It’s that time of year when we all try to get back into the groove of daily life, make a fresh start, and rebuild good habits after the chaos of the holidays. Meal prepping has always been one of the things that really helps me save time, stay on budget, and keep overwhelm to a minimum. Especially meal prepping breakfast. Knowing that I don’t have to put any mental energy into breakfast every morning is a godsend! This super simple and versatile Egg Muffins recipe has been my go-to meal prep breakfast for a few months now. With endless add-ins and flavor possibilities, I never get sick of these delicious egg bites. Plus, they help me use up the odds and ends in my refrigerator every week!
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“I made these this morning! So good! I used mushrooms, bacon, and cheddar cheese. My picky toddler couldn’t eat his fast enough. Thank you!”
Saundra
Egg muffins, also known as egg bites, are eggs baked into a muffin tin with add-ins like vegetables, cheese, or meat. You can think of them like individual mini-sized frittatas! They’re small enough to be handheld and don’t require any utensils, so they make the perfect grab-and-go meal prep breakfast. They’re a great way to use up odds and ends in your refrigerator and since you can toss in just about any ingredient, and your taste buds will never get bored.
Egg Muffins
Servings 6 (2 each)Ingredients
- 10 large eggs ($1.47)
- 1/2 cup cottage cheese* ($0.50)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp pepper ($0.02)
- 1.5 cups chopped or shredded add-ins** (prices vary)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Finely chop or shred your chosen add-in ingredients. Add 2 Tbsp of add-ins to each well of a non-stick 12 muffin tin. If your non-stick pan is older or the finish is a bit worn, you may want to grease the wells first with butter or oil.
- Add the eggs, cottage cheese, salt, and pepper to a large blender. Purée for about 30 seconds or until smooth.
- Pour the egg mixture into the wells of the muffin tin, dividing evenly between each well. It should fill them almost to the top.
- Bake the egg muffins in the preheated oven for 18 minutes, or just until the centers no longer look wet and they are barely golden around the edges. Avoid overcooking them or they'll become spongey. They'll puff up quite a bit as they bake and deflate as they cool. This is normal.
- Allow the muffins to cool in the muffin tin just enough to handle, then loosen them gently with a knife and remove them from the tin. Allow the egg muffins to finish cooling on a wire rack. Enjoy warm or refrigerate until ready to eat.
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Equipment
- Muffin Pan
- Large Blender
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!How to Make Egg Muffins Step-by-Step Photos
Prepare mix-ins and oven: Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Next, decide what add-ins you’d like in your egg muffins. You’ll need about 2 Tbsp of finely chopped or shredded add-ins per muffin well. I did spinach & feta, breakfast sausage (leftovers) & onion, broccoli & cheddar, and red pepper & goat cheese. Make sure to use a non-stick muffin tin. If the muffin tin is older and the non-stick surface is worn, you may want to grease the tin with butter or oil. I did not use any butter or oil.
Add 10 large eggs, ½ cup of cottage cheese, ½ tsp salt, and ¼ tsp pepper to a blender. Blend for about 30 seconds, or until smooth.
Pour eggs in: Pour the blended egg mixture into the muffin tin, dividing equally between all twelve wells. It should come close to filling each well up to the top.
Bake muffins: Bake the egg muffins in the preheated 375ºF oven for about 18 minutes, or just until they no longer look wet in the center and they are barely golden around the edges. Be careful not to overcook the egg muffins or they’ll become spongey. The egg muffins will puff up quite a bit as they cook but will deflate back down as they cool. This is normal.
Allow the egg muffins to cool just until cool enough to handle, then gently wiggle them from the muffin tin and allow them to finish cooling on a wire rack (to prevent condensation).
Enjoy warm or refrigerate until ready to eat!
Egg Muffin Flavor Ideas
The fun part about egg muffins is that you can make so many different flavors! Here are some of my favorite ingredient combinations and flavor ideas:
- Broccoli cheddar
- Red pepper and goat cheese
- Bacon and onion
- Spinach and feta
- Ham and cheese (cheddar or Swiss)
- Sausage and onion
- Spinach and tomato (sun dried or grape tomatoes)
- Mushroom and onion
How to Keep Egg Muffins Soft
Eggs tend to get rubbery if overcooked, so I used some tricks to keep these egg muffins soft and smooth instead of rubbery or spongey. Blending cottage cheese into the eggs helps the them cook more evenly and it helps stabilize the proteins a bit so they don’t get quite as stiff. It’s also important to keep a close eye on the egg muffins while they’re in the oven. The longer they cook, the more spongey they will become. Remove the egg muffins from the oven as soon as they are puffed in the center, no longer look wet in the center, and are just barely golden on the edges. If they’ve browned a lot on top, chances are they’re overcooked inside.
How to Store and Reheat Egg Muffins
After allowing the egg muffins to cool, they can be stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for about four days. To reheat, simply place the egg muffins on a plate and microwave for a brief 30 seconds on high power, or until heated through. Take care not to overcook the egg muffins while reheating, or they can become rubbery.
Do you think it would be okay to make this with like a cole slaw bagged veggie blend? I’m imagining korean breakfast sandwich. I’m using ham, spinach, red peppers at the moment and was wondering if it would maybe water down the finished product??
Interesting! I’m truly not certain as we haven’t tried it! I think you may want to saute the veggies first as the eggs might get done before the cabbage is able to get tender. Unless you want there to be more of a bite to it!
Question!?
Am I able to pre mix egg and cottage cheese mixture in advance?
Like 2-3 days?
Then add meat/veg and bake!?!?
Hmm. We haven’t tried it that far in advance! I would say the night before should be fine, but I think 2-3 days might be a bit long.
I have a lot of ricotta and no cottage cheese. Can I use ricotta instead?
We haven’t tried it with this recipe so I’m not sure! My gut says that it would probably be a little too watery.
We loved these! I was wondering, though, if they could be cooked with the same ingredients into an egg bake in an 8 x 8″ or (preferably) a 9 x 13″ pan? I’m guessing this recipe would be more likely to fit in a smaller pan, though.
Thank you for a wonderful and yummy recipe! (We had sausage, cheese, yellow pepper and onion on hand for this first go-round.)
I’d say this recipe would more so fit in an 8×8, but we haven’t tried it yet so I don’t have an exact cooking time for you!
Thanks, Paige! I just may have to try that and see what happens!
i used bacon, cheddar cheese and peppers and onions. They turned out just the way they were suppose to. I will definitely be making again. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
These turned out great, the muffin composition was just awesome! I used fresh chili, bacon, chopped broccoli and mozzarella cheese as toppings and enjoyed these as lunch with fresh avocados. Very much a hit, and immediately earned their place in my routine rotation!
I made these this last weekend. I used 5 large eggs, 1/2 cup cottage cheese, chopped cooked bacon, chopped raw spinach, sauteed diced onions/chopped green bell peppers, chopped cooked mushrooms, small sprinkle of cheddar cheese. They came out very good! We are trying to eat out less & eat healthier. We are doing more “copycat recipes” at home. Thanks for the recipe – it can be customized every time depending on what you have on hand & use up what’s left in the fridge. We have not frozen them yet.
If you are using sausage, should the sausage be pre-cooked?
Yes, I would brown the sausage first!
I’ve seen recipes with the addition of flour and baking soda, what does that do? Help them rise? I’d prefer the lower carb option, I was wondering how much these ingredients effect the outcome.
We’ve never tried them with flour and baking soda so I’m not sure!
I make a similar recipe to what you just described and in comparison with normal egg muffins, adding flour makes them more soft and fluffy in texture, like an actual muffin, and it doesn’t get as watery when reheating. So I personally like it better with flour, but you can easily do without.
Super simple recipe, easy to follow and tasty results. I tried with cheddar and broccoli and will try it again with other flavor combos soon!
Hi! Are these freezer friendly?
They usually freeze well! There’s always a chance of eggs getting rubbery after freezing, but as long as you take care not to over do it in the microwave they should be good. I would recommend thawing in the fridge overnight if you can!
I love this recipe and usually make a double batch. I have also substituted yogurt/feta cheese or ricotta if I don’t have cottage cheese. The texture is so much better than other egg dishes I have made, and even my kids who don’t usually like eggs enjoy them. They were also a hit at a brunch I hosted!
I found your site while looking up egg muffins. The recipe that I was using—my muffins were rubbery. Can’t wait to try blending eggs with cottage cheese like your recipe.
What is the reason for the cottage cheese? I want to make these now, but don’t feel like going to the store for cc. Is there anything I can substitute, like milk?
You cannot use milk for this one! I’ve seen some readers try cream cheese with varying success, so that might work, but we haven’t tried it! If you want the exact fluffy texture of the Starbucks version, cottage cheese is the way to go. You can try these mini quiche if you want to use egg and milk! they just have a different texture than these. https://www.budgetbytes.com/mini-broccoli-cheddar-quiches/
Very tasty and easy to do! It’s nice having a quick breakfast before work. Next time, I will reduce the salt – I like to make mine with bacon bits and shredded cheese, so mine come out extra salty.