Take Your Breakfast Egg Cups To Another Level With Prosciutto

Egg cups are a popular version of breakfast classics you already enjoy. Like an omelet or casserole, they incorporate eggs as the basis of a versatile, filling main to kick off your day. Unlike traditional egg-based breakfast fare, egg cups are easily portable and a cinch to meal prep. They are baked in muffin pans after adding fillers of your choice and covering the whole thing in raw egg before cooking. The result is a savory bite that warms and fills the belly.

Just like scrambled eggs can be customized in countless ways, egg cups' appeal is in the near-infinite recipes for mix-and-match flavors. Most egg cups contain a breakfast meat like crispy bacon or ham to add salt, flavor, and protein to the mix. However, an underrated egg cup hack is subbing prosciutto at the base of your cups for big flavor and a better nutritional profile.

With prosciutto at the base of your breakfast egg cup, the variations on fillings are limited by only your imagination and taste buds. Spinach and tomato are a popular veggie-forward duo that shines with the saltiness of prosciutto. Mushroom and onion, on the other hand, capitalize on the meaty qualities of the cured ham. Roasted red pepper and garlic keep the flavor profile squarely in the Italian family. Fontina, chives, and mustard cream — made by swirling some Dijon or ground mustard into a basic béchamel sauce — will tempt your taste buds with a piquant, grown-up tang. On the other hand, some thawed frozen hashbrowns and cheddar will give that quintessential, filling satisfaction that can only come from the timeless combination of ham, cheese, and potatoes.

Line your muffin tin cups with thin prosciutto, add your fillings, and pour a seasoned whole or beaten egg atop everything, letting it fill all the gaps and crevices. Bake until the egg is set. Bam: You've got a dense, nutritionally-complete breakfast that you can hold in your hand.

You'll fall in love with prosciutto in your breakfast as soon as you try it out, but appreciation for this meat goes way, way back. According to Prosciutto di Parma, the most prominent exporter of prosciutto to the United States, the ancient Romans fell in love by way of gossip and poems with ham from the town of Parma that had been air-cured.

We're unsure if anyone is writing odes to prosciutto nowadays, but they probably should: When eaten in moderation, prosciutto delivers higher protein and lower saturated fat than other processed meats. It also tastes exquisite, with a buttery, rich texture and unctuous mouthfeel. While bacon, ham, and Canadian bacon all tend to vie for the title of top old-school breakfast protein, prosciutto is quietly bringing up the rear with scrumptious flavor and no carcinogenic nitrates, the scourge of other processed meats.

Prosciutto is dense in protein for its serving size and contains B vitamins and zinc. It can be high in sodium — like its rival breakfast meats — but the amount you need for an egg cup is tiny, just enough for a welcome pop of salt and fat.