Cooking with Quail Eggs

Quail eggs are considered a delicacy, found in countless incarnations in many parts of Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas. In France, a raw quail egg with its shiny golden yolk, crowns a mound of steak tartare. While in Italy hard-boiled quail eggs accompany ham and crisped bread cubes in a Panzanella salad called Insalata Croccante. In Spain, a quail egg may end up on a tapas menu, fried and served with chorizo on toast; and in the UK, hard-cooked quail eggs get wrapped in forcemeat, breaded and deep-fried, making mini Scotch eggs that are common British picnic fare. Standard street food in Thailand may consist of quail eggs swaddled in wonton wrappers, skewered, and deep-fried until crispy. They get the curry treatment in Indonesia, along with prawns, coconut milk, and lemongrass.

Quail eggs are often served raw in Japan, nestled in a bed of briny fish roe in Gunkanmaki, or “battleship” style sushi, and in Korea, quail eggs top bowls of warm rice with sautéed vegetables and chili paste, or Bibimbap. Egyptians serve a street snack of flatbread with hard-boiled quail eggs and a mixture of dried herbs and seeds, or Dukkah. And in America, deviled and pickled quail eggs are becoming increasingly popular menu items.

Fun Fact: The brown spots on a quail egg’s shell are unique to each hen, much like fingerprints are to humans.

Storage & Use

Our quail eggs are sold fresh in protective flats. Quail eggs should be stored in the carton and kept refrigerated, below 40 degrees F, at all times. Quail eggs can be cooked in any manner you’d cook chicken eggs. Try them poached, fried, hard-boiled, scrambled, or baked. Some wonderful, natural pairings include bacon, prosciutto, asparagus, black truffle, crème fraiche, smoked salt, herbs, buttered toast, caviar, smoked salmon, mushrooms, and herbs such as thyme and tarragon.

Just a few ideas for using D’Artagnan Quail Eggs 

• Adorable Little Devils… Quail eggs make the cutest little deviled eggs. They’re a great conversation starter and absolutely delicious – a surefire hit for your next party. Try a trio of deviled quail eggs: a simple version with smoked paprika, one with bacon and thyme, and an earthy truffled variation.
• For Teeny Blinis… Creamy, mild quail eggs are the perfect foil to salty caviar. Crown a blini with a dollop of crème fraiche, half of a hard-cooked quail egg and a spoon of caviar for an elegant hors d’oeuvre.
• Toad-in-a-Hole… Whether you call it egg-in-a-frame, sunshine toast, cowboy eggs, or frog-in-a-hole, if you make the classic dish with quail eggs everyone will call it delicious. We like ours in a thin, round of brioche with black truffle butter. 
• Golden Egg Ravioli… Homemade pasta gets the gold treatment with a silky egg yolk hiding inside. Nestle a raw quail yolk in a little mound of herbed ricotta when filling ravioli. The yolk will cook gently as the pasta is dropped into boiling water, its center still molten upon serving. What a delicious surprise!
• Super French Salads… Hard-cooked quail eggs are beautifully bite-sized in a classic Salad Niçoise. And when poached, the diminutive eggs are right at home with bacon lardons in a Lyonnaise-style salad.
• Little Spiced Bites… For an easy hors d’oeuvre try hard-boiled quail eggs rolled in a favorite spice mixture. A tiny slice off the wide bottom of each egg will ensure they sit upright on the platter.