Okay, I have a small confession to make: Prior to receiving this assignment, I had never tried any of Starbucks hot breakfast items. I know, I know, I have been seriously missing out. Honestly, I'm not sure why...I love their drinks, and their pastries have never disappointed (you really can't go wrong with coffee and a slice of lemon loaf). Nevertheless, I finally picked up a pair of Starbucks sous vide egg bites, and I don't think my life will be complete without them. They were so freaking good!
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There are a few egg bite options to choose from: kale and mushroom, egg white and roasted red pepper, or bacon and gruyere—the one I opted for, because bacon. The first bite produced a cheesy, slightly smoky flavor folded into a soft, pillowy egg. The slow cooking method yielded a custard-like texture that reminded me of souffle. It's unlike any egg you'll get at brunch, and it makes a perfect low-carb breakfast or high-protein midday snack.
I was determined to figure out how to make these incredible egg bites at home, but I didn't want to have to buy any new equipment. Cooking something sous vide traditionally involves vacuum sealing food in a bag and cooking it in a water bath. Would the copycat sous vide egg bites turn out as good without the sous vide part? Spoiler alert: They turned out amazing when baked in a muffin pan in the oven!
What is in Starbucks Sous Vide Egg Bites?
Lindsay D. Mattison
Starbucks is fantastic about being transparent with their ingredients, and an ingredients list for their food and drinks is available on their website. That's how we found out the bacon and gruyere egg bites contain cottage cheese, eggs, unsalted butter, uncured bacon, rice starch, cornstarch, salt, white distilled vinegar, and hot sauce. I played around with the ingredients to determine if a copycat recipe required the use of rice starch and cornstarch. The end result without these two ingredients tasted like the original, and it had a similar texture, too. So, for simplicity, we left those ingredients off the list.
Starbucks cooks their eggs bites using sous vide and reheats them in an oven when you order at the store. We decided to skip the water bath part and just bake our egg bites in a muffin pan in the oven. That said, if you have an Instant Pot, feel free to pick up an egg bite mold and use the Instant Pot instead. You'll want to add one cup of water to the Instant Pot and lower the filled egg bite mold into the pot using the trivet. Cook on manual high pressure for 9 minutes. After the timer goes off, wait 5 minutes before quick-releasing the pressure.
Are Starbucks Sous Vide Egg Bites Healthy?
Lindsay D. Mattison
The bacon and gruyere egg bites each contain 150 calories, 10 grams of fat, 9 carbohydrates, 19 grams of protein, and 680 milligrams of sodium. They're served in packs of two, so you can double the nutrition information if you're eating both in one sitting. Most of those carbohydrates come from cornstarch and rice starch, so our copycat recipe is actually more low-carb than the original. The nutrition calculator at Very Well Fit has this recipe at only 1 carbohydrate per egg bite.
Starbucks Sous Vide Egg Bites Substitutions
Lindsay D. Mattison
These egg bites are naturally gluten-free and fit the guidelines for a paleo or keto diet. They are not dairy-free, but you can swap in dairy-free cream cheese or coconut yogurt for the cottage cheese and skip the extra cheese on top.
It's easy to customize the egg bite toppings to your liking, too. Instead of the Gruyere and Monterey Jack cheese blend, use swiss cheese or cheddar cheese. The bacon can easily be substituted for ham or Canadian bacon, or you can make the bites vegetarian by swapping in red peppers, mushrooms, broccoli, or spinach. Just make sure to chop your vegetables into small pieces before adding them to the egg bite.
Finally, if you don't have a high speed blender, you can skip that step and mix the ingredients by hand. Keep in mind that the egg bites won't puff up as much, as the blender introduces air into the eggs to make them fluffy and light. You'll also notice a textural difference, as the curds in the cottage cheese will stand out from the smooth eggs.
READ MORE: Best Hot Drinks To Order At Starbucks
Copycat Starbucks Sous Vide Egg Bites Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup cottage cheese
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon rice vinegar (or 1/8 teaspoon white vinegar mixed with 1/8 teaspoon water)
- 1/8 teaspoon hot sauce
- 1/4 cup grated gruyere cheese
- 1/4 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese
- 3 strips bacon cooked and chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Place an oven-proof skillet on the oven's bottom rack and fill it with 2 cups of water. This will add steam to the oven to keep the eggs moist as they bake.
- Meanwhile add the eggs, butter, cottage cheese, salt, vinegar, and hot sauce to a high-speed blender. Blend on high for 20 seconds.
- Grease a muffin pan with nonstick spray or butter. Add the egg mixture to the muffin pan. In a standard 2-inch x 1.25-inch cavity pan, you will only use 6 of the cups. Top each cup with cheese and bacon.
- Place the muffin tin on the top rack and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the eggs puff up and are cooked through.
- Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator. Reheat in the oven or microwave before serving.
