- Egg Bites
Don’t pay $10+ for a minuscule egg bite with God-knows-what extra ingredients in them at Starbucks!!! Please!!
Here’s how to make a quick, five minute egg bite with the eggs you have at home.
Take a ramekin, or literally any sort of muffin-shaped, microwave-safe object, spray it with Pam, and just start filling it. Scramble up an egg or two or three (depending on how hungry you are), and then add whatever other ingredients you want (I definitely recommend at least using shredded cheese). Add salt and pepper to taste. Stick it in the microwave for 2-3 minutes and that’s it! You have a delicious and nutritious breakfast or snack.
If you’re not the creative type, here are some suggestions for ingredients for your egg bites:
I like to scramble in shredded cheese with my egg, AND top it with a slice of cheese. Cheese is just wonderful and it adds so much flavor. If you’re lactose intolerant though, maybe skip this one.
On the days when I have a lot going on and need a protein-heavy breakfast I usually tare up whatever meats I have in my fridge into little bite size pieces and scramble them in with the eggs, and of course the cheese adds protein as well. I use actual breakfast sausage sometimes, but I’ve used hot dogs, link sausage, deli ham, turkey bacon… Literally anything you have in your fridge will do and it really can’t taste too bad with layers of cheese, an egg, salt and pepper. (Again, if your lactose intolerant, I’m sorry). And feel free to double or triple up on meats if you want as well!1
Sometimes we might want to add more veggies to our diet as well. So I basically make a cute little mini omelette. I usually add spinach, mushrooms, and/or cherry tomatoes because I feel like those are all pretty typical omelette/breakfast veggies. You can literally add carrots if you wanted to though, although I can’t promise they will cook. Just have fun with it.
As you can see, the beauty of these egg bites is that you have plenty of room to customize them however you like (and they’re super fast and easy).2 So have fun with it! Use this opportunity to play around in the kitchen like a little kid pretend cooking. You really can’t go wrong, although I still don’t think carrots are a great idea…
2) Ramen
If you’re making ramen without adding an egg you’re missing out. If you add literally nothing else to your ramen, add an egg. You won’t regret it!
I make my ramen with the Maurachan Noodles flavor packets (there are so many to choose from!), but I replace the noodles with Shiratake Noodles, which are extremely satiating tofu noodles with the same texture as regular noodles, that add a small boost of protein with very low carbs.3 They are also gluten free and, as someone with a gluten sensitivity, they are super nice for that.4 Shiratake Noodles can literally be purchased at any grocery store, usually close to the fresh produce section where they put all the “alternative options,” such as vegan cheese. Oh, and I almost forgot, the BEST thing about Shiritake Noodles? You don’t have to spend an extra 10-12 minutes boiling noodles. They are already soft and ready to eat! It cuts your cook time in half.
So I make my ramen with Shiritake Noodles and a ramen flavor packet, but you can totally just use the regular noodles if gluten doesn’t bother you and you need or want the carbs.
For the base I use equal parts water and homemade bone broth. Pro tip: Make Your Own Bone Broth for a healthy broth with no additives and extra protein that costs virtually nothing. To the base I add about 2 tbs each of soy sauce, chili garlic sauce (I love the Tu’o’ng O’t Tói Viêt-Nam Chili Garlic Sauce), a tsp of Oyster or Fish Sauce or both, a tsp of Sesame Oil, and a tbs of ginger. You can also add Sriracha to taste for an extra punch of spice (which I always do). Simmer all of this on medium heat and stir every once in a while.
Next, add in all of your veggies; whatever you may want to add. I use bamboo shoots, onions, jalapeños, spinach, shredded carrots, cabbage, bean sprouts, etc., but you can use any veggies you want or none at all. Ramen is also a very customizable meal that you can get creative with. Add any meats you may want at this time as well, though the egg or two has plenty of protein already.
Last step, add in the egg! So you can do this several different ways. You can add a sliced hard boiled egg, like in a Cobb salad. You can add a soft boiled egg, add it in whole and pop it. You can also crack a raw egg straight into the noddles (eggs cook so fast, just putting it in a very hot bowl for a minutes or so will cook it enough to eat). There are really endless ways to prepare and add your egg. I personally like the soft boiled or raw option, but it all depends on what I’m feeling.
3) Spagetti Carbonara
For some reason, egg is just great in noodles. This is an amazing option for those looking to boost protein intake, as carbonara traditionally has chicken, bacon and egg for a heaping portion of proteins. And with the wonder of Shiratake Noodles, this doesn’t have to be a high carb or glutenous dish!
Okay, side note, I LOVE pasta, so when I started eating low carb and, especially when I found out I had a gluten sensitivity, I wanted to cry at the thought of never eating pasta again. So shiritake noodles have been an amazing find for me. If you can’t tell, I’m obsessed with them. Asia really just does eating better.
Carbonara is an extremely easy and simple dish to make, especially when you cut out the hassle of boiling the pasta. Keep in mind the measurements used here are for about 1-2 servings. Start out by frying bacon bits about 2 slices. Before the bacon gets too crispy add 1 cup heavy cream and 2 tbs of butter right into the pan with the bacon. Swirl your noodles around in these ingredients and add in your fully cooked chicken and bacon, and you’re basically done. I usually season with some fresh cracked black pepper, a little dollop of cream of chicken soup, some garlic salt, and a little bit of the creamy chicken ramen flavor packet (about a quarter of the packet). I basically use the ramen flavor packets as a seasoned salt. They are cheap and flavorful and amazing seasonings. It’s my secret to damn-near everything.
I also like to add herbs, like fresh thyme, rosemary and basil, and let those simmer in with the sauce for a bit. Thanks to my own personal herb garden, I don’t have to spend money on expensive herbs at the grocery store and can just go over and pluck off a few leaves whenever I need some herbs, and they’re always fresh! My favorites are thyme and basil, but there are a world of herbs out there that are super easy to grow, such as rosemary and dill.5
My final step for carbonara is to add the cheese and an egg yolk (or two depending on the portion). You always want to add these last because they burn so fast. As soon as you mix them in and the cheese melts and you’ve got an even coat of egg, take it off the heat and you are DONE. This dish is seriously so fast and easy and one of the best ways to eat more eggs and get more protein.
4) Fried Rice
Traditional Chinese-style friend rice is an another delicious way to incorporate eggs into your diet. Not every restaurant puts eggs in their fried rice and you can certainly make it without it, but a scrambled egg just brings the dish to a whole new level and makes it a fully nutritious meal all in of itself.
Side Note: By now I’m sure you’ve caught onto the fact that I try to avoid carbs in my own diet and I know low carb has gotten a lot of criticism lately because of the fad low-carb, restrictive diets that were promoting starving oneself in past decades. So I would like to point out that I am not promoting diet culture or trying to restrict my diet, nor am I encouraging others to. Carbs simply tend to have gluten, don’t keep me full or give me as much energy, and overall they just don’t have a lot of nutritional value. On top of this, I, like my entire mom’s side of the family (thanks mom), also inherited very sensitive blood sugar, so carbohydrates, which directly turn into sugar in your body, make me feel pretty crappy as well. Thus, I avoid them. If you can handle carbs then by all means enjoy those carbs, but if you’ve noticed you feel sluggish a lot, can never seem to stay full very long, have trouble concentrating, get headaches and stomach aches a lot, etc., it’s worth attempting to cut down on them and see if it helps.6
ANYWAY, now that that’s out of the way, let’s get back to how I make my fried rice. I use cauliflower rice. On top of being low carb and gluten free , it’s also so much faster and easier than having to cook actual rice. However, you can absolutely use regular rice for this. To do that just use cook up some rice and follow basically the exact same steps. Typically, fried rice works best with leftover, pre-cooked rice, so fried rice is the perfect way to use your left over rice!
Melt some butter in a pan and add a block of whatever rice you’re using and cook until it starts melting and is able to be stirred. Then I add in chopped celery, onion and carrot. You can also do peas. Really any finely chopped veggie will do but I typically just throw whatever I have in the fridge in there. Celery and carrots give it a nice crunch that I love, but if you’re not a fan, leave it out.
Add in more butter as needed to keep the pan greased, 1 tbs ginger, garlic chili sauce, quarter of ramen soy sauce packet and 1 tsp sesame oil. Again, this is for 1-2 servings.
After it is all thoroughly mixed together and the veggies are cooked to your desire (you don’t have to worry about the cauli rice because it just needs to heat up, but if you’re frying actual rice, get it to your desired crispiness), make a little hole in the rice mixture in the middle of your pan as a little cradle for your egg. Grease the pan with more butter (you can never have too much butter in my opinion.. I buy like family sized tubs). Then crack in your egg. Give it a second to start to solidify and then start scrambling it straight into the rice in the pan, mixing it all together.
Drizzle with some soy sauce as the final step, because soy sauce tends to burn. Also feel free to add sriracha, crushed red pepper, or both for some heat. (Pro tip: never put crushed red pepper directly into a dry pan. It will literally smoke your house out and choke you. Make sure you have a good base of butter, grease and other ingredients, and add it in within the last couple minutes to avoid suffocation).
That’s it. All that’s left is to enjoy! This is another extremely fast, simple, easy and extremely satiating dish that you can make with eggs.7
5) Protein-Packed Pancakes
To keep things gluten free and low carb, as always, I make my pancakes with almond flour, but it also adds in a tiny bit of extra protein. It is fairly expensive but I don’t use it often so one bag lasts me quite a while.
Basically, I make pancake batter the usual way but with almond flour instead of regular flour. Put your flour, a pinch of salt, as much sugar as you want really, a pinch of baking powder, protein powder in a bowl and mix together. I love the Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides protein powder. Add cinnamon or nutmeg or both for some extra flavor. In a separate bowl mix together the wet ingredients: an egg, a few drops of vanilla flavoring, melted peanut butter and a little bit of melted butter. Whisk the wet ingredient mixture into the dry ingredient mixture (so be sure to use a bigger bowl for the dry ingredient mixture) until it’s a smooth batter with no bubbles or lumps.
Note that the amount is customizable to your liking or need. If you’re making pancakes for a family or a group of friends you’re probably going to need a cup or two of almond flour and 3-4 eggs, but if you’re making it for just one, like I do, I typically use about 1/4 of a cup of flour and 1 egg. It makes me about 3 small pancakes and that’s perfect for just me. You always only need a pinch of salt and baking powder. The protein powder can also vary depending on how much protein you want to add, servings, etc. Just follow the basic pancake measurements and you’ll be fine.
After creating the batter, simply pour it onto a stove over a greased pan on low-medium heat and cook for a few minutes on both sides. Once you start to see golden brown marks on the outside they’re generally cooked to perfection. These egg and almond flour pancakes you’re going to want pretty well done. I say this because sometimes you can get away with an undercooked flour pancake but these need to be a golden brown on the outside.
They’re light and spongy and protein packed! Add whatever toppings your heart desires and you’re done! I like to add whip cream, some fruit and definitely a glob of butter between each stack and on top. I’m not a huge syrup person so I often leave that off or just do a little drizzle of chocolate syrup or something if I am really craving sweets. There are endless possibilities!
I also love to use my DASH mini griddle for pancakes because it is so fast and easy and completely eliminates the need for flipping, which was always the hardest part of making pancakes to me. They turn out perfectly round and evenly cooked every time. Whereas, I used to end up with so many throw-aways that were all lopsided and too thin or thick and/or falling apart. The Dash Mini is also great for making fried, over medium, or sunny side up eggs. It gives them the perfect shape and an even cook in minutes. This thing was $10 and it’s seriously one of my favorite kitchen appliances. Not only does it work so well, and has lasted a long time, but it is also so tiny and cute!7
Well, that’s all folks! Those are all my favorite, easy dishes to make when I want to incorporate more eggs into my diet. Eggs are one of the absolute best sources of protein, they’re delicious and versatile, healthy, great for weight loss and so much more. Check out Why Eggs are the Superhero of Foods for in-depth reasons to eat more eggs and subscribe on the home page and follow me on Pinterest and Instagram for more recipes!