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Home » Breakfast and Brunch

Published: Apr 21, 2022 · Modified: Oct 16, 2024 by Kathy

How to Make Over Medium Eggs

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A cooked egg cut into a wedge with the runny yolk showing.

With decades of home cooking experience, I’ve perfected the technique of cooking eggs for my family. If your goal is to create a perfect over medium fried egg, these easy steps are just what you need.

A fried egg cut in half.

Whether you’re a novice in the kitchen or an experienced cook, my tried-and-true methods will ensure your over medium eggs turn out perfect every time.

One of the greatest benefits of making over medium eggs is their simplicity and quick preparation. In just a few minutes, you can create a restaurant-quality egg right in your own kitchen. The secret lies in cooking them over low heat, ensuring the whites are fully set while the yolk remains perfectly jammy. By following my detailed instructions, you'll easily master this technique.

What are Fried Eggs?

There's just nothing easier or more perfect than a fried egg. But knowing exactly how to fry an egg to your liking can sometimes be a bit tricky.

There are four main types of fried eggs; sunny side up, over easy, over medium and over hard. Everyone seems to have their favorite type of fried egg.

  • A sunny side up egg is an egg that isn't flipped. It's only cooked from the bottom side up. The top looks like a beautiful little sun that's facing upward!
  • Over easy is my favorite way to eat fried eggs! They are flipped part-way through the cooking process. The white is fully cooked, but the yolk is nice and runny.
  • Over medium is cooked the same way as over easy eggs, but they are cooked a bit longer. The yolk is partially cooked through but is still a bit runny in the center.
    • There's a range on how cooked the yolk should be on an over medium egg - from cooked on the sides with a runny, jammy custardy center all the way to just a slight amount of runny yolk.
  • Over hard eggs means there is no runny yolk. You can still have a bit of just slightly undercooked yolk or you can make certain every bit of the yolk is fully cooked through.

Cook up a delicious batch of country potatoes to serve with your favorite style of egg.

Four different types of fried eggs on a white platter.

What you need for an Over Medium Egg

Different colored eggs in a basket.

Fresh eggs are the best eggs to use for fried eggs. The egg is taking center stage here, so the better the egg, the better the fried egg!

I use my farm fresh eggs from my chickens. Purchased eggs are fine too, just try to find the freshest ones possible.

Type of Pan

In order to cook really good fried eggs, you do want a good pan. The best is a well-seasoned cast iron skillet or a non-stick skillet.

Stainless steel pans will work as long as you keep the heat low. Sometimes stainless steel pans will cause the egg to stick to the pan.

No matter the pan, fried eggs are best cooked over low heat.

How To Make Over Medium Eggs

  1. Heat a pan over low heat
  2. When pan is warm, add a ½ tablespoon of butter. Allow butter to melt and get bubbly.
  3. Crack egg into pan over melted butter
  4. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper
  5. Cook over low heat until most of the white has set
  6. Carefully flip egg over and cook for 1-2 minutes
  7. Flip egg back to original side up and continue cooking for 1-2 minutes more
  8. Remove egg from pan and place on plate
An egg frying in a cast iron skillet.
Flipping a fried egg.

Tips for Over Medium Eggs

  • Heat pan over low heat. This creates a more even heat in the pan.
  • Use butter or olive oil or rendered bacon grease
  • Cook over low heat. If the heat is too high, the white of the egg will overcook before the yolk has a chance to cook.
  • Use a thin spatula to slide under the egg
  • Cook just one or two eggs at a time. Don't overcrowd the pan.
  • Wipe out pan between each batch of eggs if cooking multiple batches

How to serve an Egg Over Medium

Round out your breakfast by serving your over medium eggs with

  • Toasted English Muffin bread
  • Crisp bacon
  • Savory apple sausage
  • Banana muffin

Or serve on avocado toast or on an English muffin sandwich.

Eggs Over Medium FAQs

How do I know if the yolk is cooked enough?

Once the egg has been flipped back over to its original side, cook the egg for another 1-2 minutes. You can gently press the center of the egg with your finger to test how done the yolk is.

If it feels too wiggly, cook for another minute.

What's the difference between over easy, over medium and over hard?

All three are fried eggs. The difference is how runny the yolk is in each egg. Over easy is the runniest, over hard is cooked through and over medium falls between over easy and over hard cooked.

More egg dishes

  • Hard boiled eggs
  • Puff pastry baked eggs
  • Denver scrambled eggs
An egg cooked with the yolk still a bit runny.

If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear about it! Leave a comment below and snap a picture and tag me on Instagram @beyondthechickencoop

Be certain to check out all my breakfast recipes!

  • Pancakes with strawberries and syrup.
    Strawberry Pancakes
  • A slice of Rhubarb Coffee Cake on a small white plate.
    Rhubarb Coffee Cake
  • Chocolate Banana Muffin with chocolate chips on a white plate.
    Chocolate Banana Muffins
  • Homemade Croissants stacked on a cooling rack.
    How to Make Croissants
A fried egg cut in half.

Over Medium Eggs

Kathy Berget
How to fry an egg over medium so the yolk is just partly runny.
5 from 13 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Saved!
Prep Time 2 minutes mins
Cook Time 5 minutes mins
Total Time 7 minutes mins
Course Breakfast
Cuisine American
Servings 1 egg
Calories 113 kcal
Prevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients
  

  • ½ tablespoon butter
  • 1 egg
  • salt
  • pepper

Instructions
 

  • Heat a pan over low heat
  • When pan is warm, add a ½ tablespoon of butter. Allow butter to melt and get bubbly.
    ½ tablespoon butter
  • Crack egg into pan over melted butter
    1 egg
  • Sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper
    salt, pepper
  • Cook over low heat until most of the white has set
  • Carefully flip egg over and cook for 1-2 minutes
  • Flip egg back to original side up and continue cooking for 1-2 minutes more
  • Remove egg from pan and place on plate

Notes

  • Heat pan over low heat. This creates a more even heat in the pan.
  • Use butter or olive oil or rendered bacon grease
  • Cook over low heat. If the heat is too high, the white of the egg will overcook before the yolk has a chance to cook.
  • Use a thin spatula to slide under the egg
  • Cook just one or two eggs at a time. Don't overcrowd the pan.
  • Wipe out pan between each batch of eggs if cooking multiple batches

Nutritional Disclaimer:

Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and should only be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. To obtain the most precise nutritional information in a provided recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the exact ingredients you are using when preparing the recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.

Nutrition

Serving: 1eggCalories: 113kcalCarbohydrates: 1gProtein: 6gFat: 10gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 179mgSodium: 107mgPotassium: 62mgSugar: 1gVitamin A: 413IUCalcium: 26mgIron: 1mg
Tried this Recipe? Tag me Today!Mention @BeyondTheChickenCoop or tag #beyondthechickencoop!

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. denise says

    June 27, 2023 at 3:39 am

    5 stars
    A couple years ago I ordered an over easy egg with my order at a specialized buckwheat pancake restaurant. When I received my plate, I saw the most perfect egg. Sounds cheesy, but I bragged about that one egg...until now!!! I had and all ready continue to make my eggs look like that one perfect egg!

    Thank you so much!!!!

    Reply
    • Kathy says

      June 27, 2023 at 4:24 am

      Oh gosh!!! That's a lot to live up to! I'm so glad you've found your perfect egg! 🙂

      Reply
  2. David @ Spiced says

    April 22, 2022 at 4:16 am

    5 stars
    You are the queen of fried eggs, Kathy! These posts are perfect for cooking everyone's eggs to perfection. Now I'm thinking I should open a short-order breakfast cafe! 🙂

    Reply
    • Kathy says

      April 22, 2022 at 5:00 am

      Next thing you'll be saying is "Order Up!" 🙂

      Reply
5 from 13 votes (11 ratings without comment)

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I'm Kathy, and I love to create delicious recipes from scratch utilizing many ingredients that we grow and raise. I'm a recipe creator, food photographer, and cookbook author!

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