In this delicious Healthy Eggs Benedict recipe, we replace Canadian bacon with sliced avocado and lavish the whole thing with an addictive, lemony no-cook hollandaise sauce that uses better-for-you ingredients like low fat cream cheese, avocado oil and turmeric. Whole wheat English muffins round out the health upgrade.
To my husband, an egg is the perfect food – the one food he would want if stranded on a deserted island. And in the universe of egg recipes, this is his absolute favorite dish. It’s not the health benefits that draws him to Healthy Eggs Benedict, although he does appreciate that. It’s the taste. He loves the intensity of the no-cook hollandaise sauce and the creaminess of the avocado. So, he asks me, no, begs me, to make this at least once a week.
Serve these with some fresh fruit, Sugar Free Applesauce or, for a “brunchier” option, a simple green salad like this Arugula Fennel Salad.
What can I use instead of Hollandaise Sauce?
Traditional Hollandaise Sauce is an emulsion of egg yolk, melted butter, and lemon juice. It is a challenging sauce to make and cooks can often run into issues during the cooking process such as scrambling the eggs as well as maintaining a smooth sauce without the sauce separating or “breaking.” In this recipe, we remove all of the challenges (and even the cooking!), with this brilliant “no-cook” hollandaise sauce which has even more lemony flavor than the original.
And because the hollandaise sauce is “no-cook,” it can be made a day or two ahead of time and then brought to room temperature before serving. You can even double or triple the sauce recipe and use it up over the course of a week. So, when you’re ready, this comes together very quickly. Slice the avocado, toast the muffin, poach the egg – and voila!
Are Eggs Benedict Healthy? These are!
In our home, avocados, lemons, cream cheese and eggs are staples. And because I make Healthy Eggs Benedict so often, I keep a package of whole wheat English muffins in the freezer. So, I usually have the ingredients on hand to whip this up on demand.
Avocados are a wonderful stand-in for Canadian bacon in this Healthy Eggs Benedict. They are actually a better source of potassium than bananas which helps regulate nerve function and gets nutrients to our cells. Avocados are also packed with monounsaturated fats, which helps lower LDL or bad cholesterol. I use avocado oil in the no-cook hollandaise sauce as well, adding a healthy boost to the sauce as well as a mild buttery flavor.
The turmeric adds both a delightful yellow color to the no-cook hollandaise sauce in addition to its renowned anti-inflammatory benefits. In particular, Red Turmeric from Burlap and Barrel imparts a gorgeous color to the sauce.
Healthy Eggs Benedict benefits from a little peppery spice, both in the sauce and as a garnish, although this is entirely optional. I use cayenne pepper in the sauce and then I love to top this dish (and really most egg dishes) with a sprinkle of mild chili flakes. My favorite is Silk Chili Flakes from Burlap and Barrel. Silk Chili is the Turkish version of Aleppo pepper. It’s big in flavor but mild in heat – just perfect! French Piment D’espelette is also wonderful. But if you don’t have these pepper flakes, please don’t let that stop you from making Healthy Eggs Benedict. It will still be absolutely delicious without them.
- lemon juice
- low fat cream cheese (whipped spreads make whisking the sauce easier!)
- avocado oil
- fresh rosemary
- turmeric
- cayenne pepper
- sea salt
- whole wheat English muffin
- avocado
- eggs
- mild red chili flakes (optional)
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions for Healthy Eggs Benedict
I love the Alton Brown method for poaching eggs. It’s easy and foolproof. I describe it below, but if you have a method that you are happy with, by all means, go with that. See video in the full recipe below to see how it is done.
First, make the sauce. In a small bowl, combine lemon juice, cream cheese (whipped cream cheese spreads make whisking the sauce much easier!), avocado oil, chopped fresh rosemary, turmeric cayenne pepper and seat salt. Stir with a fork until smooth. If the sauce is too thick (it should slide off a spoon easily), add additional lemon juice. Set aside.
Fill a medium saucepan with 1” of water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to simmer and add 1 teaspoon salt and 2 teaspoon vinegar. Crack the eggs into 2 small ramekins. Using a large spoon, make a whirlpool in the simmering water. Careful slide each egg into the center of the whirlpool. Immediately cover and remove the saucepan from the heat. Let sit for 5 minutes exactly, without peeking or disturbing the eggs in any way.
While eggs are finishing, split and toast the English muffin (2 halves). Cut the avocado in half. Pit, peel and slice the avocado into ¼” slices. Fan the avocado slices on top of each English muffin half.
With a slotted spoon, carefully remove each egg from the saucepan and allow water to drip through the spoon for a moment. Top avocado with the eggs. Lavish each stack with ½ of the sauce. Optionally, top each stack with a sprinkle of Silk Chile Flakes. Serve immediately.
Hint: Only use the whirlpool method of poaching eggs for 1 to 2 eggs only. If you are making Healthy Eggs Benedict with No-cook Hollandaise for a crowd, gently place each egg in a large shallow pan of simmering water, cover and leave undisturbed for 5 minutes. Continue with the rest of the recipe as written.
Variations on Healthy Eggs Benedict
This Healthy Eggs Benedict with No-cook Hollandaise recipe is a wonderful base recipe and I can think of a number of ways to vary the dish and additional ways to use the sauce.
- Tomato Benedict – if you have perfectly ripe summer tomatoes, use slices instead of (or in addition to) the avocado.
- Mushroom Benedict – saute sliced cremini and shiitake mushrooms and use in place of the avocado
- Greek Benedict – in place of the mild chili flakes, top with sliced kalamata olives and crumbled feta cheese
- Use the no-cook hollandaise on everything – the sauce is wonderful on steamed or roasted broccoli, asparagus, salmon – really anything.
Equipment
Although certainly not necessary, an avocado slicer, like this one on Amazon, makes short work out of evenly slicing the avocado and is a pleasure to use. I actually ignore the opening in the handle meant to remove the avocado pit. People make a big deal about removing the pit and I’ve heard of home cooks cutting themselves badly whacking knives into the pit. (Confession: I used to do this.) But it’s really so simple: After you slide the avocado in half, simply push with your thumb underneath the half with the pit. The pit pops right out. (See video in recipe card.)
If you don’t have an avocado slicer, simply use a large spoon to scoop out each half of the avocado and then slice with a knife.
Healthy Eggs Benedict with No-cook Hollandaise
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoon low-fat cream cheese (whipped cream cheese spreads preferred)
- ½ teaspoon fresh rosemary minced
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice plus more if sauce is too thick
- 2 teaspoon avocado oil
- ⅛ teaspoon ground turmeric
- pinch cayenne or more to taste
- sea salt to taste
- 2 large eggs
- 1 avocado
- mild red chili flakes, like Silk Chili Flakes from Burlap and Barrel
Instructions
- First, make the sauce. In a small bowl, combine lemon juice, whipped cream cheese, avocado oil, chopped fresh rosemary, turmeric cayenne pepper and seat salt. Stir with a fork until smooth. If it is too thick (it should slide easily off a spoon), add additional lemon juice. Set aside.
- Fill a medium saucepan with 1” of water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to simmer and add 1 teaspoon salt and 2 teaspoon vinegar. Crack the eggs into 2 small ramekins. Using a large spoon, make a whirlpool in the simmering water. Careful slide each egg into the center of the whirlpool. Immediately cover and remove the saucepan from the heat. Let sit for 5 minutes exactly, without peeking or disturbing the eggs in any way.
- While eggs are finishing, split and toast the English muffin (2 halves). Cut the avocado in half. Pit, peel and slice the avocado into ¼” slices. Fan the avocado slices on top of each English muffin half.
- With a slotted spoon, carefully remove each egg from the saucepan and allow water to drip through the spoon for a moment. Top avocado with the eggs. Lavish each stack with ½ of the sauce. Optionally, top each stack with a sprinkle of Silk Chile Flakes. Serve immediately.
Tim
This may be my favorite breakfast ever. I like really robust flavors and the no-cook hollandaise comes through with a creamy mix of lemon, cayenne and rosemary. The whirlpool technique for cooking the poached eggs worked well. I really dislike when my egg yolks are hard, and these were perfect. The fact that it’s healthy is a bonus because I feel good about eating it more often!
Jannet Punchard
What a discovery!! This healthy eggs Benedict are full of flavors, very tasty and the most important low in calories! It’s a win, win! Definitely I have to do this amazing recipe👏👍
Rae Ann Alton
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!