This post is written by Lori Hernandez of Three Acre Farm.
Do you struggle to get a healthy breakfast every day?
We do.
No matter how early we get up, mornings always seem rushed and getting real, wholesome, nourishing food in our bellies is a challenge! It’s especially difficult for my husband, who gets up for work in the wee hours of the morning. He just doesn’t have it in him to prepare ANYTHING in the morning (he is NOT a morning person), so his breakfast must truly be “Grab-and-Go”.
He also works a very physically demanding job, so I’m always looking for foods that will give him lasting energy throughout the day.
After wracking my brain for easy make-ahead breakfast solutions, I finally came up with this recipe for egg based breakfast bites. We keep chickens on our farm and almost always have a surplus of eggs, so this recipe is a good way to use them up.
A Power-Packed Breakfast
This recipe is full of ingredients that will nourish your body and keep you going all morning.
- Quinoa: A plant food that is actually a complete protein source (which is unusual!) and great source of energy.
- Eggs: Packed with protein and one of the most nutritious foods on the planet. The nutrition value is even higher if you can source eggs from pastured hens (chickens that have access to grass, insects, plants, etc. Not to be confused with “free-range”, which can mean the chickens are just free-ranging on a patch of dirt or concrete).
- Leafy Greens: Dark leafy greens, such as spinach and kale are loaded with iron.
- Veggies: These breakfast bites are a great way to get a serving of nutritious vegetables right away in the morning.
A Crowd Pleaser
In addition to being a great everyday breakfast, these breakfast bites look pretty enough to be featured at your next brunch. They always get scooped up quickly and everyone loves them!
I love the fact that the recipe is flexible and customizable. Often, I will make a double batch and create two different options: vegetarian and meat lovers.
The recipe is easy to change or tweak, so you can meet the dietary needs of your family, such as:
- Vegetarian
- Dairy Free
- Gluten Free
Feel free to play around the recipe! You really cannot go wrong.
These breakfast bites are a great way to use up leftover veggies/meats from previous meals, or to use up any veggies in your fridge that are just laying around. Every time I make them, they are a little bit different, depending on what season it is and what I have on hand, such as:
- Onions
- Peppers (sweet or spicy)
- Zuchinnis
- Carrots
- Potatoes
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower
- Spinach
- Kale/Collards
- Swiss Chard
- Tomatoes
- Sweet Corn
- Peas
- 2 cups of Quinoa, cooked
- 6-8 eggs (6 large or 8 medium)
- 2 cups diced/shredded vegetables (such as onion, bell pepper, hot pepper, carrot, potato, broccoli, cauliflower, etc)
- 5 handfuls of spinach, kale or similar leafy green
- 2 tbsp oil or fat of your choice (butter, ghee, bacon fat, beef tallow, avocado oil, etc.)
- ¾ tsp salt
- Pepper, to taste
- Optional: ½ - 1 cup of shredded cheese
- Optional: 2 tbsp of milk
- Optional: ½ cup of shredded/crumbled cooked meat, such as bacon, sausage, ham, etc
- Optional: fresh or dried herbs, such as basil, parsley, chives, etc.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pans with 12 muffin liners (or grease pans).
- Saute veggies and leafy greens in oil/fat until softened, about 5-8 minutes.
- Crack eggs into large bowl. Add salt, pepper and milk (Optional), and mix well, like you are making scrambled eggs.
- Add sauteed vegetables to the egg mixture.
- Add cooked quinoa to egg mixture.
- Optional: add fresh/dried herbs, meat and half the cheese
- Pour egg mixture into prepared muffin trays/liners. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top (Optional).
- Bake for 25-30, until eggs are set when when poked with a toothpick and tops are golden brown.
- Serve warm, room temperature or cold. They reheat well in a toaster oven.
Trouble Getting Healthy Food on the Table Every Day?
Enter Real Plans
Real Plans is an online meal planning software & app that is probably smarter than I am.
It works with all food restrictions to help families find the perfect meal, generate a shopping list, scale it up if needed, and you’re totally in control. Use your own fav recipes, skip a suggestion and tell Real Plans all the foods you don’t like/can’t eat, and it will still do half the work of meal planning (or more) for you.
Real Plans takes the stress out of meal planning and puts the nourishing food BACK on your table. There’s a plan for every diet type, including GAPS, Paleo, AIP, Whole30, vegetarian and more!
Oh! If you are feeling like pouring the batter into muffin cups to make individual cups is too fussy for you, you can always bake the batter in a greased baking pan or cast iron skillet. Ta-da! The breakfast bites have transformed into an elegant frittata.
The breakfast bites can be served warm, at room temperature or even cold!
That is why I have compiled tips from fellow KS readers and myself in, Busy Moms Guide to Getting Real Food on the Breakfast Table.
So Many Options!
My husband avoids dairy, so when I make a batch, I omit the milk and only put cheese on half of the breakfast bites to appease both of us.
There are so many different options for these breakfast bites, such as:
- Broccoli, ham and cheese bites
- Garden fresh bites (use whatever veggies/herbs are growing in your garden that day!)
- Meat Lovers (omit some of the veggies and add more meat)
- Tomato, basil and mozzarella cheese (cherry tomatoes work best for this – saute them briefly first)
- Spicy, South-of-the-Border bites (corn, black beans, and spicy chilies like these Hatch Chilies)
I hope you are inspired to try these breakfast bites. They are a perfect snack or meal, any time of the day! Enjoy!
Judy says
I love this type of recipe and want to try it. Please clarify the quinoa amount. I think I will have too much quinoa if I cook 2 cups. Did you mean “2 cups cooked quinoa”?
Lori Hernandez (Contributing Writer) says
Judy, you are right on! 2 cups of pre-cooked quinoa. I usually cook 1 cup of dry quinoa in 2 cups of liquid, and it yields a little over 2 cups cooked quinoa. Let me know what combinations you try! Right now, I’m doing the Whole 30 fast, so I can’t have the quinoa. I just added more veggies and they are still great!
Holly says
I hate cooking in the morning. I am not a morning person. I love breakfast…for dinner lol! We kicked cereal to the curb a couple years ago, but the trade off is cooking in the morning. I love make-ahead and freeze ideas that can just be warmed up in the morning! This will be great to add to the rotation. I’m not a huge fan of quinoa. Would these work without it or will it change the texture too much? Maybe I could substitute rice or oats or something?
Lori Hernandez (Contributing Writer) says
Hi Holly! Solidarity, sister. 😉 Cooking in the morning is not my thing either. That’s why I love these so much! I can make them ahead of time and reheat in the morning.
You can absolutely omit the quinoa! I’m doing Whole 30 right now, so I just cut out the quinoa and added more veggies. They are terrific. I bet rice would be perfect too!
Lynelle says
I too am curious about substitutes for the quinoa. Also, do these freeze well? Would they need to be defrosted before reheating them?
Lori Hernandez (Contributing Writer) says
Hi Lynelle, I have not tried other grains as a sub for quinoa, but I bet rice would work great. Or omit the grains all together and up the veggies/meat (that’s what I’m doing right now for Whole 30 – I’m pretty much living on these things. Ha!).
I have NOT tried freezing them. Boy, I don’t know… wonder if the eggs would get rubbery? We go through them so fast, I’ve never needed to try freezing…
N says
I’m not very familiar with quinoa, though would like to incorporate it into my diet. When the recipe says 2 cups, does that mean measure 2 cups and then cook it, or cook and then measure out 2 cups of the cooked quinoa?
Thanks!
Lori Hernandez (Contributing Writer) says
Yes, quinoa can be a great addition to your diet! The recipe calls for 2 cups of pre-cooked quinoa. So, to cook the quinoa, I measure 1 cup dry quinoa with 2 cups of water into a medium sized saucepan (and a touch of oil and salt). Bring to a boil, cover and simmer about 8-10 minutes, or until the quinoa is cooked and fluffy (you can peek at the 8 minute mark and give it a stir). This should yield about 2 cups of cooked quinoa.
Hope this helps!
Audrey Stefanides says
When I made these, when I took them out of the oven the tops sank, and the bottom sucked way up. What did I do wrong?
Lori Hernandez (Contributing Writer) says
Hi Audrey!
Yes, they do tend to “deflate” a bit sometimes after a few hours. I never worry about it, since we eat them up so fast! Ha! But sounds like yours deflated more than a “bit”. So sorry, not sure what to tell you! In the future, you could always do away with the muffin liners/pan and bake it in a 8×8 baking dish instead and make it into a frittata.