Instant pot egg bites
September 12, 2020 4:19 PM   Subscribe

I want to make instant pot egg bites, and I have a couple questions. Recipe recommendations/suggestions also welcome!

I want to make egg bites in my instant pot (recipe examples are here and here. Now that I'm working from home, my I'm-bored-I'll-wander-away-from-my-computer-and-absently-check-the-fridge snacks tend to be very carb-heavy - crackers, tortillas, a bowl of cereal, etc. So I like the idea of having something more protein-heavy premade and ready to go in the fridge.

My main question is, it seems like pretty much every egg bite recipe I look at includes cottage cheese. I don't have any, and I don't really have any acceptable substitutes right now either - no ricotta, greek yogurt, sour cream, etc. The closest I have might have is whole milk or half-and-half. Is the cottage cheese mostly to make them creamier, in which case stirring in some half-and-half might work, or is it also acting as a thickener?

Other than that, I was planning on kind of winging it as far as ingredients. I have feta, green onions, bacon, and some steamed broccoli that I figured I'd chop up and throw in there. What do you like to put in yours? Any recipes you really liked (or that absolutely didn't work)? Other recommendations for similar protein-heavy snacks that I can make in advance?
posted by skycrashesdown to Food & Drink (5 answers total) 13 users marked this as a favorite
 
Just don't use the cottage cheese if you don't want it. It's in the Starbucks original for protein, and I usually use it just because it stretches the recipe but if I'm out I just shrug and move on. You can replace the volume with something else, water or whatever, or make fewer total nuggets.

Ultimately do whatever you like, because it takes a lot of effort to make egg not congeal so that part is unlikely to go wrong. My primary warning is that anything with a high water content (so, vegetables) not precooked will give off water and it's pretty gross, it'll make little wet craters inside. I do put quartered or halved cherry tomatoes in mine without issue, but I also do mine in the air fryer because the pressure cooker was way too much very wet work compared to an air fryer and jumbo silicone muffin cups, so you may end up with wet pockets in your bites - try just one on the first round. Cooked broccoli is good, spinach or other greens are good pre-cooked and drained well, roasted mushrooms are great. I came to mostly prefer browned ground beef or loose sausage in mine rather than larger chunks of any other meat, but leftover grilled chicken diced pretty small is very tasty. Avocado is great in them.

I like mine with a piped ribbon of softened cream cheese, which is a bit of fuss but so good. A very close runner up is pre-crumbled goat cheese, which gives you little pops of that slightly sour creamy taste.
posted by Lyn Never at 4:33 PM on September 12, 2020 [3 favorites]


Response by poster: Ooh I have goat cheese too! Also a question I forgot to ask - are you mixing in your ingredients with the egg mixture directly, or are you putting portions of ingredients in each cup and pouring the egg mixture in on top?
posted by skycrashesdown at 5:33 PM on September 12, 2020


I first put the egg, seasonings, liquid and/or cottage cheese in a big pyrex measuring cup and blend with a stick blender. The add-ins I add to each cup so I can see the amount (I aim for about half add-ins, ish) and then pour the eggs in on top. I prefer to give the whole thing a quick swirl with a fork to prevent air pockets and get the contents evenly distributed, and then if I'm going to top it with tomatoes or bacon bits or whatever I do that last so it stays floating on top.
posted by Lyn Never at 5:50 PM on September 12, 2020 [2 favorites]


Egg bites are such a forgiving recipe that most of your either/or questions can be answered by, "yes".
Mix in the ingredients or put in portions and pour mixture? YES
Cheese or no cheese? YES

As Lyn Never mentions, don't do high water content, uncooked ingredients. Cook your veggies before hand.

I also use a stick blender when preparing the mixture to pour. That Lyn Never has very good ideas.

A search for "egg bites without cottage cheese" will uncover a plethora of recipes.

Enjoy!
posted by blob at 7:20 PM on September 12, 2020 [2 favorites]


I would use the half and half. It will make the texture a little richer. Adding water may tend to make the eggs a little tougher than adding something with a little more fat.

I like to put the cheese that exists for flavor on top. I think it helps make the flavor stand out. Cooked potato chunks (a la Spanish tortilla) work well. Bacon is good but to my mind ham, chicken, or sausage work better. I also like cooked mushrooms in these, which can also help bulk them out and add protein.
posted by Night_owl at 8:13 PM on September 12, 2020


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