Fried eggs with gooey golden yolks are a breakfast favorite, but flipping them without breaking them can be a challenge. Sunny-side eggs don’t require flipping but often result in a runny yolk and barely set whites, while over-easy eggs need to be flipped, risking them breaking apart and turning into scrambled eggs. However, Meaghan Webster, an egg-cooking enthusiast and founder of Meags Eggs, has found a simple way to cook perfect over-easy fried eggs without the need for flipping. Meaghan revealed: “I tried to like frying eggs over-easy. Except it wasn’t that easy, and I chose the lazy option. So I regularly practice the lid method instead. “Letting the heat of a pan cook the bottom of an egg, and covering the pan to steam the top of the egg.”
According to Meaghan, this straightforward recipe requires “no egg gymnastics required”, as all you need to do is let the heat reach the top of the egg to cook it perfectly without flipping. Simply add olive oil to a frying pan and leave it on medium heat for about a minute to warm up. Then crack the eggs into the pan and let them cook until the egg whites start to turn white, then place a lid on top of the frying pan.
The egg is ready when the whites are set and the yolk still jiggles (Image: Getty)
Meaghan shared: “Cover the pan with a lid for the last 45 to 60 seconds, or until the top of the egg whites have set, but the yolk is still soft. To check, wiggle the pan to see if the yolk still jiggles. “When cooked to your preference, use a spatula to transfer the egg to a plate. Repeat previous steps with the second egg.” She’s made no-flip fried eggs foolproof, avoiding any mishaps of the yolk breaking through the cooking process.
The method can speed up breakfast making, especially ideal for sluggish mornings or when you’re catering to more than one person. On those sorts of mornings, Meaghan suggested: “On especially lazy mornings, I fry both eggs at the same time and let the egg whites join them together. “You can separate them later using the spatula for two separate pieces of toast or if you just prefer eating them as two separate eggs.”
