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Baked egg cups with spinach and feta on a wooden board, one cup sliced open showing ham and cheese inside

High-Protein Baked Egg Cups with Spinach and Feta

Egg cups baked with spinach, feta and diced ham for a portable breakfast at 30 grams of protein per serving.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Servings: 6 servings
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American, American comfort, Tex-Mex, Italian-American
Calories: 351
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Egg Base
  • 10 large eggs
  • 4 egg whites (about 1/2 cup / 120 ml)
  • 200 g full-fat cottage cheese (3/4 cup)
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
Filling
  • 300 g diced cooked ham (about 2 cups); deli or leftover baked ham
  • 150 g feta cheese, crumbled (1 cup)
  • 150 g fresh spinach (about 4 cups packed); wilted and squeezed dry
  • 1 tsp olive oil for wilting spinach
  • 1 tbsp butter for greasing the tin

Method
 

  1. Heat oven to 350 F / 175 C. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin generously with butter, right on the metal, not paper liners, since egg sticks to paper no matter how well you spray it.
  2. Heat olive oil in an 8-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add spinach and cook 2 to 3 minutes, stirring, until wilted. Transfer to a clean towel and squeeze out as much liquid as you can.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, egg whites, cottage cheese, salt, pepper and garlic powder until mostly smooth (small curds of cottage cheese are fine).
  4. Divide the diced ham, wilted spinach and feta evenly among the 12 muffin cups.
  5. Ladle the egg mixture over the filling in each cup, filling to about 3/4 full to leave room for puffing.
  6. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, until the centers are set, no longer jiggly, and a thermometer inserted into the middle reads 160 F / 71 C.
  7. Cool the cups in the tin for 5 minutes, then run a thin knife around the edge of each one and lift out onto a wire rack.
  8. Serve warm, or cool completely before storing.

Notes

  • Grease the tin well, sticking is the most common complaint with this recipe.
  • Squeeze spinach dry twice if using frozen, it holds more water than you'd think.
  • Double the batch on a Sunday and freeze half for a fast weekday breakfast.
  • Swap 2 whole eggs for the egg whites if you want richer flavor, protein drops about 3g per serving.