Rainbow Egg Muffins for Baby

Name: Rainbow Egg Muffins for Baby
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Ingredients: 12 Eggs; 1/2 cup Milk; 1 cup Shredded Cheese; 1/4 cup each of variety of vegetables, diced; salt and pepper (optional)

by Alex Turnbull, RD | Jan 30, 2023

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This rainbow egg muffin recipe is the perfect way to help introduce not only new foods to your whole family but also a wide variety of colors too.

If your kids don’t enjoy veggies yet or have a hard time trying new foods, use this recipe to help them engage with a wide variety of colorful veggies. Each step lists out how your child can be involved. Skill level will be dependent on age and prior experience in the kitchen.

Remember, your child doesn’t have to eat new foods to still make progress in enjoying it one day. Touching, smelling, licking, and playing with are all forms of progress too.

Eat The Rainbow

While many veggies contain fiber, some carbohydrates, and little protein, their nutrient profiles will vary depending on their color. Different colored vegetables contain different vitamins and minerals.

Because children tend to gravitate towards bright colors, speaking about vegetables in terms of the rainbow can help them be more appealing, especially for picky eaters, and of course without the pressure to eat them.

Let’s take a look at the different colors of vegetables and what they have to offer.

Red Vegetables

Red vegetables get their color from what we call antioxidants (a molecule that helps fight unstable molecules that can cause disease and cancer). The antioxidants found in red vegetables are lycopene and anthocyanin.

Overall, red vegetables help reduce risks associated with our cardiovascular system. Think red vegetables are good for your heart when talking to kids.

Tomatoes, red bell peppers, radish, red potatoes

Orange Vegetables

You’ve probably heard the phrase: “Carrots are good for your eyes” once or twice before. That’s because orange vegetables like carrots are loaded with Vitamin A with is great for eye health.

Other valuable nutrients orange vegetables contain include vitamin C, potassium, and vitamin K. Like red vegetables, they can help reduce cancer risk.

Sweet potatoes, orange bell peppers, carrots

Yellow Vegetables

Just because a vegetable isn’t green doesn’t mean it doesn’t have anything to offer. Yellow vegetables have a wide variety of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals too.

Yellow bell peppers, summer squash, yellow carrots, yellow cauliflower

Green Vegetables

When it comes to vegetables, green vegetables probably have the most to offer and there’s a lot more to choose from. Depending on the green vegetable, they usually will contain some amount of iron, magnesium, potassium, folate, and even calcium.

Spinach, kale, swish chard, collard greens, broccoli, green onions, green beans, zucchini

Blue/Purple Vegetables

Blue and purple vegetables are trickier to find, but they’re definitely out there. They get their beautiful color from anthocyanins, an antioxidant that helps prevent cancer, heart conditions, and neurological conditions.

Red cabbage, red onion, beets, purple potatoes, purple cauliflower, eggplant

White/Brown Vegetables

Just because some vegetables are white or brown, does not mean that they lack valuable nutrients. White and brown vegetables will contain potassium, fiber, and other valuable nutrients.

Potatoes, mushrooms, onions, water chestnut, cauliflower

Vegetables are often a harder sell and the least favorite food group for kids. And this makes sense; they’re hard to chew, lack quite a bit of flavor when raw, and are often associated with being healthy, which our society has automatically tagged ‘healthy’ as not tasting good, which is far from the truth.

It’s okay if your child doesn’t enjoy vegetables yet.

Continue to expose them to a wide variety of vegetables without any pressure and instead get them involved in the kitchen and help them engage with veggies through touch, smell, play, and even taste.

And as a safety net, fruits provide many similar nutritional benefits as vegetables. So if they don’t enjoy veggies, but love the sweet flavors of fruit, that’s great too!

Remember, some vegetables, no matter their color, are better than none at all!

Nutritional Benefits of Eggs

Eggs certainly aren’t a fruit or vegetable, but they’re a high-quality protein option that’s loaded with essential vitamins and minerals for growing brains and bodies. If you have a picky eater at home who has a hard time trying new foods, they’re even more important!

Eggs are one of the only foods that naturally have Vitamin D (1 mcg per large egg) which along with calcium, is critical for building strong bones.

Rainbow Egg Muffin Ingredients

Eggs

If there’s one thing you should always have stocked in your fridge, it’s eggs. You never know when you’re going to need one for a recipe, plus they make for a super simple snack or meal option that takes less than ten minutes to make.

Milk

I’m not much of a milk drinker, but I use whole milk for my kids to give them more fat and calories because their appetite is so unpredictable sometimes.

If you or anyone in your family has a milk allergy, is lactose intolerant, or simply chooses not to consume cow’s milk, you’re welcome to use your favorite milk alternative instead.

Shredded cheese

Cheese makes everything better, doesn’t it? Plus it’s pretty safe to say that it’s kid-friendly and may even help them try new foods if it’s included. I recommend using cheddar or Colby jack cheese for this recipe, but you can use whatever cheese you’d like.

Vegetables

Roughly 90% of the US population is not meeting the recommendation for vegetable intake. That’s why it’s helpful to find ways to add vegetables to your favorite dishes to help you enjoy and eat more, like these rainbow egg muffins for baby and the whole family.

There are so many options you could choose from, but I recommend bell peppers, broccoli, spinach, mushrooms, and onions.

Salt and pepper

While you should be watching your sodium intake, that doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice flavor. Add salt and pepper if you’d like or even opt for garlic or onion powder – not the salt varieties.

How to Make Rainbow Egg Muffins

Wash and prep produce

This is an easy task for your child or even toddler to help with. We use a kitchen helper to help them safely and easily access the sink and counter. Use code familiy10 for 10% off.

When cutting vegetables, you can have your child help using kid-safe knives, crinkle cutters, or even mini cookie cutters. If you’re a little leary of using these kid-safe options, you can always purchase a cut glove to make it even safer.

There’s no need to cook the veggie ahead of time. Just make sure they are diced small so they cook easier in the egg mixture – think the size of a pencil eraser or even a little bigger.

Crack and whisk eggs

You might be hesitant to let your child crack eggs, but it’s great practice and they have to learn someday. Why not start now?

Crack eggs using the surface of the counter instead of the edge of the bowl to minimize shell fragments in your egg mixture. It’s also helpful to crack them into a separate bowl before combining them with other ingredients.

Add milk and cheese

Getting your kids in the kitchen is not just great for helping them try new foods and gain valuable life skills, but also to learn math. Have your child learn fractions by letting them pour liquids into measuring cups or measuring out dry ingredients.

Only add ½ the shredded cheese to the egg mixture. You will use the rest to sprinkle on top.

Fill muffin tins with egg mixture

This recipe works best with a silicone mini muffin tin, otherwise, I highly recommend using a nonstick muffin tin for best results.

You can also use a pancake batter dispenser to easily pour the egg mixture into the muffin tin. Works like a charm!

Pour the mixture into the mini muffin tin until ¾ of the way full. The eggs will rise some so you don’t want to fill it all the way.

Add rainbow veggies and top with cheese

Next, you will add the rainbow veggies you selected. I recommend using a minimum of two to four veggies to provide the rainbow look.

You can either mix all the veggies together or add one type of veggie to each egg muffin. This is totally up to you. Sometimes it’s nice to do them separately, so your child can pick or choose which ones they’d like to try.

Bake

If you’re using a mini muffin tin, you’ll only need to bake them for 10 to 15 minutes, or until they start to pull away from the sides.

If you’re using a regular-sized muffin tin, you can almost double the time.

Cool

Always let food cool prior to eating to prevent burns.

Enjoy

Pair your rainbow egg muffins for baby and the whole family with fruit and some kind of grain such as toast, pancakes, waffles, or oatmeal to ensure a balanced breakfast.

Freezing Egg Muffins

You can easily freeze these rainbow egg muffins for baby and the whole family.. Place in a freezer bag or air-tight container, label with the date, and store in the freezer for up to three months.

I’m a big fan of working smarter, not harder and anytime I have the opportunity to make extra to save time down the road, I’m game. These work great to pull out for a quick breakfast in the morning or even a protein/veggie-filled snack. Just zap in the microwave for 30 to 60 seconds.