Practically any dish can benefit from this recipe for the perfect soft-boiled egg (or this one for perfect hard-boiled eggs). While many a treatise has been written about the best approach, all it takes is boiling water and about 6½ minutes. That’s our perfect number for foolproof soft-boiled eggs with cooked-through egg whites and jammy yolks—if you prefer eggs with a runny yolk, pull them from the pot of water 30 seconds to 1 minute sooner.
A few pointers: Lower cold eggs into already-boiling water. This allows you to track how long they’re exposed to the heat more precisely. Be standing by, slotted spoon in hand, when your kitchen timer goes off and swiftly transfer the eggs from the hot water to an ice bath to immediately cut off their exposure to the heat. The cooking process and timing will work regardless of how many eggs you want to simmer, but if you��re scaling up, use a pot that allows the eggs to cook in a single layer.
The soft-boiled eggs will keep in the fridge for about 3 days, so make a big batch to dole out onto bowls of ramen, salads like this one with rye berries and peppery greens, or toast throughout your week. Feeling like deviled eggs? Skip the hassle of scooping and piping in favor of former BA editor Sarah Jampel’s favorite lazy snack, aioli-topped jammy eggs.
Recipe information
Total Time
25 minutes
Yield
4–8 servings
Ingredients
4–8
Preparation
Step 1
Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil over medium-high heat. Using a slotted spoon, carefully lower 4–8 large eggs into water one at a time. Cook 6½ minutes, adjusting heat to maintain a gentle boil. Transfer cooked eggs to a bowl of ice water and chill until just slightly warm, about 2 minutes.
Step 2
Gently crack eggs all over and peel, starting from the wider end, which contains the air pocket. Rinse in cold water to remove any stubborn bits of shell.
Do ahead: Eggs can be cooked and peeled 3 days ahead. Store airtight in the refrigerator.
Editor’s note: This soft-boiled egg recipe was first printed in March 2017. Head this way for tips on poached eggs, coddled runny eggs with country bread toast soldiers, and more of our favorite egg recipes →
Nutrition Per Serving
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Reviews (200)
Back to TopAHA!- bring refrigerated eggs close to room temp; *in the steamer basket * in the water that will be heated to cook the eggs. I'd appreciate BA community best tips for easiest peeling. Testing vinegar and salt now.
Jerseylocavore
New Jersey
5/27/2024
Growing up in the UK, we eat soft boiled eggs in an eggcup and have 'soldiers' with it. That's toast and butter slicked thinly. I've always throught it such a shame that Amerian kids don't get to dunk their soldiers in a lovely, runny yolk. If you want the yolk all runny and the white just set, for UK style soft boiled egg, it's five minutes if you put it into boiling water. They do sometimes crack when you do this, and some people put them into cold water but there are too many variables this way to get it reliably just right for soldiers
Jack Russell Terrier
11/30/2023
to the person below who said jammy eggs made them barf - don't yuck someone else's yum! The majority of folks coming to this recipe are doing so because they like jammy eggs. You're not going to find your people here :-). To everyone else: I'm definitely in the camp that says if your eggs are coming out of the fridge, go for 7 minutes. Else you risk having a fully soft boiled egg where the yolk runs out when you cut. I'm going for something that stays put but is still that brilliant, jammy yellow.
katprof
NYC, NY
11/27/2023
For decades, my grandfather made one soft-boiled egg and ate it spooned over a slice of whole wheat toast. He made his eggs this way, but didn't peel the shell. Cracked off the top of the egg and spooned it out over toast. He lived to be nearly 100!
Nero Wolfe
NY, NY
12/10/2022
"using a slotted spoon" lol 🙄
whatever
asstown
11/3/2022
There's nothing grosser than a "jammy" egg. I could barf just thinking about it.
Anonymous
10/3/2022
I like cooking mine for 7 minutes; just starting to get a bit hard along the edges
Phil P
Toronto ON
8/2/2022