Easy Breakfast Muffins with a Hash Brown Crust
I’ll be honest, I hate making breakfast. I love eating breakfast, but I hate making it. It just seems like it gets in the way of starting your day. I’d much rather sleep in for a few more minutes and have a breakfast I can just pop in the microwave (like these bacon and egg breakfast rolls) and eat on my way to doing bigger and better things. These breakfast egg muffins are just that. Make them once on Sunday and eat them all week long. And they’re good enough that I don’t even get sick of eating them, which seems to happen with food for me a lot when I eat it over and over again. They’re also one of my go-to recipes anytime I’m hosting a brunch. These and this sausage breakfast casserole. And a baby shower and let’s be realistic, anytime I can get away with making them. Because who wouldn’t love hash brown muffin cups for breakfast!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Hash brown crust – unlike so many other breakfast muffins out there, this one starts with a nice hash brown crust! You crisp it up in the oven before adding the egg mixture on top! Reheat great – like I mentioned above, these are great to make ahead of time then reheat when you wan to eat them!Super easy – this recipe really couldn’t be any easier, as long as you don’t forget to take them out of the oven! Versatile – while I have this recipe written with bacon bits, you could totally change it up and use ham or sausage inside of them instead!
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
Bacon – make sure it’s cooked bacon, and ideally you want it to be somewhat crispy!Cheese – I like to use shredded Mexican blend cheese but if you’d prefer something else like shredded cheddar instead, that’s fine as well! Hash browns – this is best made with fresh hash browns (that you can find in the refrigerated section) but you could also just shred your own fresh potatoes. Or if you’re in a pinch, frozen hash browns will work as well – just make sure to thaw them first and drain them so you don’t end up with a bunch of extra liquid.
How to Make the Breakfast Muffins
I told you these are really simple to make, and I promise it’s true! Get all of your ingredients together first. I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I’ve gotten 3/4 of the way through a recipe only to realize I’m missing a key ingredient, one of the only ones you can’t find a substitute for. I used Simply Potatoes hash brown potatoes in my recipe, but you could really use any as long as they’re fresh and not frozen. If they’re frozen, just make sure to thaw and strain them first or the mixture will be too wet.
1 – Make the Hash Brown Crusts
Once you have all of your ingredients, make your hash brown potato mixture.
Spray a muffin tin with a non-stick baking spray.
Start by mixing the hash browns, one egg, oil, cheese, salt, pepper, garlic, paprika, and parsley together in a large bowl until the hash browns are all coated nicely.
Once it’s all mixed up, use a spoon to divide the hash brown mixture among the muffin tins to make the crust of the breakfast muffins.
Use the back of a spoon or I personally use the back of a 1/4 cup measuring cup (so it’s flat), to press the hash browns down gently into the pan. This presses them together, forming the crust.
Pop those babies in the oven for a few minutes to let them crisp up slightly. They will not be super crispy (and you don’t want them to be), but they will have solidified into a crust. This will keep the egg mixture from just going straight to the bottom of the breakfast muffins.
2 – make the breakfast muffins
While the hash brown crust is baking, mix up your egg mixture by combining the rest of the ingredients, including the cooked bacon, in a large bowl. I recommend using a whisk to make sure all of the eggs get beaten well. Once the hash browns are done, divide the egg mixture evenly on top of the hash brown crusts – filling them about 3/4 full. Bake the breakfast muffins for another 10-15 minutes or until the eggs are fully cooked. And with eggs, I tend to err on the side of overcooked compared to runny undercooked eggs! You’ll know they’re cooked if you jiggle the pan (still in the oven) and the eggs are set and don’t jiggle.
Remove from the oven and let cool in the muffin tins for a few minutes before using a silicone spatula to gently slide the breakfast muffins out. Serve warm or let cool for a few more minutes before eating.
Expert Tips
Double the batch and freeze half. To reheat from frozen, simply put them in the cold oven and set it to 350 degrees. Let the egg muffins thaw and heat with the oven! Mix it up and try using chopped ham, cooked breakfast sausage, or even leaving out the additional meat all together. These are super versatile and great for making your family’s favorite breakfast! Use silicone muffin tins to make it super easy to get the breakfast muffins out of the pan! Sometimes non-stick (even when you spray them) muffin tins can get stuck, silicone ones work great every time!
More Easy Breakfast Recipes
Banana choc chip muffins – this is the best banana muffin recipe ever! The perfect way to use leftover bananas! Pineapple bread – this may be more of a dessert than a breakfast recipe, but I enjoy it for breakfast! A bread that’ll make you want to be in the tropics! Bacon cinnamon rolls – a salty version of a classic favorite! Homemade sausage gravy – the ultimate southern breakfast food, perfect with homemade biscuits! French toast casserole with cream cheese – a perfect make ahead breakfast for a crowd!
Update: This post was originally published in 2018. The recipe remains the same but the photos have been updated since. Below is an example of the original photos for reference.
