How to Cook a Sunny Side Up Egg by Erica

A sunny side up egg makes me happy. It’s so visually appealing. It makes a dish look more polished.

But cooking a sunny side up egg can be a challenge. In my book, a successful sunny side up egg has no gross runny egg white, but the yolk is still soft and custardy and bright yellow/orange. This isn’t always easy to achieve.

It took me quite a while to find a method for cooking a sunny side up egg that I felt was reliable. Along the way, I learned a few tricks that help me to get a well-cooked egg consistently.

Today I’d like to show you a few different methods for how to cook a sunny side up egg, and let you know which one is my favorite!

 
 

Basting

Start by melting a good amount of butter (at least a tablespoon) over medium heat.

 
 

Add the egg. Once the white starts to turn opaque, start to spoon the hot butter over the egg. Make sure to avoid getting the butter on top of the yolk, otherwise it will turn white.

 
 

This method works fairly well, but it results in a very greasy egg. Now, I’m not one to shy away from grease, but the egg just isn’t as pretty this way.

 
 

Steaming

Melt a bit of butter over medium heat. Crack in the egg. Once the white starts to become opaque, pour in about a tablespoon or so of water.

 
 

Immediately cover the pan to trap the steam.

 
 

Cook until the white is no longer runny.

 
 

This method makes a nicely cooked egg, but it’s hard to avoid the yolk becoming white, which kind of ruins the whole point of a sunny side up egg. Not the best for presentation.

 
 

Low and slow

This method is really easy. Simply melt some butter over medium-high heat, crack in the egg, turn the heat down to medium-low, and wait for the white to cook through.

 
 

This method works pretty well, but it takes a l-o-n-g time for the white to become completely cooked through.

 
 

Combination

This is the method that I use most often. It’s a combination of the “low and slow” and steam methods.

Melt some butter over medium heat. Crack in the egg, turn the heat down to medium-low, and wait for the white to become opaque. Using a knife, scrape some of the egg white nearest the yolk out toward the edge. The white nearest the center takes the longest to cook for some reason.

 
 

If needed, you can also cover the pan for a minute or two to make sure the white isn’t runny at all. You don’t need to add any water.

 
 

I like this method because it’s fairly quick, the yolk stays bright yellow/orange, and you can control how much the white gets cooked.

 
 

Baking

Pour about 2 teaspoons of avocado oil into a cold pan. Crack in an egg. Bake in a 400ºF oven for about 5–7 minutes, or until the white is completely cooked.

 
 

Boom. Perfectly cooked sunny side up egg.

Now, the reason I don’t use this method as often is because it requires you to preheat the oven first (it takes my oven about 15 minutes to get up to 400ºF). But if you’re already cooking bacon in the oven, or you baked some muffins, scones, etc., this method is perfect! Your oven will already be hot, and it will only take you 5 minutes to cook your egg! Great for weekends or when you have a slow start to your day.

One thing to remember is that the white doesn’t get crispy with the baking method. This might be ideal for some people, but others really like those crispy edges.

 
 

Learning how to cook a sunny side up egg is a fun skill to master. I hope this guide will lend you the confidence to give it a try!

 
 

If you’re already a sunny side up wizard, make sure to share your favorite tips with us in the comments!

Notes:
1. I used a cast iron pan to cook all of these eggs.
2. I learned the baking method from Angela Roberts of the blog Spinach Tiger.