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3 Little Known Facts About the Health and Taste of Quail Eggs

Louise | July 11
3 Little Known Facts About the Health and Taste of Quail Eggs

Lately I’ve seen Quail Eggs everywhere!

They’re in recipes, on restaurant menus, in stores, and on Facebook. It’s like the world went quail egg crazy!

Are they healthier? Do they taste better? What is it???

So, I thought I’d cook them to see what all the fuss was about.

Along the way, I did some digging (on the internet) and found these 3 little known facts about Quail Eggs.

Check out this easy quail egg salad as well.

What are Quail Eggs?

paleo quail egg salad
As you can see the from the photo above, quail eggs are little eggs around the size of a grape tomato. They have a grey shell with speckles of black/brown. And as their name suggests, they’re laid by these birds called quails!

what are quail eggs?

So what’s so fascinating about them?

Here are my 3 little known facts about Quail Eggs

  1. Quail Eggs Taste Just Like Chicken Eggs! I feel like one of those people that think fish tastes just like chicken, but honestly, the difference in taste here is minimal!Quail eggs are a tad bit richer in taste (because they have a bigger yolk to white ratio than chicken eggs), but generally the taste isn’t too dissimilar from chicken eggs.
  2. Quail Eggs Are Barely Healthier than Chicken Eggs! Compared to chicken eggs, quail eggs are slightly healthier if you can muster up the energy to eat that many quail eggs (you’re probably burning a lot of extra calories peeling those things)!I looked at the nutritional data for 100g of quail eggs and 100g of chicken eggs (both raw), and quail eggs had slightly more fats, proteins, vitamins, and minerals. The difference isn’t huge, and you’d have to be eating a lot of quail eggs for it to begin to make a difference!
  3. Quail Eggs Are Cooked In The Same Ways As Chicken Eggs! You don’t need to fear cooking quail eggs if you can cook chicken eggs.You cook them in exactly the same ways. For example, you can scramble them, boil them, make omelets out of them, and if you’re really adventurous and have a lot of time to kill, you can even bake a cake using them instead of chicken eggs (usually 5-6 quail eggs replace 1 chicken egg)!

    However, cooking times will be different than for chicken eggs (especially when you’re boiling them) because they’re so small. I discuss some tips and times for boiling quail eggs here.

perfectly boiled quail eggs

So Why On Earth would You Eat Quail Eggs?

So far, I’ve basically told you that you shouldn’t bother eating quail eggs at all, and that’s pretty much my advice. So are there any situations where you might want to eat quail eggs?

Well…maybe a few:

  1. If you have lots of quail eggs available (e.g., you live on a quail farm or live next door to one!). I’m sure that applies to a lot of you!
  2. If you want something cute for a dinner party. For quail eggs, they’ve really only got their cute size going for them. Although it’s fairly common in countries like the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, quail eggs are fairly uncommon still in the US. This makes them great for when you have guests over and want to wow them with an extraordinary Paleo dish. As a disclosure, I did make a pretty quail egg salad, and the recipe for that is here.

Here are some fried quail eggs from a street food stall in Chiang Mai, Thailand. They use a special frying pan that’s the perfect size for quail eggs!

Quail Eggs in Thailand - Street Food

Fried Quail Eggs - Thailand Street Food

Food Pick - July 29

Quail eggs is really popular in the Philippines aka “Kwek kwek”. It is coated with a flour and deep fry for 3-5 minutes and add it with a sweet and sour sauce or you can have sweet and spicy but before that you must first boil the quail egg. You can also add the quail egg on Lomi soup.

    edith - January 14

    I also noted the recorded differences, and suspect the reason will be due to the difference in the feed the birds are fed and if they are in cages or allowed free range. I feed my chickens a bit of flax during the winter months when they can’t forage . I have no way of knowing if this makes any difference in the quality of the eggs.

Maria Fraccia - December 8

Quail eggs are much more nutritional than chicken eggs. A serving of 5 quail eggs is only 71 calories compared to 155 in a chicken egg. Quail eggs do contain cholesterol but it is the good cholesterol, not the bad. Quail eggs contain 13 percent proteins compared to 11 percent in chicken eggs. Quail eggs also contain 140 percent of vitamin B1 compared to 50 percent in chicken eggs. In addition, quail eggs provide five times as much iron and potassium. Unlike chicken eggs, quail eggs have not been know to cause allergies or diathesis. Actually they help fight allergy symptoms due to the ovomucoid protein they contain.

    Louise - December 8

    Hi Maria, thanks for your comment, but I’m a bit confused about where your sources of information are from. As far as I’m aware, there’s around 70-80 calories in a chicken egg. I also don’t see the statistics for iron and potassium that you suggest – looking on Nutritionaldata.com, the numbers for iron and potassium in 100g of raw fresh egg (quail and chicken), they seem pretty similar.

    Amanda Koker - February 22

    There is ample information on the health benefits of quail eggs all over the internet, with proper references and history and studies done. You’re blog is the only one I’ve found that aposes the idea and it’s based nie one thing YOU’RE OPINION.

      Louise - February 22

      Hi Amanda – thanks for commenting. The section I think you’re referring to is titled “my 3 little known facts about Quail Eggs”, so yes, like practically everything on the web, it is just someone’s “opinion.” If you’re referring specifically to “Quail Eggs Are Barely Healthier than Chicken Eggs!”, then you will see that I link to the nutritional data (which is pulled from the USDA’s National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference), and that was what I used to base my “opinion” on.

        julia - October 14

        a little confused by this blog post as my doctor told me to eat them because not only are they non allergenic – a god send for those allergic to chicken eggs, but they are known to be more nutritious. my doctor gave me that information. I also have dysphagia and scrambled i am able to get them down with some goat milk yogurt. They most definitely are a non allergenic alternative for those allergic to regular chicken eggs.

Dorcas - January 14

Hi Louise, I would like to use raw quail eggs in making
smothies. Would you please advice me on how to loose the eggy taste
so my smoothies are palatable? I will appreciate an email response
to my provided email address. Kind Regards, Dorcas.

willy - February 10

are quials wild birds? and if they are when they remove them from their wild habitat and deny them the food they eat, does that affect egg nutrients content ie the vitamins and other compounds?

willy Mwangi - February 10

Hi Louise,please advise whether there is a difference between quail eggs from the forest and the ones kept at home, in terms of nutrients contents?
regards
willy

    Louise - February 11

    Hi Willy – great question. I’m not sure what the difference is – I’m sure it’ll depend somewhat with what they’re being fed.

Saranda - April 4

Hello! Can I use these eggs to grow taller.Im 15 and Im just 1:53cm or to be fatter?

    Louise - April 6

    Hi Saranda – Quail eggs are nutritious just like chicken eggs, duck eggs, etc. Eggs, along with other nutritious foods, will help to nourish your body.

      Svendrick - July 23

      I can’t help but to notice how you are forgetting to mention one of the biggest things about quail eggs; NO BAD CHOLESTEROL. That is huge for people with high levels. Also, you can eat them raw. There is no risk of salmonella because the quail’s body temperature is much higher than that of a chicken. In addition, they cannot become contaminated and infected because they contain a substance called lysozyme. Lysozyme kills bacteria.

        Jeremy Hendon - July 24

        Svendrick,

        Quail eggs actually have more than twice as much cholesterol as chicken eggs. In 100g of quail eggs, you get 844mg of cholesterol. In 100g of chicken eggs, you get 372mg of cholesterol.

        You are (99%) correct about salmonella. Technically, it’s theoretically possible for a quail egg to become contaminated, but it’s only been observed in a lab setting. Since most people don’t eat raw eggs, however, I didn’t include it in the article.

          Alex - December 22

          Actually, the Quail eggs highest value – they are mostly used raw. They have bigger yolk, so better taste. Using this tiny eggs for boiling or frying – as you said, you will loose more calories.
          Personally, i eat 10-14 eggs in the mourning.

Matt - April 11

Methinks Amanda is a quail farmer!

Jan - May 15

Thanks for your post, quite fun. Another new trend is the urban chicken coop, for the love of fresh eggs. I live in an urban area, and am not ready to jump into a coop. Am seriously thinking about hatching a few quails, though, because I understand you can keep a half dozen in a reasonable sized bird cage outdoors (in for the winter, but that’s OK, I think we can manage that). So there’s a reason – not to live next to one a quail farm, but to be a little quail farm!

    Louise - May 16

    Thanks Jan – I’m just about to eat a few quail eggs today!!

Kanana - May 27

Can i take quails egg when its raw?how many eggs can someone take per day,weekly or monthly

Lisa Quail - June 21

I think I will try to pickle them… I love pickled eggs….how cute would that be?

    Vanessa - August 11

    We have quail and my husband pickles eggs for some friends of ours. They live them because of the bite size. I have also made mini deviled eggs, we love to use them to make omletes. I bake with them, we do not buy chicken eggs. We use our quail eggs for everything.

sarah - August 20

I actaully live next door to someone who has quail and quail eggs. This neighbor always offer me some when they have too many. They are good! And the fact that I have coworkers with eggg sensitivity I replace chicken eggs with them and they are fine.

Brian - September 11

I am one of the lucky few who raise quail for their eggs. It was dificult at first to use them because the eggs have a weak shell and a tough inner membrane. But I purchased a quail egg scissor, and now the eggs are just as easy to use as chicken eggs. We also bake with them, and use for a coating for breading. I also had to develop an efficient way to peel the hard boiled eggs. But all in all, I prefer quail eggs because salmonella cannot thrive in quail or their eggs and are very safe to eat raw.

    Bonny - November 18

    so many differing opinions!!!!!

Ivan Bakka - November 27

There is this guy in my neighbourhood who has a quail farm. He sells quail eggs not as food but a drug which heal over 20 hailments including, asthma, gastric ulcers, allergic Rhinitics, improving IQ, heart diseases, skin rash, eczema, poor digestion, liver diseases, renal diseases, excess secretion of stomach acids, anaemia, arterial hypertension, gouts, obesity, diabetes, neurasthenics, nervous state, improves CD4 counts, bronchitis, sinusitis, chronic catarch, etc. Am actually getting this off his flier. He sells each quail egg at a price 4 times the price of a chicken egg and people are literally fighting for each tray he puts on sell. Izn’t this guy just ripping these people off?

Brittany B - January 2

I am actually trying to figure out what kind of quail egg is best to eat. I have recently been interested in bento lunches and a lot of them call for quail egg.

    Louise Hendon - January 5

    I haven’t seen different types of quail eggs – most stores I’ve been to just sell “quail eggs.” They’re small and cute for bento lunches!

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