Egg tarts with puff pastry are an easy and elegant brunch option! Ready in 30 minutes, these will wow your guests whether you’re hosting the girls, Easter brunch, Christmas morning, or a Mother’s Day spread.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review
“These were a HUGE hit at a small brunch I hosted recently. Much easier to make than I thought they would be. I would definitely recommend them to others!” – M.
I find brunch to be the ideal meal. You get everything you love about breakfast, with the addition of some extra special treats and good drinks. Brunches are often made for special occasions or as a way to spend time with friends, so everything I love is included in one meal.
I originally developed this recipe as a pairing with Taittinger’s Prestige Rosé, and it’s still a lovely match if you’re pouring champagne. But it’s a brunch dish that holds up entirely on its own, and it’s become one I make whether there’s bubbly on the table or not.
I’ve developed over 50 breakfast recipes for this website, and these egg tarts are the ones I reach for when I want something that looks stunning but doesn’t actually take much effort to pull off. The whole thing hinges on one detail I didn’t expect going in: use medium eggs, not large. Large eggs overflow the well you’ve created in the pastry, and you end up with egg running down the sides instead of sitting neatly in the center. Once I figured that out, these went from fussy to reliable.
The other thing that makes this work is the two-stage bake. You bake the pastry with a ramekin sitting on it first, which creates the well, then you pull the ramekins and add the filling. Skip that step and you’ve got a flat pastry with an egg sliding off it.
Have an extra sheet of frozen puff pastry (most boxes come with 2 sheets)? Try our tomato puff pastry tart, prosciutto asparagus puff pastry bundles, or our cranberry and cheese puff pastry bites too.
Jump to:
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review
- Why You’ll Love This Egg Tarts Recipe
- Ingredients Needed to Make Egg and Coppa Puff Pastry Tarts
- Recipe Variations and Substitutions
- How to Make Puff Pastry Egg Tarts
- Menu Tips for Hosting a Great Brunch
- Possible Dietary Restrictions?
- How to Store Egg Tarts with Puff Pastry
- Expert Tips
- Recipe FAQs
- Love This Recipe? Try One of These Simple Brunch Recipes Next!
- Puff Pastry Egg Tarts
Why You’ll Love This Egg Tarts Recipe
They look far harder than they are. Individual tarts with a puffed golden border and an egg baked right in. Guests assume real pastry skill was involved. It was puff pastry from the freezer section and a ramekin.
Ready in 30 minutes. Ten minutes of prep and two short bakes. You can start these after guests arrive and still have them on the table before anyone’s second cup of coffee.
Five ingredients. Puff pastry, eggs, coppa ham, parmesan, salt and pepper. Nothing you’d need a special trip for, aside from maybe the coppa.
Individually portioned. Everyone gets their own, which makes serving easy and means no one is carving up a quiche at the table.
Easy to adapt. Swap the meat, add vegetables, change the cheese, or leave the meat off entirely for vegetarian guests. There’s a whole variations section below.
Savory and rich. Buttery pastry, a runny or set yolk depending on your preference, salty cured meat, and sharp parmesan. It’s a satisfying plate rather than a light one.
Ingredients Needed to Make Egg and Coppa Puff Pastry Tarts
- Frozen Puff Pastry Sheets – using frozen puff pastry makes your life easy while still getting to enjoy wonderfully flakey and buttery pastry.
- All-Purpose Flour. Just a tablespoon or two for your work surface. Puff pastry comes folded, and you’ll roll it lightly to smooth out the creases, so a floured surface keeps it from sticking. Brush off any excess before the pastry goes on the baking sheet.
- Medium Eggs – I’ve found that using a slightly smaller egg is the key to making these individual egg tarts a success! I wanted to make sure this was called out here, because if you’re like me, you likely have large eggs in your fridge for day-to-day use.
- Coppa Ham (aka Capocollo or Capicola) – using this dry-cured, thinly sliced meat adds a rich and delicious flavor to your egg tarts. Coppa ham has a wonderful balance of meat and fat with a subtly spicy flavor… a really lovely addition to this elegant breakfast tart.
- Parmesan Cheese – a sprinkle of shredded parmesan adds a pop of richness and savory flavor to our tarts.
- Salt & Pepper – used to season our meal.
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Recipe Variations and Substitutions
- Substitute the coppa ham with a different meat. Don’t have coppa ham in a store near you? Depending on where you live, coppa ham may or may not be available in a store near you. Alternative options include prosciutto, deli ham, or even cooked bacon!
- Top with fresh herbs. Try adding a sprinkle of fresh chives, scallions, parsley, or whatever fresh herb you like with eggs after you pull them out of the oven! This adds a pop of freshness to your egg tarts.
- Add some veggies. You can also add some sun dried tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, spinach, or asparagus into your egg tarts if you’d like! Sautéed leeks are another great addition. Add a small amount along with the coppa ham before adding your egg into the well.
- Try another cheese. You know I love cheese! If the little sprinkle of parmesan isn’t doing it for you in this recipe, try using a more robust cheese. Havarti, gouda, fontina, thinly sliced brie, goat cheese… you have lots of great options!
How to Make Puff Pastry Egg Tarts
Thaw frozen puff pastry per the package instructions.
Preheat oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Unfold and place a thawed sheet of puff pastry onto a lightly floured, flat surface. Lightly roll the puff pastry dough with a rolling pin to help remove the creases from being folded in the box.
Cut the sheet of puff pastry dough into four equal-sized squares, brush off any excess flour, and place each square onto the prepared baking sheet.
Place a ramekin in the center of each puff pastry square.
Crack an egg into a small dish, whisk it, and add an egg wash to the puff pastry that is exposed around the ramekins (do this by brushing the egg onto the puff pastry with a pastry brush).
Bake the puff pastry squares with the ramekins on them for 10 minutes, until very lightly browned and puffed up around the ramekins to create a well.
Take the baking sheet out of the oven and remove the ramekins from the puff pastry squares (note: if they stick, gently run a spoon around the edge of the ramekin to loosen it).
Add a slice of coppa ham and sprinkle of shredded parmesan cheese to each square. Then very carefully pour a cracked egg into each well. Top each egg with a pinch of salt and pepper.
Gently place the tray back into the oven and bake for another 10 minutes (or until the eggs are set to your liking).
Remove the egg tarts from the oven and serve immediately. Enjoy!
Menu Tips for Hosting a Great Brunch
With these delicious puff pastry egg tarts as your brunch’s main dish, adding in a few key elements to fill out your menu will ensure a great time is had by all!
- Include a fresh side-dish or two to pair with your savory main dish. Adding a green salad tossed in a light vinaigrette plus a fresh fruit salad is a great way to add something light and fresh to your meal.
- Add a sweet treat or two to balance out your savory main dish. Great options include muffins, tarts, scones, or donuts. Our easy rhubarb cake or these lemon blueberry donuts are great options for spring, double chocolate zucchini muffins delicious for summer, and our mini pumpkin muffins or cinnamon chip scones are perfect for fall and winter gatherings. And our wheat germ muffins and orange poppy seed muffins are great anytime of year!
- You can never go wrong with bacon, and our oven cooked bacon is the perfect way to prep it for a crowd!
- If you have a snacky crowd, having a grazing board ready is a great option for when guests arrive! This charcuterie board would be a fun and fancy addition to your spread.
- Have a variety of beverages ready, including alcoholic and non-alcoholic options. Something sparkling is always a nice touch for a brunch, whether that’s champagne (like Taittinger’s Rosé Champagne), prosecco, or a sparkling cider or juices for anyone not drinking. Using a variety of champagne, wine, and coupe glasses elevates the experience too.
- Make sure to have hot coffee prepared and ready to serve. Have cream and sugar on hand for those who prefer adding these to their coffee.
Possible Dietary Restrictions?
A few simple modifications can be made to make these puff pastry tarts vegetarian or gluten-free.
- To make this into a vegetarian puff pastry tart, simply leave out the coppa ham.
- To make this egg tart recipe gluten-free, purchase a gluten-free frozen puff pastry.
How to Store Egg Tarts with Puff Pastry
These are best eaten right out of the oven, when the pastry is at its flakiest and the egg is exactly how you wanted it. That’s worth planning around if you can.
If you do have leftovers, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. For the best texture, reheat them in a 350°F oven for about 8 to 10 minutes, which brings some crispness back to the pastry. I recommend skipping the microwave for these as it turns puff pastry soft and rubbery and keeps cooking the egg.
I don’t recommend freezing these once baked. The egg doesn’t hold up and the pastry loses its texture.
To get ahead for a brunch: You can do the first bake (pastry with the ramekins) up to a few hours in advance and leave the shells at room temperature. When guests arrive, add the filling and do the second bake. That cuts your active time down to about 10 minutes when it counts.
Expert Tips
Place your meat on the edge of your “well”! This will help ensure you have enough room for your egg, and also creates a lovely pop of color / visual interest on your egg tart.
Be gentle when cracking and placing your eggs. Getting the eggs into the wells intact is the fussiest part of this recipe. Crack each egg into a small dish first, then pour it carefully into the well rather than cracking directly over the pastry.
Don’t have ramekins to create your wells? No problem! You can create your wells with another small oven safe vessel or create one by wrapping tin foil around a glass to create a circular shape and weigh it down with pie weights or dry beans.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, frozen puff pastry needs to be thawed before baking. There will be directions on the package on how to thaw.
Many will recommend thawing the puff pastry in the fridge overnight as this allows the pastry to become pliable without softening too much.
Alternatively, you can thaw unwrapped frozen puff pastry at room temperature for approximately 40 minutes to allow to it become pliable and ready to use.
According to the Pepperidge Farm website, you can also thaw frozen puff pastry in the microwave. To do so, wrap pastry in paper towel and microwave on HIGH for 15 seconds, then turn it over and microwave for another 15 seconds. If it doesn’t unfold easily, microwave for another 5 seconds on each side.
Doing a blind-bake of your puff pastry base before adding a filling can help ensure the bottom of your puff pastry is baked. Baking the puff pastry before adding any fillings allows it to begin firming up, which helps to avoid liquid being absorbed into it.
Doing an egg wash on puff pastry helps the pastry to turn golden brown and shiny.
In some puff pastry recipes, an egg wash is also used to help things stick to the puff pastry. An egg wash can help multiple pieces of puff pastry stick together (like in a homemade pop tart recipe), or to help things stick to the puff pastry, like sprinkles of sugar.
While both cured meats that are made from pork, coppa ham is made from pork shoulder whereas prosciutto is made from the hind leg of the hog.
Almost always the egg size. Medium eggs fit the well that a standard ramekin creates. Large eggs are about 15% bigger and will run over the edge. If medium eggs are hard to find, crack your large egg into a small bowl first, then pour in just the yolk plus some of the white and leave the rest behind (or use those egg whites for the egg wash!).
The second bake is where you control this. About 10 minutes gives you a set white with a soft, runny yolk. If you want a fully set yolk, go 13 to 15 minutes and keep an eye on the pastry so it doesn’t get too dark. Every oven runs a little differently, so the first batch is your calibration batch.
Yes. Most boxes of frozen puff pastry have two sheets, and each sheet makes four tarts. Thaw both, double the other ingredients, and you’ve got eight. You’ll likely need two baking sheets, and if your oven only fits one at a time, work in batches rather than crowding them on the pan.
Love This Recipe? Try One of These Simple Brunch Recipes Next!
Puff Pastry Egg Tarts
Ingredients
- 1 package of frozen puff pastry sheets*
- 2-3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour (for rolling)
- 5 medium eggs
- 4 slices coppa ham* (aka Capocollo or Capicola)
- ¼ Cup shredded parmesan cheese
- Pinch of salt
- Pinch of pepper
Instructions
- Thaw frozen puff pastry per the package instructions.1 package of frozen puff pastry sheets*
- Preheat oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Unfold and place one thawed sheet of puff pastry onto a lightly floured, flat surface. Lightly roll the puff pastry dough with a rolling pin to help remove the creases from being folded in the box.2-3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- Cut the sheet of puff pastry dough into four equal-sized squares, brush of any excess flour, and place each square onto the prepared baking sheet.
- Place a ramekin in the center of each puff pastry square.
- Crack an egg into a small dish, whisk it, and add an egg wash to the puff pastry that is exposed around the ramekins (do this by brushing the egg onto the puff pastry with a pastry brush).
- Bake the puff pastry squares with the ramekins on them for 10 minutes, until very lightly browned and puffed up around the ramekins to create a well.
- Take the baking sheet out of the oven and remove the ramekins from the puff pastry squares (note: if they stick, gently run a spoon around the edge of the ramekin to loosen it).
- Add a slice of coppa ham and sprinkle of shredded parmesan cheese to each square. Then very carefully pour a cracked egg into each well. Top each egg with a pinch of salt and pepper.*5 medium eggs4 slices coppa ham*¼ Cup shredded parmesan cheesePinch of saltPinch of pepper
- Gently place the tray back into the oven and bake for another 10 minutes (or until the eggs are set to your liking).
- Remove the egg tarts from the oven and serve immediately. Enjoy!
M. says
These were a HUGE hit at a small brunch I hosted recently. Much easier to make than I thought they would be. I would definitely recommend them to others!
ourlovelanguageisfood says
I’m so glad these were enjoyed at your brunch! Thank you for making my recipe.
David says
Puff pastry is great. Eggs are great. Capicola is literally the best. Love it!
ourlovelanguageisfood says
🙌🙌🙌 yes!!! so glad you loved these too.