The Flavor Benefit Of Quail's Eggs Over Chicken Eggs

Just as quails are smaller birds than chickens, quail eggs are a fraction of the size of a typical chicken egg. But what they lack in size, they make up for in flavor. One of the first facts you need to know about eating quail eggs is that they have a much richer taste and a creamier consistency than chicken eggs. This is due to a higher yolk to white ratio; the yolk is full of all the fat that's responsible for a buttery, rich flavor. Yolk also contains a lot more vitamins and minerals, so quail eggs also offer a more nutrient dense profile to boot.

You can cook quail eggs any way you would cook a chicken egg. Due to their smaller size, they cook a lot faster. Quail shells are also a lot thicker and tougher to crack, but you could purchase a set of special quail egg scissors online to easily cut the tops off. Preserve the beautifully speckled shell to up your presentation game; you could serve a poached egg in a shell half, or keep some uncooked or boiled eggs as a display.

Quail eggs may be more expensive than chicken eggs, but their yolk-heavy composition offers so much concentrated flavor in a single egg that it really is about quality over quantity.

You can buy fresh quail eggs at most grocery stores, or online from quality, non-GMO sources like Green Wings Ranch. For a durable and cheaper option, you could also buy canned quail eggs that are boiled and ready to eat. They'd make convenient additions to a richer egg salad; just swap an egg or two for four or five canned eggs to bolster the taste of this creamy egg salad recipe. 

Boiling your own quail eggs is easy, however, taking two minutes for soft boiled, and up to four for hard boiled. Once boiled and peeled, cut them in half and add to a tuna Niçoise salad, classic cobb salad, or lunchtime poke bowl. Read our handy guide to cooking quail eggs, depending on how you want to prepare these flavor bombs. 

You may wish just to swap out your usual breakfast eggs with quail eggs. However, their size and intensity makes them the perfect bite-size appetizer or fancy small-plate garnish. Crack a quail egg over steak or tuna tartare. Serve poached quail eggs over crunchy crostini slathered in avocado mousse for the ultimate hors d'oeuvre. For a less fancy appetizer, bread and deep fry them, serving them on skewers like the Filipino street food, kwek kwek. You can take deep-fried quail eggs a step further by making upgraded Scotch eggs, for which we have many more cooking tips. Or make a batch of petite deviled quail eggs. You could also stir a quail egg into sushi rice with furikake, sesame seeds, and nori for the most luxurious Japanese-style breakfast.