Perfect Scrambled Eggs
Eggs cooked slowly with butter until they set in soft curds. Eleven minutes and there is nothing else in them.
Photograph credit: Perfect scrambled farm eggs @planeta by judywitts · CC BY 2.0 · Flickr
Make Ahead and Storage
None. Eat within a minute of leaving the pan.
Perfect Scrambled Eggs: The Method
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Beat the eggs thoroughly with a fork until the whites and yolks are completely combined. Do not salt them.
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Melt the butter in a non-stick pan over a low heat.
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Pour the eggs in and leave them 30 seconds.
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Stir slowly and continuously with a spatula, scraping the base, for 4 minutes.
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Keep the heat low. If the pan gets ahead of you, lift it off for 10 seconds and keep stirring.
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When the eggs are set in soft curds but still glossy and slightly loose, take the pan off the heat.
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Stir in the cream, salt and pepper.
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Pile onto the buttered toast (optional), scatter the chives over and eat immediately.
Related guide: Ingredient substitutions.
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Worth Knowing
- Low heat, constant stirring, and lift the pan when it runs ahead.
- Off the heat while still glossy.
- Salt at the end.
Some Background
Take the pan off the heat while the eggs still look slightly underdone and glossy. They carry on cooking in their own heat for another thirty seconds, and eggs that looked right in the pan are dry on the plate. Salt at the end, not the beginning: salt added early breaks down the proteins and the eggs weep water as they cook.
Serving Ideas
Buttered sourdough toast · Smoked salmon · Black coffee
Swaps and Variations
- In a sauce, full-fat crème fraîche can usually take the place of the double cream; single cream is thinner and more likely to split if it boils, so keep it below a simmer.
The Numbers per Serving
Per serving, an approximate calculation from the ingredient list. Treat it as a rough guide: part of the energy comes from foods, or weights per item, with no recorded source. How the figures are worked out.
Gluten-free when served without the buttered toast.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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