I Cooked Eggs Every Day for a Year — My New Trick for Frying Them Is Ridiculously Delicious

I’ve started nearly every morning with eggs (scrambled, baked, fried, and poached!) for years. Seriously. I once spent 365 days straight cooking nothing but scrambled eggs for breakfast. Since then, I’ve moved on to adding egg bites and fried eggs to the rotation. Do I ever get bored? The honest answer is … not really! There are too many different ingredients to throw in and techniques to try.

In 2023, food writer and The Kitchn’s former Deputy Food Editor Grace Elkus tipped us off to the viral sensation of feta fried eggs, and I’ve been cooking my eggs in crispy cheese ever since. Feta was just the beginning; I upgraded fried eggs with every flavor I could think of, from sesame seeds to chili crisp to pesto (which everyone was doing in 2022). My latest experiment, influenced in tandem by our culinary producer Kelli Foster and food writer Alex Botting, might be the most unexpected yet. I tried cooking fried eggs in mozzarella cheese and hot honey, and you won’t believe the results. 

Get the recipe: Hot Honey Fried Egg 

Pour hot honey into the bottom of a preheated nonstick skillet. There’s no need to coat the bottom of the pan; just a few drizzles back and forth is enough. Add a generous layer of shredded mozzarella cheese to the pan, then top with two large eggs, kosher salt, and black pepper. Cover the pan with a lid and let cook until the whites are just set and the cheese around the edges is golden-brown. 

Use a spatula to loosen around the edges, then fold in half. Cover with the lid again and cook for another few minutes or until the egg yolks are as runny (or firm) as you like them. 

I resisted the urge to buy a bottle of hot honey long after it hit the mainstream — I thought it must be overhyped! But once that spicy sweetener made it into my pantry, I haven’t stopped finding new and delicious ways to use it. (Case in point: these hot honey chicken bites.) Here, the subtle sweetness from the honey adds an entirely new dimension of flavor to fried eggs. 

The honey goes into the skillet first, so it sizzles and deepens in flavor as the mozzarella cheese melts and eggs cook on top. I was heavy-handed with the hot honey on my first try, practically coating the bottom of the skillet, but I soon realized that more is not always better. A few drizzles back and forth over the center of the skillet is plenty to add a note of spicy-sweet flavor to the eggs. 

Shredded mozzarella is a smart cheese choice to pair with hot honey and eggs. A smoky provolone or spicy pepper Jack adds too much competing flavor, whereas mozzarella melts beautifully and contributes a mild, milky flavor. The bed of shredded mozzarella creates a cheesy nest for the eggs to gently cook, while the cheese turns brown and crisp against the skillet.

My only word of caution is to monitor the heat after folding the egg in half. Make sure to remove from the heat before the cheese and honey burn. 

• A nonstick skillet is a must. Honey, cheese, and eggs will stubbornly stick to a stainless steel or cast iron skillet. Use a small, 8-inch, nonstick skillet for best results. 
• Use no more than a tablespoon of hot honey. If you love hot honey as much as I do, it can be tempting to add a lot to the pan. This cheesy fried egg only needs a bit of hot honey to impart the sweet heat that makes this breakfast so delicious. Start with a tablespoon of hot honey for your first try, and if you wish there were more then add an extra drizzle when serving.

Get the recipe: Hot Honey Fried Egg

This post originally appeared on The Kitchn. See it there: I Cooked Eggs Every Day for a Year — My New Trick for Frying Them Is Ridiculously Delicious