Happy Egg • Your Complete Guide to Egg Dish Terminology (2024)

Nutritious, delicious, and easy to make: eggs dishes have it all! This eggcellent guide to the different types of egg dishes covers everything from simple egg dishes, breakfast egg dishes, and everything in between.

Scrambled Eggs

This popular breakfast dish is made by beating egg yolks and whites together and then cooking them in a skillet or pan. Scrambled eggs can be creamy and soft or hard scrambled. Adding butter to the top of cooked scrambled eggs will give you buttered eggs.

Sunny Side Up Eggs

Sunny side up eggs are eggs slow cooked in a frying pan until the egg white is set, but the yolk remains slightly runny. The ‘sunny side’ refers to the plump orange yolk, which resembles a sun.

Basted Eggs

Basted eggs are similar to sunny side up eggs, but basted eggs are cooked on top by spooning warm butter or oil over the top of the yolk.

Poached Eggs

Poached eggs are eggs cooked outside the shell in simmering water. The egg white will wrap around the yolk as it cooks, and set around the soft yolk.

Hard Boiled Eggs

Hard boiled eggs are eggs cooked inside the shell in a pot of boiling water. For hard boiled eggs, the entire egg - yolk and white - are set.

Soft Boiled EggsSoft boiled eggs are cooked within the shell by submerging the egg in boiling water. The time the egg spends in the water will affect the consistency of the soft boiled egg yolk and white.

Over Easy Eggs

Over easy eggs, or eggs over easy, as they’re sometimes called, are cooked in a pan until the white is set, and then flipped to cook the yolk side. Over easy eggs differ from basted eggs, because the top of the egg is cooked by flipping the egg, rather than cooking it with butter or oil. The yolk remains a bit runny in an over easy egg.

Over Hard Eggs

Over hard eggs are similar to over easy eggs with the exception of the yolk, which is cooked all the way through.

Fried Eggs

Fried eggs are cooked in butter or grease in a skillet until the egg is cooked on one or both sides. Fried eggs can be served over easy, over medium, over hard, or sunny side up - depending on how well done you like the yolk.

Baked Eggs

Also known as ‘shirred eggs’ are eggs that are baked in a flat dish like a ramekin or a muffin pan and then topped with herbs, cheese or vegetables.

Deviled Eggs

Deviled eggs are created by removing a cooked yolk from a hard boiled egg, mixing the yolk with mayonnaise and mustard, and then piping the yolk mixture back into the egg white. Deviled eggs are a popular brunch dish, or enjoyed as a snack.

Egg Salad

Made by mixing hard boiled eggs with mustard, mayonnaise, and paprika. Egg salad can be eaten on its own, or made into a sandwich.

Frittata

A baked, egg-based dish that includes herbs, vegetables, cheeses, and meat. Frittatas are usually served for breakfast or brunch.

Omelet

Beaten eggs are cooked in a skillet until just set, and then ingredients like cheeses, sauteed vegetables or meats are folded in.

Pickled Eggs

Just as the name implies, hard boiled eggs that are pickled with a combination of vinegar and pickling spices or brine.

Quiche

A popular French bistro dish, quiches are egg dishes baked in a pie crust. The most popular variation, quiche Lorraine contains ham or bacon, cheese, heavy cream and chives.

Scotch Eggs

Usually served in pubs across the UK scotch eggs are soft boiled eggs wrapped in sausage and bread crumbs, and then deep-fried or baked.

Baked Egg Custard

A sweet egg dish made with milk, vanilla, sugar, and nutmeg.

Frozen Egg Custard

A sweet, frozen egg dish similar to ice cream, but made with egg yolks for an extra creamy texture.

Happy Egg • Your Complete Guide to Egg Dish Terminology (2024)

FAQs

What are egg dishes called? ›

Egg dishes
NameFlavorOrigin
French toastSavory or Sweet
Fried eggPlain
FrittataSavory
Frozen custardSweetUnited States
114 more rows

What are the terms for cooking eggs? ›

Sunny side up: The egg is fried with the yolk up and is not flipped. Over easy: The egg is flipped and the yolk is still runny. Over medium: The egg is flipped and the yolk is only slightly runny. Over well: The egg is flipped and the yolk is cooked hard.

What are the five varieties of egg dishes? ›

This eggcellent guide to the different types of egg dishes covers everything from simple egg dishes, breakfast egg dishes, and everything in between.
  • Scrambled Eggs. ...
  • Sunny Side Up Eggs. ...
  • Basted Eggs. ...
  • Poached Eggs. ...
  • Over Hard Eggs. ...
  • Fried Eggs. ...
  • Baked Eggs. ...
  • Deviled Eggs.

What is another name for egg on food labels? ›

Other names for egg include: Albumin. Apovitellin (contained in egg yolk) Dried egg solids.

What are different names for eggs? ›

egg
  • bud.
  • cackle.
  • germ.
  • nucleus.
  • oospore.
  • ovum.
  • roe.
  • rudiment.

What are the different egg cook level names? ›

Different ways to cook eggs
  • Soft Boiled. Boiled with shell on, has a firm white and a runny yolk.
  • Hard Boiled. Boiled with the shell on, has a firm white and a firm yolk. ...
  • Over Boiled. Boiled with the shell on, has a chalky yolk with a green ring.
  • Poached. ...
  • Sunny Side Up. ...
  • Over Easy. ...
  • Over Hard. ...
  • Scrambled.
Sep 24, 2014

What is the hardest egg to cook? ›

Over Easy. Over easy is the most challenging type of cooked egg because you have to make the flip. One of the best egg tools to use for a successful flip is the silicone spatula. What's the secret to not breaking the yolk?

What are the different techniques of egg dishes? ›

Egg cookery includes a variety of preparation techniques: eggs boiled in the shell, baked eggs, poached eggs, fried eggs, scrambled eggs, three styles of omelets, and soufflés. The word "boiling," although commonly used, does not correctly explain the technique; "simmering" is more accurate.

What is a folded egg dish called? ›

An omelette (also spelled omelet) is a dish made from eggs, fried with butter or oil in a frying pan.

What do you call a fried egg with a broken yolk? ›

Over hard or over well. Cooked on both sides all the way through, with the yolk broken (immediately after the egg is cracked). Sunny-side up. Cooked on one side only, until the egg white is set, but the yolk remains liquid.

What is a fully cooked egg called? ›

Hard Boiled: These eggs cook for 10-12 minutes. After removing their shell, you're left with a soft white outside and solid yolk inside. You can eat them by themselves, put them in salads or other dishes or sprinkle them with salt to your taste.

What is egg eating called? ›

Those who eat eggs and dairy are known as lacto-ovo vegetarians, while those who eat eggs but no dairy are ovo-vegetarians. However, depending on ethical, religious, or health reasons, some vegetarians may avoid eggs.

What is the Japanese egg dish called? ›

Tamagoyaki is a Japanese omelet that's typically made by rolling several thin layers of egg (mixed with soy, mirin, sugar, and sometimes dashi, in which case it's called dashimaki) on top of each other while they cook in a small rectangular pan designated solely for this purpose.

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