Cooking can be a bit of a chore sometimes, especially when you’re hungry and just want a quick meal fast. It’s times like these where eggs come into their own.

They’re like the golden ingredient hiding in your fridge that will give you a satisfying fix in just five minutes. Plus, the humble egg can be served in various ways, so there’s always the option to mix it up a bit depending on your mood. But while poached and scrambled are good options, fried eggs are arguably the best of the bunch and can be whipped up in minutes. It’s simply a case of cracking open the shell, throwing the egg in the pan and heating it, so even if you’re not the most experienced of cooks, there’s not too much that can go wrong.

If you get your timing right, you should have a delicious fried egg that’s ready in around five minutes, but if you want to enhance the flavour, with very little effort, then there’s one ingredient worth adding. While most fried egg recipes recommend using oil in the pan to stop it from sticking, most oils – like sunflower, olive, or vegetable – have a pretty neutral flavour, so you don’t really get anything extra out of it in terms of taste. So that’s where butter steps in.

Cooking experts say adding a few knobs of butter to the pan instead of oil will not only give your fried eggs a much richer flavour but also result in a crispier texture.

Butter has a higher fat content than oil and, which gives fried eggs a more flavourful and creamier taste. and it also allows for more browning and caramelisation of the whites, creating a tasty crispy edge.

The Happy Egg Co. explains: “The best thing about frying eggs in butter is the taste. Because butter is higher in fat than oil, your eggs will naturally take on that rich butter flavour as they crisp in the pan. It’s similar to the way some chefs add a pad of butter to their scrambled eggs as they cook. 

“There aren’t many health benefits to frying eggs in butter, but you’re not adding butter to the pan for the health benefits, you’re adding it for the extra flavour!”

Experts also recommend basting your fried egg with melted butter while it’s in the pan as this helps it to distribute heat for a more even cook and it helps to create the deliciously crispy edges on the egg whites.

The Kitchn adds: “Sizzle a generous curl of butter – about a tablespoon per egg – in the pan until it goes foamy, then crack in the eggs. The whites will quickly start to set, and when they do, tilt the pan just far enough so that the butter puddles at the edge. 

“Use your spoon to dribble butter over the eggs continuously, until the whites are just set. By this time, the butter will have browned and started to give off that toasty, nutty smell, also known as the best smell in the world.”