Easy breakfast egg muffins
Egg muffins with spinach, red pepper, ham and cheddar, baked in a muffin tin. Make 12 at once, freeze half, and breakfast is sorted for the week: 18 g of protein in two.
- 215
- kcal
- 18g
- protein
- 14g
- fat
- 3g
- carbs
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 25 min
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
- Olive oil spray or butter, for the pan
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 red bell pepper, finely diced
- 4 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1 packed cup (30 g) baby spinach, chopped
- 4 oz (115 g) cooked ham or turkey sausage, diced
- 3/4 cup (85 g) shredded sharp cheddar
- 10 large eggs
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Method
-
1
Heat the oven and grease the pan
Heat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin generously with spray or butter, or use silicone liners. Eggs weld themselves to paper liners.
-
2
Cook the vegetables
Cook the bell pepper and green onions in the oil over medium heat for 4 minutes, until soft. Stir in the spinach for the last 30 seconds, just until it wilts. Raw vegetables give off water in the oven and make the muffins soggy.
-
3
Fill the cups
Divide the vegetables, ham and two-thirds of the cheese among the cups.
-
4
Add the eggs
Whisk the eggs, milk, salt and pepper until no streaks of white remain. Pour into the cups, about three-quarters full, and scatter the rest of the cheese on top.
-
5
Bake
Bake 20 to 22 minutes, until the centers are set and no longer wobble when the pan is nudged, or read 160°F.
-
6
Cool and unmold
Cool 5 minutes, then run a thin knife around each one and lift it out. They deflate a little as they cool; that is normal.
Why egg muffins turn out watery or spongy
Two things go wrong with egg muffins, and both are easy to avoid.
- Watery bottoms. Vegetables are mostly water. Raw peppers, mushrooms, spinach and tomatoes release it in the oven, and it pools under the eggs. Cooking the vegetables first for a few minutes drives most of it off. Tomatoes are best left out or seeded.
- Rubbery texture. Eggs toughen and weep when they get much past 160°F. Take the muffins out as soon as the centers stop wobbling. They keep cooking for a minute or two in the hot pan.
A little milk makes them slightly softer. More than about a tablespoon per 2 eggs makes them fragile and wet, so do not add more.
Egg muffins or egg bites?
Coffee-shop "egg bites" are cooked sous vide, in a water bath, and get their velvety texture from blended cottage cheese or cream cheese. To get closer to that at home, blend the eggs with 1/2 cup of cottage cheese before pouring, and set the muffin tin inside a roasting pan with an inch of hot water. Bake at 325°F for 25 to 30 minutes. They come out softer and more custardy, with a few more grams of protein.
Fillings that work
Keep the total filling to about 2 cups for 12 muffins, or the eggs cannot hold it together.
- Spinach and feta: swap the cheddar for feta and the ham for sun-dried tomatoes.
- Western: ham, green pepper, onion and cheddar.
- Sausage and kale: browned turkey sausage, sautéed kale and Parmesan.
- Vegetarian: leave out the meat and add sautéed mushrooms and black beans. Each pair loses about 2 to 3 g of protein.
Egg white muffins
Use 2 1/2 cups (about 600 g) of liquid egg whites in place of the 10 eggs. Each pair of muffins drops to about 145 kcal with about the same protein, but they are spongier and blander. A compromise that tastes better is 5 whole eggs and 1 1/4 cups of egg whites.
Meal prep, storage and reheating
Cool them completely on a rack before packing, or they steam each other soggy in the container. They keep 4 days in the fridge, or 2 months in the freezer, frozen first on a sheet pan so they do not stick together. Reheat in the microwave for 30 to 45 seconds from the fridge, or 60 to 90 seconds from frozen, wrapped in a damp paper towel so they do not dry out.
What they are worth nutritionally
A serving of two muffins has about 215 kcal, with 18 g of protein, 14 g of fat and 3 g of carbohydrate. That is a solid breakfast for the calories: most people eat far less protein in the morning than at dinner, and a protein-heavy breakfast tends to keep you full longer than a bowl of cereal with the same calories. Add a piece of fruit or a slice of whole-grain toast if you want some carbohydrate and fiber with them.
