Egg Ideas You'll Love: 12+ Recipes & Tips - Shelf Cooking (2024)

What do you do when your eggs are about to expire, and you need to use them STAT? Well, you've got tons of options, and we're about to shell out some of our favorite egg ideas!

Egg Ideas You'll Love: 12+ Recipes & Tips - Shelf Cooking (1)

There's no reason to let perfectly good eggs go to waste. Sure, you could boil them, make egg salad, or whip up a quick batch of deviled eggs, but been there done that, right?

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Beyond the obvious, we've rounded up some of our favorite ways to use eggs! From breakfast to dinner and desserts, there's something for everyone. You ready? Let's get cracking!

TRY ONE OF THESE EGG-SQUISITE BREAKFAST IDEAS

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No, we're not going to tell you to scramble a big batch and call it a day! We won't mention omelets, either. Let's think outside the egg carton for a bit. Here are five fun ways to use up your eggs and make a killer breakfast:

  • Mini German Pancakes – Have you tried our mini German pancakes? They're ready in minutes, barely make a mess, and everyone LOVES them!
  • French Toast Sticks – French toast sticks are a perfect make-ahead breakfast and a great way to use up extra fruit, too.
  • Freezer-Friendly Breakfast Burritos – We've been known to whip up a month's worth of breakfast burritos in an hour! And you can use a TON of eggs in the process, so why not?
  • Egg Muffin Cups – If you're bored of scrambled eggs, try this easy twist on the breakfast staple. Egg muffin cups are as easy as can be!
  • Freezer Waffles – You'll never buy the frozen kind again! Make a quick batch of our delicious freezer waffles.

Pro Tip: Make all these recipes on Saturday morning, and you'll have breakfast for weeks! Get more of our meal prep tips and learn all about the beauty of batch cooking.

EGG IDEAS THAT WILL MAKE DINNER A BREEZE

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So, you need to use up some eggs, and you're also looking for new meal ideas? Well, you can't go wrong with any of these easy dinner ideas:

  • Crockpot Lasagna – This crockpot lasagna recipe calls for six eggs! It's also SO easy and incredibly delicious, so there's that.
  • Fried Rice – No matter how crazy your day is, there's always time to make a quick batch of fried rice! And you can use whatever you have. Toss in a little shredded chicken, shrimp, salmon, or make it vegetarian. Have eggs to use up? Fry them up and toss them all in!
  • Quiche – You can use up a ton of eggs pretty quickly if you make a quiche, but you can also throw in just about any ingredient! Use up those fresh veggies and grab some meat from the freezer.
  • Bibimbap – Bibi, what?! Oh, if you haven't tried it yet, you are in for a TREAT! We've got a bibimbap recipe that's a shelf cooking dream.
  • Baked Italian Sandwiches – Our family LOVES these Italian sandwiches, and they freeze beautifully, so go ahead a make an extra batch. Our other site, Fun Cheap or Free, has the recipe!

If you have a little time for meal prep this weekend, go ahead make extra sandwiches or rice to make dinnertime a heck of a lot easier.

5 SUPER SWEET IDEAS TO USE UP EGG

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If you've got a sweet tooth and a fridge full of eggs to use, you are in luck! These sweets are hard to beat:

  • Ooey-Gooey Bars – In our opinion, this ooey-gooey bar recipe is the best way EVER to use some eggs. Go ahead and make a few batches! They're SO good, you guys. If you have leftovers, we'll take 'em!
  • Cake Mix Cookies – If you have a box of cake mix in the pantry, you're in luck! These cake mix cookies are amazingly delicious and easy–double or triple the recipe to use more eggs.
  • Egg Custard – Have you ever made egg custard? It's so simple! Grab this baked egg custard recipe from Allrecipes.
  • Cinnamon Rolls – These homemade cinnamon rolls from our sister site, Fun Cheap or Free, are EVERYTHING! Need an excuse to make a bunch? If you triple the recipe, you'll use half a dozen eggs. You're welcome.
  • Cupcakes – We like making these adorable cupcakes from Fun Cheap or Free around Easter, but they're good enough to eat all year long!

Is your mouth watering now? Before you go, let's cover a few quick freezer tips! Yep, you can freeze eggs. Keep reading for the deets!

CAN YOU FREEZE EGGS?

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While we totally think you should make every single recipe from this post, we bet you're also wondering if you can freeze eggs. Well, wonder no more! Here's the skinny on saving your eggs for later:

  • Hard-Boiled Eggs – You can freeze hard-boiled eggs, but you have to peel them and separate the yolks first. When frozen, yolks expand, so for every four yolks you freeze, add either 1/8 teaspoon salt or 1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar. Label so you know which yolks to use for which recipes!
  • Whole Eggs – Want to freeze the whole dang egg? Crack and beat them first, add them to a freezer-safe container, and label with the date and number of eggs.
  • Scrambled Eggs – It's so simple to freeze scrambled eggs! Just cook a big batch, toss them in a freezer bag, then thaw in the fridge overnight before you're ready to use them.
  • Freeze Recipes with Eggs – Just about every recipe we shared here is freezer-friendly! When in doubt, check out this post that has a running list of items you can freeze. And take a peek at our tips for preventing freezer burn, so your leftovers don't go to waste.

No matter how you prep and freeze them, be sure to use your eggs within one year!

DO YOU HAVE EGG IDEAS TO SHARE?

Now you know what to do if you have extra eggs! Whether you freeze them or whip up a few of these recipes, you've got way too many options to let those eggs go to waste.

What's your favorite way to use up eggs before they go bad? Leave us a comment or join the conversation in our Shelf Cooking Facebook group!

Egg Ideas You'll Love: 12+ Recipes & Tips - Shelf Cooking (6)

Looking for more tips and tricks?

  • Learn how to make the perfect hard-boiled egg.
  • These shelf cooking tips will save you major time and money.
  • Grab our favorite leftover rotisserie chicken recipes. They make meal prep so easy!

Break an egg, peeps!

Egg Ideas You'll Love: 12+ Recipes & Tips - Shelf Cooking (2024)

FAQs

What are the 100 ways to cook and egg? ›

So the story goes that the 100 folds in a chef's hat represent the 100 ways to cook an egg, but is this true? Well, let's see... there's scrambled, over easy, over medium, over hard, poached, shirred, soft boiled, hard boiled, pickled, baked, sunny side up; in an omelette, quiche, or frittata; etc, etc, etc.

What are 2 rules to remember when cooking eggs? ›

All you have to do is crack the egg into the pan, cover the pan, and wait. The only thing to be aware of is the heat — if it's not hot enough, the yolks could start cooking before the whites are set, and if it's too hot the edges of the egg will start to brown.

What is the healthiest egg to cook? ›

If you're trying to cut back on calories, choose poached or boiled eggs. These cooking methods don't add any extra fat calories, so the meal will be lower in calories than fried or scrambled eggs or an omelet.

What is the hardest egg dish to make? ›

Japan) is one of the hardest egg dishes to make, but. it isn't impossible!

What is a fried egg with the yolk broken? ›

Over hard or over well. Cooked on both sides all the way through, with the yolk broken (immediately after the egg is cracked). Sunny-side up. Cooked on one side only, until the egg white is set, but the yolk remains liquid.

Do you eat eggs with a fork or spoon? ›

Etiquetteer recalls his line “I pride myself I do it rather neatly.” Holding the egg cup steady with your left hand, you may use either spoon or knife to open it up*. Tap the top of your egg with your teaspoon to crack it, and then the tip of your spoon to open it wide enough to get the spoon inside.

What is a fully cooked fried egg called? ›

An over-hard egg is an over-easy egg whose yolk is completely cooked through. It starts as a fried egg that's cooked on one side, then flipped and cooked yolk-side down until the yolk is no longer runny. You can also order your eggs "over-medium" if you'd like it somewhere in the middle.

What is the unhealthiest type of egg? ›

Caged: Pretty simple. The hens were raised in cages. This is bad news for the hen, and for their eggs. In fact, caged hens are 7.77 times more likely to produce eggs that harbor salmonella.

How many eggs should you eat a day? ›

A small study in 38 healthy adults found that as many as 3 eggs per day improved LDL and HDL levels and the LDL-to-HDL ratio. Yet, experts might shy away from suggesting more than 2 eggs per day, with many still suggesting that you stick to 1 ( 34 ).

Why are there 100 pleats in a chefs hat? ›

In the early days, the number of pleats in the chef's hat represented the number of recipes a chef knew for a given food item, like egg or chicken. Having a hat with 100 pleats meant he knew 100 recipes to prepare with an egg. The same applied to the height of the hat. The taller the toque, the more a chef knew.

How many types of cooking eggs are there? ›

The 13 Most Common Egg Cooks

Scrambled, over-easy, poached, soft-boiled and so, so many more. By the time the server finishes the list, you've forgotten what was at the beginning of it. Not to mention, you don't actually know what half those ways of cooking an egg even are.

What do the 17000 tiny pores assist the egg with? ›

A strong eggshell is about 0.3 millimeters thick and has between 7,000 and 17,000 tiny pores1. These pores work to allow oxygen, carbon dioxide and moisture to pass through, but to keep bacteria out. Eggshells with larger pores or thinner shells have less protective power.

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