Scrambled eggs

Scrambled eggs need only eggs, butter and a pan. The recipes below all take the pan off the heat while the eggs are still a little soft. They part company over heat, milk and cream.

Soft and slow

The British Egg Information Service publishes a soft scrambled egg recipe from the chef Martyn Nail. It uses 2 large eggs per person and a little butter, 20 g in its list. He whisks the eggs with a fork and melts the butter over a gentle heat. The eggs go in and he keeps stirring with a wooden spoon over a low heat. After about 3 to 4 minutes they thicken and turn creamy.

He takes the pan off the heat while the egg is still quite runny. The heat of the pan finishes the cooking.

On a medium heat

The same service's everyday method heats a non-stick pan over a medium heat. A knob of butter goes in and melts until it sizzles. The eggs sit for a moment, then the cook folds them gently with a spatula. The pan comes off the heat when the eggs are mostly cooked but still a little soft.

The cooks at BBC Good Food whisk 2 large eggs with 6 tablespoons of single cream or full cream milk and a pinch of salt. They melt the butter in a small non-stick pan without letting it brown. The eggs sit for 20 seconds before the first stir. Then the cook folds them, waits 10 seconds and folds again, until they are softly set.

Rubbery or watery

The British Egg Information Service puts rubbery eggs down to a pan that was too hot, or to stirring too hard. Its cook keeps the heat medium at most and folds rather than stirs. Runny whites come from eggs that were not beaten enough. The cook whisks until the colour is an even yellow, with no streaks of white.

Cooking for a group

The British Egg Information Service allows 2 eggs per person. BBC Good Food's cooks make no more than three portions in one pan. For larger numbers they use two pans.

Spare eggs can go in the freezer. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) says you can beat eggs and freeze them in a sealed container, ready to make scrambled eggs.

Soft scrambled egg for babies and children

The NHS says babies can have eggs from around 6 months. Hens' eggs with a red lion stamp, or a red lion and "British Lion Quality" on the box, are fine for a baby lightly cooked. The NHS says other hens' eggs should be cooked until both the white and the yolk are solid. The same goes for duck, goose and quail eggs.

On a breakfast counter

Some cafés and hotels keep scrambled egg hot for service. The FSA's Safer Food, Better Business pack for caterers sets these rules for hot holding.

Some kitchens crack eggs into a jug for the morning. The FSA's egg guidance, last updated on 20 August 2026, says to keep that pooled egg in the fridge and take out small amounts. "Use all 'pooled' liquid egg on the same day and don't add new eggs to top it up."

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