A perfect fried egg is an icon in the food world, but it’s surprisingly tricky to make one at home that looks as good as the diner ideal. The good news? Anyone can master this breakfast staple once they’ve learned a few tips—and I’m here to show you how. While there are a few different varieties of fried eggs around the world, for this recipe, I’m homing in on the classic diner ideal: a gorgeously rounded sunny side egg with a flat even white and a gleaming yellow yolk. Don’t worry, if you’re not a fan of the runny yolk, I’ll talk about over-easy, over-medium, and over-hard too.
How To Fry An Egg
INGREDIENTS
- Egg: I tested this recipe using large chicken eggs. Of course, you can use medium, small, or jumbo-sized, but just be aware that you may need to adjust cooking times accordingly.
- Butter: I like to cook my eggs in a little unsalted butter. It browns as the eggs cook, imparting this gorgeous slightly nutty flavor to the edges; however, you can also use a neutral oil, if you prefer.
- Salt: I use kosher salt to season my eggs, but you can also use table salt or fine sea salt if that’s what you have on hand.
- Freshly Ground Pepper: I love freshly ground pepper on an egg. Feel free to leave it out if you prefer, and if it’s not freshly ground, I’d recommend skipping altogether.
STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS
Start by adding 1 tsp. butter to a small nonstick pan and placing it over medium heat.
While the butter is melting, crack the egg into a small bowl (I typically use a small pinch bowl or a plastic take-out condiment ramekin). Pre-cracking the egg into a container gives you the opportunity to pick out any bits of egg shell that may have fallen in if the shell didn’t crack cleanly. Also, pouring from a bowl rather than cracking directly into the pan decreases the risk of a broken yolk, while allowing you to gently guide the egg into a more rounded shape.
Once the butter has melted and has just started to foam slightly, give it a swirl to coat the bottom of the pan as evenly as possible, then gently pour the egg into the center of the pan. As soon as the egg is in the pan, season it with a little salt and decrease the temperature to medium-low. At this point, if you want that perfect flat white, you can take a fork and gently poke at the surface of the white, especially right where the thick higher-sitting egg white meets the thin flatter egg white. The goal is to get the egg white to sit as flat and even as possible, so it will cook as evenly as possible. This step is optional, but highly recommended.
If making a sunny side-up egg, cook the egg until the top is set but the yolk is still runny, about 3 minutes. Monitor the temperature in the pan closely during this time: If it’s too high, the white will get too crispy and the yolk will start to get bubbles spitting up in the center. If it’s too low, the egg will never cook. I like to go by the sound: It should stay at a gentle sizzle.
If, after 3 minutes, the very top of the white still has that translucent slimy look, try adding a little more butter to the pan, letting it melt, then gently spooning it over just the uncooked white to set it. Alternately, you can add 1 tsp. water to the pan and cover it for 15 seconds to steam the top. Be aware, though, that you risk clouding the top of the egg yolk and spoiling that beautiful bright yellow yolked look.
Of course, if you want to make an over-easy egg, you don’t need to worry about any of this: Follow the above steps until the egg hits the pan, then cook for 1 to 2 minutes, just until the top is no longer runny but still not set. Using the plastic spatula, carefully flip the egg. For an over-easy egg, cook until the bottom is set but the yolk is still completely jiggly when you poke it, 30 seconds to a minute longer. If you’d like it over-medium, cook it 1 to 2 minutes after flipping, until the edge of the yolk feels firm but the middle is still slightly jiggly. And if you’d like it over-hard, extend the cook time to 2 to 3 minutes; the egg is done when the yolk feels totally firm but just slightly fudgy in the center.
Once the egg is cooked, season with freshly ground pepper and transfer it to your plate with a plastic spatula. (Never use a metal spatula in a nonstick pan!)
The full list of ingredients and instructions can be found in the recipe below.
Variations
Recipe Tips
- Get a dedicated nonstick pan: If you cook a lot of eggs, I recommend investing in a small nonstick pan—say 6″ or 8″—and using it solely for egg cooking so you can keep it nice. Clean it as soon as you’re done using it, and store it on a shelf away from all of your other pans, preferably wrapped in a clean kitchen towel to avoid incidental scratches. Trust me, having a dedicated pan that’s unblemished will make your egg-periences soooo much better.
Storage
Fried eggs are really best eaten fresh, so I don’t recommend saving them.
