-buzzed-about recipes: the Everything Bagel Cream Cheese Breakfast Bake. (Maybe only second to her Banana Bread that went viral on Twitter.) We’re planning to pair it with a mimosa or two for a brunch match made in heaven. Is it the weekend yet?
Before you start cooking, there are really only two things Chrissy needs you to know.
When she calls for “kosher salt,” she uses the Diamond Crystal brand. “The other brand, Morton’s, is much saltier, so use less salt — like a full third less — if that’s the brand you have.”
And when she says 1 cup of “finely grated” Parmesan, she means to grate it on a Microplane and lightly pack the shavings into a cup.
Everything Bagel Cream Cheese Breakfast Bake
Serves 8
Active time: 20 minutes
Total time: 1 hour, 35 minutes (plus resting time)
Ingredients:
- 1 pound breakfast sausage links (optional)
- 2 tablespoons butter, plus more for the baking dish
- 1 large onion, thinly sliced
- 1 (10-ounce) package frozen spinach, thawed
- 3-day old everything bagels, halved and cut into big chunks
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
- 1 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
- 1 1/2 cups grated Gruyère or Swiss cheese
- 1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 8 eggs
- 2 cups milk
- 1 cup half-and-half
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 (8-ounce) brick cream cheese, cold, cut into 14 cubes
Directions:
1. Heat a large skillet with a tight-fitting lid over medium heat. Add the sausage, if using, and cook, turning occasionally, until cooked through, about 12 minutes (or according to the directions on the package). Remove the sausage from the skillet, cut into 1-inch lengths, place in a large bowl, and set aside.
2. Melt the butter in the skillet over medium-low heat, then add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly golden and translucent, about 9 minutes. While the onion is cooking, pile the thawed spinach into the center of a big clean kitchen towel and roll up the towel. Over a bowl or the sink, twist the ends toward each other and keep twisting until you wring out as much liquid as humanly possible. (Or make someone else do this.)
3. Transfer the spinach to the bowl with the sausage and add the onion, bagel chunks, tomatoes, basil, Parm, 1 cup each of the Gruyère and cheddar, 1 teaspoon of the salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of the pepper. Toss it all together with your hands or a spoon. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, half-and-half, mustard, cayenne, and the remaining 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper.
4. Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with butter and arrange the bagel mixture into the dish. Pour the egg mixture over the top, pressing down on the bagels so they soak up the liquid. Nestle the cream cheese chunks in all around the pan (they can be peeking out). Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 1/2 hours and up to 12 hours. (The longer you soak, the moister the inside will be.)
5. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
6. Uncover the dish and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup each Gruyère and cheddar. Bake for 15 minutes, reduce the temperature to 350 degrees, and bake until the top is golden and the center is set, 50 minutes to 1 hour.
*If you want to keep this veggie, omit the sausage, increase the butter for sautéing the onions by 1 tablespoon, and add another half of a 10-ounce package of thawed frozen spinach.
While you’re loading up on this blow-your-mind breakfast bake, get to know some of the causes Chrissy actively supports. She and her husband John actively support several organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Time’s Up, Planned Parenthood, and more. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram to learn more about the causes and organizations that are important to her (she regularly shares and has even set up fundraisers with her fans, so you’ll never miss a beat).
Here are some of Chrissy’s Cravings products that we love, and we think you’ll love too:
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Lindsay Roseman, formerly Make It Better Digital Editor, is a Nashville-based writer, editor, and lifestyle blogger. When she’s not blogging about her current favorites on What Lindsay Loves, she’s looking for the best new thing in fashion, beauty, food, and entertainment — or she’s probably running. Other things Lindsay loves: banana lattes and small dogs (she’s a dog mom to @LylaTheCockapoo). Her work has also been published in CS, NS, and Women’s Health magazines. She is a proud supporter of Court Appointed Special Advocates.
