Soft boiled eggs make the perfect breakfast, either eaten whole or serve as dippy eggs with some buttery toast soldiers.
However, anyone that’s tried making some themselves will know how hard it is to get them just right. So, here’s how to make the perfect soft boiled eggs, with a delicately runny yolk every time.
Make sure to serve these soft boiled eggs as Dippy Eggs with Toast Soldiers! Or, you want something different, why not try some Sunny Side Up Eggs instead?
Perfect Soft Boiled Eggs
The secret to making the perfect soft boiled eggs is in making sure that you don’t over or undercook them.
If you don’t cook them enough, you’re left with gross, gooey white bits, but if you cook them too much, your eggs turn to chalk.
This recipe uses a secret technique that every soft boiled egg lover should always prepare in advance – some ice water. By quickly submerging the cooked eggs in ice water, the eggs stop cooking, avoiding them gradually becoming chalky hard boiled eggs over time.
Perfect Soft Boiled Eggs Ingredients
This is just a quick list of ingredients, so please see the printable recipe card at the bottom for the precise amounts.
- Eggs
- Ice water
How to Make Perfect Soft Boiled Eggs
- Boil enough water to cover your eggs completely in a saucepan big enough to fit them
- Lower each egg into the boiling water using a slotted spoon
- Bring back to a low boil and cook for 6 ½ minutes
- Remove from the boiling water and transfer to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process
- When cool enough to handle, peel, and eat!
Should You Use Refrigerated Eggs or Not?
The difference between cooking with room temperature eggs and fridge cold eggs is actually a lot more significant than you might think.
In fact, whether you should be keeping your eggs in the fridge or on the counter is a topic of debate around the world.
In the US, people are encouraged to keep their eggs in the fridge due to hygiene practices that involve washing the eggs before they are distributed to supermarkets, making them go off a bit quicker, so keeping them in the fridge keeps them fresh longer.
This recipe is calculated for fridge cold eggs, which are the standard in North America. If you live somewhere that doesn’t refrigerate your eggs, make sure to reduce the cooking time to avoid making hard boiled eggs.
5 minutes 45 seconds is a good time to aim for if you are using room temperature eggs.
How Are You Supposed to Peel Your Eggs?
Everyone knows the immense frustration of trying to peel a boiled egg. The little shards of egg peel go every and get stuck on your hands, your plate, and your toast, so what are you supposed to do?
For easier egg peeling, you have two choices: you can either peel it under water or shatter the shell everywhere at once.
Peeling it under water is probably the least messy, but it requires complete confidence in your ability to peel the egg without damaging its soft flesh. If you accidentally pierce the white with your fingernail, you will leak your delicious yolk into the water, completely ruining it.
To avoid potentially watery eggs, try cracking them on your countertop. With your soft boiled eggs gripped tightly, yet gently, in your hand, tap it against your countertop, rotating your egg after each tap.
While it might sound like you shattering the egg too much, by cracking and rotating all over the egg, the entire shell will start to fall apart. Eventually, you’ll be able to take the whole shell off in one smooth peel, making it easy to avoid getting any bits of shell all over your food.
Looking for more delicious Egg recipes? Try these:
Enjoy!
Love,
Karlynn
Perfect Soft Boiled Eggs
Ingredients
- 6 large eggs
Instructions
- Fill a saucepan with just enough water to cover the eggs (once you place them into the pot, you do not place them in now) and place on the stove. Bring to a boil.
- While you are bringing the water to a boil, fill a bowl large enough to fit your eggs in with ice water.
- Once the water is boiling, carefully lower each egg into the boiling water using the slotted spoon.
- Once all of the eggs are in the water, bring back to a low boil. The water should just be bubbling around the eggs.
- Boil for 6 1/2 minutes, then remove from the water with the slotted spoon and immerse into the ice water. Cool the eggs until you are able to handle them.
- Peel them and eat, or use them as dippy eggs with toast soldiers!
Notes
- Here’s a handy article on boiling foods at higher elevations
- Some recipes suggest 6 minutes, I use 6 1/2 minutes and mine are perfect using Costco large eggs.
Nutrition
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