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Have you ever tried removing the cheese from an egg bite recipe, only to find that it has a rubbery texture? That’s why I knew I had to share this dairy-free egg bite recipe. It has a velvety texture without cottage cheese, thanks to an unexpected ingredient… pumpkin! (But don’t worry, you can’t taste it.)
I highly recommend making these with my Italian turkey sausage for a high-protein breakfast you can grab straight from the fridge.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s unique. I’ve never seen someone use canned pumpkin as a substitute for cottage cheese in egg bites, but gosh, does it work! Pumpkin can go savory rather than sweet, and it’s perfect here with almost zero added flavor.
- It has sneaky veggies. Even if you don’t add extra vegetables to the center of these egg bites, you’ll be getting a little pumpkin boost with each bite.
- It’s fast to prepare. I’ve tested this recipe with fillings that you don’t have to cook ahead of time, like canned beans and jarred roasted red peppers. It’s also ideal for leftovers, like seasoned ground turkey or roasted veggies.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Eggs. This recipe calls for 8 large eggs, which will fill 12 muffin cups as long as you fill them about halfway with other fillings.
- Pumpkin. Canned pumpkin puree acts as a cottage cheese substitute, giving these egg bites a soft, velvety texture so they aren’t rubbery. I imagine another cooked squash would work, too, since spaghetti squash works well in this crustless quiche recipe.
- Fillings. For a vegetarian option, use seasoned black beans and veggies like the ones in my high-protein scramble. For a high-protein option, choose my Italian turkey sausage and fresh baby spinach as the filling.
How to Make Dairy-Free Egg Bites (Step by Step)
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with silicone muffin cups, then add fillings about halfway in each cup. I use a heaping tablespoon of ground turkey sausage and chopped baby spinach in half of the pan, and white beans and roasted red peppers in the other half.
- In a high-speed blender, add 8 large eggs, 1/2 cup pumpkin puree, and 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt.
- Secure the lid and blend until smooth. The mixture can get quite foamy if you blend this too long or too vigorously, so I recommend starting on a low speed and stopping as soon as it’s mixed.
- Pour the blended egg mixture into the pan, covering the fillings. If you filled each muffin cup halfway with filling, your egg mixture should fill each cup almost to the top.
- Grab a rimmed half sheet pan (13 by 18 inches) and fill it with about 2 cups of water, or about 1/4 inch of water.
- Set the muffin pan directly into this pan to create a water bath. This will prevent the egg bites from shriveling.
- Bake the dairy-free egg bites at 350ºF for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the centers feel set. They shouldn’t rise much as they bake. (They will if you skip the water bath, and then they will shrivel later.)
- Carefully remove the pan from the oven, making sure that the water bath doesn’t slosh and splash you. Let the egg muffins cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes. Then you can remove them from the liners and serve warm.
Egg Bites without Cottage Cheese FAQs
What can I use instead of cottage cheese in egg bites?
I’ve tried using dairy-free milk and yogurt, blended white beans, and pumpkin puree as a substitute for cottage cheese in this recipe. The pumpkin puree was BY FAR the best result!
Can I cook egg bites in the Instant Pot?
Yes, please use my Instant Pot egg bite recipe for proper ratios and equipment.
How do you store egg bites?
Store leftover egg bites in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can keep them in the silicone muffin liner if you like, or remove them first. I don’t recommend freezing egg bites; they become much more watery in texture when you thaw them.
More Dairy-Free Recipes
If you try these dairy-free egg bites, please leave a comment and ⭐ star rating below to let me know how you like them. Thanks for visiting!
Dairy-Free Egg Bites (No Cottage Cheese!)
If you've tried making dairy-free egg bites, you may already know how rubbery they can turn out. That's why I'm so glad I figured out the secret to giving them a velvety texture. (Hint: It's canned pumpkin!) Compared to everything else I've tried, using pumpkin makes these egg bites feel like they were made with cottage cheese, but they're entirely dairy-free and ready to bake in about 10 minutes, depending on the filling you use.
prep10 mins cook35 mins total45 mins
Ingredients
- ½ batch Italian Turkey Sausage (or filling of choice)
- 1 cup baby spinach , chopped
- 8 large eggs
- ½ cup pumpkin puree
- ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line a 12-cup muffin pan with silicone liners. Use a heaping tablespoon to add the ground Italian turkey sausage to each cup. Then divide the chopped spinach among the muffin cups. Each cup should be about halfway full.
- In a high-speed blender, add the eggs, pumpkin, and salt. Secure the lid and blend until smooth, for about 30 seconds. The more you blend, the foamier it can get, so I prefer to stop as soon as it looks well mixed.
- Pour the egg mixture over the fillings in the muffin pan. Each cup should be relatively full! For the best results, create a water bath for your muffin pan: add 2 cups of water to a rimmed half sheet pan (13 by 18 inches), then place the muffin pan directly in this pan of water.
- Carefully transfer the set of pans to the oven and bake at 350ºF for 35 minutes, or until the muffins feel firm to the touch in the center. Carefully remove the pans from the oven (don't slosh the hot water) and let the egg bites cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes. I find they are easier to remove from the liners once they've cooled.
- The egg muffins should pop out easily from the silicone liners and be ready to serve. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
For a vegetarian egg muffin, use the black bean filling from my high-protein breakfast scramble. The flavor is much better if you start with a seasoned filling, rather than plain beans or roasted red peppers. (I also tried this in the photos.)
Notes
Nutrition information is for 3 egg bites, assuming you use a half pound of ground turkey as the filling. This is automatically calculated using an online ingredient database, so it’s just an estimate, not a guarantee. (For example, I have no idea how much sodium or fat is in the ground turkey used for this calculation.) Use the label on your ingredients at home for the most accurate results.
Freezer Note: I’ve tried freezing my cottage cheese egg bites, and the results were very unappealing. After thawing, the egg bites are watery and have a slightly weird texture. Therefore, I don’t think these dairy-free egg bites will freeze well either. It’s fine if you’re just serving yourself (I can deal with watery egg bites), but I wouldn’t serve them to guests.
Nutrition
Serving: 3egg bites | Calories: 231kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 26g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 404mg | Sodium: 596mg | Potassium: 398mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 6004IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 67mg | Iron: 2mg
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