Cracking the Starbucks Code: Easy Homemade Sous Vide Egg Bites

Earlier this year, Starbucks introduced Sous Vide Egg Bites to the menu in response to customers' requests for non-bready breakfast options. The Starbucks recipe development team chose sous vide cooking to devise a lineup of new breakfast recipes. And so, sous vide egg bites were born. This also resulted in home cooks everywhere wanting to create their own versions of Starbucks sous vide egg bites. Food nerds fired up their Anova sous vide machines and began deconstructing the viral recipe to recreate their own versions of these tasty breakfast bites.

Why Sous Vide Egg Bites?

Sous vide cooking (pronounced "sue-veed") is done using a water bath held at precisely controlled temperatures to cook food evenly and retain flavor. You never have to worry about overcooking Anova sous vide egg bites. This method enables a level of control over food texture that no other cooking method can provide. Eggs are very delicate, so maintaining a precise temperature is super important when cooking homemade sous vide egg bites in order to get the final texture exactly how you want it. Even a degree or two can change an egg's finishing texture from a smooth, soft-boiled consistency to a thickened, more gelatinous result. Sous vide allowed Starbucks to provide a healthier breakfast alternative. It also enabled them to cook egg sous vide bites to perfectly velvety, creamy textures, every single time. Starbucks can easily cook egg bites sous vide and freeze them, then later reheat to the exact same temperature without compromising the quality or texture. A sous vide immersion circulator like the Anova Precision® Cooker makes it possible to cook DIY sous vide egg bites. This device heats and circulates water to a precise temperature–down to the tenth of a degree–to guarantee consistent, perfectly-cooked results.

The Crowd Goes Wild for Sous Vide Egg Bites

These admittedly delicious sous vide egg bites took Starbucks and social media by storm. Our #anovafoodnerd community began experimenting and sharing countless recipes for copycat sous vide egg bites created with Anova, thus inspiring us to do a little experimenting ourselves.

Sous Vide Egg Bites by Hans B.

The first day we tried to order the sous vide Starbucks egg bites, they were out of the egg white & roasted pepper option entirely. By 9am on a weekday, they had all been scooped up! Once we got our hands on the bacon & gruyere egg bites, we knew that with the help of the #anovafoodnerd family, we would be able to figure out how to make the ultimate sous vide egg bites at home.

Egg-sperimenting with the #anovafoodnerd Family

Jen Stone, one of our amazing #anovafoodnerd community members, was one of the first to crack the code on homemade sous vide egg bites. Known as @ketobabe on Instagram, she kept us posted with plenty of photos of her experiments and the resulting recipes for her sous vide egg bites.

For her sous vide egg bites recipe, Jen suggested whisking together 10 - 12 eggs plus 1 - 1.5 cups of cream. She then poured this mixture into 125ml canning jars with a multitude of fillings and dropped into a 172ºF/77.8ºC bath with the Anova Precision® Cooker attached for 90 minutes. The egg cups came out beautifully, and the discussion following this post was absolutely inspiring. It was clear that everybody wanted the ability to make these creamy, dense, cheesy little homemade sous vide egg bites. But, they were waiting for exact measurements and answers about reheating.

From Starbucks to the Anova Test Kitchen to Your Kitchen

We did our own testing to develop the perfect Anova Sous Vide Egg Bites. Armed with a handful of ingredients, we tried a number of different combinations. Experiment 1: Sous Vide Egg Bites with Gruyere Cheese

• Bacon + gruyere + egg + salt
• Bacon + gruyere + egg + milk + salt
• Bacon + gruyere + egg + heavy cream + salt
• Bacon + gruyere + egg + neufchatel cheese + salt
• Gruyere + egg + neufchatel + salt

Experiment 2: Sous Vide Egg Bites with Cottage Cheese

• Cottage cheese + egg white + roasted red pepper + green onion + salt + pepper
• Cottage cheese + neufchatel cheese + egg white + roasted red pepper + green onion + salt + pepper

Experiment 3: Dairy-Free Sous Vide Egg Bites

• Egg + dairy-free pesto + bacon + roasted red pepper + green onion + salt
• Egg + broccoli + white onion + garlic + roasted red pepper + salt + pepper

We expected clear “winners” among all of the sous vide egg bite experiments. In actuality, every single one was mouthwateringly delectable. We sampled the Starbucks *after* we had tried our own version and every person who was able to make the comparison noticed the “extended-shelf-life” flavor that the purchased versions had.

We used small jars for these, but you can also use a muffin tin. For the on-the-go mini-jars, check Amazon: Ball Mason 4oz Quilted Jelly Jars with Lids and Bands, Set of 12

What Are the Benefits of Making Anova Sous Vide Egg Bites at Home?

Apart from having breakfast for an entire week made in one go (and know how much we love our batch cooking!), there are a myriad of reasons to try this recipe at home:

1. The Anova sous vide egg bites taste simple, fresh, and fulfilling.
   
   
2. We were able to put any given flavor combination together in less than 5 minutes of prep time and an hour of cooking.
   
   
3. Technically pasteurized, they should keep for several weeks in the refrigerator unopened - though we doubt they’ll last that long without being eaten!
   
   
4. You can control the texture, from fluffy to custard-like, and they’re all scrumptious.
   
   
5. You can customize it. This sous vide egg bites recipe gives you the power to accommodate almost any dietary restriction (provided no egg allergy). Bring on your Paleo, Keto, dairy-free, low-carb, vegetarian masses - we’ve got you covered!
   
   
6. Our most basic recipe has four whole-food ingredients. Their most basic recipe lists 8 major ingredients plus multiple starches and preservatives.
   
   
7. You can cook a dozen sous vide egg bites at home for the same price as just ONE sous vide egg bite at Starbucks!

The Winning Sous Vide Egg Bite Recipes

Finally, the part you’ve all been waiting for! Below you will find our favorite versions of the top three  sous vide egg bite recipes we came up with.

Anova Sous Vide Egg Bites: Bacon & Gruyere

Savory with bacon and rich gruyere flavor, this is easy enough to make for every day but something you could also serve to guests for a decadent brunch. I like to make an entire package of bacon anytime by laying it on a parchment-lined sheet tray and baking at 400ºF/205ºC for 16 - 20 minutes, but you'll only need 3 pieces for this recipe. Keep extra on hand for other days, or when you're ready to make more sous vide egg bites.

Get the recipe for Anova Sous Vide Egg Bites with Bacon & Gruyere

Anova Sous Vide Egg Bites: Egg Whites with Roasted Red Pepper

These protein-packed sous vide egg bites are rich in flavor from the roasted red pepper and green onion. You will look forward to breakfast more than ever before when you have these on hand to grab & go!

Get the recipe for Anova Sous Vide Egg Bites with Egg Whites & Roasted Red Pepper

Anova Sous Vide Egg Bites: Paleo Egg Bites

It is rather infrequent to encounter a composed egg dish without added dairy, but I wanted to do just that as well as incorporate some of my favorite vegetables! This recipe brings superfood broccoli to the forefront, alongside caramelized onions and roasted peppers. So good!

Get the recipe for Anova Sous Vide Egg Bites: Paleo Egg Bites

These recipes (and lots more!) are available in the Anova Culinary App and on the Anova Recipes site.

More Handy Information

Researching and testing these simple recipes was eggs-hilarating with eggs-cellent results, but the best part was nerding out with the #anovafoodnerd fam and learning about everyone's home-cooked egg-speriments. We hope you're already excited to makesous vide egg bites at home, plus we have a few more helpful tips & tricks to share:

• You can replace the cream cheese with 1/2 c of milk for a more flan-like texture, 1/2 c heavy cream for something richer and fluffier, more akin to savory creme brûlée.
  
  
• For the Paleo option, we also tested a sous vide egg bites recipe with bacon, red pepper, onion, and 2 Tablespoons of dairy-free pesto from our sauce post. It was SUPER DELICIOUS!

• To make twice as many sous vide egg bites, double the recipe! Or triple it if you want three times as many. This is a very easy-to-scale, simple recipe.
  
  
• If you are not going to eat immediately, we do recommend chilling in an ice bath before putting in the refrigerator. This is not to "stop the cooking" as much as to ensure that the temperature in your fridge does not increase and affect the quality of your other foods.
  
  
• To reheat, you have multiple options. You can warm in a 140ºF/60ºC bath for 15 minutes, you can pop into the microwave for 30 - 60 seconds, or you can toast under the broiler. The Anova Precision Oven is IDEAL for warming sous vide egg bites up with complete control over both heat AND humidity!
  
  
• While making your own variations, experiment! Feel free to try any fillings that you want! Our one piece if advice is this: for the smoothest consistency, always use a blender or food processor for the eggs and dairy (or dairy replacement) that you choose to use.

Start Your Own Sous Vide Egg Bite Experiments

Starbucks sous vide egg bites are super simple to make at home with a sous vide precision cooker. This nifty cooking tool isn't just great for churning out breakfast bites that are better than the ones you get from the 'Bucks. In fact, it's also a wicked good way to make steak, chicken, veggies, and so much more.


Discover the cooking device that's changed the way a million people cook around the world, the Anova Precision Cooker.