Vegan “Eggs” Florentine is my take on a classic brunch recipe. Find out how to make it plant based below.
What is Eggs Florentine?
Eggs Florentine is a vegetarian brunch dish that is made up of a toasted English muffin topped with buttery spinach, poached eggs and hollandaise sauce.
It’s very similar to Eggs Benedict which swaps the spinach for ham or bacon making it a much more meaty affair.
When the word "Florentine" is used in a dishes name it generally means it includes spinach. Though, some variations make more of a distinction between Eggs Benedict and Eggs Florentine by swapping the hollandaise sauce for mornay sauce. Mornay sauce is béchamel sauce with shredded or grated cheese added.
How to make Eggs Florentine vegan
Making Eggs Florentine plant based requires a couple of substitutions.
There are 3 key components in Eggs Florentine that aren’t vegan:
- Buttery sauteed spinach
- Poached eggs
- Hollandaise sauce
I'd also recommend checking whether or not the English Muffins contain milk or butter. This will depend on the brand.
Plant based alternatives to buttery spinach
Sauteing spinach is one of my favourite ways to cook it. To "saute" means to fry quickly in a little hot fat. The fat could be butter or oil. If you were to saute using oil then your spinach would be vegan. But, I like my spinach to be buttery so I use a non-dairy butter alternative.
To saute your spinach simply heat your pan then add the non-dairy butter or oil. The non-dairy butter will melt immediately. Next you add the spinach and stir while it cooks until just wilted. Spinach can be watery if not cooked properly but the high heat and stirring helps any liquid evaporate quickly. You are then left with soft, buttery spinach!
Plant based alternatives to poached eggs
If you've visited the blog before you will probably have come across my big guide to vegan baking where I speak about plant based egg substitutes at length. But, as that post is all about baking they are often substitutes that work better in sweet recipes. For this recipe we want a substitute that is savoury.
I decided against trying to mimic the texture of a poached egg (though silken tofu goes some way to producing a similar consistency). So, for this recipe I’ve focused on flavour instead!
The substitute I've used is smoked tofu. It’s a great way to make this dish full of protein and really filling, exactly what you want in a breakfast/brunch recipe!
This is entirely optional but, I cut the smoked tofu into a round shape using a cookie cutter. This way it stacks perfectly on top of the spinach and muffin.
If you'd like to try a more processed ingredient that is specifically made to mimic eggs, you could make this dish with Crack’d, a very realistic vegan egg replacer. When you whisk it up and fry it its very similar to scrambled eggs. Personally, I prefer the tofu but the choice is yours.
Plant based hollandaise sauce
Once you have toasted your muffin, and topped it with the sauteed spinach and smoked tofu you need to drizzle over hollandaise sauce.
Hollandaise sauce is one of the French “mother sauces” and so, unsurprisingly, it is a very rich sauce made from butter and egg yolks. There are now a number of ready made vegan hollandaise sauces available to buy in UK supermarkets but you can also make your own with my vegan hollandaise recipe.
Whether you choose to make your own or use a store bought version all you need to do is drizzle it over the top of your muffins and enjoy!
Variations
If you want to make your Vegan "Eggs" Florentine with mornay sauce instead of hollandaise sauce, then use my vegan cheese sauce recipe!
The recipe
Vegan "Eggs" Florentine
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 400 grams smoked tofu
- 4 tablespoon non-dairy butter
- 200 grams spinach
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 English Muffins
- 4 tablespoon vegan hollandaise
- 1 tablespoon chives finely chopped
Instructions
- Begin by adding the vegetable oil in a frying pan over a medium high heat.
- Cut the tofu into four round slices and place into the pan. Fry for 3-4 minutes on either side until crispy then place in an oven on low to keep warm.
- In the meantime, add 2 tablespoon of non-dairy butter to the pan along with the spinach. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally or until the spinach is just wilted and buttery. Season lightly with salt and pepper.
- While the spinach cooks, cut each English muffin in half and toast until golden brown.
- Spread with the remaining non-dairy butter and then begin to assemble by adding some of the spinach to each muffin half, a slice of smoked tofu, the vegan hollandaise and then finally the chives.
- Serve while still hot.
Nutrition
More vegan breakfast and brunch recipes
If you like this recipe, then why not try one of my other plant based breakfast and brunch options.
The breakfast recipe archive
For the full range of breakfast recipes, check out the breakfast recipe archive. There's bound to be something you will enjoy.
Are there any other brunch recipes you'd like me to make suitable for a plant based diet? Let me know in the comments below.
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