Simple Basted Eggs

On a busy weekday morning, you may be craving a hot breakfast to get you going but don’t have the time to make anything fancy. On days like these, the best breakfast you can have is basted eggs.

Simple Basted Eggs

When you have a busy morning ahead of you, making 4–6 eggs at once will save you time and effort. These eggs are steamed in a small amount of butter and water, which creates solid whites and soft, creamy yolks. 

If you struggle to cook the perfect egg, then basting them will completely change the game for you. You won’t have to worry about breaking the yolk or over/under cooking your eggs ever again by using this method, so get ready to make a super healthy and very easy breakfast. 

Learn how to baste eggs to bring out the rich taste of fresh eggs while reducing the amount of fat in them. Once you do, you’ll wonder why you’ve never tried this dish before!

Keep reading to learn all about basted eggs and how to make this simple and easy recipe. 

What Is A Basted Egg? 

To make a basted egg, people typically heat the egg in fat (often butter) and then spoon some of that butter over the egg while it’s still cooking. 

Many people like this cooking method because it means that you don’t have to flip the egg over to cook the top, which is usually what causes the yolk to break. 

The problem with using butter to baste an egg is that it gives the egg a very high-saturated-fat level, which, despite its delicious flavor, is very unhealthy if you eat it often. 

Luckily, you can still make basted eggs by using steam instead, which makes the eggs taste almost identical to when butter is used, except these will have significantly less fat and so be much healthier. 

Basted Eggs Vs Poached Eggs 

If you love poached eggs, then you may be wondering what the difference between these cooking methods is. 

Typically, eggs are poached by placing them in a pan with boiling water (often with vinegar added) and covering the pan with a lid. The white of a poached egg will be solid, but the yolk will be runny.

Basted eggs are usually made by cooking the egg in a pan filled with butter or oil and a tiny amount of water. The water slowly evaporates as the lid is kept on, which results in the eggs being steamed. 

Simple Basted Eggs 

This recipe is a lot healthier than others you may find, as it uses only a light coating of butter (or cooking spray) to keep the egg from sticking to the pan. 

Instead of simmering the egg in butter and oil, this recipe calls for just a light covering of butter which will give you a good flavor without being too unhealthy. 

Because you don’t have a lot of fat to baste the egg with, we’re going to make steam by adding a tablespoon of water on top of the egg and then closing the pan with a lid. This will help the egg cook more evenly.

There’s no need to flip the egg because it will be ready in only a couple of minutes and give you a perfectly runny yolk.

Basted Egg Recipe 

Ingredients

  • 1 big egg
  • Cooking spray, but butter or olive oil is preferable.
  • 1 teaspoon of water 
  • Salt, pepper, or any additional seasonings of your choosing (optional).

Method 

  • Put a small saucepan on the stove and set the temperature to medium. After the pan has warmed up just a little bit, lightly coat it with butter or cooking spray that contains olive oil.
  • Add your egg to the pan very carefully, taking care not to scramble it or break the yolk. Include your preferred herbs and spices.
  • Allow the egg to cook for approximately a minute to a minute and a half, or until the whites begin to set.
  • After this, pour one tablespoon of water over each of the eggs. Then as soon as you’re done, cover the pan with a lid.
  • Cook for one to two minutes, or until a thin film of opaque white begins to form over the surface of the egg yolk.
  • Immediately take off the lid, and remove the pan from the heat source.
  • Serve however you like your eggs, like on toast for example.

Top Tips For Making Basted Eggs 

  • Keeping a close eye on these eggs throughout cooking is essential to making sure you get perfect eggs. Many people have a preference on how they like their eggs to be cooked, whether it be runny or a bit well done, so watch it until it’s the perfect doneness for you.
  • If you want your eggs to be cooked in an over-easy fashion, you should remove the lid from the pan as soon as you notice an opaque white film beginning to cover the bottom of the egg yolk. Then, carefully slide the eggs onto a platter.
  • If, on the other hand, you want yolks with less runniness, you should hold off on removing the eggs until the entire yolk has a film of white covering it before doing so.

4 Ways To Cook Eggs 

Eggs are very easy to cook as there are only 4 basic ways to do it. Everything else is just extra steps. The many kinds of eggs can be prepared in essentially the same way; the only difference is the amount of time they are cooked for.

Sunnyside-Up Eggs 

Before we get into this one, you should know that this is the only preparation method that you cannot do when basting an egg.

This is because, during basting, the raw egg yolk is covered with cooked egg white and butter, which then cooks the yolk. Instead of poaching the egg, you will need to fry it if you want it to be served with the sunny side up.

In a sunnyside-up egg, the egg yolk stays untouched on top of the egg while the egg whites finish cooking. Because the egg is not flipped, the yolk can be seen throughout the cooking process. This method gives you a very runny yolk. 

Over-Easy Eggs

Eggs cooked to an over-easy consistency are the first level of cooking you can do using basted eggs. They have a runny yolk, although the yolk is not as obvious. When you baste the egg, the white that is sitting on top of the yolk will turn cloudy.

Over-Medium Eggs 

Eggs cooked over medium might have yolks that are only mildly runny. Eggs cooked to a temperature above medium typically have yolks that are only partially cooked all the way through. 

If you cut open the egg that has been basted, you will notice that the liquid yolk is encircled by the yolk that has solidified. 

By applying pressure to the exterior of the yolk, you should be able to determine whether or not the egg is done. It should still be relatively soft and have some bounce to it.

Over-Hard Eggs 

The yolks of eggs cooked over hard are entirely cooked through. You have the option of either rupturing the yolk, which will speed up the process, or you can let the yolk firm without breaking it. 

Breaking the yolk might be a better option as it allows it to spread evenly throughout the egg as it cooks. If you want a really yolky flavor though you can leave the egg intact. 

Summary

If you have a busy morning, but you still want a hot breakfast, then a basted egg is the perfect option for you. We hope you love this very simple basted egg recipe!

Lindsey Morgan
Latest posts by Lindsey Morgan (see all)

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *