Learn how to make the best Eggs Benedict with Poached Eggs and easy Hollandaise Sauce on a toasted English muffin. This is a famous American dish and it’s a staple on restaurant breakfast menus. You can absolutely recreate this restaurant classic at home.
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We love special breakfast and brunch recipes from Crepes to tender Omelettes and Fluffy Waffles. If you love special weekend breakfasts this Eggs Benedict is a must-try!
What is an Egg Benedict?
Egg benedict is essentially an open-faced breakfast sandwich. You can change up eggs benedict in many ways but a classic egg benedict starts with a toasted English muffin half, then meat which is usually Canadian bacon, ham, or regular bacon. That is topped with a poached egg, a generous coating of hollandaise sauce, and finished with a sprinkle of cayenne pepper.
It all sounds fancy but each step is relatively simple and you can comfortably crank out 4 eggs benedict all at once.
Ingredients for Eggs Benedict
- Hollandaise Sauce – the traditional eggs benedict sauce
- English Muffins – 2 halved English muffins make 4 eggs benedict
- Unsalted butter – for toasting the English muffins
- Canadian Bacon, or substitute with thinly shaved ham, or Crispy Bacon
- Eggs – use large grade AA eggs and super fresh eggs are best for holding their shape
- Distilled white vinegar – added to the water for poaching eggs
- Cayenne Pepper, to garnish
- Garnish – with Chives or dill
Egg Benedict Variations
- Classic: Ham, egg, and hollandaise
- California: Tomato and avocado, air fryer bacon, egg, and hollandaise
- Sophisticated: smoked salmon, avocado, poached egg, and hollandaise
- Fancy: 3 blanched asparagus spears, poached egg, hollandaise
Pro Tip: If you really want to go all out and impress someone, try Eggs Benedict with Crab Cakes or Salmon Cakes.
How to Make Eggs Benedict
- Make the Hollandaise Sauce: cook according to our hollandaise recipe instructions. Cover to keep warm. Add a little hot water to thin if needed.
- Prep for Poached Eggs: Place a pot of water on the stove for making poached eggs and bring it to barely a simmer.
- Sauté meat: In a large skillet, sauté meat until warm and golden then transfer to a plate, cover to keep warm.
- Toast English muffins: Melt 2 tsp butter on the same skillet and add English muffins cut-side down. Toast until golden brown. Turn off the heat and leave muffins in the pan to keep warm.
- Poach Eggs: Once water is barely simmering, poach 4 eggs according to our easy poached eggs recipe.
- Assemble: Place English muffin halves on serving plates, cut side up, and top with your meat. Place the egg over the meat. Pour the hollandaise sauce over the eggs, sprinkle the top with cayenne pepper and garnish with chives. Serve immediately.
Common Questions
People assume eggs benedict are of French origin because they use Hollandaise Sauce (a popular French sauce), but it actually originated in New York, USA at the Waldorf hotel when a customer requested the combination as a custom order, and the restaurant was so impressed by it, they added it to their menu.
Eggs Florence has a layer of sauteed spinach beneath the poached eggs, but otherwise, they both have a toasted English muffin and are topped with Hollandaise.
This is typically a breakfast or brunch menu item.
You can serve the poached egg without hollandaise and just add a sprinkle of salt, pepper and cayenne pepper. You can also try topping with Salsa, Pico de Gallo, or Adjika.
Make-Ahead
This is really best when enjoyed freshly made. You can cover and keep the Hollandaise sauce warm while you are making the other components of the recipe, but I don’t recommend making these ahead of time.
More Breakfast Recipes
Breakfast is my favorite meal on weekends because those are our ‘days off,’ we aren’t in a hurry and can afford to take a little extra time to make breakfast special. If you love this Eggs Benedict Recipe, then you won’t want to miss these breakfast favorites:
I hope you’re excited to make Eggs Benedict. The combination of poached eggs, warm Canadian bacon, and creamy hollandaise sauce over a buttered and toasted English muffin makes an excellent weekend breakfast.
Eggs Benedict Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 recipe Hollandaise Sauce
- 2 English muffins, halved
- 4 tsp unsalted butter, to toast muffins
- 4 slices Canadian bacon, thin shaved ham, or crispy bacon
- 4 large eggs, for poached eggs
- 1 Tbsp white vinegar for poaching eggs
- cayenne pepper, to garnish
- chives or dill, to garnish
Instructions
- Make the Hollandaise Sauce: combine hollandaise sauce in a small saucepan and cook according to our hollandaise recipe instructions. Cover with lid to keep warm. If it gets too thick, add a teaspoon of hot water at a time to thin it out.
- Prep for Poached Eggs: Place a pot of water with 1 Tbsp vinegar on the stove for making poached eggs and bring it just to a simmer.
- Sauté meat: In a large skillet, sauté your meat until hot and golden then transfer to a plate and cover to keep warm.
- Toast English muffins: Melt 2 tsp butter on the same skillet and add English muffins cut-side down and toast until golden brown. Remove the skillet from the heat, leaving the muffins in the skillet to keep warm.
- Poach Eggs: Once water is barely simmering, poach 4 eggs according to our easy poached eggs recipe.
- Assemble: Place English muffin halves on serving plates cut-side up. Top with your desired meat. Place the egg over the meat. Pour the hollandaise sauce over the eggs, dividing the hollandaise recipe between the 4 eggs. Sprinkle the top with cayenne pepper and garnish with chives. Serve immediately.
Notes
1. California: Tomato and avocado, bacon, poached egg, hollandaise
2. Sophisticated: Lox smoked Salmon, Avocado, poached egg, hollandaise
3. Fancy: 3 blanched asparagus spears, poached egg, hollandaise
Filed Under
So Delicious!! Thank you for this Eggs Benedict recipe! Now the only way I will make this. Thank you
You’re very welcome!
You made this seem easy – which it IS when you know what you’re doing!! Thank you from this grandmother who had never tackled it before. With your poached egg tutorial and some blender hollandaise, it was delicious. Thank you!
Aww! You’re very welcome! Thank you for trying the recipe.
Thanks for sharing this Eggs Benedict recipe! It’s a classic brunch favorite, and your step-by-step instructions make it seem so achievable. Can’t wait to whip this up for a special weekend breakfast. Hollandaise sauce always seemed daunting, but your tips make it less intimidating. Excited to give it a try
I can’t wait for you to try it also, Sadia! I hope you love it.