Eggs in Hash Brown Nests (with bacon)

Eggs In Hash Brown Nests is an easy recipe perfect to make for a crowd because this recipe makes a dozen servings. This is another recipe for the My Love For Potatoes section of this blog. Not only are there potatoes in them there are eggs, cheese and bacon!

This is an easy breakfast idea for Easter morning or Christmas morning that the whole family will love.

Ingredients:

See recipe card below for exact amounts.

Ingredient Notes:

Hash Brown Potatoes – we use frozen hash browns and let them thaw on the counter while we gather the other ingredients, chop the bacon and prepare the muffin pan.

Bacon – we like to buy the precooked bacon to make this super easy.

Shredded Cheese – take help form the store on this and use pre-shredded cheese or shred your own.

Eggs – our favorite eggs are Eggland’s Best. You can use your favorite brand.

How To Make Hash Brown Egg Nests:

1. Preheat oven. Spray twelve muffin cups liberally with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl gently mix hash browns, shredded cheese, olive oil, salt and pepper until combined.
3. Divide potato mixture between muffin cups and press against the sides shaping the mixture into cups. Bake abut 25 minutes or until they start to brown.
4. Remove from the oven and crack one egg into each cup on top of the hash browns. Bake 13 – 16 minutes or until the egg whites are set and the egg yolk is no longer runny. Run a butter knife around the edge of each. Carefully remove each egg nest with a butter knife or offset spatula.

Special Notes:

We bake our egg nests at 375° because we often make another dish with them so we like to bake them at a lower temperature. I like to make a savory dish like these egg cups and a sweet dish like Peach French Toast Casserole, Cinnamon Roll Casserole or baked oatmeal. Many baked breakfast casseroles cook at 350° so we met in the middle at 375° adjusting the cooking time for the casserole too.

We use large eggs and a couple of them spilled out onto the top of the pan, they did not run over the sides of the pan. If you are concerned about this then you can use a small or medium egg.

Tips:

• Each cup will take about 1/3 of a cup of the hash brown mixture.
• We like our eggs to be completely set up with the yolk to be fairly hard. If you like runny yolks then adjust the cooking time down. Usually if you want the yolk to be runny you will end up with some of the white being runny. For those of you that like a totally runny egg just decrease the time in the oven and take them out when the eggs are still jiggly.
• For crispier hash browns increase the oven temperature and let them get golden brown. We like everything to be lightly browned.
• I put the muffin tin on a rimmed baking sheet in case I didn’t keep the pan exactly level when putting them into the oven. Better safe than sorry. None spilled over but I wanted to be sure not to have a mess in my oven.
• While you can technically pick these up and eat them we find they are easier to eat with a fork, especially when they are still warm. The cooler they are the easier they are to pick up and eat with your hands.

 

Substitutions & Additions:

Use your favorite cheese. Parmesan, pepper jack, or sharp cheddar cheese are all good options. Pretty much any hard to semi-hard cheese will work.

Add in some veggies – shredded carrots or chopped green or red bell peppers would be great.

Add some white, yellow or green onions.

Want more seasonings? You can add garlic powder, onion powder or even a little hot sauce to the potato mixture.

You can use refrigerated hash browns like Simply Potatoes or shred your own.

Swap the bacon for small cubes of ham or crumbled sausage.

Dishes That Go well With Eggs In Hash Brown Nests:

Blueberry Almond Baked Oatmeal

Chocolate Banana Nut Baked Oatmeal

Peach French Toast Casserole

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Recipe inspired by The Pioneer Woman.