Best Easy Keto Scotch Eggs (Without Breadcrumbs)

Delicious keto Scotch eggs wrapped in ground pork and herbs have almost ZERO carbs. Perfect for a high-protein diet and can be frozen.

These low-carb scotch eggs are portable, sturdy, affordable, and can be made ahead for easy keto diet meal prep.

These scotch eggs are high protein with 28.2g protein and only 0.5g net carbs.

These low-carb Scotch eggs are perfect served with a large low-carb salad and homemade salad dressing. They are also perfect for a picnic, and especially brilliant for a high-protein snack.

It’s an even easier recipe than traditional Scotch eggs because it doesn’t have any kind of breading or crunchy coating. All you need is some ground meat, eggs, and spices.

What is a Scotch egg?

Scotch eggs are soft-boiled eggs covered in ground pork sausage meat which are breaded then fried or baked.

Are Scotch eggs keto? Traditional Scotch eggs are not keto because they contain wheat flour and oats and are covered in breadcrumbs. This easy keto Scotch eggs recipe is a whole egg, covered in pork sausage, then rolled in crushed pork rinds (optional).

Why is it called a Scotch egg? Some say it is because the process of encasing the boiled egg in sausagemeat is known as “scotching”. Whilst other theories for Scotch egg origins, report they were invented by Fortnum and Mason as a traveler’s snack or the Scot’s guards in London gave them their nickname.

The same recipe in other countries is known as vogelnestje, little bird’s nest, or an eggball.

Ingredients

These low-carb scotch eggs use all simple ingredients. In fact, there are just three ingredients.

See the recipe card below for the exact quantities.

Hard-boiled eggs – here’s how you can make hard-boiled in the Instant Pot in minutes! You can make pork-wrapped eggs with soft or hard-boiled eggs.

Ground pork – while I think ground pork tastes best, you can certainly sub out another ground meat if you prefer. You can use regular ground pork, pork sausagemeat, or pork breakfast sausage removed from it’s sausage skin.

Spices – vary the herbs and spices to whatever you like. A few ideas are curry powder, parsley, or mustard.

Pork rinds – these are optional to replace bread crumbs and the bread coating.

Finally, garnish with fresh parsley. It not only makes these sausage-wrapped eggs look fancy, but it will taste amazing too.

Instructions

Making scotch eggs is so simple! Make it once and you’ll see why it is one of my favorite delicious recipes!

Watch the cooking video below, and remember one of my top tips for staying low carb: always have a supply of cooked eggs on hand.

When you pick up some ground meat/mincemeat from the supermarket, you can have these keto Scotch eggs ready before the oven has even warmed up.

Step 1: How to hard boil eggs

I use the easiest method to boil eggs. Place your eggs in a saucepan and cover with COLD water. Bring to the boil and once boiling, boil for the following times, depending on firmness required.

For this keto Scotch eggs recipe, I boil the eggs for 4 minutes. This is enough to set the egg whites and peel easily but leaves the yolk slightly soft. The eggs are baked again in the oven once covered in the meat, so they will cook further.

You can also learn how to make hard boiled eggs in the Instant Pot!

Step 2: How to wrap hard boiled eggs

Place the ground pork, flavors, herbs, spices, and seasoning to your liking in a large mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly with your hands or a large wooden spatula.

Grab a handful of the herbed sausagemeat and press into a flat circle shape, or a thin patty.

Cover each boiled egg in ground pork (minced pork). Gently wrap sausage meat around the boiled eggs. Make sure they are coated evenly.

Step 3: How to bake Scotch eggs

Place all your boiled eggs wrapped in pork onto a baking tray that has been lined with baking parchment paper. Space the Scotch eggs about 1-2 inches apart.

Sprinkle with onion flakes and bake at 180C/350F for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Cooking times will vary on the size of your eggs and how thick the pork coating is.

Air fryer Scotch eggs recipe

Cooking low-carb Scotch eggs in your air fryer is a breeze. They turn out crispy on the outside, and soft on the inside. Air fryer Scotch eggs have fewer calories as the fat drips out. You can also drain each cooked egg on kitchen paper to drain excess fat away.

To cook air fryer Scotch eggs you follow the low-carb Scotch eggs recipe but instead of placing the rolled eggs onto a baking tray, you place them into the basket of your air fryer.

There must be at least 1 inch on all sides to allow the heat to circulate evenly.

1. Preheat your air fryer to 180C/350F.
2. Place the air fryer Scotch eggs into your basket.
3. Cook for 15-20 minutes, depending on the size of your air fryer and the size of your wrapped eggs.

Substitutions

• Hard boiled eggs: you can use soft-boiled eggs if you like that texture. A hard boiled egg will hold up better, but you can soft boil them too.
• Spices: when it comes to the spices, use your favorite ones. I love to use garlic powder, it’s a simple go-to. Onion powder and parsley also taste delicious with it.
• Meat: simple bulk sausage works the best, but you can use ground beef or lamb or even some sugar-free breakfast sausage like Italian sausage. If you use sweet Italian sausage, just make sure it is sugar-free. Chicken apple sausage is another fantastic choice.
• Breadcrumb altenratives: – traditional Scotch eggs are covered in breadcrumbs before being deep fried. To make Scotch eggs keto, this fantastic recipe doesn;t need any coating. However, you can roll your coated egg in almond flour or crushed pork rinds. Make sure the eggs are coated evenly with your low-carb breading.

Variations

Want to change it up? That’s part of the fun of Scotch eggs! Here are a few ways to make this keto Scotch eggs recipe your own:

• Spicy: add hot sauce to the sausage layer.
• Kid-friendly: Serve it with some sugar-free BBQ sauce so they can dip their eggs.
• Crispy or crunchy: use almond flour, almond meal, coconut flour, or crushed pork rinds in place of bread crumbs. You could even sprinkle some parmesan cheese on the outside.
• Air fryer Scotch eggs: Why not cook your scotch eggs in the air fryer? Air-fried eggs are a healthy alternative to making deep-fried scotch eggs.
• Bacon-wrapped Scotch eggs recipe: After you have wrapped the keto Scotch eggs in sausagemeat, wrap them in bacon for the ultimate keto recipe.

Equipment

This recipe uses basic kitchen tools. You’ll need a mixing bowl when you mix the minced meat and spices together.

Parchment paper protects the baking tray (baking sheet) and makes it easier to clean everything up. As the sausage cooks, the paper will catch all that grease.

You can also make this in the air fryer instead of the oven.

Storage

These keto Scotch eggs will last about 2-3 days in the refrigerator. Store them in an airtight container to get the most life out of them.

If you plan on drizzling any kind of sauce on top, I suggest storing them without any sauce.

They also freeze beautifully! Store the cooked Scotch eggs in a freezer-safe bag. They will last about 3 months in the freezer. Then, just cook them at 300F for about 15 minutes and they will taste as good as new.

Egg size conversion charts