These pre-made bacon and cheese egg snacks will energize your mornings

I spent a good portion of my money at Starbucks, especially on seasonal lattes and extravagant iced teas. Their food offering is also extensive, and one of their most popular products is the sous-vide egg snacks, which were introduced in 2017 according to various sources, e.g. Business Insider. It's easy to see why these portable breakfast snacks are popular across the country; an ideal protein and tasty breakfast, with smooth pudding-like boiled eggs, filled with various salty ingredients.

Since the introduction of Egg Bites, there have been many copycats on the internet – but most of them aren't really sous vide (most are baked in a muffin tin and tend to get rubbery.) With this recipe, we set out to recreate them. Bites using the sous vide cooking method, which give the egg bites a particularly silky, pudding-like texture. They're very low-effort, mostly hands-free breakfasts that you can easily make at home, so you can enjoy them on the go anytime.

For our version, our Birmingham test kitchen colleague Erzsébet Mervosh batch after batch of hard-boiled eggs with a circulator to perfect this recipe for velvety egg bites topped with salty bacon and nutty Gruyère cheese. It is dispensed and cooked in individual mason jars, which can be served directly from the jar or snapped onto a plate. Here's how to make them at home.

What is Sous Vide cooking?

As we pointed out in our guide, approx how to start sous vide cookingthe French term sous vide literally means “under vacuum”, referring to the vacuum-sealed bags often used in the cooking technique. However, these days when someone says “sous vide cooking” they usually mean any cooking that takes place in a water bath at a precisely controlled temperature, whether or not a vacuum bag is used.

Sous vide cooking offers unparalleled control over cooking, whether it's small steaks and chops, large cuts of meat like pork loin and leg of lamb, seafood, vegetables and, yes, even eggs. With quick-to-prepare foods like eggs, sous vide takes the guesswork out of traditional methods like baking: no need to poke a thermometer, cut, peek or poke your finger to check if the egg is fully cooked – just perfect results every time you use the right temperature and time.

Sous vide cooking allows you to cook egg snacks at a significantly lower and more stable temperature than frying – here we cook the eggs at 172℉, as opposed to the typical 325-350℉ for oven-baked eggs. This means that we can achieve the most tender results possible, which would be a big challenge when baking in the oven. The egg bites come out of the water bath perfectly cooked from edge to edge.

If you're new to sous vide cooking, the process and set-up may seem intimidating at first, but we assure you, it's quite simple and really only requires two pieces of equipment: an immersion circulator and a large container to hold the water. for cooking. A submersible circulator is a device that is placed in a tub or container of water. It sucks up the water from the tub, heats it to the exact temperature, then spits it back out, heating and circulating the water at the same time. You can see our opinion favorite submersible circulators. As for the best water container for sous vide cooking, a submersible circulator can be used in any old container, such as a large soup pot or dutch oven, but we highly recommend a large, sturdy, food-safe plastic container such as a Cambro container. Plastic is a better insulator and actually does a better job of maintaining a constant regulated water temperature. If you have a submersible circulator and plan to cook sous vide often, it's worth the investment to find a sturdy, large plastic container for cooking.

How to make Sous-Vide Egg Bites

In this recipe, we kept the process of preparing and cooking the egg snacks as simple as possible. The first step is to set up the submersible circulation pump and water bath according to the instructions for the specific model. I recommend starting with room temperature tap water. It takes some time for the circulation pump to reach the set cooking temperature, 20-30 minutes depending on the brand of circulation pump. This is plenty of time to mix the egg mixture and add it to separate jars for cooking along with the bacon. When the water bath has reached a temperature of 172 degrees, carefully lower the egg-filled jars into the water bath using tongs. At this point, the egg jars do not need any monitoring or control during cooking. It's a simple, straightforward cooking process.

Elizabeth conducted several side-by-side temperature and time control tests before deciding that the ideal cooking temperature and time for eggs was 172℉ for one hour. With this combination of temperature and time, the eggs are baked to a perfectly set fried pudding-like texture. they are firm enough to hold together when taken out of the jars, but still soft when bitten into.

Key Techniques for Perfect Sous-Vide Egg Snacks

While the preparation and cooking process for this recipe is quite simple, there are a few key elements that Elizabeth has incorporated into her recipe for great results.

Add rice starch or cornstarch to the egg mixture to ensure silky soft boiled eggs. The starch acts as a binding agent, preventing the egg whites from setting too firmly, resulting in a much creamier and softer texture, which essentially protects the egg from overcooking and becoming rubbery. Elizabeth conducted several side-by-side tests to prove that using just 1 1/2 teaspoons of rice starch or cornstarch mixed with eggs made a noticeable difference in the final texture of the egg bites. If too much starch was added, the eggs became unpleasantly mushy, and if no starch was added, the eggs became rubbery.

Mix the eggs with the cheese until completely smooth. Mixing the eggs with the cottage cheese, Gruyère and Monterey Jack in a blender is not only an easy way to mix the ingredients, but the sharp blades of the bender make sure everything is completely smooth, helping to achieve the best results. pudding-like consistency.

Do not overtighten the lids of the jars. At high temperatures below the boiling point, water vapor and air can expand, which can increase pressure in tightly sealed containers. This may present a small risk of the glass breaking during cooking and may also trap unwanted moisture in the jars. That's why it's a good idea to secure it with just your fingertip – simply screw the lid onto the pot until you feel a slight resistance, just with your fingertip – to release the built-up pressure.

Wait a few minutes before serving. Similar to baking muffins or cookies, it's best to wait a few minutes before trying to turn the egg bites out of the jars. This allows the egg to cool slightly and set into a firm, cohesive cream, so the egg wall holds together when you unwrap it from the jar and doesn't fall apart.

Cooking method
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• 5 large egg

• 1/2 cup (120ml) cottage cheese cottage cheese

• 1 ounce (28g) Gruyere cheesechopped (about 1/4 cup)

• 1 ounce (28 g) Monterey Jack cheese, chopped (approx 1/4 cup)

• 1 1/2 teaspoon of rice starch or corn starch

• 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce

• 1/4 teaspoon Diamond crystal kosher salt; for table salt, use half as much by volume

• 1/3 cup boiled and chopped bacon (about 5 slices)

1. Prepare an immersion circulator and water bath according to the manufacturer's instructions (you can use an 18″ x 12″ x 9″ plastic dish such as Cambro, a large Dutch oven, or a large crockpot). Set the circulation pump to 172°F (78°C) and allow the water bath to heat.

2. When the water reaches temperature, process the eggs, cottage cheese, Gruyère, Monterey Jack, rice starch, hot sauce, and salt in a blender on medium speed until smooth, about 25 seconds.

3. Divide the bacon among five 4-ounce jars with lids and ribbons. Pour the mixed egg mixture evenly over the bacon mixture placed in the jars. Cover with metal lids and twist the bands until they are fingertip tight (i.e. just tight enough to hold the bottles with just your fingertip). Do not twist too tightly.

4. Using tongs, carefully lower the jars into the water bath and cook for 1 hour. Using tongs, transfer the jars to a wire rack and let cool for 5 minutes. Carefully remove the covers. The egg bites can be served directly from the jar, or run a knife along the edge of the jars to loosen the egg bites and invert onto a small plate before serving.

Special equipment

Submersible circulator; a plastic container such as a Cambro, large Dutch oven, or large pot; Five 4-ounce mason jars with lids and ribbon; pliers; wire mesh

Preparation and storage

Refrigerate the egg bites in their cooking containers or in an airtight container for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 1 month. Reheat sealed jars in a sous vide water bath set to 140°F (60°C) until heated through, about 20 minutes. Alternatively, remove the egg bites from their cooking containers and reheat in the microwave until heated through, about 30 seconds, or heat at 350℉ (175℃) until heated through, about 5 minutes.