I think it’s high time I gave you a Pacific Northwest weather update, because we’re all a bit confused and discombobulated up in this little corner of the world. Where did Summer go and what’s with this rather small, fresh-feeling number on the thermometer all of a sudden? Summer fled overnight like the von Trapp family escaping Austria. Fall roared in like a gay pride parade – loud, proud and in a blaze of glorious color. Poof! In a flash, Summer was out and Fall was in; and with it came the rain. I didn’t realize quite how much I had missed aqua-planing down the I-90. Driving home has been quite a rush most nights this week.
Seattle feels like we’ve had a long, cold shower – refreshing, cleansing, rehydrating. I’ve put my thoroughly over-worked hose and lawn-sprinklers to bed for the winter, dug out my foot-duvets from the depths of my closet, and flipped the switch on the thermostat. I’m settling in for a good few months of dark mornings, gusty winds, my beloved LL Bean thermal jacket, and steaming bowls of soup. I’m up for it.
While Mother Nature was pulling a fast switcheroo on us, I’ve been trying to figure out what you need most in the keto recipe department.
So last weekend, I headed into the kitchen and made a big old mess; several times I’ll have you know. My dish-washer can vouch for me. So can Cindy. Cindy showed up on Sunday to haul away two chairs that we both decided would be a better match for her house than mine. She made the mistake of plonking herself down at my kitchen table, and then saying, “No”, when I asked her if she’d had lunch. She unwittingly became an Official Taste Tester as I rolled out one dish after another for her to stab a fork or spoon into.
I am relieved to report that Cindy said she’s coming over every weekend now. I took that as a sign that she enjoyed the grub. Either that or she thinks I need cooking lessons. The rate at which she slurped the Leek and Cauliflower down, I think it was the former.
Aside from soup, which is always a great portable lunch option, I came up with something that has been rocking my world all week long – Leek and Mushroom Leek Egg Muffins. Portable breakfast, portable lunch, portable snack. Oh so keto, oh so tasty. These darling little pillows of keto deliciousness have merrily saved my a** most every day this week. If you ever come over to my house you will always find a stash in my ‘fridge now.
You will need to invest in some of these, if you don’t already have some. Or these would be cool too – more like quiche squares – more manly, more lunchy. You will use them a million times, I am certain; because these quiche cups are just a perfect piece of keto for any time of day. My silicone cups are already coming up for a Service Award, and I’ve only had them 10 days.
In the morning, as you dash out the door, grab 3 or 4 of these and a bowl of keto soup and you’ll be set with one scrumptiously keto lunch to get you through the grizzliest of afternoons. Add a little cup of this and you’ll be so happy you’ll wonder how – or why – you ever forced one of those sandwich things down your gullet at lunchtime before.
Mushroom Leek Egg Muffins
Author: Carrie Brown | Prep time: 10 mins | Cook time: 30 mins | Total time: 40 mins | Serves: 4 – 6
What You Need
- 3 oz. / 85g mushrooms, finely chopped
- 4 oz. / 110g leeks, sliced thinly and slices cut in half cross-ways
- 2 oz / 55g sharp Cheddar, grated
- 12 eggs
- 1 tsp dried sage
- ground black pepper
- ¼ cup / 2 fl oz. heavy cream
What You Do
- Place 12 silicone baking cups in a muffin pan.
- In a bowl, mix leeks, mushrooms and cheese well.
- Divide veggie cheese mix evenly between the 12 silicone cups.
- Place eggs, sage, pepper and heavy cream in the bowl and whisk very well to make sure the eggs are completely broken up.
- Pour egg mixture into a measuring jug (or other container with a pouring lip) and then carefully fill each silicone cup. The cups should be almost full.
- Carefully place the muffin pan into the center of the oven, pre-heated to 375 degrees F.
- Bake for 30 minutes until the quiche cups are risen, puffy and golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and carefully tip each quiche cup out of the silicone cups.
- Eat immediately or, if making in advance, allow to cool completely before packing in a storage container and placing in the ‘fridge.
Top Recipe Tips
- The veggies will cook in the oven along with the eggs, so there is no need to pre-cook them. Saving time right there!
- Use dried sage as opposed to fresh as they are cooking for a while.
- Check out the Ingredients Guide for information on ingredients.
- Where Are The Macros and Nutritional Info?
Helpful Cooking and Recipe Links
- Come laugh and learn with us over at The Kitchen Podcast
- Come hang out in The Keto Kitchen Facebook Group
- For lots more great recipes check out our scrumptious cookbooks!
Podcast Episodes
MicLOVED THESE! I always get disappointed after making recipes I find online because I can never get a finished product that actually looks like the pictures showcased online. That is definately not the case here, they came out looking just like Carrie’s pictures! And they taste heavenly. I even got my one year old to eat them. I would reccomend this recipe to anyone, SANE or not. :)
Allison ShermanThese are mighty tasty, for sure. I had to wing it a little bit because it made more than 12 muffins for me. I ended up throwing some more mushrooms and cheese into my leftover egg mixture and poured it into a mini loaf pan. That seemed to work fine. And now I know for next time I can fill them a little less full but use more muffin cups.
It’s true, they turned out just like the picture. I like a big dose of salt on mine. I might add that in next time.
I had never purchased a leek and didn’t understand the cutting instructions so I just chopped it up nice and fine with my pampered chef chopper. I like my food to be more integrated and have less big chunks of flavor anyway. I can see they are a cousin of the onion but I didn’t hold that against them. They are a great flavor enhancer and now I’m a big fan.
I’m already thinking that my next batch might have zuchini or broccoli or spinach. FUN!
Oh, and I love that these are a “to go” food.
carrieWhy can’t we just get eggs that are all the same size? Someone needs to sort those darn chickens out!! And don’t even get me started on non-uniform-sized silicone cups. Can we all just agree on a size and stick to it?? Sigh.
In other news – we have leek converts! I am so happy!! :-)
allisolThese are so versatile! I ate up all the ones I made last week (favorite way to eat: cut up and heated with a slice of avocado) so I made some more today and really tweaked the recipe. I didn’t have the mushrooms but instead I added browned ground pork sausage, some freshly grated parmesan cheese instead of the cheddar and some finely chopped zuchini. I chopped up the sausage too, even though it was ground. I like my flavors to blend and each bite to taste the same. Oh, and I added a teaspoon of salt.
The result: AMAZING! They are super tasty. But maybe I could have laid off the salt. With the salty parmesan cheese mix and the salt maybe they are a little too much, but I do love salt. And I don’t know where the sausage went but it’s in there and it’s yummy. And the leeks smell SO GOOD. I have extra chopped leeks I will use in my eggs tomorrow morning. I could not have done this without my pampered chef food chopper (no, I’m not a rep). I LOVE that thing and it helps me add veggies to things b/c I can chop them up really small and they blend in nicely.
This is a big hit for me. A great fast meal that is SANE and really flexible for whatever I’ve got in the kitchen. Two thumbs up, Carrie! If anyone else did any variations of the original, I’d love to hear about it.
carriePlanning on a whole load of alternatives! Coming soon :-) We love anything that helps you add more veggies.
allisolOh, and because I added some extra things I needed more egg mixture so I threw in 3 more eggs and a dash of cream. It made 23 muffins. Plenty for sharing and eating!
JulieMade these this weekend and they are awesome! Can’t wait for the alternatives. I’m sure you could put lots of different things in these. Question for you about the silicon liners – do you oil them? Mine stuck like crazy. Do you need to get them out right away? Maybe that was my problem. Thanks!
carrieHmmm, Julie – I did not oil them. My eggs cups just popped right out, whether I took them out straight away or let them cool first. Other than a splash of oil, not sure what to suggest, although that seems a bit of a pain and negates half the reason for the silicone! May as well use regualr muffin pans…
JulieThanks Carrie – that’s helpful to know! It must be my cups. Is the link above for the same ones you have? It will definitely be worth it to invest in ones that don’t stick. Thank you!
carrieYes. Money well spent!
JulieJust ordered! And a spatula to get stuff out of the bottom of the vitamix. thanks!
carrieWoohoo!!!
Charge Headlong » Carrie Brown | Marmalade and Mileposts[…] you rolling on down the tracks. A while back I asked you what you needed via Facebook, and then posted the results here. I thought it was high time I checked back to see how I was […]
Much Better All Round » Carrie Brown | Marmalade and Mileposts[…] original *SANE Quiche Cups were a huge hit, so it seemed only right to expand the repertoire of this perfect lunch and snack […]
KeriCan I make them using regular paper muffin cups? I don’t have any silicon liners yet (just ordered from Amazon, won’t arrive til Monday), but I want to try these this weekend.
carrieHi Keri – I have not tried them with them paper cups. I would be more inclined to just grease the muffin pans and do them directly in those. I think the eggs mixture may be too “wet” for the papers.
KeriThanks for the tip. I hadn’t thought about the wetness of the egg mixture. I’m not sure I have enough regular muffin tins for the amount of mixture, so I may use some mini-loaf pans as well.
carrieKeri – You could also use ovenware dishes – just grease well with coconut oil before you put the mixture in. You will likely have to alter the cooking time if the dishes are significantly bigger and/or deeper than muffin cups.
Top 10 SANE Recipes of 2012 » Carrie Brown | Marmalade and Mileposts[…] 7. Leek and Mushroom Quiche Cups […]
8 Tricks That Make Being SANE At Home Easy » Carrie Brown | Marmalade and Mileposts[…] Leek and Mushroom Quiche Cups […]
MargaretOh my…I just made the mushroom leek quiche cups. I did add some red pepper flakes to the second batch as I like to kick it up a notch; so tasty! Has anyone frozen these and then popped them in the microwave to warm?
Thank you Carrie for a quick, savory and tasty breakfast (just perfect for a lazy breakfast person, like myself)!
carrieHi Margaret! Yes, readers have successfully frozen these. I’ve never managed to hav any last long enough to get as far as the freezer ;-) So glad you loved them. They are one of my favorites!
VivianHi Carrie, I just made these and they turned out HUGE! And beautiful! And delicious!
I do have a quick question: when i added up all the fat & protein and divided it by 12, each of these delicious quiche cups has 8g of fat and 7g of protein. Are they meant to be eaten as a side dish then? I can’t possibly eat 4 of them to get to my 30g of protein – and plus, that would be 32g of fat. Could i make them with egg whites instead, to get more protein out of each quiche?
Thanks for this amazing recipe. Can’t wait to see what the kids think! :-)
Cheers, Vivian
carrieHi Vivian – aren’t they good??!! Actually, if you ate these with a large pile of non-starchy veggies they would be the perfect SANE meal – with 1/3 protein, 1/3 fat and 1/3 veggies. Perfectly balanced!! I have a huge appetite and I can eat 4 of these at a time easily. If you do want to reduce the fat and increase the protein then yes you can swap out any number of the whole eggs for an equivalent in egg whites. So excited you love them!! Hope the kids agree :-)
VivianYay Carrie, excellent news! Thank you! I will sub for egg whites and let you know how it goes.
Yes, the kids loved them. They did ask for more cheese next time, but that’s because they’re addicted to cheese… :-)
I am loving your recipes, Carrie. The chocolate espresso cookies were a big hit as were the shrimp w/ leeks!
Keep ’em coming!! Hope you’re enjoying the rainy weekend :-)
Cheers, Vivian
carrieHa ha, Vivian – I am also a huge cheese fan. I always use the strong / mature cheddar so you get the most flavor without adding more cheese! I am so glad your family are enjoying the recipes. Healthy is simple, when you know how :-)
KatieCarrie, I loved loved loved these! How long do they store in the fridge for as this mixture made way too many for me to eat in one go? Can you freeze them?
carrieHi Katie – I would happily keep them in the ‘fridge for 4 days, although I have never had a dozen last that long ;-) Have not tried freezing them for the same reason. Thrilled that you loved them!
KellieHi Carrie, I’m newly SANE and love these!! So handy and delicious.
One thing, I think you’ve missed a trick… Add BACON!!!
From all the podcasts I know you’re a bacon fan so I think you’ll like this and its increases the protein serving even more!!
I just slice up and fry them and put them in the bottom of the egg cups along with the veggie mix. Delicious!
carrieGreat idea, Kellie!
AnitaAny substitute recommendations for the sage?