Fried Eggs

Fried eggs, a popular breakfast dish in the United States, Canada, and Western Europe, take about 5 minutes to prepare. They are often served with toast or with other fried dishes.

Easy
🥗 Vegetarian

Total Time

5 minutes

Servings

1

Ingredients
Everything you'll need to make this recipe
1

2 teaspoons butter or olive oil

2

2–3 large eggs, depending on appetite

3

Salt to taste

4

Pepper to taste (optional)

Instructions
Step-by-step guide to making this recipe
1

Melt the butter in the pan over low to medium heat.

2

Crack open the eggs into the pan and let fry until the yolks begin to harden at the edges (indicated by a lightening in the yolk color).

3

Using the spatula, flip the eggs over and allow to cook 10 seconds for over-easy, 30 seconds for over-medium, or up to 1 minute for over-hard.

10 seconds

4

Add salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

Notes
  • Sunny side-up fried eggIt often considered a cardinal sin to allow the yolk of an egg to break (although some prefer fried eggs with broken yolks). If the cook ensures that the eggs are fresh the yolks will be more 'pert', and less liable to break.
  • For sunny side-up eggs, do not flip the eggs. Use a slightly lower heat, and cover the pan with a lid for some of the cooking period. An ideal sunny side-up has a runny yolk, but the white should be cooked.
  • Uncooked egg white (often called jelly) is normally unwanted and less-preferred than a partially cooked yolk, so err on the side of overcooking rather than undercooking the eggs.
  • For a richer taste, try sprinkling the egg with grated Parmesan or freshly-chopped basil and chives.
  • When frying eggs for sandwiches, rolls or wraps, it is often a good idea to break the yolks. This increases the coverage of yolk so that every bite gets some yolk, and it prevents uncooked yolk dripping out.