My family LOVES frittatas!

Seriously, any time I’m out of ideas for dinner, I just look in the fridge and use whatever is in there to make a frittata!

Mushrooms? Onions? Bacon? Pulled Pork? Ham? Sausage?

Frittata!

In my classes last week, we read a book in which one of the families had frittata for dinner. Out of all the kids who heard this story (almost 600 of them), only THREE kids knew what a frittata was! I stopped each time and explained it to them, but I decided to make mini frittatas this weekend – mostly so I could take pictures to show my classes. I would love to make itt-bitty little frittatas to take to my students, but that’s little bit impossible when you teach that many kids! Besides, we have kids with egg and lactose allergies.

But if you’re looking for a yummy, easy, economical, LOW-CARB breakfast, this is it! They may look like muffins, but there is NO bread or batter in them!

Protein-Packed Mini Frittatas

Ingredients:

  • 9 large eggs
  • 8-ounce package of cubed ham
  • 1 cup of finely-chopped broccoli florets
  • 1 cup of cottage cheese
  • about 2 cups of shredded cheese
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper

Directions:

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare muffin tin by spraying with baking spray.
  • Divide the ham equally among the 12 wells of the muffin tin.
  • Do the same with the broccoli.
  • Top each well generously with cheese.
  • In a separate bowl, beat eggs and add salt and pepper. Add cottage cheese and whisk until incorporated.
  • Use a measuring cup or bowl with a spout to fill each muffin well. Be sure to whisk between wells to be sure the cottage cheese doesn’t sink to the bottom. You will likely fill each well twice since the egg will seep down in between the cheese and ham after the first fill.
  • Once you’ve used all the filling, carefully place muffin tin into the preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes – or until eggs are set.
  • Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes before serving.

Well Duh #1: Of course, you can use a regular, standard round muffin tin! I bought the square one so everybody could have a corner piece when I make brownies! If you’d like the square one, here’s a link: https://amzn.to/3xxmoaO

Well Duh #2: I always use large eggs. Always.

Well Duh #3: I really didn’t use any broccoli stems – just the tips of the florets. The reason for this is because I wanted to be sure they cooked until they were tender.

Well Duh #4: You can absolutely leave out the cottage cheese! I added it to give these a bigger protein punch. It you omit the cottage cheese, add two extra eggs.

Well Duh #5: Put a baking sheet on the rack under the muffin tin. Beaten eggs will souffle while cooking – which means they will puff up. This might cause them to overflow the pan a little. The baking sheet will catch any drips. And don’t worry, the souffle goes away when the eggs cool a bit.

Well Duh #6: You can also make this in a pie pan and just cut wedges for serving. I just wanted something we could grab and eat!

My family LOVED these! Who am I kidding? They always love frittata! I actually doubled this recipe and made two pans of them. We ate half for breakfast on Saturday and I wrapped up the others and stuck them in the fridge. We could just grab one or two in the mornings and warm them in the microwave! A really quick grab-and-go breakfast! Not the mention the fact that eggs are a relatively cheap protein, so frittatas are a really great, cheap meal!