These spinach & artichoke egg bites are an easy make-ahead meal-prep recipe for busy folks or families. These make a great grab and go breakfast, lunch, or protein-packed snack.You can vary the veggies in the filling if you like, and leave them in chunks for texture or blend them to sneak more veggies into your meals (especially good for finicky eaters).This recipe makes a big batch, which is great to fill your freezer with homemade "fast food", or feel free to cut the recipe in half if you only have a single muffin pan and don't want to bake these in batches.
16ozcottage cheese (4% is best but low-fat can be substituted)
8ozdefrosted frozen spinach, chopped(can substitute sauteed or blanched fresh spinach)
1cupartichoke hearts, diced
5ozshredded provolone or mozzarella cheese(can adjust to 4-6 oz, about one cup)
½tspsalt(if your cottage cheese isn't salted, increase to 1 tsp)
½tspfreshly ground black or white pepper
½tsporegano or thyme leaves(see post for other substitutions)
⅛tspturmeric (optional, for color)
Instructions
Blend the raw eggs and cottage cheese together with salt, pepper, and herbs until they're smooth and light in color.
Place the silicone muffin cups on a sheet pan or in a muffin tin, or spray a nonstick muffin pan with oil. Preheat the oven to 300 ℉.
Fill your muffin cups with a tablespoon or so each of spinach, diced artichoke hearts, and grated cheese, dividing them both evenly among the cups.
Ladle or carefully pour egg mixture into the muffin cups, dividing the mixture evenly among the cups. I used about a 3 oz ladle of mix in each muffin cup, then topped up any that were less full.
Try to avoid spilling any mix outside of the muffin cups, and wipe up any spills on the pan with a damp clean towel or paper towel before baking for easier cleanup!
Bake at 300 ℉ for 35-45 minutes, or until the egg bites are baked through, fully set, and no longer wet or jiggly in the middle. They will firm up a bit as they cool, but there shouldn't be any liquid egg left (add additional baking time if needed).
Let the egg bites cool slightly and either serve right away, or unmold and refrigerate or freeze.
Notes
Optional: For the smoothest egg bites, bake them in a water bath by immersing the silicone cups in a shallow pan of hot water, or putting a sheet pan with water under your muffin tins. If you use a water bath, be very careful when removing the tray from the oven so that you don't burn yourself! Alternately, carefully remove the muffin cups or tin and leave the bain marie (water bath pans) in the oven until they are cool enough to safely handle.