Which came first? The chicken or the egg? – I vote for both!
Scotch eggs, my friends, are absolutely genius.
G.E.N.I.U.S
Hey, we’re talking protein wrapped in more protein, seriously!
What more could you ask for?
Why I’d never had them before now, I can’t even begin to understand.
It’s not that they never appealed to me, quite the contrary. I always found them to be fascinating. I guess it’s just that I thought they would be super complicated, if not darn near impossible to make.
But seriously, I think the hardest part about this recipe is getting the hard boiled eggs perfectly done. Other than that, it’s fairly easy.
Now that the ice has been broken, I can guarantee you that I will be making them on a regular basis and play with a whole bunch of different flavors and meat combinations.
I mean, these things are just soooooo convenient to have lying around in the fridge!
While technically, they are a “fork and knife” type of food, they certainly can be made into “finger food” as far as I’m concerned. Plus, they can be enjoyed warm or cold, which makes them the ultimate portable snack for those days when you’re on the go and you KNOW you’re going to need a little something to support you a few hours down the road!.
I just love how you can shove a couple of them in a Ziploc bag (or little plastic container if you care about preserving their pretty shape), throw them in your purse and be done with it.
If you can whip up a batch on the week-end, then you’ve got lunch and/or snacks covered for a good part of the week. You might want to double the recipe if you’ve got competition in the house…
Now, I’m not gonna lie to you: they are a little bit time consuming to make AND you will have to get your hands dirty (which I happen to hate with a passion!), but they are so very well worth the effort, trust me.
Plus, aren’t they like the ultimate Easter food? I would definitely love to see a few of those on my table on Easter day! Although I would probably come up with a pork / bacon and maple version to better suit the typical flavors of that Holiday.
YUM! I really like the sound of that! Too bad I’ve got my menu all planned out already, else I would’ve definitely added them.
Trust me, I know exactly what I’ll be contributing the next time I get invited to an Easter Pot Luck!
Scotch eggs, my friends.
Scotch eggs!
Paleo Chicken Scotch Eggs
Ingredients
- 600 g skinless, boneless chicken breasts
- 8 hard boiled eggs, peeled
- 3 cloves garlic, smashed
- ½ red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 large jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh ginger, chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp chipotle powder
- 1 tsp Himalayan or fine sea salt
- 1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
- ½ tsp ground fivespice
- 1 tsp whole anise seeds
- 1 tsp whole fennel seeds
- 1 tbsp onion powder
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375F
- Lightly grease a muffin pan with coconut or olive oil; set aside.
- Add all the ingredients except chicken and hard boiled eggs to the bowl of your food processor and process until it reaches the consistency of a thick paste, about 1 minute.
- Add the chicken and process on pulse until the meat is finely ground and all the ingredients are completely incorporated. Divide into 8 equal portions.
- Lay a piece of plastic film onto your work surface and place one portion of meat right in the center. Flatten the meat into a roughly half inch thick circle, then place an egg in the middle.
- Gently slide your hand under the plastic wrap and lift the whole thing up. Use the plastic film to shape the meat around the egg until the egg is completely wrapped, then finish “shaping” it with your bare hands.
- Place the finished egg in the muffin pan and repeat process with the remaining eggs and meat.
- Place the Scotch eggs in the oven and set the timer for 25 minutes.
- After 25 minutes, take the pan out of the oven and carefully tilt it over the sink to drain the liquid that has accumulated in the cups.
- Place the pan back in the oven and continue cooking the eggs for an additional 5 minutes, or until nice and golden in coloration.
- Remove eggs from pan and set to "dry out" and cool on a cooling rack for about 5 minutes.
- Serve warm or cold, with a side of greens.
Notes
If you’ve tried this recipe, please take a minute to rate the recipe and let me know how things went for you in the comments below. It’s always such a pleasure to hear from you!
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44 Comments on “Which came first? The chicken or the egg? – I vote for both!”
This is like stuffing the egg back into the chicken…lol! I love this….it sounds delicious! I’ll have to try it! Great post! =)
I have never seen anything like it! I am fascinated…
These look amazing…. adding to my grocery list now!
love love love!! a must try
Just made these tonight – delicious!! I’m a relatively new reader and I’m absolutely loving your blog. Thanks so much for all these wonderful recipes.
Aw, thank you so much for this, Sarah! You totally rock!
Glad to hear you liked the recipe! 🙂
These are the most beautiful scotch eggs I’ve ever seen! Plus they have all the right spices. I’m looking forward to trying them.
Aww, thank you so much Dana! Hope you like their taste as much as you do their appearance! 🙂
Thanks for sharing my recipe and site! Loving all the bold flavors in this recipe and your idea to cook the scotch eggs in a muffin pan! Genius!
Pleasure is all mine, Ciarra! Thank YOU for inspiring me in the first place! 🙂
Do you need to cook the chicken first.
did you get an answer to this? I’m wondering the same thing — putting raw chicken through a processor doesn’t sound very appetizing
The chicken is raw when it goes in the food processor, but cooked when it goes in your tummy! 😉
I am going to try these with ground venison sausage, as well. Looks fantastic!
Oh my! YUM! I’m sure your eggs will be fantastic, Melody!
sooo glad i found your recipe! traditional scotch eggs haven been a Christmas morning tradition in our family for years! can’t wait to try these!
Hope you like ’em, Katie! 🙂
An easy way to hard boil eggs: put cold eggs in cold water on the stove, and set to high. When the water boils, cover the pot, turn the burner off and walk away. Wait at least 20 minutes, but it’s ok to forget about them. Perfect eggs every time, no cracks. That Martha Stewart may be crazy, but she’s often useful.
I’m going to try this, but then I’m going to try a Scandanavian twist, using dill and smoked salmon in the chicken part, maybe some greens! The Swedes love their hard boiled eggs and I’m determined to get my Swedish husband on board with Paleo!
Oh, and plunge them into cold water, it will make them easier to peel.
Thanks a bunch for that, Chris. I’ll give it a try next time I whip up a batch of hard boiled eggs! 🙂
Im pretty sure the rooster came first.
HAHA! Good one, Tomy! 🙂
Silly question, but adding the chicken into the blender mix…is it cooked?
And your nutrition facts – is that for 1 scotch egg?
Silly question, putting the chicken in the blender mix…should the chicken be cooked already or not?
And are the nutrition facts for just 1 scotch egg?
I think mine turned out good! Haven’t tried one yet, but they kind of turned out to be more of a muffin than what yours looked like! ha. One tip to others making this… Make sure you use 600g or MORE of chicken. I used 550g and came up a little short with only 6. Can’t wait to try them!
Thanks a bunch for taking the time to share this! I hope your Scotch Eggs did turn out good after all! 🙂
This recipe works well when adapted to use quail eggs instead of chicken eggs; they’re a big hit at parties since they’re so uncommon in the US. Also, they taste a little richer because the yolk is slightly larger, relative to a chicken egg.
Good to know, Scott! Thanks a bunch for sharing! 🙂
These eggs are the bomb. I plan to make them for a pre-Thanksgiving event next week. I’m sure they”ll be a hit. Just discovered this resource for primal/paleo recipes. It’s great. Thanks!
Hope they are indeed a hit! Keep me posted! 🙂
About how long did it take you to cook it?? 🙂
Any reason you could not just season pre- ground turkey? I am lazy.
Pre-ground turkey will do the trick, Ellen.
Ohh God!! I just made this tonight and it was so DELICIOUS!
I didn’t put it in the oven because I was afraid the runny yolk in the middle of the egg will be cooked.
I fried it using canola oil, then ate it with rockets and spinach..
First bite, Oh YUM! Thanks for this!