All It’s Cracked Up to Be
Back before we had kids, brunching with friends was a frequent affair. Little did we know that spending half the morning waiting for a table at the latest brunch spot would feel like a luxury later in life. In a moment of yearning for brunch times past—and for the soft-centered, gravy-like deliciousness of a restaurant-quality soft-boiled egg—we decided to figure out how to make the perfect soft-boiled egg at home. It turns out, making soft-boiled eggs (aka six-minute eggs) isn’t complicated at all. And, it’s certainly easier than trying to entertain kids while waiting your turn in the brunch line. If jammy yolks aren’t for you, try our hard-boiled eggs.
How to Soft Boil an Egg
Want to know how to make soft-boiled eggs? First step: leave intimidation at the door! If you know how to boil water, we can teach you how to cook soft-boiled eggs. It’s just that easy.
- Gently lower six eggs into a pot of boiling water—use your slotted spoon for this! It’s not worth burning your fingers, or accidentally cracking an egg.
- Set your timer for six minutes — aka, the perfect soft-boiled egg time. That’s all the soft-boiled egg cooking time you need.
- Give eggs a quick ice bath to stop their cooking—you want the yolks to stay jammy.
- Get cracking. See our tips below on how to crack into your soft-boiled egg without eating bites of shell.
How Long to Cook Soft Boiled Eggs
How long to soft-boil an egg? The perfect soft-boiled egg time is a quick and easy six minutes (hence, why they’re also called six-minute eggs). Basically, the amount of time it takes a press pot of coffee to steep is how long to cook soft-boiled eggs.
How to Eat a Soft Boiled Egg
Tap, tap, tappy—using a teaspoon (or egg spoon, if you’re fancy like that), tap firmly around the top of the soft boiled egg with enough force to crack the shell. Use the spoon tip to get under the shell and slice through the top of the egg, removing the top as you go, and unveiling the yolk gravy underneath. There are other more complicated methods for cracking a soft-boiled egg, but this is the one that works for us every time without leaving errant bits of shell in our yolk.
Tools to Make Our Perfect Soft-Boiled Egg
- Large pot. You want it large enough to hold six eggs and enough boiling water to cover them.
- Dish towel. This gets folded and fully submerged in the pot, so perhaps best to not use a family heirloom.
- Slotted spoon. We’ve all got a favorite!
- Medium bowl. For the ice bath. Large enough to hold 6 soft-boiled eggs and loads of ice.
- Egg cup. While not necessary, they’re totally fun. And if you plan on making a lot of these 6-minute eggs (which you totally should), they’re good to have on hand.
What to Serve with Our Soft-Boiled Egg Recipe
Want to really take your six minute egg game up a notch? Serve your perfect soft boiled egg alongside avocado toast and some extra crispy bacon for an Insta-worthy breakfast you’ll want to eat every day of the week.
Feeling Brunchy?
Check out this other mid-morning meals we love:
- Potato Bravas with Chorizo, Fried Eggs, and Garlic Aioli. Hangover breakfast at its best. Not that we would know anything about that…
- Granola with Figs, Almonds, and Coconut. You can bet we always have a batch of this on hand.
- Corned Beef Hash. For brunchy deliciousness any time of year.
Breakfast Perfection?
How did it turn out? Snap a photo of your soft-boiled, 6-minute egg and maybe even a video of the beautiful people you feed it to. Tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper. Happy eating!
