Creamy Ricotta Frittata with Caramelised Onions

One of my favourite things about this dish is that when I say its name in a poor imitation of an American accent, it almost rhymes – ‘ricotta frittata’.

Unfortunately it doesn’t quite give the same effect in my usual English accent, but luckily, the recipe is good enough that I don’t mind a non-rhyming title. This ricotta frittata has a layer of sweet caramelised onions, fresh greens, and plenty of creamy ricotta cheese dolloped on top – it adds such an incredible luxury to the frittata!

If you’re not well versed in egg recipes, frittata is essentially a baked omelette, and it’s the perfect dish to make for brunch or a lazy weekend breakfast – just the thing to bring out in the morning when you have overnight guests! It’s such a simple dish, but it’s always a winner, and I love how customisable it is. You can essentially stick any vegetables you like into a frittata, and it will be awesome.

❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• It’s delicious! The caramelised onions bring so much flavour to the dish, and the ricotta adds definite ‘wow’ factor.
• Frittata isn’t difficult to make, but it’s fancy enough to serve to guests for brunch or a light lunch.
• You can easily adapt this recipe to suit your own preferences – see some ideas below!

🥗 Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe. You’ll also need a few cupboard staples, like oil, salt and pepper. See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.

• eggs
• ricotta cheese
• onions – I used regular brown onions, but shallots, red onions, or even leeks would also be delicious.
• parmesan cheese – make sure you choose a vegetarian one, as ‘real’ parmesan is made with rennet.
• rocket (arugula) – or any similar leafy green, e.g. baby spinach or watercress.
• milk
• dried thyme
• minced garlic – I used the kind from a jar, as it saves a lot of time, and it comes perfectly minced.

🔄 Ingredient Swaps

Feel free to make this recipe your own – it’s really easy to customise.

Here are a few ways you could adapt this recipe:

• Swap the ricotta cheese for dollops of soft goat’s cheese, crumbled feta, torn pieces of brie, or any other favourite soft cheese.
• You can easily add extra veggies to the onion mixture – or swap out the onions entirely! I think Mediterranean-style veg work best for this recipe – peppers, courgette (zucchini), asparagus, etc.
• Leeks are also a great replacement for the onions in this recipe, and they can be cooked more quickly too!
• If you don’t have any rocket (arugula), any similar sort of leafy green will work – like baby spinach, pea shoots, or watercress.

🔪 Equipment

If you’d like this onion frittata to be a one pan meal, you’ll need an oven-safe frying pan. My favourite pan, which you’ll see in tons of my recipe photos, is a non-stick Circulon frying pan. I’ve owned several of these pans over the years, because every time I need a new one (which doesn’t happen often – they last for years), I don’t hesitate to get a new one the same. I use this frying pan daily, and put it in the dishwasher each time, and it’s still as good as new 2 years later.

You can find Circulon pans on Amazon UK* and Amazon US* (affiliate links).

📋 How to Make Ricotta Frittata

Here’s how to make this recipe – see below for the printable recipe with detailed ingredients and instructions.

Becca’s Top Tip

It can be so easy to accidentally grab the handle of the frying pan after it’s been in the oven, burning your hand. A good tip is to always leave your oven glove resting on the handle of the pan when you put it down, so you’ll never forget to wear it!

💭 Recipe FAQs