The Secret Ingredient For Copycat Starbucks Egg Bites

We love Starbucks egg bites just as much as the next person: They're affordable, on-the-go protein blasts that, despite being fast food, actually taste pretty darn good. However, some mornings there isn't time to stop at Starbucks, or your budget limits what you can purchase. Sometimes you might have to settle for making homemade egg bites. Fortunately, it's not all bad news. Mashed recipe developer Molly Allen formulated a simple equation to yield a prototypical batch of copycat Starbucks egg bites that are perhaps even better than the ones sold at the popular coffee chain because of a secret ingredient.

Our Starbucks egg bite dupes mimic the real deal due to the inclusion of cottage cheese. Cottage cheese is a common kitchen ingredient and one of the key elements that give Starbucks egg bites their light, fluffy, protein-rich texture and lends to their subtly creamy characteristic. Even if you're not a fan of cottage cheese, its mild, quietly tangy flavor makes it versatile and easy to disguise with your favorite ingredients, which is why you may have never noticed it in Starbucks' egg bites. Plus, according to Healthline, eating cottage cheese is an easy way to get your daily fix of essential vitamins and minerals like calcium, phosphorus, and B vitamins.

Combine cottage cheese with onion, bell pepper, ham, cheddar, Monterey jack cheese, simple spices, and eggs, then bake them into those familiar egg bites we all know and love, and you'll have Starbucks-approved egg bites in 15 minutes.

The best part of this easy-to-make egg bite recipe with cottage cheese at its center is that you can personalize it to match your own unique taste. After all, cooking is all about exploring and innovating. Think of the cottage cheese and egg as your canvas and the additional ingredients as your paintbrush. 

If you struggle with lumpy textures, you can blend or spin the cottage cheese in a food processor to make whipped cottage cheese. If you don't have access to a blender or food processor, this lump-free cottage cheese variety is also available at most supermarkets.

Whether sweet or savory, cottage cheese pairs with numerous complementary ingredients, so mixing and matching is encouraged. Instead of choosing ham for this recipe, try turkey for a milder, lighter option. If neither option suits you, consider other proteins like tofu, shredded chicken, or smoked salmon. If you don't eat meat, consider assembling your egg bites with extra veggies like asparagus, tomatoes, leeks, and zucchini, or a fourth cheese option like pepper jack.

Or, stick to the original recipe and top the egg bites with green onion for a tangy, earthy taste with an allium aroma. Regardless of how you customize your Starbucks egg bites, don't forget the cottage cheese!