What can I make with eggs?
Eggs turn into dinner faster than almost anything else in the fridge. These recipes use eggs, and the method notes below cover the three techniques that cover almost every situation.
12 recipes with eggs
Classic French Omelette
Silky, pale yellow omelette—no browning, just butter and eggs.
French10m1
Kimchi Fried Rice
Punchy Korean fried rice with kimchi and a fried egg.
Korean15m2Breakfast Quesadilla
Scrambled eggs, cheese, and salsa folded into a toasted flour tortilla.
Mexican-American15m2Egg Fried Rice
Wok-tossed day-old rice with egg, scallion, and soy.
Chinese15m4Kale Caesar Salad
Hearty kale tossed in creamy Caesar dressing.
American15m4
Classic Caesar Salad
Crisp romaine with garlicky anchovy dressing and parmesan.
American15m4
Monte Cristo Sandwich
Ham, turkey, and Swiss battered and griddled French-toast style.
American20m4
Shrimp Fried Rice
Quick wok-style fried rice with shrimp and eggs.
Chinese20m3Spaghetti Carbonara
Roman pasta with eggs, pecorino, and crispy guanciale.
Italian20m2
Cobb Salad
Chopped salad with chicken, egg, avocado, bacon, and blue cheese.
American20m4
Tonkatsu
Crisp panko-crusted pork cutlets with tangy tonkatsu sauce.
Japanese22m4
Classic Spaghetti Carbonara
Silky Roman pasta with eggs, pecorino, and crispy guanciale.
Italian25m4
eggs: the three methods worth knowing
- 1Soft scramble: low heat, constant stirring, off the heat while still glossy.
- 2Jammy boiled: 7 minutes in already-boiling water, then straight into ice water for 2 minutes so the shell slips off.
- 3Fried with crisp edges: hot pan, generous fat, spoon the fat over the white until set.
- 4In every method, salt at the end for a cleaner set and a softer texture.
What goes well with eggs
Eggs is at its best with butter, cheese, spinach, scallion, toast and black pepper. Any two or three of those, plus eggs, is already a dinner rather than an ingredient list.
Storing eggs
Store eggs sealed and cool, and use the oldest stock first. If it is close to turning, cook it rather than throwing it out - roasting, soup, and a quick sauce all forgive slightly past-peak ingredients.
Substituting eggs
If you are out of eggs, look for something that behaves the same way in the pan rather than something that tastes the same. Match the moisture level, the cooking time, and the richness, and adjust the liquid slightly if your substitute releases more water. When in doubt, describe what you actually have in the chat and Mr. Chef will rewrite the recipe around it.
Eggs recipes: common questions
- What can I make with eggs and not much else?
- Plenty. With eggs plus an onion, garlic, oil, and salt you already have the base of a skillet dinner, a soup, or a simple sauce. Add a starch - rice, pasta, bread, or potatoes - and it becomes a full meal. The recipes above are ordered so the ones needing the fewest extra items come first.
- What is the quickest eggs recipe?
- Look for the entries above marked 20 minutes or less. As a rule, anything cut small and cooked in a hot pan beats anything roasted whole, and one-pan recipes save more time in cleanup than in cooking.
- Can I substitute eggs?
- In most recipes yes, as long as the replacement plays a similar role - similar moisture, similar cooking time, similar richness. Swapping across roles (a watery vegetable for a starchy one, for instance) usually needs a change in liquid or cooking time too.
- How do I use up leftover eggs?
- Fried rice, a frittata, a grain bowl, a soup, or a quesadilla will absorb almost any leftover eggs without a recipe. If you want something specific, tell Mr. Chef exactly what is in the fridge and it will build a recipe around it.