A Scotch Egg For Toddlers Is Dad-Level Brilliance
Hard-boiled eggs. Ground meat. Breadcrumbs. Your child probably eats all these things—why not together? A scotch egg does precisely that, together. The egg is encased by the meat, which is encased by the breadcrumbs; the whole thing, when served in a restaurant, is deep fried. (Ours, thankfully, are air-fried.) It’s a lot. Like, induce a long nap a lot. Half of one is plenty for a young child, which is why we recommend halving the eggs—bonus: much easier for little ones to hold and eat this way—even though that is not the traditional way of doing so. But no one—especially not your child—will doubt that this is a tasty morsel, smooth meat-ing crunchy in a way that satisfies just like a good greasy burger does. Makes for a great weekend lunch—and for a great weekend nap (for all) right after.
- 3 Eggs
- 1/2 lb Ground Pork
- Cream Cheese
- Teriyaki Sauce
- Panko Breadcrumbs
- Mayo
- Mustard
- Honey
- To hard-boil the eggs: bake for 14 minutes at 250 degrees. When cooking is completed, immediately place eggs in a small pot of ice water to cool.
- While the eggs cool: Take out pork and cream cheese and bring to room temp. Set up three small flat containers on your counter: one with flour covering the bottom, one with a beaten egg; and one with panko breadcrumbs spread out.
- Throw a pat of cream cheese and a glug of teriyaki over the pork meat and mix together until integrated. Place pork mixture on a cutting board or other flat surface and flatten with hand or rolling pin (recommended) until pork is spread out and thin.
- Optional (but recommended for your child’s portion): cut an egg in half.
- Place an egg (or egg half) on top of a part of the meat patty and fold the surrounding pork mixture over it until the egg is fully covered by the pork; don’t hesitate to cut out extra meat from elsewhere to cover any holes. Use the beaten egg mixture as “glue” if some sides don’t fully cover by brushing the egg wash onto that side and smushing the two non-sticking parts together.
- Coat pork covered egg in flour, then dip into egg wash; roll into breadcrumbs until covered.
- Air fry at 350 for 5 minutes. Turn over and air fry again for five minutes.
- While the eggs are in the air fryer, you can make a simple sauce by combining equal parts mustard and mayo with a drizzle of honey.
If you halved the egg before assembling, you can serve the completed egg ball with a side of sauce (or your child’s favorite condiment) and they should be good to know; for full-sized eggs, quarter them instead. Keep what you side with the egg simple and boring–crunchy raw vegetables are a welcome respite, even to a child, after eating a hunk of egg and meat.
Pork, beef, or lamb will work best as your meat options but ground chicken or turkey will do in a pinch–just reduce the cooking time by two minutes. You can also make a falafel egg by using the batter in our recipe to cover the egg; cook for 6-7 minutes.
Brad (the Dad) is the founder and Chief Recipe Officer of New Dad's Kitchen. His own cooking/feeding journey started humbly during his son's infancy, preparing and managing his son's bottle intake in order to support his wife; it has since blossomed into a full-on passion to feed his child and family delicious and healthy meals that can satisfy both a toddler and his very tired parents.
