Skip to Content

Perfect Soft Boiled Eggs

Perfect Soft Boiled Eggs

Sharing is caring!

We talked about making the perfect scrambled eggs the other day, and now we want to guide you into making the perfect soft-boiled eggs.  This style of cooking an egg feels like the ultimate comfort food—warm, yolky, and flavorful. I had a doctor growing up who said if you ate soft-boiled eggs and chicken soup every day when suffering from a cold, you would be healed. There are antibodies in the eggs that help mend you when sick.  She swears by it to this day, and when under the weather, she will enjoy these delicious little soft-boiled eggs.

I love soft-boiled eggs, cooked just right with a sprinkle of sea salt and fresh cracked pepper, served alongside a chunk of warm, crusty baguette.  It is a simple breakfast that is so satisfying.  I overdosed as a kid on soft-boiled eggs when I got sick once, and the doctor instructed me to eat them along with chicken soup every day, and it would cure me.  It did work, but I never looked at a soft-boiled egg until my first trip to Germany.   Every inn I stayed at offered perfect soft-boiled eggs, bread, cheese, yogurt, and ultra-creamy coffee—very fond memories.

The key to the perfectly soft-boiled egg, you ask?  Is the amount of time it is bubbling away in a saucepan.  As well, a tablespoon of vinegar added to the water seems to help the egg hold up better.  

Tips and Tricks for Perfect Soft-Boiled Eggs:

  • We tried this recipe with and without vinegar.  As well, we tried it at 2, 3, 4, and 5 minutes.  Without vinegar, the egg white and yolk would break when removed from the shell.  At all times, with vinegar, the egg held up nicely.
  • Two minutes produced a watery egg; the white was the consistency of, well, how do you say this, snot?
  • Three minutes was perfect for a soft-boiled egg.  The white was still soft, but not snotty.  The yolk was warmed throughout and still runny.  The perfect soft-boiled egg.
  • After four minutes, the white of the egg was a bit firmer, but the yolk was getting a bit too dense for our liking.  
  • After five minutes, the white was pretty firm, and the yolk was getting very firm.   

More Perfectly Cooked Egg Recipes

Perfect Scrambled Eggs

Perfect Fried Eggs

Perfect Poached Eggs

 

Yield: 1 serving

Perfect Soft Boiled Eggs

Perfect Soft Boiled Eggs

There is nothing like enjoying a gently soft boiled egg with toasted bread early in the morning.

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon white or cider vinegar
  • water

Instructions

    Take the egg out of the refrigerator 30 minutes (up to an hour) before cooking.

    Bring water to boil in a saucepan.

    Lower heat to a simmer, slowly and carefully add the egg;  I use a ladle.

    Let the egg gently simmer for 3 - 5 minutes, depending on how soft you like your soft cooked egg.

    I like it on the runny side for dipping the bread, so I cook it for 3 minutes.

    Remove from the boiling water, and run it under cold water, just long enough so you can hold it.

    Crack the egg in half.

    Serve in a shallow bowl.

    Sprinkle with salt and cracked pepper.

    Serve.

    Eat.

Notes

Bring the egg to room temperature to as this will help the egg to cook more evenly.

Did you make this recipe?

Thank you for joining us at the Chez Us table. We truly love having you here.Have you made this recipe?  Please share what recipes you are enjoying from Chez Us. We would love to see and be able to share with our followers. Use the hashtag #chezuseats on your social media channels, then we can pull a chair up to your virtual table and share with our friends.

(Visited 6,583 times, 7 visits today)

Karen

Wednesday 17th of October 2012

Are you using room temperature eggs or right out of the fridge?

Denise Woodward

Wednesday 17th of October 2012

Very good question and I am going to add that to the recipe. I take the eggs out before I start boiling the water. So they are at medium room temp.

susan

Thursday 8th of March 2012

am looking forward to trying the soft boiled egg and noodles....looks delicious and I love the simple-ness of it.

Steve Moore

Wednesday 28th of December 2011

I a the owner of a large restaurant and had a customer order a soft boiled egg. I have never had an order for one so once I went to your website, PROBLEM SOLVED

THANK YOU

Janice B

Monday 7th of March 2011

Good tips on this web site. I love poached eggs, but they never turn out. Just started to surf the web for egg cups. I too will try this recipe, it looks delicious.

Thank You!

Charles Binns

Tuesday 17th of November 2009

That pasta dish looks delicious. I will treat my self to it this week end.

Many thanks!!

Skip to Recipe