5-Ingredient Breakfast Egg Muffins
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These 5-ingredient Breakfast Egg Muffins are individual breakfast casseroles made with simple ingredients that you likely have in your kitchen. Delicious, budget-friendly, customizable, and filling! Great for meal prep.
This post is created in partnership with Hy-Vee Columbia.
Reasons You’ll Love This Recipe
Easy Breakfast Egg Muffins have been a reader favorite for a LONG time. Here’s why:
- Super fast and easy to make. The kids can help with this one!
- Made from simple ingredients you likely have on hand.
- This is a great recipe for 1 year olds or little eaters. They are easy for little gums and full of nutrition.
- The combo of protein and fat from the eggs, ham, and cheese keeps you feeling satisfied all morning. Feel free to add in chopped spinach or sautéed onions and peppers to include veggies, too.
- Like our Easy Cheesy Scrambled Eggs, these egg muffins are a very budget-friendly meal.
- Great for meal prep. It’s a make-ahead breakfast that’s freezer-friendly, like our Savory Breakfast Muffins and Baked Egg and Ham Cups.
Ingredients
Here are the 5 main ingredients in Breakfast Egg Muffins. You’ll find all these ingredients at your local Hy-Vee (Columbia). We like the Dilusso ham at their deli counter and fresh whole wheat bread or sourdough from their bakery for this recipe.
Ingredient Notes:
- Stale Bread – This is a great way to use up stale bread. Any kind will work but I highly recommend stale sourdough bread. See more on that below.
- Milk – You can use your milk of choice.
- Ham – You can replace this with cooked bacon pieces or chopped up leftover breakfast sausages instead.
- We’ll also have you add a few pantry seasonings to the egg mixture.
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Tips and Variations
- Recommended Pan: We highly recommend making these in a silicone pan, silicone muffin liners, or a non-stick enamel pan. The muffins come out easily and clean-up is a cinch. However, when we’ve tested these in metal pans (even after spraying with cooking spray), the pan was terribly difficult to clean.
- About the Bread: We tested this with several different kinds of bread. First, it’s best if the bread is stale. The muffins don’t get as mushy. Second, we preferred the taste and texture of sourdough bread the most in our tests. Try to avoid using bread with much sugar in it, because the muffins end up tasting a little sweet.
- Mix It Up: This is a forgiving recipe. Use whatever bread (English muffins work well!) or cooked breakfast meat (like cooked bacon or breakfast sausage) you want. You can even add in chopped spinach or sauteed peppers and onions, if you’d like veggies. Make it your own!
- Add Some Heat: If you like things spicier, try adding some dashes of hot sauce to the egg mixture.
- Let the Kids Help: This is a perfect recipe to let the kiddos help with. From tearing bread and ham to sprinkling them in the muffin cups, they’ll love being a part of it.
- Reduce Food Waste: Store any bread heels or stale bread in the freezer until you’re ready to make this recipe. It’s a great way to use up bread that would otherwise go in the trash.
How to Make Breakfast Egg Muffins
Find the full list of ingredients and instructions in the printable recipe card at the bottom.
- Prep: Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease a non-stick muffin tin very well or use a silicone muffin tin (preferred for easy clean up).
- Dry Ingredients: Drop bread pieces evenly in muffin tin cups until they come about 2/3 of the way up the pan. Sprinkle ham pieces evenly in each tin. Sprinkle cheese evenly in each tin.
- Wet Ingredients: In a glass measuring cup with spout (or a mixing bowl), whisk together eggs, milk, ground mustard, salt, and pepper. Slowly pour egg mixture evenly in each muffin tin until bread is covered. (Tip: Gently mix each muffin ingredients around with a fork to evenly distribute them.) Sprinkle a little parsley on the top of each one to add a pop of color.
- Bake: Bake for 15-20 minutes (depends on your pan) or until golden brown on top and cooked through the middle. (Note: They will deflate a little after coming out of the oven. That’s normal.) Either enjoy them while warm, store in the refrigerator for 3-5 days, or freeze using instructions below.
How to Freeze and Thaw Breakfast Egg Muffins
Freeze For Later: Bake according to instructions and let fully cool. Place muffins in a single layer in a gallon-sized freezer container or bag. Seal well, squeezing out excess air, and freeze.
Prepare From Frozen: Wrap a muffin in a moist paper towel and microwave in 30-second increments until heated through (about 1-2 minutes). Or thaw in the refrigerator and warm in the microwave.
FAQs
Try different combinations of vegetables (i.e. sauted bell peppers and onions), cheeses, and breakfast meats (cooked bacon or breakfast sausage) to create new flavors. You can also experiment adding in fresh herbs like chopped basil, parsley, or thyme.
Yes. Bake according to instructions and let fully cool. Place muffins in a single layer in a gallon-sized freezer container or bag. Seal well, squeezing out excess air, and freeze.
To reheat, wrap a muffin in a moist paper towel and microwave in 30-second increments until heated through (about 1-2 minutes). Or thaw in the refrigerator and warm in the microwave.
We highly recommend making these in a silicone pan, silicone muffin liners, or a non-stick enamel pan. The muffins come out easily and clean-up is a cinch. However, when we’ve tested these in metal pans (even after spraying with cooking spray), the pan was terribly difficult to clean.
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5-Ingredient Breakfast Egg Muffins
We love these easy Breakfast Egg Muffins. They’re individual breakfast casseroles, made with simple ingredients that you likely have in your kitchen. Delicious, budget-friendly, and filling!
Ingredients
- About 4 slices (4–6 ounces) stale bread, diced (see cooking notes; enough to fill muffin tins about halfway)
- 4–6 slices (6–8 ounces) deli ham, diced
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 8 large eggs
- 1/2 cup milk (any kind)
- 2 teaspoons ground mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
- Minced fresh parsley or dried parsley, for garnish
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Instructions
Make It Now:
- Prep: Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease a non-stick muffin tin very well or use a silicone muffin tin (see cooking note below).
- Dry Ingredients: Drop bread pieces evenly in muffin tin cups until they come about 2/3 of the way up the tin. Sprinkle ham pieces evenly in each tin. Sprinkle cheese evenly in each tin.
- Wet Ingredients: In a glass measuring cup with spout (or a mixing bowl), whisk together eggs, milk, ground mustard, salt, and pepper. Slowly pour egg mixture evenly in each muffin tin. (Tip: Using a fork, gently mix around the muffin ingredients to more evenly distribute them.) Sprinkle a little parsley on the top of each one to add a pop of color.
- Bake: Bake for 15-20 minutes (depends on your pan) or until golden brown on top and cooked through the middle. (Note: They will deflate a little after coming out of the oven. That’s normal.) Either enjoy them while warm, store in the refrigerator for 3-5 days, or freeze using instructions below.
Freeze For Later: Bake according to instructions and let fully cool. Place muffins in a single layer in a gallon-sized freezer container or bag. Seal well, squeezing out excess air, and freeze.
Prepare From Frozen: Wrap a frozen muffin in a moist paper towel and microwave in 30-second increments until heated through (about 1-2 minutes). Or thaw in the refrigerator and warm in the microwave.
Notes/Tips
- Recommended Bread Type: We tested this with several different kinds of bread. First, it’s best if the bread is stale. The muffins don’t get as mushy that way. Second, we preferred the taste of sourdough bread the best in our tests. Try to avoid using bread with much sugar in it, because the muffins end up tasting a little sweet.
- Muffin Pan Recommendation: We highly recommend making these in a silicone pan, silicone muffin liners, or a non-stick enamel pan. They come out easily and clean-up is a cinch. However, when we’ve tested these in metal pans (even after spraying with cooking spray), the pan is terribly difficult to clean.
- To spice these up, add in a few dashed of hot sauce to the egg mixture.
- This is a great way to use up stale bread. In fact, I just store old bread pieces in a freezer bag until I’m ready to use it.
Thank you so much for the recipe! I’d seen a similar one on FB but it wasn’t linked back to instructions. I think I’ll make this tonight so that my husband and I will have it tomorrow. Note: Our little one will not venture near anything with eggs in it. Her loss, right? One day when she’s in college, she’ll be calling home and say, “Mom! I miss your cooking!” I just know it!
thanks for the great recipe idea! I think we’ll try with frozen hashbrown mixture on the bottom rather than bread chunks. And adding some green chili with the ham & cheese. 🙂
I’ve tried with hashbrowns before and it does work! The added veggies sound yummy to me (but, too bad, not to the littles). 🙂
I made these today for my daughter’s 2nd birthday party tomorrow. They taste great, but they stuck really badly to the muffin tins. I figured that if I used muffin cups, they would just stick to those too. Any suggestions for getting to not stick? I liberally sprayed them with my misto/olive oil spray, and they still stuck. I got a good work out this morning grating the cheese and then prying them out of the muffin tins so that they would still look decent. Thanks.
Sorry it was so much work for you! I hate it when the happens. I would try a different kind of pan, like a stoneware muffin tin. I’ve found some pans stick more easily than others. And, yes, grease it, grease it, grease it. Other idea is to make this one large egg casserole and line the casserole dish with parchment paper. Hope that helps!
I am enjoying reading your blog and your suggestions for the busy mom. Now a retired mom of three awesome young adults, I look forward to the best phase of life: grandchildren! I have shared your site with my sweet niece who has two daughters, 26 and 2 mos.
As a young working mom, I survived on our frozen “plops”(cupcake-pan frozen stuff) –at first we didn’t even have a microwave (can you say, “back in ’08 before the big freeze?”) A friend brought me a Baggie-ful of frozen fruit salad plops and (frozen) hot tuna salad/crescent roll sandwiches. Perfect for one handed eating while nursing! I look back and marvel that we were able to get the job done!
Love your spiritual bent on life and advice to the young moms out there. God bless you and yours, and all your readers!
What a sweet comment! I love this. Thanks for sharing about your frozen meal memories…moms of all generations have surely been doing something akin to this, right? Thanks for reading/sharing our blog and taking the time to comment!
I made these this morning and they were so GREAT! I used homemade turkey breakfast sausage instead of ham, and my entire family of 6 Loved them! Thanks for sharing the recipe 🙂
Yum! Thanks for sharing. We’re always thrilled to hear of recipe successes!
Mine did not come out of pan intact. Any ideas? Thanks!
Hmm, you mean they stuck to the sides or literally just fell apart? If sticking, then more oil/grease in the muffin pan. If falling apart, then you didn’t have enough binder (egg) for the amount of bread and other filling. Add more eggs or use less fillers next time. I hope that helps! I hate it when I do all that work and a recipe doesn’t work, so sorry. I’ll try to retest it later this week and make sure we have the amounts correct (but I do know Polly and I have both made these and they worked fine in the past).
Oooh! I always made these with only egg, meat & veggies! Now I’m definitely going to have to either add in the bread crumbs or add in the flour/cornmeal from the Savory Breakfast Muffins recipe! All last winter a friend and I would have ‘cooking days’ since I had already been in the mindset of making 4 of a recipe when I cooked. My motto was, if I’m making a mess already, make a lot of the thing and have frozen meals ready to go! So, we had wine and chatted while we cooked it up, cannot wait to add many, MANY of these recipes to our monthly cooking days!!!
Can we be friends? That sounds SO fun! 🙂
Love these! I make mine with quinoa instead of bread for a little extra protein, and do a half-and-half mixture of whole eggs and egg whites. 🙂
Ooo, love the idea of incorporating quinoa. Thanks!
How did you add quinoa in this recipe? Was it cooked prior to baking and if yes then how did you cook quinoa?
Great idea! I’m going to try these with chopped pre-cooked broccoli and a smidge of bacon. Thanks for the idea!
Going to make these tonight, thanks to Pinterest! I don’t eat ham, but have turkey meat in the fridge. I also have some tomatoes that need to be used… will probably throw those in as well!
Hope they turn out well!
These look wonderful, I can’t wait to try them! Do you think it would work using paper muffin liners, or would that be a papery mess?
I think they would work. Maybe you could spray the paper liners with a little cooking spray just to make sure they peel off easily.
Right at this very moment my mini casseroles are in the oven, I’m very excited! Trying to get into cooking aswell as baking and these are a great starter:)
Xia, way to go! You’re going to save so much money and eat healthier because of it (at least that’s what happened for me, when I started cooking at home). Thanks for leaving a comment. I hope the muffins turned out well.
Can these be made ahead of time?
Absolutely. Just bake, cool, and toss in a freezer bag. To warm up, just wrap in a most paper towel and microwave in 30 second increments until warmed through.
Was looking for breakfast recipes on Pinterest and came accross these muffins. They look great, can’t wait to give them a try!
Thanks for posting this Rach. I never thought about it. But Kev LOVES breakfast casserole. So, I made these over the weekend. They just seem easier to manage than a big casserole cut up for him. We froze some too and they were great!!
Okay…I can't WAIT to hear how these turned out frozen…
Can you premake these and store in the fridge and bake in the morning?
Definitely! In fact, they may even turn out better by doing this.