Keep this simple scotch egg recipe handy when you make them for your next party, because everyone will be requesting it after they devour a few.
Happy Friday, folks! Hope you had a great week and are ready to enjoy the weekend. Any fun plans? If you’re planning a Sunday game gathering, I have an awesome recipe for you.
You see these eggs wrapped in minced meat? These are called Scotch egg, a popular pub snack in England. Or so I heard. Never been to England, so don’t quote me on that. Anyway, I had my first Scotch egg when I was a student back in Mongolia, oh about 10 years ago. (Gosh, I feel old…) It used to be quite a popular menu item then. Since I moved to the U.S., I had forgotten about it until I saw it again on social media couple years ago. And it was time for me to recreate it in my own kitchen.
Every time I make these scotch eggs, I get ohs and ahs. It never fails to impress my guests. I had served them as an entrée and as an appetizer. Perfect either way.
Traditionally, scotch eggs are deep-fried. I don’t know about you, but for me, deep-frying is cumbersome process and I try to avoid it by all cost. Instead, I brown the breaded scotch eggs on high heat first, and then continue cooking them in the oven. This method yields equally delicious, crispy on the outside scotch eggs. The biggest challenge of making scotch eggs is preventing the meat from falling apart during cooking. Here is my tip to avoid this problem, carefully roll the “meatballs” between your palms squeezing out the air between the egg and meat and sealing the edges.
Now let’s talk about the hard-boiled eggs for a minute. In the recipe, I asked for hard-boiled eggs, but I thought I would share a few tips here. If you are serving these babies as a dinner entrée, you’re welcome to use soft-to-medium boiled eggs. I find hard-boiled eggs are best for appetizer version, less mess and easy to grab and go.
When you hard-boil the eggs, you don’t want to end up with rubbery egg whites with greyish ring around the yolk, right? Well, here is my fool-proof method. Place the eggs in a saucepan, add water to fully cover them and add 1 teaspoon of salt. Bring it to rolling boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes for hard-boiled eggs. Then immediately drain the hot water and place the eggs in ice-cold water to cool completely. I change the cold water couple of times.
My husband couldn’t wait for me to finish shooting these scotch eggs. He lingered around for awhile, and then impatiently reached for one mid-shoot. 🙂 I’m naming this image “Caught on camera”.
Impress your friends and family with these unusual, yet delicious scotch eggs. There are layers and layers of flavor, from crispy Panko coating, to flavorful savory beef and creamy soft egg. Topped with tangy, slightly spicy mustard sauce. So good!
Scotch Egg
Ingredients
- 4 medium hard-boiled eggs peeled
- 1 lb 450gr lean ground beef, or pork, or a mixture of two
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper sauce
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 medium egg beaten
- 1 cup Panko Japanese breadcrumbs
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
For the sauce:
- 2 tablespoons mayo
- 1 tablespoon sour cream
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper sauce
Instructions
- Place 4 eggs in the saucepan and add cold water to cover the eggs completely. Bring it to boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Pour off hot water and add cold water. Once cooled, peel the eggs and set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
- Beat the remaining one egg in bowl. Place flour and panko in separate bowls as well.
- In a medium bowl, combine ground beef, garlic, cayenne pepper sauce, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Mix everything until combined with your hands. Divide the meat into 4 equal parts. Flatten the meat patties and place hard boiled eggs on each one. Carefully shape the meat around the egg. Pinch the seams together and gently roll it between your palms for a minute or so squeezing out the air between the egg and meat and sealing the edges of the meat. Now, roll each meat-wrapped eggs in the flour, then dip them in the beaten egg, and finally roll them in the Panko.
- Heat the olive oil in the large skillet over medium high heat. Place the meat-wrapped eggs in skillet and brown slightly from all sides, about 1 minute on each side. Transfer onto the baking sheet lined with aluminum foil, or silicone mat. Bake for 15-20 minutes.
- For the sauce, whisk together mayo, sour cream, mustard and cayenne pepper sauce. Cut each Scotch egg into quarters and drizzle the sauce. Serve warm.
Tips & Notes
Nutrition
I gotta say these Scotch eggs are Fantastic!! Made them for the 3rd year in a row. My husband is British and he thinks this recipe is great. I use lean ground pork. I got the idea from another recipe to use a tbsp of dry mustard powder to.
I don’t think one has to stick to traditional recipes for Scotch Eggs. Come on people add some variety to ur life.
Thank you, Iris, for your lovely comment. I’m so glad you guys enjoy this recipes year after year!!! I love the addition of dry mustard powder, I’ll try that next time I make these.
Told the wife how to make them, she said ‘good luck’. Guess i’ll be cooking the, lol
Haha hope you all enjoy it. Let us know how they turn out.
I know you never admitted to it being the original version of a great British delicacy, but at least try the proper version before any other version, you only use pork never beef, cayenne pepper does not work and you forgot to add onions, as for the sauce it should be ketchup, brown sauce or branston pickle, as for mayo, really
Hi, Mark. It was not my intention to insult a great British delicacy. In fact, I had no idea it was a British cuisine when I used to enjoy it back in Mongolia. We used to call it “zraz” which is a variation of Eastern European stuffed meatballs.
And here’s the thing, the more I travel and explore different cuisines and food, the more I realize that a lot of cultures share similar food with different variations. Do I really have to name this dish “egg stuffed meatballs” because it’s not an authentic version? I don’t find it necessary. Scotch egg is just a closer terminology. And at the end of the day, sharing delicious food is all I’m here for.
Now, I’m curious, have you tried this recipe as written?
I’ve had traditional scotch eggs at the Highlands Festival at Stone Mt. Georgia. Maybe they weren’t the best, I wouldn’t know, but they were boring at best. I have a catering business, and was asked to cater a memorial service for a Scotsman. Everyone loved your recipe shinee. These were a huge hit. I used half pork sausage and half 80/20 chopped beef for the meat. I used 2/3s of the cayenne you called for because with a large audience you can’t expect everyone to like spicy. Thank you, I will be making these again for sure. Outstanding recipe.
Hi, Ricky! I’m SO delighted to read your feedback!! Thank you so much for trying my recipe and for your feedback!!
Terrible version of a great British delicacy, you only use pork never beef, cayenne pepper does not work and you forgot to add onions, as for the sauce it should be ketchup, brown sauce or branston pickle, as for mayo, really
I’m going to make some with sausage and some with ground beef. Do you think I should shorten the cooking time for the sausage eggs? I love how kind and thoughtful you are with all of your replies.
Hi, Tracey. I don’t think you need to shorten the cooking time, but started testing after 15 minutes. And thank you for your kind compliment. 🙂