The Copycat Starbucks Egg Bites I Meal Prep Every Week

Why It Works

The precise temperature control of sous vide cooking allows you to cook perfectly silky “baked” eggs.
Adding a small amount of cornstarch or rice starch ensures the egg mixture thickens to a custard-like texture once cooked.

I’m among many who’ve ordered Starbucks egg bites on busy mornings, and it’s easy to see why they’ve become so popular. These little protein-packed bites are convenient, portable, and surprisingly luxurious for a premade breakfast. But as much as I enjoy them, buying them regularly adds up quickly, which made me want to recreate them at home as a more affordable option. The challenge is getting that same silky, custard-like texture.

Most at-home copycat versions of Starbucks’ egg bites circulating online aren’t the real deal. They’re often baked in muffin tins, and while there’s nothing wrong with a muffin-tin egg bite in theory, if you’re not careful, they can come out spongy or rubbery instead of smooth. To achieve the signature custardy texture that rivals the original, you need to use sous vide, the gentle water-bath method that prevents eggs from overcooking.

This recipe, developed by my colleague Elizabeth Mervosh in our Birmingham, Alabama-based test kitchen, recreates Starbucks’ popular spinach and mushroom bites with a simple at-home process. Blending eggs with cottage cheese and Swiss cheese ensures a silky custard base, while a small amount of starch stabilizes the mixture, allowing it to cook up tender instead of grainy. Sautéed mushrooms add savory depth, and chopped spinach brings color and freshness. Everything is portioned into small canning jars that cook gently in a water bath at 172°F. After an hour, you’ll have perfectly set egg bites with a custard-like consistency from edge to edge.

Serious Eats / Qi Ai

What Is Sous Vide Cooking?

The key to their success lies in cooking them sous vide. As we point out in our guide to sous vide cooking, sous vide (French for “under vacuum”) refers to cooking food in a precisely controlled water bath, usually in a bag or jar. The immersion circulator maintains the water at an exact temperature, meaning you can cook eggs, meat, or vegetables with unparalleled accuracy. For eggs in particular, sous vide eliminates the guesswork of oven baking: Instead of blasting them at 325–350°F and hoping for even results, here they cook gently at 172°F, emerging creamy and never dry.

If you’re new to sous vide, don’t be intimidated. You’ll need only two pieces of gear: an immersion circulator and a vessel to hold the water, such as a Dutch oven or food-safe plastic container. The circulator heats and circulates the water to stay at a precise temperature. Once the bath is ready, it’s a fully hands-off cooking process.

How to Make Sous-Vide Egg Bites

We’ve kept the preparation and cooking process for these egg bites as simple as possible in this recipe while still ensuring an even dispersal of the spinach and mushrooms in every bite. The first step is to set up your immersion circulator and water bath following the instructions for your specific model. I recommend starting with room-temperature tap water. It will take some time for the circulator to reach the set cooking temperature, 20 to 30 minutes, depending on the circulator brand. This is plenty of time to blend the egg mixture and portion it into individual jars for cooking. Once the water bath has reached 172℉, you’ll use tongs to gently lower the egg-filled jars into the water bath. At this point, the egg jars don’t need any monitoring or checking while they cook.

Elizabeth performed many side-by-side temperature- and time-controlled tests before deciding that the ideal cooking temperature and time for the eggs is 172℉ for one hour. With this temperature and time combination, the eggs cook to a perfectly set custard–like consistency; they are firm enough to hold together when turned out of the cooking jars, but still tender when bitten into.

Serious Eats / Qi Ai

Key Steps for Successful Sous Vide Egg Bites

During testing, Elizabeth found that the biggest challenge wasn’t just achieving a silky custard—it was keeping the spinach and mushrooms evenly distributed throughout each bite. At sous vide temperatures, the mixture cooks slowly enough that fillings can drift toward the bottom of the jar, leaving you with a dense layer of vegetables and less balance in each bite. Through multiple trials, she developed a few steps that ensure the vegetables stay suspended while the eggs cook, and that the final bites have the right custardy texture.

Add starch. Just a teaspoon and a half of cornstarch or rice starch makes all the difference. The starch binds some of the liquid in the eggs, preventing the proteins from tightening up too firmly. This not only helps the eggs set with a creamy, custard-like texture, but it also keeps the fillings suspended evenly throughout the jar, rather than sinking to the bottom. Add too much and the texture turns pasty, but at the right amount, it’s barely detectable, except in how much better the final bites turn out.

Cook the starch with the kale. The timing of when you add the starch matters. Stirring the starch into the kale while it’s still hot in the skillet jump-starts its thickening power, since starches need heat to activate properly. This early activation helps the custard set sooner in the water bath, so the vegetables stay suspended instead of drifting downward during the slow sous vide cook. In testing, skipping this step often led to “layered” egg bites, with greens stuck at the bottom and plain egg on top.

Blend thoroughly. A blender isn’t just a convenience here—it’s the key to a smooth base. Blending the eggs with the cottage cheese and Swiss fully emulsifies the mixture so there are no streaks of unmixed curd or bits of cheese. Elizabeth also discovered that blending the kale into the eggs ensures you get small, tender flecks of greens in every bite, rather than large, chewy pieces. The result is a vibrant green custard base that may look unusual at first, but don’t let that put you off. Think of it as your chance to finally enjoy green eggs (and if you add a side of ham, Dr. Seuss would be proud).

Serious Eats / Qi Ai

Mind the lids. When cooking in jars, it’s important to leave the lids only “fingertip tight.” As the jars heat in the water bath, pressure builds inside. If the lids are screwed on too tightly, steam can’t escape, which can cause unwanted moisture to collect inside or even risk cracking the jars. A light seal allows the eggs to cook evenly and safely without interference.

After the jars come out of the bath, give them a few minutes to cool before serving. Just like muffins or cakes, the custard benefits from a brief rest, which helps the bites firm up enough to release cleanly from the jars without falling apart.

These spinach and mushroom egg bites are easy to batch-cook ahead of time, making them ideal for grab-and-go breakfasts all week. They reheat beautifully, retain their silky texture, and rival (if not beat) the ones you’d buy at the coffee shop.

This recipe was developed by Elizabeth Mervosh; The headnote was written by Leah Colins.