These egg nests will make your grumpy mornings not so grumpy. I’m not a morning person so I can relate. But if you’re the type to be bright eyed and bushy tailed in the mornings, this will make things even better. I’ve also found these nests are super popular around Easter and Mother’s Day. Pair it with creamy chilled avocado slices for that hot and cold combo. While you’re busy chasing around that runny egg with crispy hash browns, bacon and melty cheese, you can nip out a corner of chilled avocado to add to your fork. Yummy!
They’re a slight variation of Idaho sunrise, which was baked eggs, bacon and cheese in potato bowls. Yes you read right. Hollowed out baked potatoes to make these lovely au natural bowls to cozy up with the fillings. While those took a little more work, these egg nests are slightly easier and faster to make.
So let’s get started.
First you need a cupcake pan. Spray them down with nonstick spray so it doesn’t stick. You don’t wanna mangle these beauties before they even have a chance to leave the pan! You’ll want to fill each one up and then using your fingers, press down in the middle to push and mold the hash browns to cover the sides. The more it sticks out the better! This is what makes it look like a nest.
Then you pre-bake it so it sets. Once that’s done crack in eggs into each nest and top with bacon bits, cheese and parsley. Then bake again until the egg whites settle. You can opt to bake a little longer if you don’t like your eggs runny.
Ta-da! You have breakfast. Or brunch, or a snack. Whatever time you decide to eat this, you will be munching happy. Serve with fresh chilled avocado slices or skip them if you’re cursed like me with two settings: unripe avocados and too-bad-you-missed-the-one-day-I-was-ripe avocados.
PS: If you’re wanting an easier and healthier breakfast bite, try out these breakfast muffins with no hash browns for those watching their calories and scrambled eggs for those that don’t their eggs runny! And if you fell in love with the hash brown crust in these egg nests, try out this hash brown breakfast quiche where I used hash browns to replace the traditional pie crust!
Print
Hash Brown Egg Nests with Avocado
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Prep Time: 10 mins -
Cook Time: 30 mins
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Total Time: 40 mins
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Yield: 8 nests
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeIngredients
- 15 oz. frozen shredded hash browns, thawed
- 1 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 8 medium eggs
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
- 1 tablespoon Cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1/2 tablespoon parsley, chopped
- 2 avocados, sliced and chilled
Instructions
- Mix hash browns, salt, pepper, olive oil and 1 cup Cheddar cheese in a mixing bowl
- Grease the muffin pan and divide hash brown mixture. Use your fingers to pack them tightly and shape them into nests
- Bake at 425 degrees F or until the edges have browned and the cheese has melted, about 15 minutes
- Crack a medium egg into each nest and season with salt and pepper to taste
- Top with crumbled bacon, 1 tablespoon cheddar cheese and parsley
- Bake at 350 degrees F until the egg whites set, about 13 to 16 minutes
- Let it cool, gently slide a knife along the edges and use a fork to lift it out of the pan
- Dish and serve with chilled avocado slices
Notes
If you don’t have frozen shredded hash browns, bake 4-6 russet potatoes. Let them cool off, then peel and grate them to form shreds.
Nutrition for one nest and a couple avocado slices:
180 Comments
Makenna
August 16, 2014 at 10:26 PMI made these today and they certainly didn’t come out as pretty as yours still a big hit though. They tasted awesome. Any advice on keeping them from falling apart while taking them out of the muffin pan? I sprayed it with Pam before cooking and figured they would have come out easily but they didn’t. Thank you so much for the recipe!
The Cooking Jar
August 16, 2014 at 10:41 PMLOVE getting ‘I made this’ comments! Well what I did was use a butter knife to gently pry the edges away from the muffin pan. I made sure to do this all around and focus on the bottom especially as that’s the hardest part. Then I used a fork and hooked it deep under the bottom of the nests to lift it out. At this point, since the muffin has been pried from the edges, the only part you need to worry about coming out intact is the bottom. That fork should act as a good base to take it all out in one piece. You are very welcome. So glad you lked it!
Karla
January 8, 2017 at 6:24 PMCould you put muffin/cupcake holders in the muffin tin and then just peel it off once it’s baked, just like cupcakes?
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The Cooking Jar
January 8, 2017 at 8:02 PMGood question! I haven’t done these with cupcake holders and while I’m sure you can bake them that way, I’m not sure if the liners will affect the crispiness of the crust, you know? I do recall seeing a comment that the crust wasn’t as crispy with a silicone pan vs regular metal ones so this might be something to consider. Do let us know, if you try it Karla. I’m super curious!
Valerie Quinn
August 17, 2014 at 5:28 PMHas anyone tried egg beaters in these? Thinking the southwestern flavored egg beaters would be very good. I think Simply Potatoes hash browns would work well too. Saves time because they are not frozen. Just a couple thoughts.
The Cooking Jar
August 17, 2014 at 8:01 PMWell you got me there, I haven’t tried egg beaters ever. Maybe someone who has could chime in? Loving hearing all the customizations people are making here!
Tania @ The Cook's Pyjamas
August 19, 2014 at 7:25 PMThese look great. Beautiful photography.
I am avocado cursed like you. I always buy them with the intention of using them but always leave them a little too long. I recently discovered that you can freeze them, so now I mash a few and stash them in the freezer so at least I have avocado for tacos etc.
The Cooking Jar
August 19, 2014 at 10:27 PMOh my god, I JUST discovered that a week ago too! Had some leftover avocados from this post and in a desperate bid to save them I smashed them up and put them in the freezer. Then I Googled if that’s even wise. Apparently you can! So now we have two quart bags of frozen guacamole good and ready for any guacamole emergencies. 🙂
Jenni Zito
August 29, 2014 at 1:29 PMJust came across this – looks fabulous! I was wondering what to do with those frozen hashbrowns in my freezer – can’t wait to try it!
The Cooking Jar
August 29, 2014 at 10:48 PMGive it a go and I hope you like it! 🙂
Cristy
September 9, 2014 at 8:49 AMWOW! I’m drooling just reading this post! Can you make the nests the day before then the next day add the eggs, etc. and finish cooking? I’m not a morning person and would like to do most of my preparation the day/night before. Thank you!
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The Cooking Jar
September 9, 2014 at 6:27 PMI don’t see why you can’t! You can even make them the night before and eat them in the morning. I’ve had mine the next day heated up in the microwave. Depending on your microwave, it should take 30 seconds to a minute to heat up. And me? So not a morning person either!
Jaye
September 22, 2014 at 3:33 PMI made these for my family last week for dinner…a complete hit! I doubled the recipe (a requirement when feeding teenagers) and used two pans: a regular cupcake/muffin pan and an English muffin pan. Since the English muffin “nests” were slightly larger I ended up cracking two eggs in each nest. Every nest was eaten!!! Ha Thank you, Farah!
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The Cooking Jar
September 25, 2014 at 7:08 PMYou’re absolutely welcome, Jaye. And thanks for trying my recipes and coming back to let me know how you liked it! 🙂
Michelle @ A Dish of Daily Life
October 1, 2014 at 9:21 AMI was so excited to find your recipe this morning! What an a great breakfast idea! It looks so good! If you have a moment I would love it if you stopped over at Foodie Fridays tomorrow night (we go live at 9 PM EST) and shared this! Pinning and stumbling and sharing!
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The Cooking Jar
October 1, 2014 at 5:11 PMThanks for the love and feedback, Michelle! <3
Jodee Weiland
October 1, 2014 at 2:25 PMThese egg nests look awesome! What a clever idea for a brunch table or any time…and delicious, too. Thanks for sharing!
The Cooking Jar
October 1, 2014 at 5:19 PMYou’re very welcome, Jodee. It’s something to come back to and worth the hassle of delicate prying from the muffin pan. I’ve made it again since posting this and they disappeared quickly…again. 🙂
Anonymous
October 4, 2014 at 12:07 AMMuffin pans have 12 slots generally, but this recipe only calls for 8 eggs? I didn’t need nearly 15oz of hashbrowns for 8 muffin slots, did you reuse the hashbrown mix several times?
The Cooking Jar
October 4, 2014 at 1:01 AMThat was an oversight on my part. I’m used to cooking for two people so I made 8 just in case people can’t finish them all up and they won’t freeze well for those in my shoes. I’m a little leery of freezing cooked eggs. I never thought people could finish or would want to cook all 12 in one go! As for the ratio of hash browns, I like to stuff mine silly with that 15 oz. in those 8 cups. I bought a bag that came in 30 oz. and used the other half to make a second batch a couple of weeks later. Hope this helps!
Susan Swinehart
October 19, 2014 at 11:04 PMHi – I just came across your recipe tonight and it sounds and looks wonderful. And, I’m looking forward to making it! I just have one question……Don’t you need more than 1 T. of the shredded cheese to top the 8 nests?
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Susan
The Cooking Jar
October 20, 2014 at 7:20 PMThank you, Susan for the compliment! It’s purely up to you how much cheese you want to use as topping. Since a cup of Cheddar is used in the hash brown mix, the extra cheese is icing on the cake. I like being able to see my eggs peep through but if you want to shower your nests with Cheddar love, then go for it! The toppings are just a general guideline and completely customizable.
Tan Uckan
November 5, 2014 at 3:06 PMHey Farah ,
This is an amazing breakfast food .Thanks for sharing your beautiful reciepes with us …
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The Cooking Jar
November 7, 2014 at 11:04 PMYou’re very welcome, Tan! Enjoy!
Dave
November 18, 2014 at 9:58 PMwow – those look amazing! Love that the yolk is still runny! Will have to make these for my kids!
The Cooking Jar
November 18, 2014 at 11:22 PMI love runny yolks! Hope your kids like it, Dave!
April
November 21, 2014 at 7:27 PMThese look amazing! I am wondering if I could make just the nests and freeze those for my kids, then just pop in the eggs and put them in the oven. I have 6 little ones, and I like to have breakfast mostly made the night before. My one problem every time I make these egg cup dishes is that the yolks are always overdone for my liking. I like them super runny, but the white is never set enough. I showed my kids the picture and they want these for breakfast.
The Cooking Jar
November 23, 2014 at 4:10 PMYou should be able to since it’s just the hash browns and not the eggs. As for the runny yolks, just check around the 13-16 minutes mark if your whites are set. Some ovens run a little differently. Once they’re set, you should be good to go for runny yolks!
Donna
November 29, 2014 at 7:06 PMThese look awesome! You didn’t even need the avocado!
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The Cooking Jar
November 30, 2014 at 2:23 PMThey’re good by themselves, yes! With or without avocado, both work. I just love chilled avocado with my breakfasty stuff. Thanks for the comment, Donna!
Laura - Relatively Offbeat
December 19, 2014 at 10:11 AMThank you so much for posting this! I’ve been searching all over for a great breakfast recipe that I can bring to a holiday party, and I’m totally going to make these! So clever and creative.
🙂
The Cooking Jar
December 20, 2014 at 4:59 PMHey, Laura! Hope the people at your party enjoy it. Happy holidays! 🙂