This fried bologna and egg sandwich is one of my favorite easy brunch recipes. When most people think of bologna, they picture those white bread, bologna and American cheese sandwiches from childhood. But bologna is so much more than that! Bologna really shines when fried in a pan, with crispy, almost burnt edges. This fried bologna and egg sandwich pairs that delicious crispy fried bologna with egg, tomato, and cheese, for a quick weekend brunch dish that will be sure to please.
Here are the main ingredients – fried bologna, tomatoes, and egg nestled inside thick cut, Italian bread. After all the ingredients are sauteed in butter (of course), they are piled up and topped with cheese and broiled until the cheese is bubbly and brown. I used Havarti cheese here, it’s mild enough that it doesn’t overpower the bologna and melts really well. But you can use any cheese you like of course (even American would be delicious here!). Because this recipe uses the “egg-in-the-hole” technique (the egg is cooked inside a hole in the bread), the toppings lay nicely on top and it’s easy to cut into the sandwich. When you do, the soft yolk releases and creates the perfect dipping sauce for the sandwich!
See, bologna can be classy!
Some quick tips for this recipe: Be careful of salt here. The bologna and cheese are both salty, so I didn’t find that I needed to add any additional salt to the recipe. A grind of fresh pepper over the top is all you need. Also, be sure to cut your bread on the diagonal, this gives you enough surface area for all those delicious toppings. Finally, I found it worked better to layer the tomato first and then top with the bologna and cheese. If you put the tomato right under the cheese, the cheese had a tendency to slip off the tomato.
I hope this recipe will give you a fresh outlook on that humble bologna from childhood!
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This fried bologna and egg sandwich, topped with sizzled tomatoes and melted cheese is ready in 15 minutes and is the perfect recipe for a lazy weekend brunch.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp. butter
- 1 inch-thick slice of Italian or other soft bread, cut on an angle
- 1 egg
- 2 – 3 slices bologna
- 2 –3 slices ripe tomato
- 1 – 2 slices Havarti cheese (or other melting cheese of your choice)
- freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat broiler on high.
- Cut a rectangle out of the middle of the bread, approximately 1 inch by 2 inches.
- In a large skillet, melt 1/2 tbsp. butter on medium-high heat.
- Once butter is sizzling, add the bread to the pan. Crack the egg into the hole in the bread.
- Cook for approximately 2 minutes. If you prefer your egg less runny, add 1 – 2 additional minutes to the cooking time, but be sure to peek under bread during cooking and if it’s getting too brown, turn heat down to medium.
- Using a spatula, flip the bread over, making sure the bread lands on the side of the pan rather than the middle.
- Add the remaining 1/2 tbsp. butter to the empty space in the pan. Add bologna and tomato slices to the pan. Cook bread, bologna and tomato for 2 minutes. Flip bologna and tomato during cooking time to ensure even browning. Turn down heat if they are browning too fast.
- Remove bread to an oven-safe tray. Add tomatoes on top of the bread, then pile on the bologna. Top with cheese slice(s). Broil for 2 – 3 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and slightly brown. Watch carefully during broiling to avoid burning.
- Remove from tray onto a serving plate. Top with freshly ground black pepper and serve immediately.
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