There are people who think Eggs Benedict is a recipe.
I don’t.
It’s a format.
Once you understand the format, breakfast gets a whole lot more interesting. Because a benny is really about four things: a sturdy base, something savoury, a runny egg and a rich sauce.
After that, the rules get pretty loose.
And thank God for that.
Because if the only acceptable Benedict involved Canadian bacon and an English muffin, we’d be missing out on a ridiculous amount of good food.
So let’s talk bennies.
What Makes a Benny a Benny?
Traditionally, you’re looking at an English muffin, Canadian bacon, a poached egg and hollandaise.
It’s a classic for a reason. The muffin gives you crunch and structure, the ham brings salt, the egg adds richness and the hollandaise ties the whole thing together with butter and acid.
But that basic architecture is incredibly flexible.
Start with the base
An English muffin is excellent, but it’s hardly mandatory.
Try:
- sourdough
- brioche
- a biscuit
- a toasted baguette
- a potato cake
- a hash brown
- a latke
- crispy polenta
- a savoury waffle
The only real requirement is that it can support the rest of the pile without collapsing into a breakfast landslide.
Then choose your savoury bit
This is where the personality comes in.
Canadian bacon is just one possibility. Bacon, ham, smoked salmon, crab, shrimp, sausage, chorizo, leftover steak, pulled pork, mushrooms, spinach, asparagus, avocado or fried chicken can all work.
And if you’ve got leftovers in the fridge, even better.
A benny is basically an extremely delicious excuse to give yesterday’s dinner a new job.
Then comes the egg
Poached is traditional, and there’s something particularly satisfying about cutting through that soft yolk and letting it become part of the sauce.
But I’m not going to send the brunch police after you if you prefer a fried egg.
The yolk is the important bit.
Finally: sauce
Hollandaise is the obvious choice, and for good reason.
Egg yolks, butter and acid are a pretty spectacular combination.
But don’t be afraid to change it up. Dijon, chives, hot sauce, herbs, smoked paprika or tarragon can completely change the character of the dish.
That’s the fun.
The Classic
Let’s start with the original.
An English muffin gets toasted until the edges are crisp. Canadian bacon gets warmed in a pan. A poached egg goes on top, followed by a generous spoonful of hollandaise.
Finish with black pepper.
Simple.
Perfect.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with leaving it alone.
But we’re here to have some fun.
The Bacon Benny
Swap the Canadian bacon for properly crisp bacon and you’ve got a completely different animal.
The extra smoke and crunch work beautifully against the soft egg and buttery sauce.
This is one of those breakfasts where you don’t need to get clever. Toast the muffin well. Cook the bacon properly. Make the hollandaise bright enough that the whole thing doesn’t become a giant pile of fat.
A little black pepper finishes it.
That’s breakfast sorted.
Florentine
Eggs Florentine brings spinach into the picture, and it’s a very good decision.
Sauté the spinach until it’s just wilted. Garlic and butter are welcome additions. Pile it onto your toast, add the egg and spoon over the hollandaise.
The spinach brings a slightly bitter, vegetal note that cuts through all that richness.
And suddenly we’re pretending breakfast is healthy.
I support this lie.
Royale
Smoked salmon is where a Benedict starts feeling fancy without actually requiring much extra work.
Warm, toasted bread. A few folds of smoked salmon. The poached egg. Hollandaise.
Now add capers, dill or a squeeze of lemon if you want to push it toward classic smoked-salmon territory.
This is the benny for when you want brunch to feel expensive.
You don’t actually have to spend that much.
Crab
If you’ve got good crab, don’t fuck around with it too much.
Dungeness crab is particularly good here. Warm it gently and season it simply. Lemon is plenty.
Then let the egg and hollandaise do the rest.
Sourdough is a great base because it has enough flavour and structure to stand up to the crab.
And if you’re lucky enough to have leftover crab from dinner?
Even better.
Breakfast just got promoted.
Shrimp
Shrimp takes the same general idea in a slightly different direction.
Give them a little seasoning and a quick sauté until they’re just cooked. You don’t want rubbery shrimp sitting underneath an egg you’ve spent all morning perfecting.
A bit of green onion or chive works beautifully.
And if you want some heat, put it in the hollandaise rather than blasting the whole dish with hot sauce.
Steak
Now we’re wandering into dangerous territory.
Thinly sliced leftover steak is fantastic under a poached egg.
Use sourdough or a good piece of toasted bread, then add some caramelized onions if you’ve got them. Hollandaise works, although béarnaise is arguably even more at home here.
And yes, leftover steak from dinner absolutely counts.
In fact, I think this is one of the best reasons to make extra steak in the first place.
Dinner tonight.
Benny tomorrow.
That’s planning.
Pulled Pork
This is where brunch starts getting a little ridiculous.
Take some leftover pulled pork and crisp the edges in a skillet. Put it on a warm biscuit or sturdy toast.
Now you’ve got sweet, smoky, salty pork underneath a soft egg and rich sauce.
Pickled onions would be excellent here. A little barbecue sauce wouldn’t hurt either.
Just don’t drown the thing.
You’ve already got enough going on.
Fried Chicken
Obviously.
Crispy fried chicken and a poached egg are already a pretty convincing argument.
Put them on a biscuit and add hollandaise with a little hot sauce.
That’s all the explanation this one needs.
Eat it slowly.
Then take a nap.
The Potato Benny
This is where leftovers really start earning their keep.
Yesterday’s roasted potatoes can be chopped and crisped in a skillet.
Mashed potatoes can become potato cakes.
Hash browns are already halfway there.
Any of them can become the foundation for a benny.
Add whatever makes sense from there: bacon, smoked salmon, mushrooms, leftover steak, sautéed greens.
Then the egg.
Then the sauce.
You’ve just turned a container of potatoes into something you might happily pay $19 for at brunch.
The Waffle Benny
I’m not talking about pouring hollandaise over a stack of maple waffles.
We’re making a savoury waffle.
Cornmeal, cheddar, herbs or potatoes all make excellent candidates.
Once you’ve got a crisp waffle, treat it like your English muffin. Add bacon, ham, mushrooms or smoked salmon, then finish with the egg and sauce.
The waffle gives you crisp edges and a little more personality than plain toast.
And yes, you can put hot sauce on it.
You are among friends.
The Latke Benny
This one makes an absurd amount of sense.
A crispy potato latke gives you the perfect base: crunchy outside, soft inside and salty enough to make you want another one before you’ve finished the first.
Add smoked salmon, pastrami or sautéed mushrooms.
Top with your egg and hollandaise.
Chives are excellent here.
So are pickled onions.
And if you’re wondering whether sour cream belongs somewhere in this situation, I’m not going to stop you.
The Mushroom Benny
This is where vegetarians get to have some fun.
The trick is actually browning the mushrooms.
Don’t crowd the pan and gently cook them until they become grey little kitchen sponges.
Give them room.
Get the pan hot.
Let them brown.
Butter, garlic and thyme are welcome.
Once they’re deeply savoury and golden, they need very little else.
Put them on toast, add your egg and finish with hollandaise.
Simple food, properly cooked.
That’s usually the answer.
Asparagus
This one is particularly good when asparagus is in season.
Roast or grill it until you get some colour. Lay it across toasted sourdough and let the egg and hollandaise do their thing.
A little Parmesan doesn’t hurt.
Neither does lemon.
The slight bitterness of asparagus is exactly what a rich sauce needs.
That’s the thing I want you to start noticing when you build these.
Balance matters more than tradition.
Rich needs acid.
Soft needs crunch.
Salty needs something fresh.
That’s how you make a dish work.
Avocado
Yes, we’re doing avocado.
But let’s not pretend avocado automatically makes something good.
Use good toast. Season the avocado properly. Add some chili flakes or fresh herbs.
Then let the egg provide the richness and the hollandaise bring the acidity.
Bacon works.
Smoked salmon works.
Tomatoes work.
And if you want to make the whole thing a little more interesting, throw some pickled onions on top.
Now you’ve got texture, heat, acid and richness all happening at once.
Chorizo
Crisp some chorizo in a pan and you’ve already got most of the flavour you need.
Use a corn-based cake, toasted sourdough or even a crispy potato as the base.
For the sauce, give the hollandaise some lime and heat.
Finish with cilantro and pickled onions.
The important thing here is not to make every component spicy.
You want heat, richness and acid working together.
There’s a difference between flavourful and simply setting your mouth on fire.
The Leftover Benny
This might actually be my favourite category.
Because once you understand the basic structure, the fridge becomes your menu.
Leftover roast beef?
Benny.
Chicken from last night’s dinner?
Benny.
Those mushrooms you cooked and didn’t finish?
Absolutely.
Roasted asparagus?
Yep.
Pulled pork?
You know it.
The question isn’t:
“Do I have the ingredients for Eggs Benedict?”
It’s:
“What do I have that would taste bloody fantastic with a runny egg and a good sauce?”
That is a much more useful question.
Change the Hollandaise, Change the Dish
You can also take the same basic ingredients and send them in completely different directions with the sauce.
Lemon
Classic, bright and buttery.
Perfect when the rest of the dish is rich.
Dijon
A little sharper and more savoury.
Excellent with ham, steak, potatoes and mushrooms.
Chive
Fresh and oniony.
Particularly good with crab, salmon and potatoes.
Hot Sauce
Exactly what it sounds like.
Excellent with bacon, sausage, chicken and anything that needs waking up.
Béarnaise
Tarragon, shallot and vinegar give you something more aromatic and savoury.
It’s especially good with steak.
Technically, it’s not plain hollandaise, but we’re not taking a culinary-school exam here.
We’re making breakfast.
The Benny Formula
Here’s the part worth remembering.
You don’t need a recipe for every possible combination.
Think in components.
Something sturdy.
Toast, biscuit, potato, waffle, latke.
Something savoury.
Meat, seafood, vegetables or leftovers.
A good egg.
Usually poached. Sometimes not.
A rich sauce.
Hollandaise, béarnaise or whatever else makes sense.
Something to wake it all up.
Lemon. Herbs. Hot sauce. Pickles. Pepper. Crunch.
Once you understand that, you can build a benny out of almost anything.
And that’s the whole point.
Stop Waiting for Brunch
You don’t need a restaurant.
You don’t need a special occasion.
And you definitely don’t need to follow somebody else’s list of approved Benny ingredients.
Look in the fridge.
There’s probably something in there that would be bloody good under a runny egg.
Make some hollandaise.
Toast something.
Crisp something.
Poach an egg.
Put it all together.
Call it brunch.
Nobody needs to know the steak was from Tuesday.
That’s not cheating.
That’s knowing how to cook.
