Good morning sunny side up eggs! Learn how to make sunny side up eggs with just 2 ingredients – eggs and butter – and a nonstick skillet.
We love a runny yolk with perfect cooked whites from a sunny side up egg and we’ve perfected how to make them in your own kitchen.
After testing this recipe many times, we realized it’s best to keep things simple with 2 ingredients – eggs and butter. We found that butter is key to making an egg sunny side up because it won’t fry or brown your egg like oil will. We also found that medium/low heat is key for that runny egg and bright white egg white.
Ingredients You Need for Sunny Side Up Eggs
- Large eggs- you can honestly use any size egg you would like for this recipe, but we used large eggs so the timing for the recipe will be for a large egg. If you use a medium-sized egg be sure to lower the cooking time.
- Butter- butter is used when you are looking for an egg white that isn’t going to brown or fry. If you like crispy edges on your sunny side up eggs, feel free to use oil in place of butter.
before you start
Be sure you have a nonstick skillet or a high-quality cast iron pan (and are familiar with cast iron). We prefer a non-stick skillet.
Fresh eggs always cook better than eggs that have been sitting in your fridge for a while.
Find yourself a spatula that is thin and has a sturdy handle.
Have whatever you are serving your egg with ready before you fry. No need to eat a cold egg once you’ve cooked it perfectly.
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How long should you cook sunny side up eggs?
A sunny side up egg is cooked for around 3-4 minutes. Many variables will affect the length of time an egg is cooked like the type of stove used, what pan you use, and what type of oil or butter you use.
Do you flip eggs when making sunny side up?
No, you do not flip a sunny side up egg. You want the egg to have “sun” on top and if you flip the egg it will cook the film on the outside of the yolk encasing the egg yolk.
What is the difference between a sunny side and over easy egg?
An over easy egg is flipped and momentarily cooked on the flip side encasing the yolk.
Can you cook more than one egg sunny side up at a time?
Feel free to cook a few eggs at a time. Do note that they will likely run into each other, overlapping egg whites.
Top Tips
Add more butter. If you notice that your eggs are really sticking to the pan, add more butter and gently lift the edges of the egg white to be sure the white unsticks.
Be patient. It is easy to want to rush the process of frying an egg, but the more patient you are the better your egg will turn out.
Don’t forget to season. Always sprinkle some salt and pepper on your fried eggs. It elevates all the flavors in your dish.
Storage
If you have extra sunny-side-up eggs you can let them cool and store them in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. You can eat them cold or, what we like to do is chop them up the next day and turn them into a yummy egg salad.
What to Serve with Sunny Side Up Eggs
You really can’t beat serving a sunny side up egg for breakfast with toast and bacon. You can also serve this on a toasted bagel with cream cheese or as a side next to pancakes.
Photography: photos taken in this post are by Ashley McGlaughlin from The Edible Perspective.
