4 Clever Ways To Add Eggs To Your Family’s Heart-Healthy Diet

If you’ve been forgoing eggs because you heard they’re bad for your health, we have some good news: extensive research has shown that eggs do not increase heart disease risk. Eggs can be included as part of a heart-healthy diet for healthy adults, according to the American Heart Association, and they also deliver key nutrients like choline, which supports lifelong brain health, that most Americans don’t get enough of.

Dietary cholesterol recommendations and guidance for eating for heart health has evolved as new research has improved our understanding. A Harvard analysis of over three decades worth of relevant data, found that eating eggs did not increase the subjects’ risk of heart disease. That’s because even though eggs contain cholesterol studies have shown that dietary cholesterol doesn’t impact blood cholesterol levels the way we once thought it did.

What does affect your cholesterol levels? That would be saturated fat, the dietary fat that stays solid at room temperature. Most of the fat in eggs, however, is unsaturated, the same kind that’s in olive oil and avocados. That’s part of the reason why U.S. Dietary Guidelines haven’t restricted the cholesterol in the food you eat for many years and recommend eggs as part of a healthy diet.

A meal with high-quality protein found in eggs can keep you and your family satisfied for whatever adventures your day has in store. And because nutritious eggs are such a versatile ingredient, you can get creative with your recipes, too. There are so many choices beyond scrambled, fried, or boiled, so read on to discover a few next-level yet uncomplicated ways to work eggs into your family’s diet.

1. For a great dinner option you can customize, whip up a frittata.

I love using nutrient-rich eggs to make frittatas like this one with sun-dried tomato and kale. It couldn’t be much simpler to prepare: combine nutritious eggs and the other ingredients in an oven-safe skillet, bake, and enjoy. Frittatas are a dependably delicious dish that you can enjoy for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and because eggs are the star ingredient they’re also full of high-quality protein.

2. Use eggs to make a veggie-rich brunch.

If you’re looking for a crowd-pleasing brunch idea, go for these sunny-side up egg tostadas that are made with nutritious eggs and a few other flavorful ingredients. Simply crisp up some corn tortillas in the oven, layer on a few dietician-approved ingredients, then top with a satisfying sunny-side up egg for a heart-healthy recipe that your family will crave.

3. Try your hand at a classic quiche recipe.

For a more sophisticated egg recipe, try a veggie-packed quiche made with a quinoa crust. It’s essentially an egg pie that can be the star of breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner. Not only will you feel fancy, you’ll be incorporating more eggs, widely acknowledged to be part of a healthy diet for every age and stage, into your family’s diet.

4. When in doubt, add a poached egg.

My favorite thing to do with eggs is to poach them. When punctured, the runny yolk of a poached egg becomes a rich, nutrient-dense sauce for whatever dish you put it on. The classic poached egg recipe is eggs benedict, but they’re also great on savory oatmeal and salads. Topping something with a poached egg is a simple, tasty way to round out your diet with key nutrients.

Eggs can be a part of breakfast, lunch, and dinner. There’s no shortage of great egg recipes that make it easy to incorporate delicious, nutritious eggs into a heart-healthy diet.