The yummiest sausage and broccoli cheese egg muffins make the ultimate handheld breakfast for little hands, big kids, and adults on the go!
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Re-visiting one of my “go-to” recipes from the toddler years!
A few weeks ago, I noticed I had a comment on this post for egg muffins. A post that, honestly, I had forgotten about because it is so old! (See the 2014 date in the website address?!) Reading through this old post brought back *so* many memories. You see, when the girls were little, I made these little egg muffins ALL. THE. TIME! The post was definitely in need of an SEO/Google help, and a photo refresh, so I decided to give this oldie post a little facelift! I even found a little picture of the girls at the age that I distinctly remember using this recipe for – busy, on the go little ones with little hands!
No changes necessary!
I haven’t changed a thing in this recipe! So if you have been making these little egg muffins since 2014, you can still follow this recipe card. My teens were actually pumped when they got home from school and saw them, promptly eating more than half the pan. The whole hand held thing certainly does work well for young children, but teenagers and adults will enjoy this recipe too.
Let’s talk about the muffin pan and getting perfect egg muffins that don’t stick
Because we have all made egg muffins that stick like crazy, right? It is so frustrating! Here are some tips to avoid the stick!
- I have found that greasing muffin tins with spray oils, such as avocado or olive oil sprays, make the egg muffins stick. Use butter (butter tastes better anyway!)! If you cannot have butter, use coconut oil or olive oil to grease the muffin tin.
- Let the egg muffins cool almost completely before lifting them out. They just tend to stick more right out of the oven. I’m not sure what the science is there, but trust me when I say, just let them cool a good 15 minutes before taking them out of the muffin cups.
- If your muffin pan is very old, I might suggest using unbleached muffin cup liners.
- A silicone muffin pan would work well too. My experience with silicone pans, however, is that if you wash them with dish soap too much, they make things stick way more. So try to just wash them in warm water versus with soap!
The Method :: The sausage & broccoli filling for the egg muffins
To get your egg muffins started, you’ll brown some sausage. If you have access to pasture raised ground breakfast sausage, that’s great! If you do not, here are a couple options: You can use the best ground meat that you can find (grassfed beef, pork, turkey, chicken) and season that with my easy breakfast sausage seasoning blend. Or you can use something like an all natural sausage from the store. Jenny-O makes a good turkey sausage that doesn’t have any added junk in it. I tend to use our grassfed beef from our cow in the freezer to make sausage, but sometimes it is nice to grab the turkey sausage from the store! Once you brown the sausage, you can toss in the finely chopped broccoli and turn the heat off while you prepare the egg mixture. There’s no need to fully cook the broccoli, as it will fully cook in in the oven.
The Method :: The egg mixture for the egg muffins
The egg mixture is what binds this whole muffin together. Simply whisk the eggs, milk, olive oil, and seasonings, and that is it! I like to use a liquid measuring cup so it can easily pour into the muffin cups.
The Method :: Assembling the egg muffin cups
After preparing the sausage and egg mixtures, all there is left to do is fill in those little muffin tin cups! Evenly divide the sausage and broccoli mixture into each cup, and then pour the egg mixture over the top.
A note on the optional cheese
The cheesey top for these little egg muffins is like icing on the cake! So good! If you can tolerate cheese, sprinkle some over the the top before baking. We like to use a sheep’s milk manchego cheese, but really any cheese will work. If you’re dairy free, you could try using a coconut based cheese like Viola Life brand.
How to serve your egg muffins
When the girls were little, we used to serve an egg muffin with a side of fruit and a small cup of raw milk. As my girls have gotten older, one little egg muffin doesn’t do the trick! Most often this entire pan is polished off in one sitting between my 2 teens, 1 tween, and myself. I’ll add in season fruit & yogurt to the side as well. You could serve toast or bagels with the egg muffins for older kids that need more food as well.
Can I change up the veggies?
Of course! Chopped spinach works really well in these egg muffins. Stay away from any super watery veggies like zucchini. I’ve used shredded sweet potato and squash, and asparagus is nice in the spring too!
Batch cooking tips for brunch
When I originally posted this recipe, I made the recipe card for 6 egg muffins. That literally made me laugh out loud! I just forgot how different the amount of food that I need to make was when the kids were so young! I adjusted the quantities in the recipe for a full dozen, but you could certainly double even that if you need to for a large crowd (or starving teenagers!)
Leftover egg muffins storage and re-heating tips
These egg muffins will keep in an airtight container for up to 5 days. I like to re-heat egg muffins on a sheet tray in the oven. Just put them on the sheet tray in a cold oven and pre-heat to 350 degrees. By the time the oven pre-heats, the egg muffins will be warmed up. A toaster oven or even eating them cold works too. The egg muffins can also be frozen for later use.
Sausage & Broccoli Cheese Egg Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground breakfast sausage of choice See Notes for options
- 8 pastured eggs
- 3 TB whole milk or coconut milk if you are dairy free
- 2 TB olive oil
- 1/2 tsp aluminum free baking powder
- 1 tsp sea salt
- Pepper to taste
- 1 cup finely chopped broccoli florets or chopped baby spinach works too
- 1/2 cup Shredded raw cheese of choice to top optional if dairy free
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven 375 degrees, and butter a 12 cup muffin tin.
- Brown the sausage in a skillet, then pour the chopped broccoli in. Stir the broccoli around for about 1 minute, and then turn the heat off. This will allow the broccoli to soften/steam while you prepare the egg mixture.
- Whisk the eggs, milk, olive oil, baking powder, salt, and pepper in a 4 cup Pyrex liquid measuring cup. (Making the egg mixture in the measuring cup makes for easier pouring and less dishes. If you do not have a liquid measuring cup, you can make the egg mixture in a medium mixing bowl.)
- Divide the sausage & broccoli mixture into the muffin cups, and then evenly pour the egg mixture over the sausage/broccoli.
- Top each egg cup with cheese (if using), and bake in a 375 degree oven for 20-25 minutes, until the eggs are set and the tops are lightly golden.
- Let the egg muffins cool in the muffin pan for 5-10 minutes before turning them out to cool completely or eat.
- Serve your egg muffins with a side of in season fruit to add needed fiber/healthy carbs.
- Leftover egg muffins can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- If you have access to pasture raised ground breakfast sausage, that’s great! If you do not, here are a few options: You can use the best ground meat that you can find (grassfed beef, pork, turkey, chicken) and season that with my easy breakfast sausage seasoning blend. Or you can use something like an all natural sausage from the store. Jenny-O makes a good turkey sausage that doesn’t have any added junk in it! I tend to use our grassfed beef from our cow in the freezer to make sausage, but sometimes it is nice to grab the turkey sausage from the store!
- I do find that greasing muffin tins with spray oils, such as avocado or olive oil sprays, make the egg muffins stick. Plus, butter tastes better! If you cannot have butter, use coconut oil or olive oil to grease the muffin tin. A silicone muffin pan would work well too.
- I like to re-heat egg muffins on a sheet tray in the oven. Just put them on the sheet tray in a cold oven and pre-heat to 350 degrees. By the time the oven pre-heats, the egg muffins will be warmed up. A toaster oven or even eating them cold works too!
Need more breakfast ideas for kids?
My newest cookbook, Nourished Mornings, publishes on July 22! You’ll find over 60 real food breakfast ideas that are sure to get kids excited about eating breakfast in the morning. From copycat recipes of your favorite store bought and restaurant breakfast flavors like Copycat Little Bites Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins and Starbucks Copycat Blueberry Muffins, to nutrient dense breakfast casseroles, smoothie bowls, and cereals, there is something for everyone! It is sure to keep your breakfast meal plan flowing with great ideas!
These look really, REALLY good. I will definitely be trying them. I love the portability of them, too!
Thanks for sharing. <3
Great 🙂 Let me know how they turn out!
Love, love, love this idea! I quickly run out of breakfast ideas, so I’m storing this away for the near future. I’ll also include the recipe in my meal plan soon. 🙂
Thank you Kristin! Let me know how they turn out 🙂
These look fantastic! I want to try this recipe!
Renee, these look wonderful! We make a similar version, but why I have never thought to add sausage is beyond me. What a delicious idea! Thank you for sharing! 🙂
These look so good. I can’t wait to try them.
Can you freeze?
Hi Haley! Yes you can! You can either freeze just the batter or you can bake them off and freeze individually. Hope that helps!
I swapped out the sausage for about 200gms of mushrooms to make them vegetarian and cooked those up (chopped) in some oil before adding them to the muffin pan.
Worked a charm. (Y)
Great idea Mia – sounds so yummy!
Could you substitute soy milk for the coconut? The hubby does not like the flavor of coconut milk much.
Hi Virginia! Great question! I personally do not advocate for any soy products as per the Weston A Price Foundation soy is quite toxic and dangerous in most forms unless non GMO and fermented. I am happy to link some sources if you wish on that too 🙂 There isn’t a whole lot of milk here – if you are dairy free and don’t like coconut milk, I would suggest either almond milk or even just water would probably work in this recipe. I hope that helps!
Looks like a great way to start the weekday! Thanks for sharing this recipe.
WE are having this for lunch today, and it’s fantastic! I did it in a big instead of a muffin tin, and I quadrupled the recipe for a 9 x 13 pan. We used Daiya pepper jack cheese (about 1/4 of a cup for the quadrupled recipe was a good amount).
YUM!!! Love egg muffins! They’re omelettes in a muffin shape!
What is ground sausage for us UK folk? Do you mean you squeeze the meat out of the sausage casings, or just chop up the sausages? Thanks!
Hi Natalie! We get ground pork (just plain pork ground up like ground beef) and then season it ourselves – our farmer also sells ground pork already seasoned with sausage seasoning. If you cannot find something like that you could definitely cut the casing from a sausage link and cook it up!
so I just made these and they puffed up like crazy in he oven and then totally deflated leaving big air holes in the bottom half of the egg muffin. Any thoughts as to what causes his???
Oh bummer! I make these all the time and never have an issue, but I did have one time that I used some different veggies and I didn’t pack stuff in as tight – like there was more air in there and they came out lighter and airier if that makes sense. Did you use the same veggies and meat as the recipe?
How long would you say these would keep in the fridge? Would like to make and just have ready for the week or a couple days.
Hi Heather! I don’t let them go more than 3 days in the fridge. They do freeze well. I like to plastic wrap them and then into a freezer bag. I hope that helps!
Hi! Are you able to eat these from the freezer (first heating, obviously!) or do they need to be thawed before reheating? How do you reheat – microwave (how long/how high)? Oven – how long/hot)? Thank you!
Hi Sarah! I have taken them right out of the freezer to the oven to warm up and they work. I don’t use a microwave so not sure on that time but I did the oven at 350 – actually I just put them in there cold and by the time the oven pre-heated to 350 – under 5 minutes once it was done preheating if I can remember correctly. I hope that helps!
These are wonderful. We sub cut-up nitrate free Canadian bacon & they are delish!! Love your ideas!
Hi Nicole! I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Is the baking powder a required ingredient? Please and thank you!
Hi Alexis! Yes it is – it makes the muffins rise!
Hi Renee,
I tried these egg muffins without sausage. I used red bell pepper and spinach. They taste wonderful but they were stuck to the muffin pan! I used a lot of coconut oil to grease the pan! Your muffins look so perfect and neat! How did you do that? I am using a Nordicware aluminum muffin pan. Should I try with a non stick pan? Please help! Atleast half of each muffin was stuck and I had to scrape it off with spoon and it took me atleast half hour to clean up my 12 muffin pan!
Please help me with any suggestions as I would like to make these once a week so I can use for my kindergartener!
Thanks in advance! 🙂
Hi Swarna! I do have a non-stick pan – I wonder if using silicone muffin cups would work though too?
Can you use cupcake liners so it doesn’t stick in the muffin pan?
Yes!
I used this recipe this morning!! Added mushrooms, spinach and cheese! The kids scarfed them down. I guess I need to consider a double batch next time! There were none for myself or my husband!! 😊
Awesome Trisha! Gosh I think when I wrote this it was just the 2 girls as toddlers eating them – I definitely double up into a dozen pan now!
What is the serving size? Is it one? I am planning for the 80 day obsession plan and am limited to my food intake.
Hi Randi! You could use a nutritional calculator and figure it out, as I’m not sure – just Google it 🙂
Trying this week. Thanks for the tips!
Hi Stephanie! I hope you enjoy them!
I made a double batch of these for the first time and they turned out great!! The sausage I used was a pork/bacon mix, so I omitted the salt as to not overdo the saltiness. Both the flavor and texture are perfect! A double batch made 12 perfect sized muffins. I now have a bag of individually wrapped muffins in my freezer that I can have at breakfast, lunch, or for a quick snack. Thank you for sharing your recipe!
Hi Karen! I’m so glad you enjoyed them as much as we do! And such a great idea to double for the freezer!