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:
My husband says they’re better than his grandma’s. You know they have to be good!
what about the time it takes for the water to return to a boil ?
It doesn’t ever stop when you use this method because you’re not submerging a whole cold egg in the water. Most of the egg stays in the steam above the water.
Worked for me first time. Eggs out of the fridge(36F) into ~1” of steadily boiling water. Lid back onto the pot, six mins on medium het to keep the boil going, then drop into ice water as directed. Perfect soft boiled eggs. I intend to make scotch eggs with them next.
Peel by cracking thick end and so so under a stream of cold water.
Enjoy.
I am kind of confused by your directions which seemingly contradict each other! You state in one place that steam will surround the eggs. You also state that there should be an inch of water in the bottom of the pan and that the egg should be placed in the inch of boiling water, which for the average large egg be almost half of the egg! I used a variation of your method by placing the eggs in a steamer basket that left the eggs above the steaming water (which also had the benefit of being able to lift the eggs out of the pot much easier).
‘Seemingly’….only to you. No where in the recipe does it mention a steamer basket. It’s the least technical thing you could cook after boiling water. It’s eggs, water and a pot.
Loved this! Perfect on my first time! read all directions even to size of pan etc. I love that you can just take cold eggs out of fridge and cook perfect! I did 6 minutes because I like mine runny like my dad used to make! It came out fine.
I may put them in a bowl next time and cut off top and scoop out so don’t have to peel so much. Thanks for this great recipe! It only took me 50 years to come up with a consistant soft boiled egg! I’ve even used the egg cookers but it never came out exactly like this one does.
I followed directions and my eggs turned out perfect runny yolks with whites firm ! I will definitely be doing this again !
Egg whites are not cooked. I’m on my 3rd time of putting the same egg in boiling water. Started with 3 eggs but first two were quite under cooked.
Why would you put a chilled egg in boiling water? The change in temperature to the egg from cold to immediate hot will crack the egg
It didn’t crack my egg. It worked perfectly.
Mine didn’t break either. Perfect!
Followed to a t and the whites were completely running and couldn’t even peel them.
The eggs must be cold. If they are at room temperature, the timing is too long and the yellows will not be runny.
Tapping the eggs on the fat side of the shell makes the peeling ever so easy.
Fantastic recipe for soft boiled eggs with runny yellows.
Thank you.
Peeling the egg is the real challenge for me. The shell NEVER comes off easily. The shell has to be agonizingly removed in small puzzle like fragments, with part of the white sticking to the shell.
So how is this her fault that you can’t cook an egg correctly? This is how I make soft boiled eggs all the time and have for over 20 years. Believe it or not but it make a difference if it’s a cold egg or room temperature egg and if I recall the recipe says to use eggs right from the fridge. Also you can’t just add eggs to water and bring to boil. The water needs to be a full boil before you drop in your eggs. 6 minutes and the eggs are fully set whites and the yolk will be runny. It’s not rocket science
That comment was not directed at you. I tried to delete it but not sure how. It was supposed to be to the one who asked if this was an April fool’s joke
Alvin,
Add a small slice of lemon to the water prior to the eggs.
You’re welcome
One was perfect, one egg cracked, soon ot totally pleased.
This worked absolutely perfectly! Fast and easy – thank you!
Nailed it on the first try!
I’m on my way to a perfect Scottish Egg.
This worked absolutely perfect. I’m 28 years old and it took 28 years to find the perfect method to cooking hard/soft boiled eggs