These sunny-side up eggs are so easy to make, and you can eat them on almost anything. Make 'em for a healthy breakfast with toast, throw 'em on top of your chilaquiles for brunch, put one on a burger—the options are endless. I'll even top a bowl of fried rice with one when I'm feeling daring.
For true sunny-side-up eggs, you just crack an egg into a skillet and let it cook until the underside is done. However, because the top of the egg never touches the heat at all, the whites can be on the underdone side and the yolks can turn out way too runny and cool. Some people like eggs like this. Rocky Balboa, for example. But I don’t happen to be one of them. One method for remedying this involves steaming the eggs by sticking the lid on the skillet while the eggs are cooking. But I like prefer the method of spooning hot oil over the top of the egg... probably because it involves fat. I’m sorry. I have to be me. This method makes picture-perfect eggs every time!
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- Yields:
- 6 serving(s)
- Prep Time:
- 5 mins
- Cook Time:
- 5 mins
- Total Time:
- 10 mins
Ingredients
Directions
- Step1Heat some canola oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat (not too hot!). There should be just enough oil to just cover the edges of the egg when it’s cracked in the pan.
- Step2Once the oil is mildly hot, crack in 3 eggs, one at a time. (Note: work in batches—three eggs are about as many as I can tend to at a time.) The whites should remain clear for several seconds before they start to turn white.
- Step3Once the eggs begin to turn white, use a small spoon to carefully spoon the hot oil over only the whites of the eggs (avoiding the yolks). This will help the whites cook slowly so the top will set but still look pretty. *Important: Don’t spoon any oil over the yolks yet! Only spoon oil over the whites for now to prevent the eggs from turning cloudy.
- Step4After a minute or two of cooking, once the whites are set/not jiggly and loose, carefully spoon the oil over the yolks. Continue spooning the oil over the eggs until they appear to be the doneness you want.
- Step5Remove the eggs from the pan with a slotted spatula, then drain them briefly on a paper towel before serving.
Important: You need a nonstick skillet. I’ve tried this method with regular skillets and it just never works for me. Add a small amount of canola oil to the skillet—not enough to have much depth to it at all. (Note: you can also use butter OR bacon grease if you’re into those sorts of things. But those bring along some particles and some color, and you won’t wind up with as pristine an egg. Not that that really matters in the grand scheme of human history, but I thought I’d mention it.)
Heat the canola oil over medium heat. You don’t want it too, too hot, as you’re going to cook the eggs pretty slowly. You don’t want the oil so hot that the egg sizzles and turns white the second you crack it in! The whites should remain clear for several seconds before they start to turn white.
Sorry to be bossy. I’ve had lots of trial and error with this one and I want to save you the emotional pain.
Oh, and one other thing. I snapped some of these very photos as I was filming the segment for the TV show (a few of them were taken weeks earlier) so I missed photographing some steps along the way. I blame my nervousness in front of the camera, my preoccupation with my hair, and my third grade teacher.
So here’s what you do:
1. Once the oil is mildly hot, crack in an egg. (Note: three is about as many as I can tend to at a time.) The oil should not cover the whites; if anything, it should just come over the edges a tiny bit.
2. Once the eggs begin to turn white, use a small spoon to carefully spoon the hot oil over the whites only. Go from egg to egg, spooning the oil over the whites. This will help the whites cook slowly so that they won’t be slimy. *Important: Don’t spoon any oil over the yolks yet!
3. After a minute or two, touch the whites of one of the eggs and make sure they’re set/not jiggly and loose. At that time, you can spoon oil over the yolks to help them set on the surface.
*Note: The reason you need to wait before spooning hot oil over the yolks is that immediately after cracking the eggs into the pan, there is still egg white covering the yolk. If you were to spoon the hot oil over the yolk immediately, it would cause the white on the yolk to turn white, which will result in the yolk having a cloudy covering like the yolk in these two photos:
And that’s a tragic thing! On the other hand, if you wait, the egg will settle into the skillet and the whites will sheet over the sides of the yolk and eventually leave mostly yolk there. So a minute or two into the process, if you spoon the hot oil over the yolk, you won’t get that cloudy appearance.
To repeat: the two photos above are a cautionary tale.
I’m exhausted.
4. Continue spooning the oil over the egg until it appears to be as done as you’d like. (You can gauge it by lightly jiggling it or poking it with the spoon.)
5. Remove the eggs from the pan with a slotted spatula, then–this is important–drain them briefly on a paper towel before serving. (I fold a paper towel and hold it in my left hand, then place the egg on the towel with my right hand, then I just slide it onto the plate! You can also just keep the egg on the spatula and pat the bottom of the spatula on the paper towel to try to get most of the oil off the egg.)
And that’s it! This is a neat-o method, guys. Once I learned it and practiced a bit, I had some fun with it. It’s particularly fun if you’re cooking for guests and you want your breakfast dish to look really yummy and inviting. It’s also great for food bloggers or food stylists who need picture-perfect eggs.
But it’s also a lot of fun for kids because the eggs stay bright yellow and white and look like…well, like fake eggs, which kids get a kick out of. The only thing you really need to keep an eye on is the oil/fat and making sure you dab it/drain it off as much as you can.
Enjoy!
