This is a guest post by Le Cordon Bleu trained chef Peter Servold, owner of Pete's Paleo, one of the first and best Paleo meal delivery companies in the US. Pete is a fantastic cook and a true student of the kitchen.
His love of fine food comes through clearly in even this, a simple Paleo breakfast recipe. It's good as written (egg muffins) as well as in a pie plate or other small baking bowl. We had a lot of fun making and eating this delicious breakfast, enjoy!
Breakfast, breakfast, breakfast. It’s the dog that gets into everyone's garbage as they try to figure this Paleo thing out. Lunch and dinner seem simple enough once you wrap your brain around the basic concepts, but breakfast is a bit tougher. The main reason is that breakfast staples like bagels, toast, cereal, smoothies (with dairy,soy), pancakes, etc are all off the list.
Still, there's no reason not to enjoy breakfast, here is one of my all time favorite recipes to make for a great breakfast on the go. It features some of the seasonal vegetables and proteins around right now (winter 2014, San Diego), you can switch those out as the seasons permit.
This recipe makes a dozen “muffins” using a standard 12 count muffin tin.(Ed. note: These seem to bake well in damn near any container you use; don't get too stressed about getting them in a muffin tin; they do equally well in a cake pan, bowl, or any small bake-able container.)
12 pastured eggs, cracked and whipped, seasoned with a teaspoon of salt and black pepper
For the filling:
8 oz smoked chopped turkey breast
8 oz peeled & roasted small dice butternut squash (half of a butternut squash, small diced, tossed in avocado oil and roasted at 350F for 35 minutes.)
1 small yellow onion small dice (approx 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup small dice green pepper
1 T Ghee
1 t salt and pepper for seasoning
In a large cast iron, add the ghee and heat on high for three minutes. Add the onion and peppers and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook for 5-6 minutes on medium high.
Stir occasionally, then after five minutes or so add the butternut squash and turkey. Turn heat off and fold ingredients together. Let cool for 10 minutes so it doesn’t cook the egg mixture.
Add the mixture to a large bowl with the whipped eggs.
Vigorously mix the eggs and mixture together.
Set the oven to 325F and pour the mixture 2/3 of the way up each muffin slot.
I have a nice non-stick muffin tin I use for this, grease yours with coconut oil beforehand if you are worrying about sticking.
Cook for 15-20 minutes, or until puffed up & golden brown. It should leave a knife clean when pulled from the center.
Let cool for 15 minutes and pop those bad boys out for portable paleo breakfast power. They keep for five days in the fridge. Don’t freeze em.
Sure, it takes a bit of time to make these things at firs, but they can provide breakfast for the week in one go. Also, you’ll find you can become quite adept at using leftover vegetables and meat from the lunches and dinner from the day before mixed in with eggs to make these egg muffins happen. (Editor's note: Hint, try bacon and sweet potato.)
The bottom line is with some flavorful, precooked vegetables and meat, added to some whipped eggs in a muffin pan will give you a portable, delicious breakfast that is a definitive answer to “What’s for breakfast?”
Want this recipe as a 1 page PDF you can easily print? Check out our eBook, On Being Paleo, which includes 30+ recipes (including this one) along with an easy Intro to Paleo and a guide through the 7 Pillars of Paleo.
- Paleo Pancake Recipe
- Paleo For Kids
- Is Paleo More Expensive?
- Interview with Pete Servold, Podcast Episode 4
Nik Hawks
Author
Nik Hawks helps run the show at Paleo Treats. Fascinated by humans in all their strange glory, Nik is harnessed in and pulling hard in pursuit of excellence with the rest of the PT Crew. Enjoy!
Too much reading...
How about dessert?
Take me to the store
9 Comments
Nik@PT
September 18, 2015
Hi Angela,
It’s worth a shot! Without the yolks it may not taste as rich, but the whites should be what binds it together. Cheers! Nik@PT
Angela
September 15, 2015
Will this work with just egg whites. I have a yolk allergy.
Nik @ PT
March 08, 2015
Hi Vera, great question! Try the Paleo pancake recipe on this site (look for the recipes section in the right hand column up at the top of this page), it’s a good one to start kids on. You can also take a look at Pete’s food (the guy who wrote this article) at paleotreats.com/petes or head over to the NomNomPaleo website for lots of kid friendly recipes. Best of luck with it!
vera
March 08, 2015
my daughter and her family are doing this diet, the children don’t really care for the soups and a lot of the things they are making. what kid foods or receipts would you recommend.
it is very difficult to expect children to follow this diet.
Nik @ PT
February 12, 2015
Hi Nancy, good question! Actually, no grains are on the paleo diet. Paleo is based around the idea that we evolved to eat a diet that is pre-agriculture, so grains aren’t a part of that. For more info you can check out this article: http://paleotreats.com/blogs/paleo-treats/15899755-what-is-paleo
Cheers,
Nik @ PT
Nancy
February 12, 2015
What grains are on the paleo diet?
Pete Servold
December 28, 2014
I wish there was anything even close to an egg but there just isn’t. To find something that is all at once a liquid, a leavening agent, a fat and a protein outside of the egg would be pretty tough. You could try whipping steamed cauliflower, undrained, with a gluten free flour of your choice & some baking powder, and the vegetables and turkey but I’m just spitballing here. I’m sorry I don’t have a better answer but short of adding a ton of processed products to get egg like results there’s just no substitute.
Maria
December 28, 2014
Recipe looks great. I make something similer using Kale or Sweet potatoes. My husband does not like squash, kale or sweet potatoes so I sneak them in whenevery possible in other recipes like meat loaf.
Gloria
December 28, 2014
Sounds great, but unfortunately I must avoid eggs. Any other suggestions?
