I got the basics of this recipe from a friend of mine and thought it was a great idea since these little nests can be made ahead, which I love. They are delicious, easy to make, and can be customized to your own tastes. I not only use the recipe as a delicious grab-and-go breakfast, but serve it to guests nestled into some lovely cheese grits, alongside fresh fruits and French toast made on a panini press. Oh, and don’t forget the mimosas!
Ingredients
- 1 (30 ounce) package frozen shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed
- 2 ½ teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 ½ tablespoons olive oil
- 2/3 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
- 12 eggs
- 2 tablespoons water
- 8 slices cooked bacon, crumbled – divided
- ¼ cup shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
Directions
Step 1
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Grease 24 muffin cups.
Step 2
Mix hash brown potatoes, salt, black pepper, olive oil, and 2/3 cup shredded Cheddar cheese in a bowl. Divide mixture between prepared muffin cups and use your fingers to shape potato mixture into nests with hollows in the middle.
Step 3
Bake in the preheated oven until hash browns are browned on the edges and cheese has melted, 15 to 18 minutes. Remove hash brown nests.
Step 4
Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Step 5
Whisk eggs and water in a bowl until thoroughly combined; season with salt and black pepper. Pour equal amount of egg mixture into each nest; sprinkle with bacon crumbles and 1 teaspoon Cheddar cheese.
Step 6
Bake in the oven until eggs are set, 13 to 16 minutes. Let cool in pans and remove by sliding a knife between potato crust and muffin cup.
Cook’s Notes:
You can also experiment with ham, sausage, and veggies to make them your own. I also use chicken-Asiago sausage. Excellent quick breakfast for the weekdays. Very nutritious for toddlers who enjoy finger foods.
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
Nutrition Facts | |
---|---|
Servings Per Recipe 12 | |
Calories 232 | |
% Daily Value * | |
Total Fat18g | 24% |
Saturated Fat7g | 33% |
Cholesterol204mg | 68% |
Sodium816mg | 35% |
Total Carbohydrate13g | 5% |
Dietary Fiber1g | 4% |
Total Sugars0g | |
Protein13g | |
Vitamin C7mg | 33% |
Calcium96mg | 7% |
Iron2mg | 9% |
Potassium446mg | 9% |
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
**Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data.
(-) Information is not currently available for this nutrient.If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.
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source by allrecipe
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- by: Baking Nana
- 11 years ago
These would make a great grab and go breakfast – or perfect for a brunch or shower. I would suggest baking these in disposable cupcake liners, they will slide right out and the clean up is a breeze. I halved the recipe and instead of frozen hash browns I grated 3 medium russet potatoes with the food processor and placed the grated potato into a salad spinner. Rinsed the potatoes well in cool water and spun them dry. Next time I will build the sides of the nests a little higher. Overall, this is a solid recipe to which you can add anything you would like to customize these to your families taste.
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- by: Gammaray (=
- 10 years ago
I made these for Recipe Group. I used one muffin pan, and foil liners – making 12 hash brown nests at a time – then moving them to a cookie sheet, before adding the eggs, bacon, and cheese. Next time, I will spray the foil liners, first. And will add green onion! This will make a nice hand-held breakfast for my little friends before we head to the beach (= Edit: the day after our trip to the beach, I made breakfast sandwiches with the leftovers, using leftover biscuits, deli turkey, and jack cheese. Yum! My friend said it was the best breakfast I’ve made for him (=
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- by: Molly
- 10 years ago
Recipe Group Selection: 26, July 2014 ~ The flavor of these are very good and I like that you can totally customize them to your families likings. I used my square cupcake pans and got exactly 24. So for me, the serving size was spot on. I used ham on some and bacon on some. I added diced onion and peppers to the mix. The taste was great, and they reheated great in the microwave. The downside was – how they stick to the pan. The pans I used are coated so that you do not have to spray them and my foods have always come out. Reading other reviews how they stuck to the pans – I very heavily sprayed with cooking spray. Oh, what a mess! They did not release from the pan, and the pans were a bear to clean. If I make them again, I will use foil cupcake liners that are sprayed first. Sticking issues aside, remember they have great flavor, love that you can customize and reheat wonderfully.
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- by: B419
- 10 years ago
Five stars for great base recipe idea. After reading the reviews I reduced salt to 1.5 teaspoons salt which worked for out for taste buds. I also tried one pan with paper cup liners and didn’t care for the results compared to them without . The potatoes weren’t as crisp and they were harder to get out of the paper ( not as pretty ). Overall, fun recipe thanks for sharing.
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- by: ONIOND
- 10 years ago
These were very tasty, and cute…execution did not work out so well for me though 🙁 I only have one muffin pan, so I figured I’d do half a recipe worth of nests, pull them out and put aside, then bake the rest…but I couldn’t get them out. So, I left the first half in the tin until the next morning and went ahead with the rest of the recipe. Slightly easier to get out with the egg making the cups a more solid mass to get a spoon under…the potatoes did not crisp up like I’d hoped, except the top edge. I did cut the salt in half per other reviews, and I used Canadian bacon (my favorite breakfast meat!). Worrying about the cups sticking, I used 3 T oil in the potato mixture, and used a pastry brush and veggie oil to thoroughly grease my muffin cups. Having some trouble getting my muffin pan clean now, so I am tempted to take the rest of the potato mixture and slap it in a pie plate…thanks for the idea but this just didn’t work for me! Update: used the rest of the ingredients to make an ‘eagle’s nest’ in my Pyrex pie plate and it worked much better 🙂
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- by: AWS2
- 10 years ago
I made the hash brown cups for my individual quiches for Christmas Breakfast.
Others had said they were very hard to remove from pan and paper cups.I used parchment paper muffin cups and they were perfect.I baked in my convection oven and when I took them out of the oven,the papers just feel away from the potato.I had to use a few regular paper cupcake papers and everything stuck and the one foil I tried seemed to boil.Great recipe,parchment paper cups work the best. -
- by: Britt3ns
- 9 years ago
Yes it was definitely a salty recipe, but it was so great! I used some Lawry’s seasoning salt as well as regular table salt, and olive oil infused with Italian spices on the hash browns with extra fresh ground pepper for an invigorating kick. We also sandwiched them between halved multi-grain english muffins. These have totally changed my brunch game.
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- by: Carson's Mommy
- 9 years ago
Very cute concept and presents well. Next time; however, I will add green onions and other veggies to enhance the flavor.
Note: I used freshly shredded potatoes instead of frozen, which seem to have behaved similarly to the frozen potatoes; make sure to rinse the starch off of the potatoes and squeeze the water out of the potato shreds using a piece of cheese cloth.
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- by: Tiggeriffic
- 9 years ago
Agree with mlcoates…
A lot of preparation for little reward.
Made exactly according to the recipe for a New Year’s Eve Brunch this morning.
Nests were hopelessly fused to my greased and non-stick pan. So mad. Completely ruined the experience for me. If I make a similar concoction again, I will be using silicon baking cups.
Tasteless. I wish I had seasoned the eggs with dry mustard or something. The dish as made to the recipe really lacked flavor.
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- by: Jsusfrk
- 8 years ago
I made it as written EXCEPT I used MorningStar Farms bacon (I do not eat meat) also I didnt have any cheddar cheese so I used mozzerella in place of the cheddar and less salt than the recipe states to use, (other reviews stated too salty). Turned out great! Very Good! Even have some to press n seal for grab & go anytime quick meals!
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- by: Vanderson
- 8 years ago
Great recipe! I did cut back on the salt after reading other reviews, I used 1 teaspoon and they weren’t too salty. I also used Kirkland bacon crumbles so that saved time. You need to make sure your muffin pan is a good non-stick one. I had one newer pan and one older one, the newer pan, they popped out very easily, the older pan they did stick a bit. I will definitely make these again, thanks for sharing!
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- by: Mark Tolliver
- 8 years ago
I substituted whole wheat pasta for the hash browns. I found the pasta even easier to mold into the nests. Also, I used a jumbo muffin tin. The first time that I made these, I thought that the nest didn’t allow for all of the good stuff that I was putting in. This also that I had to increase the cooking time by 50%.
I added chicken feta cheese sausage, broccoli and spinach.
Due to reviews that I read, I drastically reduced the salt and then seasoned to taste on the plate.
I’ll make these again and will substitute reduced sodium chicken broth for water. -
- by: Stephrn
- 8 years ago
I made it this morning for our Easter breakfast and it was great! I followed the recipe almost exactly, adding a little less salt as stated by other reviews. I did not use cupcake liners, I just made sure to use plenty of Pam and it worked fine for me. My entire family loved this!!!
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- by: Lucy
- 8 years ago
Not only did it take a long time to prepare but the clean up was not something that was easy. I followed the instructions to a T but the muffins stuck so bad that they no longer looked a a muffin when I finally got them out of the tin. I’ll have to pass on this one. Hope you have better luck than I did with this.
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- by: Bakersman
- 8 years ago
I skipped the cheese – and turned out very bland. Good presentation with cut up sausage links as the “eggs” in the nest. The hashbrowns at the bottom of the nests were cooked but soggy and hard to remove from the pan. This was a fun breakfast food to make but the kids wouldn’t eat it. Someone should tweak this recipe and baking technique so it is tastier and easier to make. It is a fun concept!
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- by: Becky
- 8 years ago
Changes I made were sausage instead of bacon and deleted a lot of the salt. I would suggest to prep everything the night before, bottoms came out soggy,so squeeze hash brown with paper towels several times,did have issues getting them out of the muffin tin. Let the nest sit for about 15 min. They will come out of tin easier,served with salsa Verde.
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- by: Cookdap Member
- 7 years ago
I liked these a lot! They are great to make ahead of time and eat throughout the week. I used less salt, per other’s reviews and used a little less cheese as well. I made fresh hash browns and soaked as much water from the potato as possible. The nest wasn’t super crispy, but I didn’t have a problem with sogginess : ) I would make this again, and experiment with the fillings!
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- by: Linda Beth Mercer
- 7 years ago
I didn’t have frozen shredded potatoes so I shredded 5 big potatoes I had. I put the shredded potatoes in cheesecloth to strain the excess water. I also used foil to line my muffin tins and sprayed the foil with nonstick cooking spray. Was a huge hit with my teenagers!!
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- by: Mary Hylman-Keener
- 7 years ago
I love this recipe. I change the ingredients frequently just depending on what I have leftover in the fridge. So far I’ve used sausage, bacon, and ham. I also saute some onions and then cook the meat in with those for additional flavor. I typically use more than the recommended amount of meat, I would suggest 1 1/2 pounds of sausage, and at least a pound of bacon (8 or 9 slices of thick cut). I’ve read several complaints about sticking, I’ve never had this problem. I use the Pampered Chef individual brownie pan without liners and generously apply cooking spray. I start with hash browns frozen, and after “pre-cooking” them I press them down with the back of a large spoon. After the final bake I run a butter knife around the edge and they slide right out. I typically get 24 nests which I package in two’s in sandwich bags. They can be warmed in 30-45 seconds in an 1100 watt microwave for a hearty on the go breakfast.
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- by: Sassyred
- 7 years ago
My 10 yr old son wanted to make these for breakfast, so I helped him. They were a bit time consuming to prepare, but my son enjoys cooking, so time with him made it enjoyable. I sprayed the pan with Pam, some stuck, some slid right out. Definitely too much salt and pepper for our taste. My son didn’t like that they were so “spicy.” The leftovers will make for a convenient, grab and go breakfast.
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- by: SWRDPRINCESS
- 7 years ago
I made some changes…
1. used turkey bacon
2. no salt (bacon has enough)
3. Added diced red bell pepper and 4 spring onionsI didn’t have time to make the cups, so I layered it in a 9×13 pan and baked for an hour at 350 degrees. It turned out good, but next time I’ll use about half of the hashbrowns.
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- by: Sandtress
- 7 years ago
I made this as an experiment for Easter brunch. Everybody loved it and said it was a keeper! I didn’t add any salt, some I sprinkled bacon and some I left without. I definitely used the parchment paper to avoid any sticking to the muffin tin. This also made many more than 8 nests. I was able to make 16 nests with this recipe. Also I made the nests the night before and placed covered in the frig. Easy assembly in the am. Yum!
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- by: Mark Rinehart
- 7 years ago
Great recipe. Knocked one star off for way too much salt; especially with the bacon. Only other negative: I didn’t quite get 24 nests. I suggest letting them cool completely before trying to remove. Anyway, they stuck to my inexpensive muffin pan but came right out of my williams-sonoma,
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- by: Debbls
- 7 years ago
I made the recipe in an aluminum pie pan and reduced the eggs to 6, which was still just fine. I found the recipe excessively salty. Overall, it is good, and I made it again this morning for guest, eliminating the salt, but using a seasoning salt instead. I added chopped red pepper, which added to the color, but didn’t add much flavor. However it benefited by the color. I thought it might be a lot more trouble to make the little birdsnests, and will continue to make it the pie pans.
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- by: Maureen O'malley
- 7 years ago
I love the idea of these cups, and they’re absolutely adorable. They do need some additional seasoning however. They were pretty bland. As far as a problem of sticking goes, I used a silicone muffin pan and sprayed it heavily with the cooking spray so they wouldn’t stick and I had no problem getting them out.
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- by: Barbara
- 7 years ago
Made this exactly as the recipe stated and had a terrible time getting the nests out of the muffin tins. I lost at least a third of each even using a knife to loosen and having well greased tins. I think I’d use the foil cupcake papers if I made them again. Also much more pepper in them than I’d have preferred, though my son thought they were fine.
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- by: Kaceygee
- 7 years ago
I used ham instead of bacon. They were good, but my muffin pan is still soaking. It was impossible to get them out of the pan without leaving hashbrowns behind. Soaking and scrubbing, and more soaking and scrubbing has not worked yet. I liberally sprayed the pan with PAM, but they still stuck. I won’t do that again.
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- by: Denise
- 7 years ago
Made these this morning, after reading the other reviews, I used parchment liners, didn’t have any problems with sticking. I pretty much followed the recipe as written, I only made half of the recipe and used what I had on hand. I did add onions, garlic and additional spices, just use your favorite. This is a great recipe for customizing to your preferences . I will definitely make them again.
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- by: Michellek
- 7 years ago
Made as stated, only added some ham. The hash brown cups were a fail. I had no issues with sticking, and they came out of the oven crispy and brown. After adding the egg mixture and baking, they lost all crispness and actually ruined the whole thing. No one in my house would eat these unfortunately.
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- by: Maroo
- 7 years ago
I made these for my boys this weekend and we all loved them. I like that you can add different ingredients and make these more to your taste. I elected not to add salt; as the salt in the bacon and the cheese is plenty for us. I added some Penzy’s Arizona Dreaming seasoning in addition to the pepper to the potatoes. The only difficulty I had was figuring out the correct amount of egg mixture to add to each cup. To the top is too much, just below the nest was to little. I would say just over the nest was just right. Thanks for the great recipe.
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- by: Mariathesoaper
- 6 years ago
I’ve made these several times now, with the first time using the suggestion of cupcake liners sprayed with coming spray. This doesn’t work except to have the food stick to the liners. I’ve made these directly in the muffin tins coated with butter and no sticking and clean up is nominal. The convenience of the liners is lost if the food bakes into the liners instead.
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- by: Hempcook
- 6 years ago
The recipe shown leaves out some important details when it comes to putting these together. The how to video that is available shows exactly how it should be done. Squeezing out all the moisture from the potatoes would have been very helpful in directions – so would’ve the use of paper muffin cups and cooking spray. 1st time I made these I followed the recipe directions and the potatoes weren’t crisp and very hard to get out of muffin pan – 2nd time follow video directions and they came out perfect. Highly suggest that you watch the video 1st before making these for best results.
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- by: Charbswims
- 6 years ago
Using this as a base recipe, I did make some changes in the seasoning and veggie department. The cooking times stayed the same though. I made them for a grade 4 kids’ potluck and they were devoured. I added about a teaspoon of paprika, a bit of garlic and a touch more pepper to the potatoes. Because the potatoes are so seasoned, I didn’t add salt or pepper to the egg mix. I did however add diced tomatoes, dried onion (I prepped my eggs the night before so they softened and add a lot of flavour without salt), shredded spinach and I topped them with turkey ‘back bacon’. I will make these again for the family.
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- by: Kbove
- 6 years ago
Yes, definitely need to use less salt, but love the recipe. I added a little green onion & green pepper to a few. You can add so many different ingredients to change them up or to suit everyone’s taste! I was looking for a quick, fast, healthier breakfast for grandkids & found something for everyone! Thanks for the recipe!
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- by: Ethel
- 6 years ago
I made these with only one change. I had dehydrated hash browns near the expiration date to use up. I hydrated them & used instead of frozen hash browns. I was a little short on the hashbrown so only filled 16 instead of 24 in my muffin pan. All other ingredients were the same. They were a great hit. My daughter in law thought they could have used some grated onion but the children would not have like that. We served with salsa & sour cream. I popped a couple in the freezer to see how that works. Great idea, thank you Ephesis.
Oh, mine did stick a bit in pan even though I sprayed Pam in them. Next time I will use cup cake liners for an easier clean up. -
- by: Krgarrett1
- 6 years ago
These were super easy and I halved the recipe to make 12. I used PAM cooking spray and the muffins popped right out of the muffin tin. We put in green chiles in the egg mix with bacon bits on top along with the cheese. Took about 15 minutes for the potato cheese (nests) to crisp brown around the edges and I cooked the egg mixture for 17 to make sure everything was cooked through. Great easy breakfast for guests.
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