These Air Fryer Breakfast Cups are loaded with all of your breakfast favorites! They're the perfect easy Paleo-friendly and Whole30 compliant make-ahead breakfast to grab-and-go. They are super convenient for busy mornings, a quick protein-packed pre or post workout snack and most importantly, they can easily be customized to fit your dietary lifestyle.
I'm not someone who wakes up ravenous. I usually wake up, fix myself a smooth cup of coffee and start checking off my daily to-do list. There are many days that it will be well into the afternoon before I realize I haven't eaten anything all day and I'm actually super hungry. When this happens, I have the tendency to reach for whatever's available (usually a LaraBar or some sort of meat stick). In an effort to avoid grabbing something less nutrient-dense, I started making a batch of these delicious Breakfast Cups every Sunday evening. A couple of these and a side of greens drizzled with a bit of healthy EVOO is enough to keep me satisfied until my next meal. I love how easy they are to make and how I can change the ingredients up every week to avoid food boredom.
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Kitchen Gadgets You'll Need to Make Air Fryer Breakfast Cups
- Air Fryer (duh): but no worries if you don't one. I included oven instructions below (although, you should really consider treating yourself to an air fryer).
- Silicon Baking Cups: I bought a set of these for super cheap at HomeGoods not too long ago. They take up very little space, they're actually non-stick and they're very easy to clean! I love these things. If you already have a non-stick muffin pan, feel free to use it but follow the oven instructions instead!
Ingredients You'll Need to Make Air Fryer Breakfast Cups
- ¼ Cup Ground Breakfast Sausage: Finding a Whole30 compliant breakfast sausage in stores can be a daunting task. For this recipe, I made my own using my recipe for Venison Breakfast Sausage with Bacon and Cranberries. I simply left out the bacon and cranberries and used ground pork in place of the ground venison.
- ¼ Cup Potato: Any type of potato will work just fine!
- ¼ Cup Onion
- ¼ Cup Kale
- 6 Large Eggs
- 2 Tablespoons Nutritional Yeast
- 2 Tablespoons Coconut Milk
- Cooking Spray
- Salt & Pepper
How to Make Air Fryer Breakfast Cups: You're Going to Love How Easy This Is!
- Begin by browning the ground sausage. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground sausage to the skillet and cook through while breaking up any pieces. Once the sausage is cooked through, spoon it out of the pan and set it aside, but don't clean the pan! You're going to use the leftover oils to cook the potatoes and onions.
- While the sausage is cooking through, why not multi-task? Go ahead and peel the potatoes and onion and dice them up. Tear the kale leaves away from the stem and chop the leaves.
- Moving along, add the diced potatoes to the pan used for the sausage and leave them be for a few minutes or until the potatoes are fork-tender. Add the diced onions to the pan and cook for another minute or until just softened. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the chopped kale leaves. Season everything with salt and pepper!
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, nutritional yeast and coconut milk -and then gently fold in the cooked sausage and the veggies. Make sure everything is well combined!
Air Fryer Instructions
I like lining my fryer basket with foil for easier clean up, but that's just me. The first time I made these I made the mistake of pouring the mixture into the cups on my counter and then placing them in the air fryer. Don't do that. Transferring the filled silicone baking cups into the fryer without spilling raw egg all over the place is incredibly challenging. Instead, arrange the empty silicone baking cups in the fryer first, and then pour about ¼ cup of the egg mixture into each cup.
Set your air fryer to 300 degrees and "fry" for 10 to 12 minutes or until the egg is cooked through. Stick a toothpick into the center of one of the cups. If it comes out clean, they're done. Let the cups rest for 5 minutes in the silicone cups before popping them out!
Not only are they adorable, but they're also super healthy! They're perfect as a full meal or a healthy snack!
Don't have an air fryer? No worries! You can also make these in the oven!
Simply preheat your oven to 375 degrees while you assemble the cups. Arrange the silicone baking cups on a baking sheet and pour ¼ cup of the egg mixture into each cup. Bake the cups for 25 minutes or until the egg is cooked through. Let them rest for at least 5 minutes before popping them out of the silicone cups.
Low Carb/Keto-Friendly Variation
To cut the carbs in these cups, simply cut out the potatoes and onions. You could omit them completely and double up on the sausage making each cup weigh in at almost zero carbs, or you could swap out the potatoes and onions for less starchy vegetables. A blend of colorful bell peppers or yummy broccoli would be great in these. Also, if you can tolerate dairy feel free to swap out the nutritional yeast for cheese and the coconut milk for heavy cream. You could also exchange the breakfast sausage for bacon, ham or even shredded chicken. There are dozens of possibilites!
Meatless Variation
These breakfast cups can also easily be modified to fit a more plant-based lifestyle. Simply swap the sausage for whatever vegetables your heart desires. Broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, mushrooms and tomatoes are all great options!
How to Store these Breakfast Cups
These cups will last for 5 to 7 days if stored in the fridge in an air tight container. I like storing 2 of each in baggies to quickly grab from the fridge, pop into the microwave (on a plate) and run out the door! Having these ready-to-go is a great way to start the day!
The options really are endless with these breakfast cups, but this combination of breakfast sausage, potatoes, onions, kale and nutritonal yeast is truly my favorite! I want you to have a blast experimenting with this recipe and making it your own, and I want to hear all about it! Please leave a rating and a comment below and tag your beautiful recreation photos on social media with #paleoishkristaeats!
This recipe has been added to a new category, MEAL PREP RECIPES (found in the drop down menu above)! Stay tuned in to that category for more recipes you can cook once and eat all week!
Pin Now! Prep Later!
Looking for more quick and easy breakfast recipes to cook once and eat all week? Check out the recipes below!
- Venison Breakfast Sausage with Bacon and Cranberries
- Paleo Turkey and Broccoli Divan Casserole
- Whole30 Loaded Brunch Casserole
- Whole30 Italian Sausage Frittata
📖 Recipe
Air Fryer Breakfast Cups | Great for On-the-Go
Ingredients
- ¼ cup ground breakfast sausage 2 ounces
- ¼ cup potato
- ¼ cup onion
- ¼ cup kale
- 6 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 2 tablespoons coconut milk
- non-stick cooking spray
- salt & pepper
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausage to the pan and cook through, breaking up any large pieces. Once cooked through, remove from the skillet and set aside. Do not clean the pan.
- While the sausage cooks, peel the potato and dice small. Small dice the onion. Remove the stem from the kale and chop the leaves.
- To the same skillet used for the sausage, (if dry) heat a tablespoon of cooking oil over medium-high heat. Add the diced potato to the skillet and cook for 3 minutes or until fork-tender. Add the onion to the skillet and continue to cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the kale. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, nutritional yeast and coconut milk. Gently fold in cooked sausage, potatoes, onion and kale until well-combined.
Air Fryer Instructions
- For easy clean up, line air fryer basket with foil. Place silicone baking cups in fryer basket in a single-layer. Depending on the size of your air fryer, you may need to work in batches. Spray cups with non-stick cooking spray. Carefully pour in a ¼ cup of the egg mixture into each cup. Set the air fryer to 300 degree and "fry" for 10 to 12 minutes or until the egg is cooked through. Let cups rest for at least 5 minutes before removing from baking cups.
Oven Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Follow directions above. Arrange silicone baking cups on a baking sheet and pour ¼ cup of the egg mixture into each. Bake for 25 minutes or until the egg is cooked through. Let rest for at least 5 minutes before removing from silicone baking cups.
Notes
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