What is more yummy than a freshly cooked omelette?! Not much, according to the fans of this humble but delicious food. Even better, omelettes are easy and quick to cook. Here’s how to cook an omelette:
How to Cook an Omelette
Instructions
- Crack eggs into a mixing bowl. One to three eggs per person is perfect, depending on the size of your eggs. Make sure egg shell doesn’t get in the bowl – if it does, remove it immediately!
- Using a fork, whisk your eggs. You can add salt and pepper if you like, and maybe even some freshly cut chives or onions. Alternatively, you can add milk and cheese or sour cream for a cheesey, fluffy omelette. Some people like to add a tablespoon of water to make the omelette more fluffy. Be careful not to over-whisk.
- Pour your egg mixture into the frypan. You should use a non-stick frypan which has heated oil or butter on it. Some people find the smell of butter too overwhelming, so vegetable or olive oil can be a good substitute. The heat of your frypan is a contentious issue – most people like to have it “as hot as they dare”, to quote Delia, but if the pan is too hot, your eggs can burn.
- Eggs cook very quickly, so I prefer to use a moderately hot setting instead of the hottest setting possible. The size of the frypan is also very important – if it’s too small, then your eggs will be too fat and won’t cook properly; if it’s too large then your eggs will spread out too thin and become stiff. A 6-inch diameter pan is perfect for making one omelette.
- After pouring, leave the egg mixture untouched for five seconds. Soon you’ll see some bubbling around the sides, indicating that the egg is cooking. Tilt the pan to 45 degrees to your left, and scrape back the middle of the egg, allowing the egg mixture to flow onto the pan. Tilt to the right and do the same on that side. As you keep doing this, egg mixture will flow down to the frypan and the egg will cook, until there is very little runny egg mixture on top. If you use a lower heat setting, then you can skip this step and merely swirl the egg mixture gently – the egg will cook slightly more slowly and thoroughly due to the lower heat.
- At this stage, add any toppings on top of the egg and fold it over. Omelette fillings are entirely up to you – you can add cheese, mushrooms, meat, herbs, pepper or any other vegetables or deli meats.
- Remove the egg from the frypan after you’ve folded it over – eggs will continue to cook even after you remove them from the heat. Make sure any meat that you add has been pre-cooked.
Alternatives to this “folded” omelette cooking method include the flat omelette. To make a flat omelette, beat eggs in a bowl, add fillings, and then pour the mixture onto a frypan. Flip the egg over once the bottom side is done. I’ve found that cooking a flat omelette is easier if you use less eggs and less mixture – if the egg mixture is too thick or too large, it’s difficult to flip over. Fillings are usually limited to onions/chives and maybe some herbs. Again, a six-inch skillet or frypan is perfect for this kind of omelette.
Another variation is the frittata or spanish omelette. This variation involves more eggs and more fillings – it’s generally much thicker, and eaten like a pie. For instance, to make a frittata, you might use 8 eggs in a 6-inch frypan. This omelette is generally cooked slowly over low heat, and once it is almost done, it’s transferred to the grill. After it’s cooked, it’s normally cut into wedges and can be eaten either hot or cold.
Tips For Cooking The Perfect Omelette
Omelettes cook very fast, so plan on making one omelette per person
Have the fillings ready beforehand – this will make the cooking faster
Make sure any additions and fillings for your omelette are pre-cooked. This is very important to keep in mind for meats, but the same holds true for hard vegetables like mushrooms and carrots as well!
The best omelettes are made with fresh eggs. Eggs can stay fresh for up to two weeks after you purchased them – however, make sure they’re not rotten before you whisk them up. A rotten egg will ruin the whole omelette.
