Science has been telling us for years (ya know, because me and science are tight) how important it is to eat a good breakfast in the morning, but for a lot of people that’s difficult for a number of reasons. A major one being that you just don’t have the time, period.
When I was pregnant with my first baby, my doctor told me in order to curb the rapid weigh-gain I was experiencing, I needed to replace my standard breakfast of fruit and yogurt (I was trying to be so good!), with something protein-rich likes eggs and bacon or sausage. Seriously? (I think that was actually my exact response) While I really didn’t mind cooking in the mornings, I was working full-time at a job that required me to wake up at an insane hour (4:30am!) and there was noooo way I was going to be whipping up an omelet before heading out the door. I needed something I could grab and go, and then heat up like 4 or 5 hours later when the normal people of the world were eating breakfast. I toyed around with breakfast casseroles that I could cut up and freeze, but those were far from healthy. So I came up with a little egg/cheese/veggie mixture that I baked in muffin tins. It was lean, protein rich, and included some vegetables which I otherwise wouldn’t be eating in the morning hours. It worked so great. I just kept them in a container in my fridge, or even froze them, and grabbed one as I headed out the door. These are great for kids in the mornings, or to take to work, or just to have at home for breakfast or a healthy snack. And my new favorite variation is to bake them in a little ham cup instead of a cupcake liner. It adds protein, flavor, and heck it just looks fun.
This is the combo I’ve been making lately, but these are so flexible. You can switch up everything. I really love them with bacon (isn’t everything better with bacon?), and they’re awesome with red peppers, green chilis, and pepper jack cheese. Play around with everything from the cheese to the add-ins to the egg-ratio, and find a combo you like. If you come up with a good one, come back and share!
Let’s cook:
Couldn’t be easier. Just combine all the ingredients and whisk together. I’ve found that even with greased, these stick horribly to the muffin pan so I like to use foil liners. You’ll need to remember to take them out of the liners before re-heating, but they work well for baking.
Or as I mentioned, in place of a liner you can use a piece of thinly sliced ham. Even just the cheap stuff from the lunch meat section works great. Just stuff it in the muffin tin and create a little bowl and then fill it with egg mixture.
Bake them until they puff up nicely and are just barely set on top. Overcooked eggs are spongy and gross, so don’t go crazy and let them cook too long.
As soon as they’re cool enough to handle, pop them out of the tin and eat! Or you can let cool completely to room temp and freeze and just reheat one at a time in the microwave. Store leftovers in the fridge.
Mini Breakfast Quiches/ Baked Ham and Egg Cups
Recipe by Our Best Bites
4 eggs
1 C egg substitute* (or an additional 4 whole eggs instead)
3/4 C shredded low-fat sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 C shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 C cottage cheese
5 oz frozen spinach, defrosted, water squeezed out and roughly chopped
(that’s half a standard frozen box of spinach)
1/3 C roasted red peppers, diced (jarred, or make your own)
1 oz finely diced ham, canadian bacon, or crumbled bacon (about 1/4-1/3 C)
1/4 C sliced green onions
1/4 t kosher salt
1/8 t black pepper
1/2 t hot sauce
1/2 t hot sauce
foil muffin tin liners OR 12 slices ham
*1/4 egg substitute = 1 whole egg, so if you’re using all eggs, or some eggs and some egg whites, you can adjust accordingly.
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350
In a bowl, combine all ingredients (except ham slices) and stir well.
If using ham slices, spray muffin tin with non cook spray and place one piece of ham in each well to form a bowl.
If using foil muffin liners, spray the insides of the liners with non-stick spray.
Evenly divide egg mixture between the 12 muffin wells (about 1/4 C each), being careful to keep ingredients well dispersed. You want them to fill right up to the top.
Place in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes. The tops should be puffed and just barely set on top. Eggs will sink after cooling.
Store them in an airtight container in the fridge, or freeze them. When reheating in the microwave, make sure to take off the foil liner! And if you’re reheating from frozen, I try to take them out the night before so they can thaw in the fridge. Then when you microwave them, set them on a folded paper towel to drain excess moisture.
Eat them alone, or for a well-rounded breakfast crumble on top of a piece of whole grain toast along with a glass of milk and a piece of fruit. Makes 12.
Nutritional information for 1 mini-quiche (w/o ham):
83 Calories, 7.5 g Protien, 3 g fat
2 Weight Watchers Points
Southbeach Diet Phase 1
Questions & Reviews
My sister is going to make these for a baby shower tomorrow and we were trying to figure out the egg combo. Do you need 4 eggs OR 1/4 egg substitute? I've never cooked with egg substitute but they seem to be the same.
Jessica,
Yes, these would work great. Have you seen our overnight egg casserole? It's one of my favorite things to take to a brunch and works great for a large group too. Here's the link:
https://ourbestbites.com/2009/12/overnight-sausage-and-egg-casserole.html
I'm supposed to bring the "protein" dish to a baby shower brunch I'm going to on Saturday. Would these be pretty enough to bring? I like that they are easier to serve than slicing up a quiche. What do you think?
Thanks, Sara! 🙂
Not a silly question at all Mary! It really depends on your microwave, but I do it for about 30 seconds and they're perfect.
I know this is an old post and a silly question, but how long do you microwave these for? Thanks!
I am not a huge egg fan, but these turned out delicious… I made adjustments to the ingredients with things I love… adding oregeno, garlic salt, mushrooms and canadian bacon… I'm excited for breakfast this week, but they might not last the night.
I love this recipe. I made it for the third time today.
I just made these and they were really good. My son who is 2 years old ate one too. Thanks for the idea.
Crystal, I would probably saute the spinach first, just in a little non-stick cooking spray; that way, you could squeeze out any excess moisture.
Jodi-
haha, mine is clean because it’s pretty new!
Yummy! What I really want to know though, is how do you have such a clean muffin pan? I have been pondering how my muffin pan is so yucky and wondering if there is a secret pan to buy???
Crystal-
I bet fresh spinach is just fine. I always mean to try it, and then I don’t have any when I decide to make them! You may get some excess moisture from fresh spinach, so that would be the only thing, but my guess is that it’s just fine. I add fresh spinach to regular eggs all the time. If you try it, come back and let us know how it goes!
Could one use fresh spinach instead of the frozen? Another thing to add to my list to try. You two are too amazing.
I eat eggs pretty much every single day, but only because I’m diabetic and anything else does bad things to my blood sugar. If I could eat what I wanted, there’d be a lot more oatmeal, french toast, pancakes, and such in my mornings.
I just had my second baby and it is hard to find time to eat, especially in the morning. I think I will whip up a batch of these and hopefully my toddler will like to eat these too.
One of my goals is to eat better at breakfast – these look like a perfect solution!! Thanks!
This is a really great idea! You guys come up with the best stuff! AND, they look delicious to boot!
i LOVE this idea!!! and i am always looking for something for breakfast because I have to get up at 4am.. yes 4! Thanks for sharing this!!
I’m making these tonight for dinner. I love breakfast for dinner!! You girls have the best recipes, I always know recipes I get from here will be tasty (no pressure, right?!)
Oh how yummy sounding!!!! I have never seen anything like this before!
Yum! I love these. I usually put chopped asparagus in them. I like a little crunch and I hate bacon. Yeah, it’s true.
Kate- I’ve done them without liners too, but even with a good spray the pan is always a beast to clean, so that’s why I always use liners!
Anything with “quiche” in the name is my friend.
These look so good.
Those look so yummy! I’ve done something similar, except I don’t put them in any kind of liner so I can pop it right into the microwave. But I suppose I could just peel back the liner first, huh? I’ll have to make some more…yummm…
My weight loss program consists of a high protein low carb diet and I’m SO excited to try these. I’m not sure my kids will eat ’em up like my hubby and I will but it’s sure worth a shot. Thank you!
Great idea! I am going to be trying this since i am on WW. Love it!
I love this idea! Thanks for sharing it.
I’ve made a variation of these before and loved them but your recipe sounds so much easier and healthy. I’ll be trying them very soon as I’ve had about enough of the cold cereal monotony.
YUM!!! I have the hardest time fitting breakfast in because of early morning classes. I usually just eat when I get home. These might change that- they sound wonderful!