PANERA BREAD 4 CHEESE SOUFFLE RECIPE
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Deliciously light and fluffy, Panera Bread 4 Cheese Souffle Recipe is surprisingly easy to make and makes for a beautiful breakfast for special occasions any time of year!
PANERA BREAD 4 CHEESE SOUFFLE RECIPE
Panera Bread’s egg souffle are one of my very favorite foods! For me, that’s odd, because most of my favorite foods are desserts!
Before I made Copycat Panera Bread Ham and Swiss Egg Souffle’ I was intimidated by the process. Souffle has a bad rap as being finicky and difficult to make. I researched other Panera Bread Copycat recipes and almost all of them microwaved the eggs for a few seconds. (The recipes were also all VERY similar. 🧐) Anywho, microwaving eggs then baking them just sounded weird to me. I went in a different direction with my recipe and created more of a traditional egg souffle adding extra ingredients to make it more like Panera Bread.
The Ham and Swiss Egg Souffle was a hit with the family. As well, it was NOT difficult to make. Of course, I used a premade puffed pastry as the crust. I have no desire to make puffed pastry from scratch. You can use refrigerated crescent roll dough for the crust but it won’t be as flaky and it won’t be as close to the Panera Bread’s souffle.
HOW TO MAKE 4 CHEESE EGG SOUFFLE
Egg souffle really isn’t any harder to make than biscuits or waffles and once you get the hang of it you’ll make whipping them up on the regular.
- Pastry – Evenly cut one sheet of thawed puff pastry into six large ramekins or tart pans.
- Make a roux – Melt the
butter then add the flour and cook on low. Slowly add milk. Cook and allow it to thicken. Season with salt and pepper. - Eggs – Whisk the eggs until they are fluffy and pale yellow. In a large bowl, slowly add the eggs, the cooled milk mixture, and the shredded cheeses
- Pour the egg mixture into the pastry and cook.
- It’s just that simple!
WHILE YOU’RE HERE, CHECK OUT THESE RECIPES
- Cream Cheese Sausage Rotel Dip Quiche
- Fluffy Cottage Egg Casserole
- Bacon Havarti Quiche Recipe
- On-the-go Breakfasts
- Crock Pot Crack Chicken
- Panera Bread Ham and Swiss Souffle
- You can find more recipes at my Recipe Index
PANERA BREAD 4 CHEESE SOUFFLE RECIPE
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Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter salted or unsalted
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole milk
- ¼ teaspoon salt or to taste
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
- 4 large eggs at room temperature
- ½ cup cottage cheese
- 2 and ½ tablespoons Parmesan cheese shredded
- ⅓ cup Manchego cheese shredded, you can also use Colby or Havarti
- ⅓ cup Monterey Jack cheese shredded
- 1 sheet puff pastry thawed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Place six 5-inch ramekins or six 5-inch tart pans on a sheet pan to catch any drips.
- Place a heavy-bottom saucepan over medium heat. Add the butter.
- Once the butter is melted, whisk in the flour. Cook, stirring constantly for about 30 seconds.
- Next, whisk in the milk and cook until it has thickened. Season with salt and pepper. Remove the pan from the heat and cool slightly.
- In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, cooled milk sauce, and cheeses until well combined.
- Unwrap the puff pastry and cut into 6 equal squares. Press each square into your ramekin or tart pan. Press it down in the bottom and up the sides really good.
- Divide the egg mixture between the ramekins.
- Bake until they are puffed up and golden brown. It should take 25 to 30 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and cool slightly before serving.
Nutrition
Nutritional information given is an automatic calculation and can vary based on the exact products you use and changes you make to the recipe. If these numbers are important to you, I recommend calculating them yourself.
I just made this for breakfast and it turned out perfectly. My mother in law said it was better than Panera’s! I didn’t have cottage cheese, so used some Gruyère I had, and added ham. Delish!!!
I made this recipe but added bacon and frozen peas and carrots. I didn’t have ramekins so used one round casserole dish. Because of the size of the dish, I added 10-15 minutes to the cook time. Not sure if this was necessary but it came out perfectly. One sheet of the puff pastry fit the casserole dish just right. I debated folding in the corners of the pastry or cutting them off, but left them and it was fine. I refrigerated the leftover souffle and had some the next day with breakfast by heating it up in the microwave. It worked wonderfully! This recipe is a keeper! Panera charges I believe $10 for one little individual souffle. Although I’ve enjoyed a ritual of having one of these at Panera’s with a friend who introduced me to their souffle, I like this just as well and can see myself making it more often and varying the additional ingredients. Thank you for posting this!
Thank you! I’m so happy that you enjoyed it.
Good Morning. I was wondering how well they reheat and if they freeze well? Looking foward to trying these soon.
They reheat from fridge wonderfully. I haven’t tested them frozen – with teenage boys they go fast. 😉
They freeze and reheat like they were just made. I bake a big batch, freeze half and my kids take them out of the freezer, pop them in the air fryer and they’re delicious
These are so good! I used a muffin tin and took them out at 21 minutes. I would totally recommend these!
I made these hoping to add something to the acceptable foods list for my super-picky son. He loves Panera’s egg soufflés. Mission accomplished! These were so good. I wasn’t patient enough to wait until I could get ramekins or tart pans, so I used disposable mini-loaf pans I found at the grocery store. They turned out great! I’m looking forward to getting the more attractive tart pans and experimenting with add-ins…for the rest of the family. We’ll stick with plain cheese for my son.
I’m so happy you liked them! I also have the ham and Swiss on here https://www.callmepmc.com/panera-bread-ham-and-swiss-souffle-recipe/
But, you’re right, you can basically add anything to the basic 4 cheese recipe.