Perfect Poached Eggs

What Are Poached Eggs

A poached egg is an egg that is cooked without its shell in barely simmering water. It has firm whites on the outside and a runny, oozy yolk on the inside.

Poached eggs truly are something special! The best part is cutting into them and watching that beautiful golden yolk ooze out! It’s a thing of beauty and provides an instant sauce to whatever you eat them with.

For years, I found them super intimidating after one horribly failed attempt and would only order them in restaurants. I leaned towards soft boiled eggs for my oozy yolk fix at home. However, with a little practice and following the tips laid out below, I now find them easy to make and enjoy them frequently at home. Woohoo!

Let’s get cracking and make some perfectly poached eggs (without vinegar)!

How To Make Poached Eggs

All you need is an egg (of course!) and a few pieces of equipment: a saucepan, a small fine mesh strainer, some ramekins and a slotted spoon. In a few easy steps, you will be enjoying a perfectly poached egg!

1. Simmer water: Fill a medium saucepan with about 3 inches (8 cm) of water (about 2/3 full). Bring the water to a boil and then reduce heat until barely simmering (between 180-190F or 82-88C on an instant read thermometer).
2. Strain the egg: Crack the egg into a small fine mesh sieve set over a bowl. Carefully swirl the egg in the sieve, letting any loose watery egg whites strain through (this reduces the wispy pieces when cooking).
3. Transfer to ramekin: Transfer the strained egg into a ramekin. If making more than one egg, continue the process using a separate ramekin for each egg. If you are only poaching one egg, you can also choose to skip this step and simply tip the egg into the water from the strainer.
4. Poach the egg: Gently slip the egg into the water by positioning the edge of the ramekin into the water. Slowly and gently stir the water along the pot’s edge in a clockwise motion for 10 seconds with a wooden spoon (this helps to shape the egg more perfectly as it starts to set). Cook for 3-4 minutes. You can poach up to 4 eggs at a time (gently slip them one after another into the water, leaving some space between each one).
5. Remove poached egg: Scoop out the egg with a slotted spoon and transfer to a plate lined with paper towel to remove any excess water before serving.
6. Serve and enjoy: Serve immediately while still warm. Sprinkle over some salt and pepper and dig in!

Helpful Tips For Success

Here are a few tips to help you achieve perfectly poached eggs!

Barely Simmering Water!

Make sure that your water is barely simmering before adding the egg! Wondering what that looks like? You want to see small bubbles coming up off the bottom of the pot but no bubbles breaking the surface of the water (between 180-190F or 82-88C on an instant read thermometer). This is super important for poaching eggs!

Rapid boiling will break up the egg and create a mess. But you also still need the water to be hot enough to set the eggs quickly which is why the water is brought to a boil first before lowering the heat to ensure it is heated through. The small bubbles at the bottom of the pot also help to prevent the egg from sticking to the bottom.

Use A Fine Mesh Sieve

Straining the egg first gives you a more tightly shaped poached egg and reduces the wispy pieces that create a mess in the pot. The egg will have a firmer white and a more watery white. This watery white causes the white wispy bits when cooking. When you use a fine mesh sieve, the watery part will pass through and get strained out. Note: super fresh eggs will have less watery whites.

Use Fresh Cold Eggs

Fresher eggs will hold their shape better since the bonds weaken with age. The same goes for cold eggs! Fridge cold eggs have a tighter structure than room temperature eggs so they will form a neater shape. Therefore, for a perfectly shaped poached egg, it helps to use fresh eggs that are cold from the fridge.

Gently Stir Water

For a more perfectly shaped poached egg, slowly and gently stir the water along the pot’s edge for 10 seconds with a wooden spoon after adding the egg. This gentle motion in the water helps the egg form a beautiful compact shape as it begins to set.

Give Them A Trim

If you want your poached egg to look really perfect, you can cut off any ragged looking bits of whites with some kitchen scissors. Totally unnecessary though unless you want to get super fancy!

Make Ahead + Reheating Tips

Can you poach eggs ahead of time? You sure can! This can be super helpful if you need to make a lot of them or just want to make some for meal prep.

• To Make Ahead: Transfer the cooked poached eggs immediately to an ice water bath to stop the cooking process. Tip: I recommend undercooking them just slightly so the yolks remain runny when reheated.
• To Store: Transfer to a storage container filled with cold water and store in the fridge for 2-3 days.
• To Reheat: For a single poached egg, place some boiling water in a small bowl or cup and add the poached egg for about 30 seconds or until warmed through. To reheat a larger quantity, bring a pot of water to a bare simmer and lower each poached egg into the pot. Turn off the heat and leave them for 30-60 seconds or until warmed through. Remove with a slotted spoon, dab dry with paper towel and serve.

A Few Questions Answered

Ways To Serve Poached Eggs

• Serve With Toast: This is one of the simplest pairings but super delicious and satisfying. Or get fancy by popping a poached egg on top of avocado toast.
• Make Eggs Benedict: A classic option and one of my favorites. This delicious Hollandaise Sauce brings it all together. For a bit of a twist, try this Rosti Eggs Benedict recipe.
• Top a salad: They are amazing on top of hearty salads like this Roasted Asparagus with Egg and Parmesan Salad
• Breakfast Sandwich or Hash: Poached eggs are a welcome addition to an epic breakfast sandwich or breakfast hash.
• Top A Rice Bowl: There is nothing better than watching that oozy golden yolk flow out and act as a sauce!

More Egg Tutorials

Looking to master some other egg cooking methods? Then check these out…

• Soft Boiled Eggs
• Hard Boiled Eggs (both stovetop and Instant Pot methods)
• Different Ways To Cook Eggs – 5 Basics!
• What To Do With Hard Boiled Eggs

⬇ PIN it for later! ⬇