Dairy Free Cheesy Broccoli Egg Muffins
These dairy free broccoli cheese egg muffins are an easy, flavorful way to add more veggies to your morning routine. Finely chopped broccoli blends perfectly with sun dried tomatoes and cheesy flavor from nutritional yeast, so you get all the taste without the dairy. They’re simple to make and incredibly satisfying.
Perfect for meal prep, you can bake a big batch over the weekend and enjoy them all week, hot or cold, at home or on the go. Whether you eat them for breakfast, as a snack, or pack them in lunches, these savory muffins make healthy eating quick, delicious, and effortless.
How to make broccoli egg muffins
- Preheat the oven to 400F and chop the broccoli into 1-2 inch pieces (florets and stalk) and process the broccoli in the food processor until it resembles large pieces of rice. If you do not have a food processor, just chop the broccoli by hand into very small bits.
- Preheat a large skillet over medium heat. Add nonstick spray and add broccoli to cook 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Alternatively, you can cook the broccoli in the microwave (2-3 minutes) or leave it raw.
- In a small mixing bowl, combine the eggs and egg whites, taking the time to really beat them together to break up the egg whites.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the cooked broccoli, salt, garlic powder, nutritional yeast and sundried tomatoes. Stir well to fully coat the broccoli.
- Add the eggs to the broccoli mixture and stir well.
- Add silicone liners, parchment paper liners to a muffin tin or use a silicone muffin tray (my preferred method). Use a ¼ cup measuring cup to divide the broccoli egg mixture between the muffin cavities.
- Bake in the oven for 20-22 minutes.
- Take out of the oven and allow to cool slightly before removing to fully cool on a wire rack on the counter.
What you need to make this recipe
Other fun additions
- To add more protein: You can stir in cooked bacon, turkey bacon, sausage, white beans or even hemp hearts.
- To add more veggies: Bulk up the broccoli muffins even more with things like roasted red pepper, tomatoes, chopped asparagus, cooked zucchini, cooked onions, cooked mushrooms, spinach, kale, jalapenos, etc.
Top tips
- Eggs love to stick to traditional muffin tins. I would not recommend pouring eggs into a regular greased muffin tin. To make clean up easy, I would recommend using silicone muffin liners (they are re-usable and don’t stick to eggs). You can also try parchment paper liners (however I’ve had eggs stick to these as well.
- The best thing to make egg muffins in is a silicone muffin tin. The eggs never stick, they are easy to pop out after baking and it’s so easy to clean. These are well worth the investment!
- I find that veggies often release water when they are cooking so I like to quickly saute veggies to help release some of that water before adding it to the egg cups. Cooking the broccoli ahead of time is a personal preference, but if you have the time, I would highly recommend you sauté the veggies first.
How to store broccoli egg muffins
These are even better the next day, so they are fantastic for meal prep! You can store these broccoli cheese muffins in the fridge for up to 5 days in an airtight container.
You can also freeze these broccoli muffins, however I find that if the egg cups are frozen too quickly, they can retain a lot of water and be mushy when defrosted. To preserve the texture, first let the eggs cool completely in the fridge (overnight is best). Transfer the egg muffins right to the freezer in an freezer safe container with as much of the air removed as possible, this helps reduce the amount of large ice crystals that form in the muffins (which makes them watery when defrosted). . Freeze for up to 2 months.
Defrost broccoli muffins in the fridge overnight for the best texture/taste.
Broccoli egg muffins common questions
Can you use frozen broccoli?
Yes! You can use frozen broccoli in this recipe. I would recommend defrosting it first, before adding it to the food processor. Frozen broccoli tends to release more water when cooking, so you may need to saute it for an extra 1-2 minutes to cook off the excess water!
Can you use all egg whites?
This recipe uses a mix of eggs and egg whites. I like to add the egg whites to add protein without all the added fat. If you want to use all egg whites in this recipe, you will likely need 12-15 eggs (1 cup-1.25 cups).
Can you use all eggs (no egg whites)?
Yes! This recipe adds the egg whites for protein, but if you like to use the whole egg, you can use 8 whole eggs instead of eggs + egg whites.
Substitutions
Broccoli: If you do not like broccoli or are out of it, you can also use cauliflower or any of the veggies listed above in the “other additions” section.
Nutritional yeast: Nutritional yeast is what adds the cheesy flavor to these muffins. If you don’t have nutritional yeast, you will be missing out on that cheesy flavor. If you have a dairy free cheese (or tolerate regular cheese), you could add ½ cup of cheese to the mixture for that cheesy flavor.
Sundried tomatoes: Sundried tomatoes are totally options but do add that nice umami factor to these egg cups. I highly recommend the sundried tomatoes in olive oil (I buy mine at Trader Joe’s but you can also find large jars at places like Costco, BJ’s, Sam Club). No need to find a replacement for these if you cannot find them.
If you love this recipe, you should try
Whole30 Broccoli Cheese Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 small bunches of broccoli - riced
- 6 egg whites
- 6 eggs
- 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp. sea salt
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/4 cup chopped sundried tomatoes (packed in oil)
Instructions
- Preheat oven 375F
- Add the broccoli florets and broccoli stem to the food processor (break into small chunks) and pulse until it has a riced consistency.
- Preheat a skillet over medium heat and spray with olive oil. Add riced broccoli and cook 4-5 minutes. Stir occasionally.
- In a small bowl, combine the eggs and egg whites and whip together well to fully incorporate the whites.
- When the broccoli is done cooking, add broccoli to a large bowl and add salt, garlic powder, nutritional yeast and sundried tomatoes to the broccoli and stir well making sure everything is well combined.
- Pour the eggs over the broccoli mixture and stir well.
- Add silicone liners or parchment paper liners to a muffin tin and using the 1/4 cup measuring cup, divide the egg and broccoli mixture between 12 muffin cups.
- Bake at 375 for 26 minutes.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly. Eat hot, or allow to come to room temperature and store in the fridge for up to 4 days.
these sounds very tasty The recipe is a new one on me I believe I will try them on soup night
Thanks so much for sharing your wonderful post with us at Full Plate Thursday this week. Please keep our great state of Texas in your thoughts and prayers as we are struggling with the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. Hope you have a good week.
Miz Helen
Nutritional yeast is something I’ll have to try soon. You’re totally right about cooking without some of the ingredients that we’re used to, it can definitely be difficult to figure out how to use some of the unfamiliar substitutes. Thanks for sharing this!
So many people have issues with dairy these days. It’s nice to know that there are substitutes that are still satisfying! Happy Fiesta Friday! – Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck – Colleen
These look great—I’d love these for breakfast!
I love the texture you achieved with these muffins. I definitely would love these for breakfast!