Healthy Sundried Tomato, Spinach and Quinoa Egg Muffins
Try this Healthy Sundried Tomato, Spinach and Quinoa Egg Muffins recipe, or contribute your own.
Try this Healthy Sundried Tomato, Spinach and Quinoa Egg Muffins recipe, or contribute your own.
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup feta cheese crumbled
- 3 eggs, large
- cooking spray (i use misto)
- 1 cup quinoa cooked
- 1 tbsp onion (garlic) powder
- 1/2 tsp black pepper ground
- 1 + 1/2 cup egg whites
- 3 tbsp ground flax seeds or chia seeds
- 2 handfuls spinach coarsely chopped
- 1/2 cup sundried tomatoes packed in oil/water rinsed, drained & chopped
- Carbohydrate 145.40337333463 g
- Cholesterol 33.3750000282136 mg
- Fat 21.5844066734126 g
- Fiber 15.7418333333333 g
- Protein 36.9831000045047 g
- Saturated Fat 7.18847667140464 g
- Serving Size 1 1 recipe (262g)
- Sodium 429.802667020446 mg
- Sugar 129.661540001297 g
- Trans Fat 1.44848666702172 g
- Calories 924 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, place cupcake liners into a 12 muffin tin and spray generously with cooking spray. Alternatively, you could use a silicone BPA-free muffin baking pan or individual silicone BPA-free muffin cups. Also, you could make the egg bake in an 8 x 8 baking dish lined with parchment paper and then cut into squares. DO NOT bake the egg muffins directly in the muffin tin, they will stick!
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk eggs and egg whites for 30 seconds. Add flax/chia seeds, feta cheese, onion (garlic) powder, salt, pepper and whisk to combine. Add quinoa, spinach, sun dried tomatoes and mix.
- Fill each muffin with egg mixture 3/4 full. If you have extra mixture bake in additional ramekins but do not overfill.
- Bake for 20 minutes, remove from the oven and let cool for about 10 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, loosen the egg muffins from the muffin tin and slide onto a platter.
- Serve hot (I like to add a few drops of Frank's RedHot Buffalo Sauce on top).
Textural Foundations and Quinoa Integration
Incorporating cooked grains into whole eggs requires careful moisture management, particularly when adding ingredients packed in liquid like sundried tomatoes. Rinse oil-packed tomatoes thoroughly under warm water and press them between paper towels to remove excess surface oil, which prevents the egg proteins from binding properly during the bake. Whisking whole eggs with additional egg whites for 30 seconds introduces enough mechanical aeration to keep the muffins from becoming dense once the heavy quinoa and chopped spinach are folded into the bowl. When measuring cooked quinoa, ensure it has cooled to room temperature before mixing; hot grains can prematurely denature the raw egg proteins and create uneven coagulation in the oven.
Adapting for Dietary Needs
Modifying this formula for specific dietary restrictions is straightforward when maintaining the fundamental ratio of liquid protein to solid mix-ins. Replace the dairy feta with aged sheep milk pecorino for a sharper flavor profile, or omit the cheese entirely and increase the kosher salt by a quarter teaspoon to compensate for lost salinity. Ground flax seeds or chia seeds function as structural binders, absorbing free moisture released by the spinach leaves during the 20-minute bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. For a grain-free alternative, substitute the cooked quinoa with an equal volume of finely riced cauliflower that has been thoroughly microwaved and squeezed dry in a clean kitchen towel.
Preventing Common Failures
Egg proteins possess high sulfur content and stick tenaciously to untreated metal surfaces, making proper pan preparation non-negotiable. Line standard 12-cup muffin tins with paper cupcake liners and coat the interior surfaces generously with a neutral cooking spray, or utilize flexible silicone molds to guarantee clean release. Allow the baked portions to rest undisturbed in the pan for 10 minutes after removal from the heat source, letting the internal residual steam relax the protein bonds before inversion. Store leftovers in an airtight glass container in the refrigerator for up to four days, reheating individual portions in a 300-degree oven for eight minutes rather than using a microwave, which toughens the delicate egg matrix.
