Instant Pot Copycat Starbucks Egg Bites

Have you ever had those delicious Starbucks egg bites? Egg bites are like miniature muffins, made of eggs and whatever flavor combinations you like. Now, you can make them at home using your Instant Pot Pressure Cooker. They are so versatile, healthier and addictive.

Have you ever indulged in a Starbucks Sous Vide Egg Bite? The first time I tasted one, I was smitten. I mean, bacon and Gruyère? What’s not to love? They are a treat, because at a price tag of almost $5.00 for two the cost can add up. Now, I can make them at home for a lot less money– and also with less calories.

My Instant Pot has become one of my most used kitchen tools. No kidding! The transition to an Instant Pot took me a while, only because I’d been using a different brand of electric pressure cooker for many years. So, why did I switch? Simple. My current electric pressure cooker was huge, and the non-stick pot was beginning to show a lot of wear and tear. It’s been three years since I bought my Instant Pot and the more compact size has earned prime real estate on my limited counter space

I do have a Sous Vide Circulator, and I’ve been tinkering with it for a bit. I even made Sous Vide Egg Bites, but wasn’t impressed with the results (I’ll explain why towards the end of this post. However, making an Instant Pot Version has turned out to be much easier and way better! Of course, you need to have these molds to make this in an Instant Pot. (I’ve read you can use mason jars, and that’ s how I made mine Sous Vide… I wasn’t as pleased with those results.)

The recipe could not be simpler. Eggs, cheese, a little salt, and low-fat cottage cheese. The sky is the limit as to what you want to add. The first time I made these, used some lean ham and green onion. This time, I wanted to add spinach and sun-dried tomatoes.

I contemplated if I wanted to add uncooked spinach, but I decided I want to cook fresh spinach with a little garlic olive oil. My reasoning was that I didn’t want my blended egg mixture to turn green. I debated adding fresh chopped spinach, but didn’t want a chewy texture. So, cooked spinach won my debate.

It always amazes me how I can fill up a skillet with a heap of fresh spinach and how it reduces down to a fraction of what was in the bag. TIP: Spinach releases a lot of water. I use a potato ricer to squeeze out the excess water and it works like a charm!

So, here are my “add-ins”. Cooked, chopped spinach, sun-dried tomatoes (rinsed of oil), grated Swiss- Gruyère Cheese (from Trader Joe’s).

The key to making tender egg bites is to use your blender. In my case, my beloved Vitamix comes in handy! I doubled the recipe, because I own two molds and I eat two of these per day (they keep in the refrigerator for up to 7 days) . You’ll want to blend eggs, cheese, cottage cheese and a little bit of salt until smooth (about 30 seconds).

Do not forget to spray the molds so the egg bites won’t stick. (I used Canola Spray.) If you skip this step, you’ll end up like my Sous Vide version where it took forever to clean the glass mason jars (hence why I wasn’t impressed with this method).

Here is where some experimenting came in to play. The molds, you see, come with a cover. Some recipes say to cover with foil while another said to use parchment paper. Well, I have plenty of 8-inch parchment paper, since I love to bake.

I hate to waste ingredients, so I filled up each well to almost full. In the foreground, I used the plastic cover that came with the mold. In the background, I placed parchment paper on top.

I poured one cup of water into the inner pot, and then placed the trivet inside and set the mold, with the plastic cover secured, on top. I set the second mold on top. TIP: Whenever you see how much time to set the Instant Pot for, keep in mind that the timer doesn’t start until it has come to pressure. For a shortcut, I add very hot liquid (in this case, water) or I turn the water to the saute feature to start heating it up– while I’m prepping my recipe. It really does speed up the process!

Before you lock the lid on, be sure that your seal is in properly. I run my finger all the way around to make sure it hasn’t slipped out of position. Otherwise, your recipe will never come to pressure! All set? Press STEAM and set for 10 minutes. Once the time is up, allow a natural pressure release (about 5-10 minutes). NOTE: I did a quick release, once, and had no problems.

Whoa! Those are some puffy egg bites!

Hang in there. They started to deflate. So, how did the bottom layer turn out?

Um, they took on a life of their own!

My experiment validates to not use the lid– but to use either parchment paper or foil!

Let the egg bites cool for a few minutes, set a wire rack on top and flip them over. Because I remembered to spray the molds, they popped right out.

TASTING NOTES: Truthfully, I like the texture of these egg bites better than Starbucks. The texture is more tender, and I like that I can customize these with whatever I have in my pantry and fridge. Each egg bite uses only 1/2 of an egg, and (depending on what you add) are less than 150 calories and have about 11 grams of protein. Low-fat cottage cheese, instead of cream cheese knocks of quite a bit of fat, too! I keep these in an air-tight container, and they make the perfect protein breakfast meal each morning. I would be remiss by not giving credit to Platings+ Pairings for providing the ratio of eggs, cheese and cottage cheese to inspire me to make these.

Can you adapt this recipe for bake in muffin tins in the oven? Sorry, but I don’t know. I’ve only made this recipe in my Instant Pot.

Can I make these without molds? I would imagine you could use small Mason Jars. Be sure you spray them with oil. I just find that the molds aren’t too expensive and so worth the investment! I make these often.

Can I omit the egg yolks and make these with just egg whites? I don’t see why not. But with only 1/2 an egg per bite, I’d just as soon not have to separate the eggs.