Back to Basics: How to Make Really Good Scrambled Eggs
Every month, we’ll take a deep dive into a simple technique or piece of kitchen wisdom that will change the way you cook. Back to Basics isn’t about memorizing another recipe — it’s about learning something so well you don’t need one.
Our first topic is scrambled eggs. When they’re good, omg they’re good. When they’re bad, eek! A few small decisions will give you a tender scramble with big, glossy curds every time. Here are eight rules:
1. Salt your eggs before you cook them. How much salt? I’m so happy you asked! For every two large eggs, use 1/8 teaspoon of kosher salt. And this is important: Add the salt before you whisk the eggs. Salt helps the proteins hold onto moisture as they cook, which means very tender eggs.
2. Whisk more than you think you need to. Use an actual whisk, not a fork. A whisk brings more air into the mixture and helps it homogenize properly. Once you break up the yolks, keep going until the eggs are completely combined into a uniform, frothy yellow with no streaks of egg white. That’s about 20 to 30 seconds of good elbow grease.
3. Skip the dairy, but add flavor. You don’t need milk, cream, or crème fraîche to make tender scrambled eggs. Dairy can make the eggs watery, causing them to cook longer; plus, it dilutes the rich egg taste. But if you want to add a little grated cheese, dried herbes de Provence, thinly sliced chives, a pinch of red pepper flakes, or lots of black pepper, now is the time.
4. Use the right size skillet. For two to four eggs, use an eight-inch nonstick skillet and move up a size as your egg count increases. A giant skillet spreads the eggs into a thin layer; a smaller skillet gives them enough depth to form big, beautiful curds.
5. Go easy on the heat. Don’t crank the burner to high and let it rip. Set your skillet over medium-low heat and add a small pat of unsalted butter. Tilt the skillet as the butter melts to coat the bottom. When the butter is foamy but not browned, that’s your cue to add the eggs.
6. Push, don’t stir. Pour the eggs into the skillet and leave them alone. You’ll see a thin layer start to set around the edges. Now use a silicone spatula to gently push the cooked egg from the edge toward the center. Raw egg will flood in to fill the empty space. Let it set, then push again.
7. Cut the heat when they get close. When the eggs are mostly set, turn off the heat and fold them gently. The last 20 or 30 seconds are when good scrambled eggs become overcooked scrambled eggs.
8. Plate them before they look done. This is the big one, and you just have to trust me. The eggs have enough residual heat to keep cooking after they leave the skillet, so when you have soft curds that still look slightly wetter and glossier than you ultimately want them, get them onto a plate. By the time you sit down, they’ll be perfect.
Since I was little, my favorite way to eat scrambled eggs has been piling them on buttered toast. But you can also veer diner-style with bacon, hash browns, anything you like. Enjoy!
Casey Elsass is a food writer, recipe developer, and cookbook author based in Brooklyn. He is the author of the bestselling cookbook What Can I Bring?: Recipes to Help You Live Your Guest Life and has co-authored more than 30 cookbooks. His writing has appeared in publications including The New York Times, New York Magazine, Bon Appétit, NPR, Food52, and, of course, Cup of Jo.
P.S. Three favorite egg recipes, and a soft scramble with shallots and comté.
(Photos by Pacifico Silano.)
Tags: Back to Basics
Comments
76 commentsThis advice has improved my eggs drastically, thank you!
I use a titanium pan low heat and butter , cook long and slow. About 15 minutes in total. It’s not quick but a five star chef taught me Add salt and white pepper just before the end with an extra know of butter
Add a little mustard (spice, not the condiment). Eggscellent!
Love a perfectly scrambled egg! Thinking I’ll try a few thin shards of cold salted butter stirred in at the end as a flourish…
You can never go wrong with extra butter! I love my scrambled eggs. I had read some time ago about adding the salt before you cook them and also that you cannot have too much butter in them. I swear by both recs ! And I love them.
Maybe it’s the Texas in me, but I always love hearing everyone’s favorite hot sauces for scrambled eggs. I’m a Crystal girl for life, but I dabble in Valentina. Anyone else do hot sauce?
I do! I usually make my own salsa, but also keep a bottle of Rancho Gordo’s La Paloma Mild Sauce for Hot People (they have hotter sauces but those are out of my league). I will check out Crystal and Valentina, thanks for the suggestions. I am a condiment enthusiast. :)
Oh my gosh, what a great name for a hot sauce! I’ll check yours out too!
momofuku’s regular chili crisp for the win. It’s the best one and I’ve tried a bunch.
Haha I always prefer Tabasco on my eggs
Californian here, but I love a little heat on a scarmbled. I don’t discriminate on the sauces. Herewith a sampling: green Tabasco, Frank’s Red Hot,Tapatio, Cholula, TRUFF hot sauce (the jalapeno lime! And OG)–chef’s kiss. +1 for chili crisps. Lately been love the chili crisp hybrid from Mar Mar–chef’s kiss! https://ilovemarmar.com/?srsltid=AU7gw4W2HGZaVsJkiRpnP-jxG_Av5VJnBgUg34MX7_OF1g0alpGv8tRn
I appreciate the focus on science, patience and trust as necessary factors in achieving an eggceptional scramble. Thank-you! It’s the last part “By the time you sit down, they’ll be perfect.” that I’m struggling with. It’s a tiny time window for cooked eggs to be consumed before they become perfectly cooked “cold eggs”. I call out to my ADD spouse that breakfast is ready and they say they’re coming – 5+ minutes later they sit down. Sometimes I’ll preheat plates to chill the chill factor of eggs on a cold plate, but it often feels that the ship has sailed when beginning to eat my attempts at “perfectly cooked” eggs. And when my sister visits, she’ll douse ketchup onto all eggs. I try not to take it personally, since it’s a 60 year old habit and I’m confident she’d request ketchup when eating eggs Benedict in Paris. But when my partner walks into the kitchen saying she loves seeing me cooking breakfast with a tangled morning bed head and lands me a crazy passionate kiss of deep affection, I’ve learned to add cold eggs to the menu. For me, cooking perfectly imperfect eggs is a process of letting go and being in the moment.
When my eggs need to wait a bit before my husband is ready to eat — I usually a big omelet and split it for us — I pile it back on one plate and invert the pan over it. That keeps them warm for a little while.
This is exactly how I make them, except I do add a bit of milk to the mix first, and a bit of salt again when plated. I always try to leave alone in the pan for the first 30 seconds and just gently tilt pan and push, tilt and push a few times… it’s one of my few clad iron go-tos!
A couple more ways to make scrambled eggs, from Gordon Ramsay and Jean-Georges Vongerichten. https://kottke.org/16/01/how-to-make-perfect-soft-scrambled-eggs
This was a fun read! I actually was taught to add water when making scrambled eggs. I’ll have to try it this way too!
I needed this
My kids love Burger King egg and cheese croissant-wiches and I found a recipe that replicates them perfectly at home; it said what Casey said – do not use dairy and whisk, whisk, whisk until it’s all light and frothy. I didn’t know the salting tip but will be trying it next time for perfect BK sandwiches.
Loving the Back to Basics tutorials-very well done! Can I ask what brand skillet was use? Thanks!
I came here to say two things. 1. at first i read “eighty steps” and i was like WOAH i have been cooking eggs wrong! 2. What pans is everyone using/loving? I’m in the market for a new and long lasting set
1. LOL! 2. Hexclad. We have the set from Costco with three size + lids. Love them. My husband is a fantastic cook and was constantly rotating through fry pans, but these he’s used for years and now buys for other people. They get heavy use in our household – including by teens who are not careful with them – and still look brand new. The small one is perfect for a single serving of scambled eggs.
I stand by my OLD cast iron. It takes awhile to find them unless you’re willing to pay a lot, but they’re worth it. I have two 1905 Erie skillets that were a mess. I followed a lady around in the goodwill hoping she’d put them back (which she did!) and I couldn’t be happier. They’re smooth, eggs slide right out. Enameled cast iron works well too.
I’ve had great results with cuisinart nonstick pans.
I have a Caraway non-stick, but have become kind of infatuated with the stainless clad saucier that I bought from Made In Cookware. I’ve been considering buying a small 8″ pan.
I use stainless steel. A bit of a learning curve as they are not nonstick, but you learn to keep heat low and not put anything into the pan until it’s heated. Love them because they can go in both the oven and the dishwasher.
I loved how you wrote this. All the details were so good. And tender like the eggs!
I came to say the same- very conversational
These look wonderful… but I’m here for the Boeuf glass! Its incredible!
A tiny whisk was one of my friends items she brought to a favorite things party we have every December. I used it so much that when it got mangled in the garbage disposal I immediately went to replace it. Never knew I needed one and that is the real beauty of our favorite things party. It’s like rec league in real life!
My aunt gave everyone in the family a tiny whisk at Christmas last year, and we all went nuts for them! It’s now one of the most-used items in my kitchen.
I save and reuse the glass Oui yogurt containers. One of the many uses is when I’m making scrambled eggs. I put 1- 2 eggs in the clean jar and whisk them with my tiny whisk. It’s the only one that fits!
Yes! Love my tiny whisk!
Wow those are beautiful eggs. I love the simplicity.
I had already decided tonight was a no cook night and that I was having eggs for dinner and then I come here and voila! What a gift.
Yum! My kids would call these “Elmers eggs” — it’s a local diner chain that apparently makes eggs “the right way, mom.” I make them at home in my magic-cast-iron pan (Erie cast in 1905, smooth as silk).
Does anyone have a small whisk reccs? All of mine suck!
Years ago, Binging with Babish suggested these mini-whisks as one of the most important tools in the kitchen because they can be used for eggs, salad dressing, joyfully stirring cream into your coffee, in my case mixing baby formula, you name it: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R6T8JPV?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_2 We use them every single day. I just saw that I bought them in May 2020, fresh into the pandemic. We keep them in a narrow jar next to our coffee station.
You can also use a blender or an immersion blender if you have enough volume.
Get a hot chocolate whisk from Williams Sonoma
I love my mini whisk from GIR and it’s still standing after years of service!
Casey you have such great ideas for monthly series! I love all of these.
This is just perfect. I need these step by step instructions and am so grateful you wrote this! TY!
I realize I’m in the minority when I tell you I can only eat scrambled eggs when they’re super dry. Any “wet” eggs- or god forbid, an uncooked, unscrambled yolk- taste like Good tips for when I’m cooking for others, though!
I like my scrambles dry, too, even though runny eggs in over easy-style is fine, as long as there’s toast to dip in it. I actually brown my eggs because I love the crispiness. And I add chives, salt, and pepper while cooking. Freeze dried chives are fine if I don’t have fresh.
I’m with you – my approach is to scramble them with bacon.
Try an upgraded egg! You might feel differently
haha, the title made me think “best for whom” because I swear everyone in our house has a different definition of the Best Scrambled Eggs. To the point where one of my kids when they were little would only eat them made by one family member because no one else could replicate them, lol. FWIW, Casey, I agree with you on all points!!! I feel vindicated! I’m an advocate for pre-salting the eggs myself, but it’s highly controversial in our kitchen.
Same! I love all these tips but also don’t like wet scrambled eggs – they ick me out for some reason
Preaching to the choir…I will never eat wet eggs. I don’t do eggs with a runny yolk…my eggs must be well mixed so the resulting scramble shows no white bits…I have sent eggs back if they aren’t well mixed. I am great at making sunny side up eggs for others, but won’t eat them myself…and I order omelets well done…or they will get sent back as well!
10000000% I don’t care if I’m wrong, but I can’t stand a wet egg. My mom always called them “dog drool” eggs. Overcooked dry eggs for life!
Not in the minority, apparently! I still recall a sleepover in high school where I swear Sue’s mother forgot to put the scrambled eggs in the pan!! I can’t stomach a runny egg white but slightly soft yolks in a fried egg is ok. Restaurants can never get it right, so I just order them scrambled or over hard. And cold eggs are ok! That’s how hard boiled are usually served, right? I learned these steps from my mom, whose fluffy scrambled eggs set the standard.
I love the level of detail in these instructions! Can’t wait for more recipes/tips in future columns. I’m also laughing because, much to my husband’s chagrin, the method described and result picture is the exact opposite of my preference :) I basically want an omelet all piled up. Hard scramble for life! haha
Absolutely love these posts! Thank you, Casey!
Love this series! More please!
LOL scrambled eggs give me the ick but I read this whole post because Casey is that good!❤️
That is a REAL compliment! Thank you Roxanne <3
Same here. I don’t eat eggs of any kind, but love Casey’s writing
I’m going to try this method this week with hopes it changes my 8 y.o. son’s mind about scrambled eggs! Casey, I so enjoy your posts! Thank you!
I can’t wait for the report!
This made me laugh – only about 1 time in 20 do we get scrambled eggs ‘just right’ according to my 8 year old son. #eyeroll He likes them pretty wet, but even when we get that right, they are never quite the same as the *exact* way he likes them, and he will leave them uneaten on the plate. We need to buy a copy of the Princess and the Pea I think :) In the meantime, my senior dog gets extra cold scrambled eggs added to his bowl on the regular.
Love this series, thanks Casey! Such a delight to read your work on CoJ.
Can we talk about the pan? We adore scramble eggs in my family but can never figure out the right pan to use and pretty sure I’ve used them all. Teflon is going to kill us. I might kill someone if I use cast iron, I can never get enough butter to make not make it a cleaning nightmare (or it might kill me with all the butter I have to use). . . . What are your favorites?
Hi Lindsey, I use Lodge cast iron pans all the time. The key is to season them properly, quick Google search will show you how. Then most times I just wipe with a paper towel after using or re-season lightly after washing. Properly seasoned, you won’t need to use heaps of butter to prevent sticking.
Modern Teflon (polytetrafluoroethylene or PTFE) is safe as long as you keep it within an appropriate temp range, so that’s what I use! I get frustrated with cast iron too, and stainless steel takes some practice to get that perfect non-stick surface. So with eggs I just take the easy way!
I just use a stainless steel skillet. I heat the pan first, then add butter until it foams, then add the eggs.
I’ve had really good luck with a ceramic nonstick pan!
Wirecutter has an article about Teflon alternatives. I bought an OXO carbon steel frypan and it’s pretty good.
I’m a big Lodge cast iron fan, but I admit it can be a matter of years to get the surface to a beautiful nonstick—for a faster option, enameled cast iron is really good. And although Le Creuset is still the gold standard, I’ve bought a few pieces of enameled cast iron from World Market over the past few years, and I am *thoroughly* impressed. Really similar quality to LC at maybe half the price (or less).
Casey, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you saying that you getting frustrated with cast iron too (there are dozens of us!) thanks for this post! scrambled eggs for dinner it is!
The SAGA of non-stick pans! After eschewing forever chemicals (and also not wanting to support Dupont’s spin-off companies since they like literally poisoned the world), I spent ten years buying various nonstick “green” ceramic pans that would inevitably lose their surface finish within six months. I’ve always found traditional cast iron way too heavy for something like frying an egg, and new Lodge pans seem to be more pitted on the surface than I’d like. Two years ago I bought two French carbon steel frying pans, followed America’s Test Kitchen’s procedure for seasoning them, and accepted that they will look a little ratty for a few years until they are fully blackened. They are still a bit spotty, but they fry eggs and fish and anything else sticky and fragile really well, and I like knowing that the seasoning is just polymerized oil. I bought Matfer Bourgeat pans, but I think de Buyer and Mauviel are also good depending on what kind of handle one prefers. I guess one can buy the pre-seasoned carbon steel from Made In, but I liked the idea of controlling my own seasoning and the unseasoned pans from France tend to be cheaper. Mainly, I’m happy to stop thinking about it!
I have been trying to use a simple stainless pan and the pre-heat until water skitters across the surface of the metal before adding oil, dropping the heat and letting the oil warm until it shimmers, and then adding egg. I just about sobbed the first time I fried eggs in my stainless pan and they slipped right off – pure magic! Except in the form of the ‘Leidenfrost effect’. It took a while to perfect, and the preheating is the part that requires patience, but when it works, it REALLY works! https://www.americastestkitchen.com/articles/8156-how-to-make-stainless-steel-nonstick?extcode=KGNAM0024&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=Non-Brand_PMax_Articles&utm_term=&utm_content=|pcrid||pkw||pdv|c|pmt||productid||pgrid||cpgnid|22659649385|ptaid||adext||&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22659649199&gbraid=0AAAAAD-Lx3rHHjsXZZY0ONhuvNR1SsmXU&gclid=Cj0KCQjw5vLVBhCiARIsAD56SFIdiWxxNp48JuyTS_BLF1Pt42XoLlGTBj15uqKVtuDdIZFw4EFnZswaAo3nEALw_wcB
We have a nonstick pan from Caraway that I like a lot, and it works very well for eggs.
I’m happy to report I do all but 3 and 7, which are super easy adjustments I’ll try next time I make scrambled eggs. I love eggs. Before marriage, I could easily go through a dozen in two weeks. They’re such an easy source of protein. Unfortunately, my husband does not so there are no more eggs for dinner. LAME! PS. I’m loving the new direction Wednesday food days are taking us. Thank you Casey!!
you might enjoy this piece, Jane!! https://cupofjo.com/2013/10/16/he-saidshe-said-eating-dinner-alone/
Wow I’ve been a reader for a long time and I really really really love this series more than a lot of the content here (in terms of personal excitement). Fascinating – didn’t know this about dairy, amount of whisking, when to add salt – and personally like really specific learning content in general. What I’d love added to this is a small not about “the lessons about scrambled eggs also apply to X Y or Z” — if there’s significant overlap from one of these lessons to something else common in cooking, and it’s easy to say, that would be cool to know.
Oh wow, I love that idea! I’ll definitely incorporate into future columns when it applies!