Copycat Panera Style Soufflés
Skip the morning takeout and make a restaurant worthing dish at home. Copycat Panera Style Soufflés combine a rich and buttery flaky crust with a decadent and savory egg custard. These are so good your family will be leaving tips in the cookie jar.
There is just something decadent about a souffle. Whether it’s Maman’s Cheese Soufflé or these personal side treats perfect for breakfast on the go, there’s magic in that soft and airy egg custard. This savory soufflé comes together with minimal effort. The best part is you can customize it to your favorite flavors and also size.
Ingredients
Unlike the restaurant version of this dish, Copycat Panera Style Soufflés puts you in complete control of the quality of all of the ingredients. Using time saving puff pastry as the crust, this breakfast favorite is as easy to shop for as it is to make.
- Eggs – This is the base of the custard for the soufflés. You can use large or medium eggs.
- Heavy Cream – Gives the custard its richness and airy texture.
- Parmesan – Adds nutty saltiness.
- Mozzarella – This is a fantastic melting cheese that’s mild and creamy.
- Salt and Pepper
- Sun Dried Tomatoes in Oil – Adds natural sweetness, a little acidity, and texture with its chew.
- Prosciutto – Salty, savory, and completely irresistible, prosciutto makes these puff pastry quiches extra decadent.
- Rosemary – Adds a pop of woodsy freshness.
How to Make Copycat Panera Style Soufflés
Once you get the method down for making these personal sized quiches, you can have fun swapping out the fillings and making them completely your own. One sheet of puff pastry will make one large souffle that fits a nine-inch pie pan, or four smaller soufflés that will fit into ramekins. Because puff pastry comes with two sheets this is a recipe that is also easy to double.
Time needed: 1 hour
Flaky puffy pastry is filled with savory toppings and a delicate and rich custard.
- Mise en Place
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Grease your ramekins or pie pan with butter and set aside.
- Whisk
Add your eggs to a bowl and break the yolks. Whisk them until they are smooth. Add the heavy cream, salt, and pepper and whisk to combine. Stir in the cheese and set aside.
- Crust
Lightly roll out your defrosted puff pastry and then cut it into four equal sized pieces. Arrange each piece of puff pastry into the buttered ramekins. Use a fork to prick holes in the bottom, preventing it from rising.
- Fill
Add sun dried tomatoes, prosciutto, and the custard to each ramekin. Sprinkle a little rosemary over the top of each one.
- Fold
Fold over the corner of each piece of puff pastry and use the custard to brush a little egg wash onto the dough.
- Bake
Allow the soufflés to bake for 30-35 minutes until the eggs are puffed and the puff pastry is golden brown.
Variations
The fun of these savory soufflés is that you can have fun coming up with different combinations of fillings. The puff pastry and egg mixture will remain the same, just swap the ingredients out for some of your favorites. Here are just a few ideas.
- Spinach and Artichoke
- Kale and Mushrooms
- Spinach and Bacon
- Three Cheeses
- Ham and Swiss
- Caramelized Onion and Gruyere
- Chorizo and Manchego
- Diced Peppers, Onions, and Ham
Substitutions
Feel free to swap out the puff pastry, cheeses, and heavy cream in this recipe for Dairy Free puff pastry and plant-based options. The baking time may be slightly different if using dairy free puff pastry so check your package for suggested cooking temperatures.
Storage for Copycat Panera Style Soufflés
These egg soufflés are a great make ahead dish that reheat well and can also be eaten both at room temperature and cold. You will want to keep them stored in an air tight container or tightly covered with plastic wrap in the refrigerator. They will keep in the refrigerator for up to reheat your Copycat Panera Style Soufflés, microwave them for 2-3 minutes until warm.
Tools
Besides the fillings for these egg soufflés being versatile, so is how you prepare them. They can either be prepared in traditional size ramekins, or a nine-inch pie dish. If you make these in ramekins, you will need four for this recipe. The ideal size for these baked egg soufflés is a five-ounce ramekin.
Top Tip for Copycat Panera Style Soufflés
Puff pastry is a great freezer staple to always have on hand. It makes creating everything from desserts such as Easy Apple Tartlets to this breakfast confection a breeze. Always follow the package directions for defrosting your puff pastry. Some will have you defrost it in the refrigerator while others recommend the counter and letting it come to room temperature.
If your puff pastry feels like it’s getting too soft or sticky, just pop it back into the refrigerator so can firm up. This will re-harden the butter and not only make it easier to work with, but also give you those flaky, buttery layers. The melting of the butter is what creates those layers…as the butter melts in the oven the pastry puffs.
Copycat Panera Style Soufflés
Equipment
- 1 mixing bowl
- 4 ramekins 5" or 1- 9" pie dish
Ingredients
- 1 puff pastry sheet, store bought defrosted according to package directions
- 3 large eggs or 4 medium eggs
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- 1/2 cup mozzarella, shredded
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes in oil, drained
- 4 slices prosciutto
- 1 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Butter 4 ramekins or 1 9" pie dish and set aside.
- Add the eggs to a bowl and whisk them well. Season with salt and pepper.
- Add the heavy cream and cheeses and mix to combine. Set aside.
- Unroll puff pastry. Cut it into 4 equal sized pieces and place into the prepared puff pastry. Use a fork to prick holes in the bottom of the pastry. This will prevent the bottoms from rising too much.
- Divide the sun dried tomatoes and prosciutto between each ramekin. Top with the egg mixture and sprinkle the rosemary over the top.
- Fold each corner of the puff pastry down to face the center. Rub a little of the egg mixture onto the pastry to create an egg wash.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes.
Hi hi – Thank you so much for this!! I am always looking for breakfast recipes that are TASTY! My question for you is the following: Can these be frozen after they’re baked?
I will be honest I have never frozen them. I did refrigerate them a because my daughter wanted them the next day.She just warmed them up in the oven at 350F for 10 minutes and they were perfectly fine.
I’ve successfully frozen them and I reheat them in the air fryer for 8 to 10 minutes. Absolutely amazing!
I’ve made these twice now and love them!
Thank you so much for trying! We love them too!
This looks amazing and I can’t wait to try it! I would love to mention it on my Saturday Morning Gather post tomorrow with a link to your post.
thank you chef for sending me this wonderful recipe. I would like to know more about your blog.
I’m going to try in jumbo muffin tin…will return and report
Finally made this morning. Used to order them every week at a meeting held in the restaurant. This was very good. Now I need to make my favorite, spinach artichoke. Made mine in 6 ramekins. My husband liked them – high praise. Served with some mixed fruit. Thanks for the recipe.
UPDATE. This time used leftover shredded Italian cheese, Parmesan and mozzarella, cut out ham, cut up spinach and chopped sun dried tomatoes Again, made 6 ramekins. Delicious. This was a clean out the fridge recipe with the unused puff pastry in the freezer and leftover filling ingredients.
I’ve tried a lot of Panera soufflé copycat recipes and this one is by FAR the best !! Thank you for such a delicious recipe I can make for my family…. Who also loves these by the way!.
This worked perfectly! I made a double batch of mine with ham, spinach, and sun-dried tomatoes in jumbo muffin tins and ramekins. The tins worked just as well as the ramekins. So tasty and filling!
I am doing a brunch for my daughter’s bridal shower. Once these are baked can you remove them from
the ramekin,refrigerate and reheat the next day?
I am doing a brunch for my daughter’s bridal shower. Once these are baked can you remove them from
the ramekin, refrigerate and reheat the next day?
Yes you can.They come out very easily. You can reheat them in a preheated oven for 5-7 minutes.
I made these today and they are delicious!! I didn’t poke enough holes in the pastry so they looked huge when they came out of the oven. They did settle down and are still wonderful. I can’t wait to try other kinds. The caramelized onion and Gruyere sounds great! Thank you for this amazing recipe!
Curious about the dough. Seem to my that a sheet of puff pastry is convenient, in the restaurant version. I do not see layers. Do you think the use croissant dough? Would it make a difference?
I tried to reply to the person who asked if you can use croissant dough instead… I have. They did “poof” up like the originals, but were still very tasty. Just a little more dense, but I still enjoyed them. Hubby didn’t notice the difference!
Just made these this morning and they were delicious. I used ham, parm, moz, chives and thyme.
They were so easy to make and they look beautiful.
Thank you for such a great and versatile recipe!
This looks so good! What a great combination of flavors!
Thanks for sharing! Does it keep long?
Do you think these could be made “crustless” without the puff pastry?
Yes you can make it crustless. Just grease well the dish and sprinkle a little Parmesan cheese.You can turn them into egg muffin.
I can’t wait to try these. My grocery store had eggs on sale yesterday (unbelieveable!!) so I got 3 dozen. Can I make these, cook and freeze? I’ve made dishes of quiche and frozen them so I would think this would work, I just haven’t done it with the puff pastry. Thanks!