Soft-boiled eggs are my new obsession. The whites of the eggs are firm, but the yolk stays silky, creamy, and in a liquid gold state. It’s a little like a cross between butter and melted cheese. They’re seriously divine. And they’re not just for breakfast! I enjoy soft-boiled eggs with toast, as an addition to bowl meals, as a topper for salads or soup (hello, ramen!), or just as a quick snack. I pretty much add soft-boiled eggs to everything I eat, no matter what time of day. Are you ready to see how easy it is?
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Why we Love Soft Boiled Eggs
Soft-boiled eggs are my new obsession. The whites of the eggs are firm, but the yolk stays silky, creamy, and in a liquid gold state. It’s a little like a cross between butter and melted cheese. They’re seriously divine. And they’re not just for breakfast! I enjoy soft-boiled eggs with toast, as an addition to bowl meals, as a topper for salads or soup (hello, ramen!), or just as a quick snack. I pretty much add soft-boiled eggs to everything I eat, no matter what time of day. Are you ready to see how easy it is?
How Long Does it Take TO Soft Boil an Egg?
The short answer is that it takes six minutes to soft boil an egg with fully set white and a liquid yolk, or 3-5 minutes if you prefer softer, slightly unset whites near the yolk. The long answer is that the time for soft boiled eggs also depends on the size of your egg and the technique used to boil the egg.
The recipe below is formulated for large eggs that are still cold from the refrigerator. In the U.S. large eggs weigh approximately 56-62 grams. You can use this method for other-sized eggs, just be aware that you will need to adjust the time up or down, depending on the size of your egg. Other factors that may affect the cooking time include high elevation, the type of cookware used, adding the egg to cold water vs. hot water, and the starting temperature of your egg. Start with six minutes for large eggs and adjust the time until you find the exact amount of time needed to achieve your perfect soft-boiled egg.
The diagram above shows how long to cook large eggs (cold) to achieve soft or hard boiled eggs and everything in between.
- 3-5 minutes: liquid yolk with soft, whites not fully set
- 6 minutes: liquid yolk with fully set whites
- 7 minutes: jammy yolk with outer edges set
- 8 minutes: half set yolk
- 9 minutes: half set yolk
- 10 minutes: mostly set yolk
Using the steaming method, I find 12 minutes to be perfect for a hard boiled egg with a fully set yolk. If you prefer to use a full water bath instead of the steaming method, check out my tutorial for hard boiled eggs.
How to Boil Eggs Fast
Half of the time spent when boiling eggs is just waiting for the water to boil, so I like to use a combination of boiling water and steam. To create the steam you only need one inch of water in the pot, which comes to a boil in just a few quick minutes instead of several minutes for a full pot of water. The steam from the boiling water is then trapped under the lid, it surrounds the egg and cooks the egg just as quickly and evenly as a full pot of water. The quick steaming method allows you to cook your soft-boiled egg in just six minutes, or about the amount of time that it takes to start making your coffee or toast a piece of bread.
If you want to see how to make soft or hard-boiled eggs using a full pot of water, check out my tutorial for how to make hard-boiled eggs.
How to Make Perfect Soft Boil Eggs – Step by Step Instructions
Add one inch of water to a sauce pot. Yes, you only need ONE INCH of water. Use the smallest pot you have that will house the number of eggs you’re making, so they’re in a single layer in the pot. I usually only do one or two eggs at a time, but this same technique can be used for any number of eggs. Place a lid on the pot and bring the water to a rolling boil over high heat. Once boiling, gently place the large egg(s) into the pot. Tongs or a slotted spoon makes this easier to do without burning your finger tips.
After adding the egg(s) to the pot, put the lid back on top, and set a timer for six minutes. The lid holds in the steam, which surrounds the eggs with even heat, cooking them quickly and evenly.
After exactly six minutes, turn off the burner, and use the tongs to transfer the eggs to an ice bath. Allow the eggs to cool until they’re no longer too hot to handle, or let them sit in the ice bath until you’re ready to eat. Just make sure you don’t let them sit at room temperature after steaming, otherwise they will continue to cook with their residual heat, and the yolks will continue to solidify.
Carefully tap the egg on a hard surface to crack the shell, then gently peel it away. You’ll need to be gentle because the inside is still liquid and the egg will be somewhat soft and wobbly. Begin peeling on the fat end, which often has an air-bubble that separates the shell from the whites, and makes an easy spot to separate the two. Give it a quick rinse after removing the shell to get rid of any shell fragments.
And now it’s time for that magic moment… OMG the runny yolk is liquid perfection! *squeal* Just so you can see a close up of the awesome results… The whites are completely solid and the yolk is ALL liquid. How perfect is that? I feel like I won the lottery.
How to Make Perfect Soft Boiled Eggs
Servings 1Ingredients
- 1 large egg, chilled
Instructions
- Add 1 inch of water to a sauce pot, cover, and bring to a boil over high heat.
- Once boiling, add an egg (or however many you’d like as long as they are in a single layer in the bottom of the pot), straight from the refrigerator into the pot. Replace the lid and let it continue to boil for exactly six minutes.
- After six minutes, remove the egg(s) from the pot and place them in an ice water bath or run under cool water until they are cool enough to handle. Peel, and enjoy!
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Notes
Nutrition
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How Long do Soft Boiled Eggs Last?
Soft boiled eggs in the shell will last in the refrigerator for about two days. To reheat the refrigerated soft boiled eggs, just repeat the initial cooing process with half the time. Bring about an inch of water to a boil in a small saucepot, add the egg, and let steam for 3 minutes instead of six.
What to Serve with Soft Boiled Eggs
Soft boiled eggs go well with so many different foods that I find myself adding them to almost all my meals (“put an egg on it!”). I add soft boiled eggs to everything from noodles and rice bowls to salads and toast. When you break open that liquid gold yolk is like adding a deliciously rich sauce to your meal. Here are a few recipes where a soft boiled egg can really take your meal to the next level:
Tried this on a whim when I was craving eggs! Now runny means runny and if you like a slightly more custardy egg then I def recommend 7-8 minutes. I didn’t do an ice bath as my water is insanely cold due to the weather but this is an amazing recipe!
Please tell me I fell for an April’s fools joke?
My eggs were room temperature, I still did 6 or 7 minutes, tried peeling them and they broke and spilled all over my floor.
Maybe get a legit recipe that works before you have a recipe blog
And what have YOU accomplished?
Yes, because Beth and alllll the other positive commenters are lying just to make you mad. lol. Maybe your eggs are larger than Beth used? Maybe your water wasn’t up to a full boil?
Maybe you opened the lid and released the steam? Maybe use your brain before commenting on a recipe blog? Or just maybe, since you managed to mess up a recipe for eggs, you simply don’t have one?
recipe calls for eggs right out the fridge. that might be the deal.
Maybe you just SUCK at making eggs!
I remember my mom making soft boiled eggs served in an egg cup for breakfast. You would slice off the top of the shell and then use a spoon to scoop out the egg to eat it.
Do you think 6 or 7 minutes would give the best result for eating the egg out of the shell?
I’ve never eaten them that way, so it’s hard to say what would be best, but I would guess that a shorter time would be better so that the whites are a little softer and therefore scoopable?
Your recipe has been very nice. Ingredients that I use to make this recipe. Cook them as you like them. My definition of a perfect soft boiled egg may not be like yours, and that’s fine! It all comes down to Kusum’s continuity. I like that to be my juicy and jammy, some parts flow and some parts start to harden. To achieve this texture, I cook mine for 7 minutes. If you like rania yolk, cook your eggs for 6 1/2 minutes.
Perfect! Even with farm fresh eggs!
Smashed the crap out of 2 perfectly good eggs putting them in boiling water and replacing the cover. Never again!
Perfect egg! Amazing with just 1 inch of water. No more Sunnyside up eggs. I’m moving up to perfect soft boiled and need to tell friends about this. Thank you so much for sharing!
So I already have 2 pressure cookers so leave me out of your giveaway. My question pertains to finding any secrets to making hard boiled eggs from fresh eggs. Store bought eggs are weeks old and when trying to use fresh eggs from my chickens the peeling process totally destroys the eggs!!!!! I hate buying old eggs from the store since I get mine everyday from the “ladies”!
Anyone have any tips to easily peel fresh hard boiled eggs????
Add 1 top of vinegar or lemon juice to every cup of water used for boiling to make eggs easier to peel.
I have found that cooking them in the Pressure Cooker makes for eggs that are (mostly) the easiest to peel of all the methods I’ve ever tried. Every now and then there’s a stubborn one, but usually the shells just slip off after cracking the large end. And very fresh eggs seem as easy as older ones. I use the 5-5-5 timing – 5 minutes under pressure, 5 natural release, 5 (or more) ice bath. Seems to work about the same on high or low pressure in my Instant Pot.
Thank you ever so much! I needed a soft boiled egg for a Ramen recipe last night. I have never made soft boiled eggs.
While eating it, I realized my mother used to make me a soft boiled egg for breakfast when I was little! It’s been decades since I had a soft boiled eggs. But I always seem to gravitate toward sunny side Up Eggs. And I never gave away my shot glass.
I made soft boiled eggs for breakfast today, and I was in heaven using your recipe. I put it the the shot glass and took the top off. One at a time. Thank you again
Holy cow! i was suspicious at the recipe because it never advised to lower the temperature after the water boils. Well if you were wondering – DO NOT LOWER FROM HIGH! Weird right! Its not a mistake, and I have an electric stove. I’ve grown up with my Abuela’s perfectly cooked soft boiled eggs (huevos en cascara) and this made them perfectly first try. Absolute comfort perfection. Thanks so much for the wonderful easy recipe =]
I’m 56 bin boiling eggs for years even as a kid perfect egg’s I’ve ever made with this recipe
Best soft boiled egg ever!
Thank you for easy to follow instructions!
I followed this to the letter (did 6 minutes even though I was using SMALLER than average eggs, just to see how they would come out) and the whites are almost completely runny, basically uncooked.
This is a physical impossibility unless you turned the heat source off after adding the eggs to the pot.
NICE post!!
Tried 3 eggs for my first and only trial so far. A little undercooked, and 1 was a very easy peel, the other 2 not. Have read further, adding a little vinegar and baking soda might help. So, onto the next experiment. CJ
this is the only way i make them now. thank you