Baked Sweet Potato and Egg Cups are a delicious and nutritious breakfast made with grated sweet potatoes, eggs and spices baked in a muffin tin.
Baked Sweet Potato Egg Cups
A healthier version of eggs in a nest made with grated sweet potatoes seasoned with thyme, salt, and pepper and mixed with pecorino, which adds a sharp sweetness to the potatoes. The potatoes bake in a muffin tin and then are topped with an egg and baked a little longer. When done, sprinkle with more pecorino and enjoy! For more sweet potato recipes, try this Turkey and Sweet Potato Frittata or these Skillet Sweet Potato Chicken Hash with Eggs. And if you want more egg muffin recipes, these Loaded Egg Muffins are perfect.
To shave off some prep time, use the grater attachment on your food processor to prepare the sweet potatoes. Plus, the machine makes nice long shreds, which are perfect for the potato cups. This recipe bakes in under 25 minutes, depending on how you like your eggs. After you crack an egg in each cup, bake for 12 minutes if you want runny yolks or 14 for a slightly harder yolk.
Is it healthy to eat sweet potatoes for breakfast?
Sweet potatoes are a very healthy breakfast option. They’re high in vitamins A and C and minerals like potassium and calcium. Their high fiber content paired with the protein from the egg and cheese will keep you full throughout the day.
Meal Prep Tips:
These sweet potato and egg cups are great to bake at the beginning of the week and pull out as needed for breakfast. They will keep in the refrigerator for up to a week. To reheat, microwave for 30 to 60 seconds until warm.
Variations:
- Feel free to use any hard grated cheese, like Parmesan, asiago, or Mexican cotija or leave it out.
- Swap the thyme for oregano or rosemary.
More Sweet Potato Recipes You’ll Love:
- Smashed Sweet Potatoes
- Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
- Turmeric Roasted Chicken Sweet Potatoes
- Slow Cooker Chickpea and Sweet Potato Stew
- Air Fryer Sweet Potato Fries
Baked Sweet Potato and Egg Cups
Ingredients
- Olive oil spray
- 2 1/2 cups peeled and grated, on large holes sweet potatoes (about 1 8-ounce potato)
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper, plus more to taste,
- 1 ounce finely grated Pecorino cheese, 2 teaspoons reserved
- 6 large eggs
Instructions
- Preheat over to 375°F. Spray a 6-cup non-stick muffin tin with oil spray and set aside.
- Toss grated sweet potato, thyme, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon black pepper, onion powder and pecorino cheese (except for reserved 2 teaspoons) together in a mixing bowl to combine.
- Divide potato mixture evenly into six portions (about 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon) and place each in a prepared muffin cups.
- Press mixture into the bottom and up along the sides of each cup to form a well making certain there are no open gaps.
- Spray the insides of the potato wells with olive oil spray. Transfer to oven and bake for 8 minutes.
- Remove muffin tin from oven, gently press the bottoms of the sweet potato cups and crack an egg into each.
- Return tin to the oven and bake until white are set and yolk are cooked, 12 minutes for runny eggs, 14 for slightly hardened yolks.
- Let sit one minute before carefully removing using an off set spatula.
- Sprinkle with remains remaining pecorino and more salt and pepper to taste if desired.
so so so so so so so so so delicious. I made them for the first time a few weeks ago and can’t stop thinking about them. I did also have a handful of cooked bacon on hand, so I crumbled it up and added to the cups under the egg before baking with the egg. It certainly didn’t NEED the bacon, but I was happy to be able to put extras to use. so so so so so delicious. I’m making them again this week. 🙂
I love this combination! Sweet potato and a baked egg slightly runny with the delicious subtle flavor of thyme. I top this with sour cream and pair with a light side salad for a healthy and filling lunch or dinner! I have made this in repeat and will continue in our regular rotation. With the colder weather setting in and sweet potatos in season this is perfect!
I love this recipe! I love sweet potatoes and it’s an amazing way to use up your sweet potatoes. My puppies also love them mixed in their dog food.
Love this recipe! I added red pepper flakes, spinach, and bacon, and it was delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
I have been a fan of yours for 10 years! I love the way you make cooking “Skinny” so much fun and delicious! This one is a favorite that I have made several times and I never get tired of it! Bravo on this spectacular recipe!
Thanks Sandye!
Excellent thank you! Very nice presentation 👍🏼
Absolutely love this recipe!!!
We’ve made this a few times now and we love it! We started anhancing it by adding shredded carrots, sauteed onions and chilies, chili powder and homemade veggie crumbles (1 TBS per cup). We love it! We make enough to get through the week. Highly recommend it!
Muy ricos aunq se me pegaron en los moldes. No se porq.
Absolutely Delicious!! Loved the flavors and presentation looks very fancy. I used jumbo muffin pan wish worked well and dry thyme and tasted great. Definitely will make again.
What are on hole sweet potatoes?
When grating the sweet potato, use the “large hole” side of the grater. I wondered the same then it dawned on me what she meant.
This is absolutely DELICIOUS! I think I could eat the whole tray in 2 days. This recipe will be on repeat for my breakfast. I followed it exactly as written and look to experiment down the road. Perfect as is.
Loved this recipe! Our daughter and her BF spent the night and I wanted to make these for the week…even though my husband wanted to make fried egg, cheese and ham sandwiches for breakfast which is one of his specialties. (Not a healthy option). I liked that I could make these ahead of time and eat them all week and the sweet potato I chose was enough to make 1.5X the recipe so it made 9 little egg nests. So much for eating them all week because they ALL got eaten up by everyone…including my husband!! He mocked them when I explained what they were, but when they came out of the oven his eyes got big and he wanted one too! I will definitely make these again!
They’re in the oven now cant wait! How have ya’ll been storing them? Any luck with freezing? thank you
What do you use to grate the sweet potatoes so nicely
A box grater
Could butternut squash replace sweet pitatoes?
I added finely minced onion and garlic in place of the onion powder, fabulous!!
i don’t have sweet potatoes, so i used potatoes instead, it was super delicious ! wondering if i want to use meat instead, how much should it be ?
thank you for the recipe !
Very easy to make. Only change I would make is less thyme, jr was very overpowering imo. Otherwise, these are delicious!
My muffin cups must have been too small as my sweet potato didn’t “set”
Next time I will squeeze out the water from the grated potatoes, and add less salt. Maybe my potatoes will
Crisp up in the first cook that way. They are delicious though.
I was surprised at how tasty and filling these were! I love that the nutritional information is provided so I can enter them on my Noom app. I baked mine for 14 minutes, which made my eggs medium-well done. Delicious!
Could try baking as directed, remove from oven, let rest. Then turn pan upside down, spray with olive oil, and place cups over the bottom side of the the muffin pan. Bake to desired crispiness.
Fabulous idea and absolutely delicious !! Served for dinner with Naval Orange Salad (topped with a little bacon)
Great meal idea! I didn’t think to pair these together but willl do now. We live the navel orange salad, so tasty and refreshing!
One of these days I intend to learn how to measure! Too much onion powder. Did not use spices other than salt and pepper. Cut recipe in half just to try it and not have too much waste… just in case. Loved these! Unusual taste. Need better muffin tin. Need to work out some issues but I love them!!!
I made this for lunch today. Having type 2 diabetes, it’s hard to find delicious foods that won’t raise my blood sugar.. All I know is, this is delicious!
I thought these would last a week. They disappeared in3 days. Time to make more. My only disappointment is the sweet potatoes cups didn’t crisp up. I will try baking them longer before adding the spinach and egg.
The recipe calls for onion powder but no where to use in the instructions… so I added to the grated sweet potato. we’ll see if this is right! 🙂
Yes you were correct. Directions have been updated. 🙂
Anyone try this in an air fryer?
Wondering the same! Anyone?
What other types of cheese, could be used?
These were delicious! I made the sweet potato cups the night before and then cooked them with the eggs in the morning. That was a big time saver. Used 3/4 teaspoon of dried thyme and grated Parmesan cheese. The bottoms were a little mushy as other reviewers have stated but the sides were super crispy. Thanks for a great breakfast recipe!
Was ok. Would’ve liked it more if the cup was crispy. Also, the onion powder isn’t listed in the instructions so the first time I made it, I missed that. Lastly, the thyme was a bit heavy but that’s probably more taste than the recipe.
Can you use Idaho potato instead of sweet potato?
How to get the sweet potato crispier and not sticking? I used non stick muffin tins and sprayed them and they still stuck a little.
How can you get the sweet potato more crispy? It turned out great except it was a bit mushy.
Would the sweet potato hold together without the cheese? Dairy allergy here. Thanks!!
Can’t wait to try these, and would love to take to make a head for a grab and go meal for work…how do you recommend reheating them?
Can you make these ahead and use them as needed for eggs later in the week?
Sure!
can i bake the sweet potatoe nest to crisp day before then add the egg next morning Would that be crisper?
Sure
These tasted fabulous and make an elegant breakfast. Mine took about 3 minutes longer to cook than the listed time. I also tried them in my Instant Pot silicone ring cups (in the oven) but the middle egg never cooked completely. Grating the sweet potato was the most difficult part because I had to do it by hand. I would be interested in a breakfast casserole with similar flavors that could feed a crowd.
Absolutely loved these!
The onion powder is not listed in the preparation steps. I’m assuming you add it along with the salt, pepper, thyme, and shredded sweet potatoes., Is that correct?
Thanks,
Mary
Love you guys
Awesome recipe?
Super easy to prepare and delicious. I used 3/4 teaspoon of dried thyme and white sweet potato. I baked the potato an extra 5 minutes to adjust for the difference in white versus orange. This would be easy to scale if you have more than 6 mouths to feed.
Just made these for our Valentine’s Day brunch! They were perfect and oh so pretty!! Made me look like I know what I am doing in the kitchen!! Thank you for sharing!! I will definitely try this recipe again!! Healthy, delish and pretty!!
Can the Zucchini be substituted with sweet potatoes?
might be too watery?
Very creative and a good make ahead dish. I felt like I was missing something salty so I plan to do with turkey sausage in the morning for breakfast or with smoked salmon.
This was excellent! I love the flavor of the thyme in this recipe. So delicious.
Are these freezable? If they are, what is the best way to freeze them?
I am sure you can freeze without the egg? I have not tested.
I wanted so badly to like these. Sweet potato came out way too mushy and there just wasn’t much flavor.
I made these this morning and they were really good! Not a super quick breakfast, but then there are servings for other days to reheat. I used Parmesan cheese and parsley, since that’s what I had in my fridge and they were tasty! Followed up with a bowl
of berries for a healthy breakfast. Thanks Gina!!
I am looking for recipes to do a nice Valentine’s Day brunch for my husband and I and I think this will work!
Onion powder? 1 tsp seems like a lot and your directions don’t say when to add it. Any advice?
I was also wondering about the onion powder. I omitted it accidentally when mixing together since it wasn’t in the direction. I sprinkled some on top of each next before I put in the oven since I realized it so late – hoping it’s okay.
Made these for brunch and they are so easy and delicious. Highly recommend as dietary wise, they are very smart
Can I make the sweet potato cups ahead of time and then bake with eggs as needed?
I dont see why not
Made these for brunch and they are so easy and delicious. Highly recommend as dietary wise, they are very smart
These sound great! If making this ahead, can you cook the potato cups and then add the egg at a later time? Or would the cups become overcooked?
I think it will work!
Looks. yummy! My family are not fans of sweet potatoes. Assume regular potatoes can be substituted instead for my picky eaters. Will that work?
Just made this. Great low cal, filling breakfast. Obviously, very sweet in flavor, even with the cheese. It was a bit fiddly, but OK for a weekend. The potato at the bottom had the texture of steamed mashed squash, so it was difficult to get them out of the tin cups cleanly…hence photographed still in the tins. I may try them in large ramekins next time so I can give each person their own pot.
Could you beat the egg first, and have it be more like scrambled eggs (or a frittata)? I
Sure
Carole, did you try it & if so, how did it turn out?
These look so good, I love having another recipe I can fix and enjoy during the week. A quick question, did you pre-cook the sweet potato first? Another recipe I have uses cooked sweet potato.
Thank you, Debbie
I’ll wait for your comment, before making these.
No its uncooked
The recipe doesn’t specify whether the grated sweet potatoes are raw or cooked. It sounds delicious though!
raw
How long would these keep in frig?
Up to 4 days
Could you us3 canned sweet potatoes
Do you thinking these would keep and reheat well?
Sure
Sounds delicious! I can’t wait to try these. How do these do with meal prep?
Perfect
Looks delicious. Can you make it without cheese? My daughter is lactose intolerant
Yes! It may need more salt
Sounds delicious and I’d love to try it! Did you use a standard size muffin tin or a jumbo one?
Standard.
Can these be frozen?