Savory Breakfast Waffles!
With all the hype around brunch, we rarely see savory pancakes and waffles. We’re fans of all things salty and crunchy so it’s no wonder when we decided to make something special for breakfast (and share it here eventually!) we landed on these Ham & Cheese Waffles almost immediately. It’s like someone hit us over the head and said: “break out the waffle maker!”
We hadn’t used our waffle maker since we made Chocolate Chip Waffles (using cacao nibs for added fiber and flavor) for our Breakfast in Five ecookbook. They were a huge success but the waffle maker got lost in our cupboards for some odd reason. Well, we dusted it off, greased it liberally (learned our lesson the hard way…) and started testing out some waffle batter!
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Savory recipes always call for something umami – and for us, that was ham. We purchased a ham steak from our local grocer instead of those presliced deli-style packages. He said, “they all pretty much contain some form of sugar” when asked which brand adds the least. We decided since we’re only using 1 oz. for the two of us, it couldn’t hurt. As for cheese, what better pairing than a classic cheddar? We buy ours in block form, choosing to grate it ourselves. You get a fresher product and one that’s not covered in cornstarch to prevent clumping.
To top it all off, we fried an egg in butter for extra crispiness and garnished everything with paprika and fresh basil leaves.
A few tips to help your waffles stay moist!
- Don’t skimp on the butter! It really makes a difference. Water will evaporate right out during cooking leaving you with a dry mess. Butter makes everything better. If you’ll be omitting the fried egg on top, substitute with a tablespoon of butter on top. Read why in the next bullet point.
- Speaking of the egg, leaving the yolk nice and runny will add even more moisture to the waffles when broken. It’s a good thing!
- Be gentle when folding in your egg whites. A common mistake is being too rough and deflating the egg whites causing a denser and tougher waffle.
- Do NOT overcook your waffles! You can have the best batter in the world but an overcooked waffle is a sad waffle. Take care to cook only until it’s lightly golden. The residual heat will continue to cook each waffle once it’s out of the waffle maker.
If you have any tips on how you keep your waffles moist, let us know in the comments below! We’ll add them to our list. 🙂
| Servings: people |
- 4 large eggs
- 2 scoops unflavored whey protein powder (about 62 grams)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 6 tbsp melted butter
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 oz. ham steak (finely chopped)
- 1 oz. cheddar cheese (grated)
- paprika
- fresh basil
- Start by separating 2 large eggs into two mixing bowls. Into the bowl with the egg yolks, add the protein powder, baking powder, melted butter and sea salt. Whisk to combine.
- Add the finely chopped ham steak bits and grated cheddar cheese to the egg yolk mixture and fold them in.
- Whisk the 2 egg whites and a pinch of salt with an electric hand mixer until stiff peaks form. Gently fold in half the stiff egg whites into the egg yolk mixture. Try not to let the egg yolk deflate - be very gentle. Fold in the other half once the egg yolks have aerated a bit.
- Add 1/4 cup of batter to a well greased waffle maker (we used a square Belgian-style waffle maker) and cook according to manufacturer's instructions. We cooked the waffles on medium heat for about 3-4 minutes each. Cook only until they're lightly golden. The residual heat will continue to cook the waffle even once it's out of the waffle maker.
- While they're cooking, fry the remaining two eggs the way you prefer - we chose sunny side up. Stack the waffles into two servings and top with a fried egg each. Sprinkle some paprika and fresh herbs if you'd like (basil, parsley, green onion, etc.). Enjoy!
Loved this recipe? Let us know! Something didn’t quite turn out right? Ask us in the comments below – we respond to comments every day and would love to hear from you and help you out! And check out all our low carb breakfast recipes to learn to make more delicious and healthy meals that take no time to prepare!
NUTRITIONAL DISCLAIMER
The content on this website should not be taken as medical advice and you should ALWAYS consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. We provide nutritional data for our recipes as a courtesy to our readers. We use Total Keto Diet app software to calculate the nutrition and we remove fiber and sugar alcohols, like erythritol, from the total carbohydrate count to get to the net carb count, as they do not affect your blood glucose levels. You should independently calculate nutritional information on your own and not rely on our data. The website or content herein is not intended to cure, prevent, diagnose or treat any disease. This website shall not be liable for adverse reactions or any other outcome resulting from the use of recipes or recommendations on the Website or actions you take as a result. Any action you take is strictly at your own risk.
You’ll Love Our Breakfast in Five Cookbook!
We believe that the key to success is simplicity and satisfaction with your diet. That’s why we created Breakfast in Five – 30 low carb breakfast recipes all using just 5 ingredients and 5 net carbs or fewer!
Enjoy fluffy waffles and pancakes, sweet and savory muffins, porridge, omelettes and much more every day of the month.
Dr. Rosmy Barrios, MD is an aesthetic medicine specialist whose work focuses on patients who are treated for obesity, metabolic syndrome, and other weight-related issues through nutritional analysis, keto diet programs, and supporting medications.
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Lumpy batter that never smoothed out. Help! Or I just wasted some great ingredients I could have used elsewhere.
Hi Sharon, at what stage was it lumpy? Did you end up making the recipe anyway? Many times batter smoothes out when cooking. Let me know!
This recipe was awesome! I loved it more than traditional Waffle and felt great after eating it. So good. Thank you!
Okay, this one is just fun!
Waffles have never really been my thing, as I don’t like sweet food all that much. I love what you’ve done here. Your version seems like it would be much more filling than regular waffles as well.