Sheet Pan Eggs Benedict

Hosting brunch for a group of friends can be intimidating when it involves poaching eggs and whisking Hollandaise sauce. Sheet Pan Eggs Benedict streamlines the process so you can enjoy this brunch classic without having to take a Xanax.

Eggs Benedict

Like many famous dishes, Eggs Benedict has a disputed point of origin. Two of the more popular stories involve a restaurant in NYC, a hungry customer, and an eager-to-please chef. The results: a stacked combination of bread, pork product, egg, and Hollandaise.

English muffins, Canadian bacon, and eggs.

Delmonico’s Restaurant, the birthplace of Delmonico’s Steak, Lobster Newberg, and the Wedge Salad, claims that chef Charles Ranofer created the dish in the 1860s at the request of a frequent customer with the last name Benedict. The chef included a recipe for the dish in his 1894 cookbook, The Epicurean.

His cookbook is still in print and available on Amazon.

A competing story takes place in 1894 at the Waldorf Hotel where a hungover patron with the last name Benedict ordered "buttered toast, poached eggs, crisp bacon, and a hooker of hollandaise." Just to clarify, a hooker is a measurement used for liquor and spirits that equals 5 tablespoons. Supposedly Waldorf’s maitre d’hotel Oscar Tschirky, formerly of Delmonico’s, added the dish to the menu where it became a hit.

Split English muffins and Canadian bacon patiently waiting on a sheet pan.

Classic Eggs Benedict consists of split English muffins buttered and toasted. Each muffin is topped with Canadian bacon or ham, a poached egg, and Hollandaise. I know you are thinking this sounds like an Egg McMuffin sans sauce and you aren’t wrong; the concept is the same.

One thing that makes Eggs Benedict so popular is that it is comprised of no-nonsense ingredients executed well. Most everyone can make eggs of some sort, but you must know what you are doing to successfully poach one.

You can poach eggs in a muffin tin in the oven, so don't let anyone tell you any different.

This is also true of Hollandaise sauce.

Hollandaise

Don’t bounce out. I won’t give you a history lesson on the origins of Hollandaise sauce. Suffice it to say that its past is more complicated than that of Eggs Benedict.

The sauce is a creamy, dreamy blend of egg yolks, lemon juice, and butter. Most often it is heated over a double boiler and whisked as it slowly warms into a velvety sauce. Hollandaise sometimes strikes fear in the heart of home cooks because it so easily curdles, or breaks, leaving you with a separated, eggy mess.

This recipe makes things easier by coming together in a blender. Once you get the hang of it, you will want to put it on everything from eggs to fish to veggies. It’s indulgent and delicious.

A spoonful of buttery, lemony, creamy, dreamy Hollandaise sauce.

Lessons Learned

Don’t freak out about the Hollandaise sauce. Yes, it is a prima donna in the sauce world but the blender version makes things easier. Be sure the butter isn’t too hot and add it slowly into the blender to prevent it from splitting into coagulated sadness.
Poached eggs in the oven? Yes, friend. The secret is the water at the bottom of the muffin tin. Depending on how runny you like your eggs, bake them anywhere between 10 to 13 minutes.
If you are a normal person, this recipe serves six. If you are my friend, this recipe serves three. Adjust ingredients accordingly.

Hat Tips

Thanks to Add a Pinch for the easy eggs benedict recipe and Simply Recipes for the easy blender Hollandaise sauce recipe.