Need a tasty on-the-go breakfast? Make this egg bites recipe! Inspired by Starbucks, it's healthy, flavorful, and easy to make in a muffin tin.
This egg bites recipe is the best grab-and-go breakfast! The egg bites keep well in the fridge for a couple of days (and longer in the freezer), so they’re great for meal prep. Plus, they’re packed with protein and flavorful veggies for an energizing start to the morning.
The recipe is loosely inspired by the famous bacon and Gruyère Starbucks egg bites. They’re known for their velvety texture, which Starbucks says comes from cooking them using the French sous vide technique.
I’m not about to get out a sous vide machine to cook breakfast, so I had to find another way to make these egg bites delicate and creamy. My solution was one simple ingredient—cottage cheese!—which Starbucks also uses in its recipe. Blended with the eggs, it gives these bites a perfect texture and rich, cheesy flavor. You have to try them!
Egg Bites Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe:
- Eggs, of course! 6 large eggs do the trick.
- Whole milk cottage cheese – The secret ingredient! It gives this recipe an AMAZING custardy texture and cheesy taste. Plus, it adds lots of protein!
- Fresh spinach РStarbucks loads up its egg bites with bacon and Gruy̬re cheese, but I love these with fresh veggies! The spinach adds a lovely green fleck and earthy flavor. Feel free to use frozen spinach instead of fresh.
- Roasted red peppers – Make homemade roasted red peppers, or simplify this recipe by using jarred peppers from the store.
- Green onions – For savory flavor.
- And salt and pepper – To make all the flavors pop!
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
Variations
I love this recipe as written, but if you want to experiment with other veggies, feel free!
- Try small florets of steamed broccoli,
- sautéed kale,
- sautéed asparagus,
- or caramelized onions.
A sprinkle of cheese on top would be tasty too! I like these with shredded cheddar cheese or crumbled feta cheese.
Note: I recommend sticking to about 1 1/4 cups vegetables total—any more will add too much moisture.
How to Make Egg Bites
This recipe is easy to make! Here’s how it goes:
First, blend the egg mixture. Crack the eggs into a blender and add the cottage cheese, salt, and pepper. Blend until smooth. Set the mixture aside while you prep the veggies.
To prepare the vegetables, start by cooking the spinach. Steam it for 1 minute, or until wilted. Transfer it to a strainer and squeeze out the excess water. Try to remove as much liquid as possible—you don’t want the egg bites to be watery! Roughly chop the spinach.
Chop the peppers and scallions and place them in a medium bowl. Add the spinach and mix to combine. Measure 1/4 cup of the veggies and set aside.
Next, assemble the egg bites. Grease a nonstick muffin tin with olive oil or cooking spray. Then, evenly divide all but the reserved 1/4 cup vegetables among the muffin cups. Pour the egg mixture on top, dividing it evenly among the cups. You’ll need about a scant 1/4 cup for each one. Finally, top with the reserved veggies.
Bake the egg bites at 350°F for 18 to 22 minutes, or until the eggs are set. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes before enjoying.
That’s it!
Egg Bites Recipe Tips
- Use a nonstick muffin tin. These egg bites love to stick to the pan, so make sure your muffin tin is nonstick. If you don’t have a nonstick pan, a good alternative is a silicone mold. It’ll allow you to easily to pop out the egg bites!
- Make them ahead. These egg bites keep well in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat in the microwave for a quick on-the-go breakfast!
- You can also freeze them. If you want to keep the egg bites around for more than a few days, I recommend freezing them. Allow them to cool to room temperature, and then seal them in an airtight container or freezer bag. Store them in the freezer for up to 3 months. Allow frozen egg bites to thaw overnight in the fridge before zapping them in the microwave to reheat.
More Healthy Breakfast Recipes
If you love this recipe, try one of these healthy breakfast ideas next:
- Breakfast Egg Muffins
- Overnight Oats
- Baked OatmealÂ
- Chia Seed Pudding
- Breakfast BurritoÂ
- Spinach Quiche
- How to Make a Frittata
- Or any of these 60 Healthy Breakfast Ideas!
Egg Bites
Ingredients
- Extra-virgin olive oil, for the pan
- 6 large eggs
- ¾ cup whole milk cottage cheese
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 3 cups fresh spinach, 3 ounces
- ½ cup diced roasted red bell pepper, about 1 pepper
- ½ cup chopped green onion, about 2 green onions
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a nonstick muffin tin with olive oil.
- In a blender, place the eggs, cottage cheese, salt, and several grinds of pepper. Blend until smooth.
- Place the spinach in a steamer basket and set over a pot filled with 1 inch of water. Bring the water to a simmer, cover, and steam for 1 minute, or until the spinach is wilted. Transfer to a strainer and squeeze out the excess water. Roughly chop.
- Place the spinach in a medium bowl and add the peppers and scallions. Toss to combine and measure ¼ cup of the mixed vegetables. Set aside.
- Evenly divide the remaining veggies among the muffin cups. Pour a scant ¼ cup of the egg mixture over the vegetables in each well. Divide any remaining egg mixture evenly among the wells. Evenly sprinkle the reserved ¼ cup vegetables on top.
- Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, or until the eggs are set. Let cool for 5 minutes before removing from the pan.
I doubled the recipe but I only had 14 silicone muffin cups. As stated in the recipe, these egg bites like to stick to the pan. I STRONGLY recommend using the silicone muffin cups as they came out much better than the ones cooked directly in the muffin pan. Great recipe and I’m excited to try variations!
Hi Kerry, thanks for the tip about the silicone cups. I’m glad you enjoyed them!
Update: These came out great. I added spinach, onions, peppers, sharp white cheddar, oregano and garlic. We ate them for dinner 🙂 Kiddo said these are “way better than the Starbucks ones any day”. Next time I will add bacon or Canadian ham. We are hooked!
This looks so good, am looking forward to making them today. I’m just confused about something. In the blog post, you write “I recommend sticking to about 1 1/4 cups vegetables total—any more will add too much moisture.” The recipe calls for 3c spinach, 1/2c onions & 1/2 peppers. Could you pls clarify the amount of total veggies ok to use to avoid sogginess? And how to adapt depending on how many water-based veggies used (cauliflower, zucchini, tomatoes) vs leafy greens? Thank you in advance! PS LOVE your blackberry crisp recipe. It is a regular at our house.
The first time I made this, I subbed whipping cream for the cottage cheese (none on hand). Excellent result! Accidentally bought ricotta instead of cottage cheese for the next batch.
We liked the creamier texture using whipping cream (but not the calories, lol). Will definitely use some of the add-ins from the comments!
I questioned greasing my muffin tins with olive oil, but did it anyhow. Every single egg bite stuck to the pan. Which is also a non-stick pan. They tasted good, but I lost about 1/3 of each egg bite to the pan. The effort of cleaning the pan was not worth it.
Mrs M, thanks for this; what would you have used instead?
I made this recipe with one batch of ingredients to include Canadian bacon, spinach, caramelized onions, tomatoes and white cheddar. The next batch had two types of cheddar, bacon and Canadian bacon. Thank you for sharing this base so we can add a variety of ingredients.
These tasted amazing! I substituted sautéed red Russian kale from my garden which has a mild flavor similar to spinach. I added a little grated Parmesan to egg mixture. Just wondering if you can recommend any substitutes for the cottage cheese. It’s hard to find lactose-free CC. Do you think plain LF Greek yogurt or LF ricotta work?
Hi Dana, we haven’t tried either of those… I wonder if ricotta might work, or could try our egg muffins which don’t use cheese as the base (just skip the feta): https://www.loveandlemons.com/egg-muffins/
have you tried good cultures lactose-free cottage cheese? so good!
Thank you for the wonderful recipe. Delicious! I used caramelized onions, sliced champagne tomatoes and white cheddar.
oh that sounds delicious!
I’d like to try with all egg whites or 50/50 eggs/egg whites. What do you think the equivalent egg white measurements would be? Thx!
Soo good! I have made other egg bites, but these are exactly what I was hoping for! So, light and fluffy!
These egg bites look amazing! Definitely trying this recipe for a quick and easy breakfast option!
Yummy!! I’m dairy free so I used Kite Hill dairy free ricotta in place of the cottage cheese. I sauteed the peppers and onions and when they were almost soft, I threw in the spinach for wilting. I added ham to the muffin tin as well. These will definitely be a staple in my home. I plan on freezing them for busy mornings.
Hi Julie, great idea to swap in the Kite Hill ricotta! So glad you love the recipe.
Can’t wait to make these! Do you have the nutrition facts?
I’m sorry, we don’t post nutrition facts but you can plug the ingredients into an online nutrition calculator.
Made these and loved them. Easy and great for meal prep high in protein. Will try the water bath next time. My question is whether you think I could you make these in a casserole dish? What size and cooking time would you recommend? Thank you!!
Hi Paola, I’m glad you enjoyed them! Here’s our breakfast casserole recipe, not totally the same, but it’s delicious: https://www.loveandlemons.com/breakfast-casserole/
I actually used drained canned green chilies and sharp cheddar. Baked them in silicone, sprayed with a bit of oil.
300 degrees for aout 22-25 min, BUT the important thing is to have a pan of boiling water on the lower rack of your oven. The texture is divine this way!
Also if using silicone, remember to place the pans on a baking sheet! Otherwise they’ll tip over…
I’m glad you enjoyed them!
You can also just put the silicone muffin tin on a sheet pan and pour boiling water on it to keep the texture soft and not dried out.
Can you sauté the spinach as well?
Hi Michelle, you can, but it’s important to still squeeze out the excess water.
What is the nutritional value of these? I am trying to make sure I know how many servings and calories etc. thanks!
Hi Rae, we don’t calculate nutrition facts for our recipes unfortunately, but you could use an online nutrition calculator to get an estimate. Hope this helps!