Vegetable egg muffins

Twelve in one go, handheld and they won't deflate if you make them this way.

37 min
Total time: 37 min
Hands-on: 12 muffins
Servings: 85 cal
Per serving: Easy
Difficulty: Oven
Method

Photo: N i c o l a from Fiumicino (Rome), Italy · CC BY 2.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)

Ingredients

12 muffins

Nutrition facts

per muffin

85cal

Protein: 7 g31 %
Carbs: 2 g9 %
Fat: 6 g60 %
Fiber: 1 g
Sugarstotal, including the natural sugars in fruit and dairy: 1 g

Approximate values, calculated from food composition tables. They vary with the brands and cuts you use.

Step by step

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Cover

Vegetable egg muffins

Twelve in one go, handheld and they won't deflate if you make them this way.

1Step 1 of 6

Prepare the tin

Heat the oven to 350 °F (180 °C). Grease a 12-cup muffin tin very well, including the top edges, or use paper liners. Egg sticks like almost nothing else.

Tip: Silicone muffin cups are the easiest option here: they release without a fight.

2Step 2 of 6

Drain the zucchini

Grate the zucchini, salt it lightly, wait 10 minutes and squeeze it with your hands. Otherwise it will release water inside the muffins and make them soggy.

10:0010 min · Drain the zucchini

3Step 3 of 6

Beat the eggs just enough

Whisk the eggs with the milk, salt and pepper only until combined, without whipping. The more air you add, the more they rise in the oven and the more they sink as they cool.

4Step 4 of 6

Divide the vegetables

Distribute the zucchini, pepper, spinach and cheese among the cups, filling them halfway. Then pour in the egg up to three-quarters full, never more.

Tip: Vegetables first and egg after distributes much more evenly than mixing everything in the bowl.

5Step 5 of 6

22 minutes at 350 °F (180 °C)

Bake for 22 minutes, until set and lightly golden. A toothpick inserted should come out clean.

22:0022 min · 22 minutes at 350 °F (180 °C)

6Step 6 of 6

Wait before unmolding

Leave them in the tin for 5 minutes before removing them. Hot, they're fragile and break; once they settle, they come out whole if you run a knife around the edge.

05:005 min · Wait before unmolding

About this recipe

They're individual mini omelettes baked in a muffin tin. You make twelve at once, they keep four days in the fridge and you can eat them cold, warm or hot, which makes them the most practical savory breakfast I know.

The classic problem is that they puff up in the oven and deflate like a balloon as they cool. The fix is not overbeating the eggs and not filling the cups to the top.

Each muffin is 85 calories and 7 grams of protein; three make a complete breakfast.

Tips for getting it right

Any vegetable works: mushrooms, chopped broccoli, softened onion, sun-dried tomatoes. The only thing that matters is that it doesn't release water.
With 3½ oz (100 g) of chopped cooked turkey or chicken you get 11 g of protein per muffin.
They're perfectly good cold, which is what makes them so great to take with you.

Storage

4 days in the fridge and 2 months in the freezer. From frozen, 1 minute in the microwave and they're ready.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

Why do my egg muffins deflate?

Because the eggs were overbeaten (air gets in, they rise a lot and collapse) or because the cups were too full. Whisk only until combined and fill three-quarters of the way.

Can egg muffins be frozen?

Yes, they're one of the best things to freeze. Freeze them once cool, separately on a tray, and then combine them in a bag. One minute in the microwave and they're as good as fresh.

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