Skip to main content
DIY Food

how to poach an egg in olive oil…

Oh Joy + Heirloom LA | Chicken Mole Pizza

Oh Joy + Heirloom LA | Chicken Mole Pizza

While shooting with Matt from Heirloom LA for this post, he said, "Hey, do you know how to poach an egg in olive oil? It's so good. It's like a fried egg with a poached yolk in the middle." My response? "Um, no, I don't know how, but yes, please teach me! He did, so now I am sharing this simple and amazing little tip with you…

You'll need:
– 1 large egg
– 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
– Salt and pepper, to taste

Oh Joy + Heirloom LA | How to Poach an Egg in Olive Oil

Oh Joy + Heirloom LA | How to Poach an Egg in Olive Oil

Oh Joy + Heirloom LA | How to Poach an Egg in Olive Oil

Here's how: 
1. In a small nonstick sauté pan, bring oil to a simmer over medium heat. As soon as you see the oil wrinkle in the pan, the egg is ready to be added.

2. Crack the egg into a small bowl so that it can be easily transferred into the pan of oil. Pour the egg out of the bowl and into the bath of olive oil.

3. Keeping the temperature at medium heat, slowly baste the egg with the olive oil (using a spoon) to help cook the egg white thoroughly. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Run a spoon or spatula around the edges of the egg to make sure it's not sticking to the pan. Then remove the egg from oil when it's cooked to your desired doneness and serve immediately. I like my yolk to be a little runny, but you can keep yours in the pan longer if you like a more solid yolk.

5. Slide that lovely egg onto a plate with some toast for breakfast or onto a flatbread for lunch. We put ours on top of a chicken mole pizza that Matt made.

Oh Joy + Heirloom LA | How to Poach an Egg in Olive Oil

And as a special bonus recipe, if you want to know how to make those pizzas… 

Chicken Mole Pizza Recipe
Makes 4 individually sized pizzas

You'll need:
– 4 pita bread or flatbreads of your choice (or you can use pre-made pizza dough divided into four pieces)
– 2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
– 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
– 2 green peppers, sliced and sauteed until tender
– 1 red onion, sliced and sauteed until tender
– 2 cups cooked shredded chicken breast
– 1-1/2 cups of tomato sauce
– 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
– 1 bunch cilantro, chopped
– 1 3.5 oz. bar dark chocolate, chopped
– Olive oil
– Salt and pepper, to taste

Oh Joy + Heirloom LA | How to Poach an Egg in Olive Oil

Here's how: 
1. To make the sauce: In a medium sauce pot, sauté garlic in olive oil until tender. Add cilantro and stir until wilted. Add tomato sauce and bring to simmer. Remove pot from heat and whisk in chopped chocolate. Set aside.

2. To make the pizzas, align pitas or dough on lined baking sheets. Top each one evenly with tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, chicken, peppers and onions.

3. Bake in pre-heated oven at 400 degrees until golden brown (or use the temperature provided on the package of your pre-bought dough), about 15-18 minutes.

4. Top with a poached egg and enjoy!

Oh Joy + Heirloom LA | Chicken Mole Pizza

Putting an egg on top of a pizza is seriously one of my favorite savory indulgences…yum! Thanks to Matt and Tara at Heirloom LA for sharing these fancy tricks and tips!

{Photos by Bonnie Tsang. Recipes by Heirloom LA.}

48 comments

  1. Wow. That looks seriously incredible. I eat poached eggs almost every day for breakfast, but the thought of poaching them in olive oil never occurred to me. Must try immediately!

  2. Yum! Poached eggs are my favorite, but I’m perpetually having trouble getting them to come out right. Seems like they have to be handled so gently!

  3. Back in the day, I used this method with bacon grease instead of olive oil. Uh – ya, it was heaven! “Can’t do that anymore” said the cholesterol police! Thanks for the healthier version. This recipe looks like a winner.

  4. i am from greece, and this is how we are eggs cooking, and not only for breakfast, but also for dinner. With an tomato salat and “feta”( white cheese). This is a rutine for us!

  5. I think you’ll find that this is technically FRYING. Nothing about this process is POACHING. It nice all the same, but incorrect and misleading.

  6. Up north we call that basted. Down south they have no idea what basted means.
    It’s basically frying in a deep pool of fat… I wouldn’t call this poaching… you are just spooning hot oil over the top of the egg to cook a little of the top.

  7. haha while i enjoy all the little videos you post here, this one I must say i already knew how to do it because that’s actually how we poach eggs in the Dominican culture. I’d love to take you out one day for a Dominican breakfast of poached eggs on a bed of plantains puree and sauteed onions 😉

  8. I don’t know. When I fry an egg I typically use a lot less oil, so calling it ‘poachIng in oil’ works for me. Anyway, it looks absolutely delicious on top of the pizza.

  9. Hi
    I know this sounds and looks fancy, but this is the way 44 million spanish people cook their fried eggs, and have been doing it for generations.
    Really, it’s super simple, and we call the golden borders created by the hot oil, “puntilla”.
    By the way, the hotter the oil, the better.

  10. mmm will have to try. although sometimes i feel i use so much olive oil that i was already doing this 🙂 poached in olive oil sounds so much better than woops i used too much olive oil! thanks for justifying it. yum!

  11. OH wow. This sounds really wonderful. Also I like that it only uses 1/4 cup of oil, which makes me much more inclined to actually try it – olive oil being rather expensive and all. Will keep this in mind for my next lazy weekend brunch…

  12. Spain: Where I learned to do this 15 years ago.
    Also, this is not poaching per se. This is cooking an egg in more oil.

  13. Exactly – It’s a fried egg that is basted in olive oil. Not poaching as it would have to be submerged. And for clarity sake it sure doesn’t look like a non stick pan and you wouldn’t be using a metal spoon… just sayin…

  14. So french fries are poached in oil? I think most places in the world would consider them deep fried.
    This is fried egg.

  15. This isn’t poaching. Why? Even setting aside the fact (yes, fact) that poaching must take place in a liquid medium and not fat (where it would then be poeleing, frying, or braising), two reasons:
    a) Temperature. Poaching takes place at about 97oC. This is higher.
    b) Basting does not poaching make. It is just the way the Spanish fry their eggs, and the French too (when they say the yolks are “under a veil”).
    Eggs fried in lots of olive oil might be novel to you guys here at Oh Joy, but don’t give them a new erroneous name.

Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Follow Along