These homemade Scotch eggs combine two of my favorite high-protein foods - ground beef and hard-boiled eggs. They are easy to make, portable, and delicious!
My version of this tasty snack uses ground beef and no breadcrumbs. I bake the eggs in the oven, and they turn out wonderfully flavorful.
Who says snacks must be highly processed? Here's a recipe for a tasty, filling, high-protein snack that contains the simplest ingredients - ground beef, eggs, and spices.
Baked Scotch eggs make a fun, tasty meal or snack. They're great for dinner, lunch, or breakfast, and can be enjoyed warm, at room temperature, or even straight out of the fridge.
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Ingredients
The list of ingredients for making this tasty snack is quite short, thankfully. The exact measurements are listed in the recipe card below. Here's an overview of what you'll need:
- Eggs: I use large eggs in most of my recipes, this one included.
- Lean ground beef: I wouldn't use extra-lean ground beef in this recipe. It's too dry.
- seasonings: I use kosher salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, and cayenne pepper. The amount of cayenne I use doesn't make them very spicy, but you can omit it if you wish.
Instructions
Making this Scotch egg recipe is easy! Please scroll down to the recipe card for detailed instructions. Here are the basic steps:
You start by mixing the ground beef with spices. Form the mixture into four thin patties.
Now, place a hard-boiled egg in the center of each beef patty. Gently stretch the beef to wrap the egg.
Place the eggs on a rimmed baking sheet fitted with a greased rack. Bake until done to your liking, 20-30 minutes at 400°F. Let them rest for a few minutes, then cut each into two halves and serve.
Expert tip
When it's time to wrap the beef around the eggs, gently stretch the beef mixture, shaping and molding it with your hands, pinching together areas where it comes apart until each egg is fully wrapped. This takes patience but is quite doable, so don’t give up!
Frequently asked questions
It's a British snack that consists of a hard or soft-boiled egg wrapped in sausage meat, coated in bread crumbs, and baked or deep-fried. That's the traditional version. Mine is different, as explained below.
It differs in three ways:
1. I bake the eggs instead of deep-frying them. They are really good when baked, and baking is so much easier than frying.
2. Rather than using store-bought sausage, I use fresh ground beef and add my own seasonings.
3. I use no bread crumbs in my recipe, and I don't miss them!
Both work! They are very tasty when taken out of the oven, though I do recommend letting them rest a few minutes before digging in.
But they are also very tasty when served cold, and this makes them an excellent snack or picnic food.
They can be both. Traditionally they are served and consumed as a snack. But I often serve two of them per person with a side dish and call it a meal. They are certainly very filling.
Variations
I love this recipe as is and almost always make it as written. But in case you'd like to vary the basic recipe, here are a few ideas for you:
- You can use store-bought sausage meat instead of ground beef.
- Two more spices that I sometimes like to add to the meat mixture are cumin and dried thyme - about ¼ teaspoon of each.
- You can use minced fresh garlic instead of garlic powder. Try 2 teaspoons.
Serving suggestions
As mentioned above, these eggs are usually considered a snack rather than part of a full meal. And needless to say, the unbreaded and baked version is the perfect keto and paleo party or game day food!
But I do often serve them as the main course in one of our meals. I like them for my lunch the day after I make them, with arugula salad and quick pickles. And sometimes I serve them for dinner, warm, with a simple side such as microwave broccoli.
Storing leftovers
You can keep the leftovers in the fridge, in an airtight container, for 2-3 days.
Reheat them very gently, in the microwave on 50% power. Do cut them in two before reheating or the eggs could explode in the microwave.
Or simply enjoy them cold! I sometimes grab one straight out of the fridge and eat it cold when I feel like a quick snack.
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Recipe card
Baked Scotch Eggs
INGREDIENTS
- 4 large eggs hard-boiled
- 1 lb. lean ground beef (85/15)
- 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt or ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and fit it with a wire rack. Lightly grease the rack.
- In a medium bowl, mix the ground beef with salt, pepper, and spices. Divide into four balls. Pat each ball into a thin round patty.
- Place each egg in the center of a beef patty. Gently stretch the beef to wrap the egg, shaping and molding it with your hands, pinching together areas where it comes apart until each egg is fully wrapped. This takes patience but is quite doable, so don’t give up.
- Place the beef balls on the prepared wire rack. . Bake until browned on the outside and done to your liking on the inside, 20-30 minutes.
- Allow the eggs to rest for 5-10 minutes before serving them.
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NOTES
- You can use store-bought sausage meat instead of ground beef.
- Two more spices that I sometimes like to add are cumin and dried thyme - about ¼ teaspoon of each.
- You can use minced fresh garlic instead of garlic powder. Try 2 teaspoons.
ADD YOUR OWN NOTES
NUTRITION PER SERVING
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Vered DeLeeuw, LL.M., CNC, has been following a low-carb real-food diet and blogging about it since 2011. She's a Certified Nutrition Coach (NASM-CNC), has taken courses at the Harvard School of Public Health, and has earned a Nutrition and Healthy Living Certificate from Cornell University. Her work has appeared in several major media outlets, including Healthline, HuffPost, Today, Women's Health, Shape, and Country Living. 