Poached eggs


Poached eggs
Poached eggs are cooked, without the shell, in barely simmering (nearly boiling) water. White should be firm and yolk soft, that's the difficulty. This recipe teaches you how to succeed with three important points.
327 K 3.7/5 (38 reviews)
Grade this recipe:
Keywords:
Last modified on: January 8th 2013
For this recipe: Comment Send to a friend Ask me a question Follow Printable Diaporama
For 4 Poacheds eggs, you will need:
  • 1 egg 4 eggs
  • 2 white (spirit) vinegar 2 tablespoons white (spirit) vinegar
  • Total weight: 230 grams

Change these quantities to make:
Change measures:
Times for this recipe
Preparation: 40 min.
Resting: 2 hours
Cooking: 3 min.
All in all: 2 hours 40 min.
When should you start or finish this recipe?
If you start now, at , you will finish around : ?.Change start time
To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: .Change end time

Step by step recipe


Stage 1 - 2 hours
Poached eggs : Stage 1
1st important point: Remove 4 eggs from the fridge at least 2 hours in advance, you should use eggs at room temperature for the cooking time indicated below to work.

Stage 2 - 10 min.
Poached eggs : Stage 2
Bring a pan of unsalted water to boil. When boiling, pour in 2 tablespoons white (spirit) vinegar, and reduce heat to a simmering water.

That is the 2nd important point: your water should not be salted (salt disturbs the cooking of egg white), and simmering, not boiling, because big bubbles boiling produce irregular and ugly poached eggs.

Prepare a bowl of cold water.

Stage 3 - 1 min.
Poached eggs : Stage 3
Break the first egg into a cup.

Stage 4 - 1 min.
Poached eggs : Stage 4
Slip egg smartly into simmering water...

Stage 5 - 1 min.
Poached eggs : Stage 5
...and immediately gather the white around egg yolk to prevent egg spreading out too much.

If you have difficulty doing that, try this tip: with a tablespoon give one or two turn to the pan to make a small vortex in the water, then add egg and the vortex will do the gathering job for you.

Stage 6 - 3 min.
Poached eggs : Stage 6
Leave cook for 2 minutes and 30 seconds (3 minutes maximum). This cooking time is the 3rd important point for a perfect result.

Stage 7 - 1 min.
Poached eggs : Stage 7
After this time, remove egg from hot water and put it immediately into the bowl of cold water to stop the cooking.

Leave it in, and continue with all eggs.

Stage 8 - 2 min.
Poached eggs : Stage 8
With scissors, trim off any irregular lumps and trails of egg white to get as round and even an egg as possible.

Stage 9 - 1 min.
Poached eggs : Stage 9
Then put on a cloth to dry.

Stage 10 - 20 min.
Poached eggs : Stage 10
Do this with all eggs, your soft-boiled eggs are ready.
Remarks
Poached eggs are use in many recipes, cold or hot, but are always delicious.

If you want to reheat them, put in the microwave for 15 seconds, or leave 3 minutes in a bowl of hot tap water (not boiling).

If you make poached eggs in advance, the day before for example, leave to stand in a bowl of salted cold water in the fridge.

White vinegar is used because wine vinegar would stain the egg red.
Keeping: Several days in the fridge, in a closed jar.
Source: Home made.
Nutritional information
Proteins (gr)Carbohydrates (gr)Fats (gr)Energy value (in k-calories)Energy value (in k-joules)
Whole recipe30 RDI=10 %020 RDI=3 %290 RDI=20 %1,230 RDI: 20 %
Per 100 g10 RDI=4 %09 RDI=1 %130 RDI=6 %530 RDI: 6 %
Per piece6 RDI=2 %05 RDI=1 %70 RDI=4 %310 RDI: 4 %
The % figures are calculated in relation to the Recommended Dietary Intake , or RDI of 2,000 k-calories (or 8,400 k-joules) per day for a woman
Possible allergens in this recipe: egg, Sulfites
How much will it cost?
  • For 4 Poacheds eggs : 0.60 €
  • Per Poached eggs : 0.15 €

Change currency:

Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.
Some other recipes using this recipeSee them all 10
Salad lyonnaise
Salad lyonnaise

Salad lyonnaise conjures up the cuisine of the French city of Lyon and the region around: traditionally a salad of dandelion leaves with croutons, lardons and poached eggs. Here is a slightly simpler version with shredded lettuce instead of dandelions.
39 K 45 min.
Eggs meurette
Eggs meurette

Eggs meurette or "œufs à la bourguignonne" is a great classic of French cooking, and of Burgundy in particular. It consists of poached eggs on a bed of fondue onions and bacon, served on a slice of fried bread. This is topped with a tasty reduced red wine sauce.
213 K 14.1 1 hour 15 min.
Baked potatoes with poached egg and tuna sauce
Baked potatoes with poached egg and tuna sauce

You will no doubt have baked potatoes the classic way, but here's a version inspired by Yotam Ottolenghi, served with a delicious tuna and caper sauce, and a poached egg.
49 K 1 hour 20 min.
Polenta with spinach and soft-poached egg
Polenta with spinach and soft-poached egg

A "cake" of fried polenta, blanched spinach and a soft-poached egg on top, with a cream, shallot and white-wine sauce poured over just before serving.
83 K5 1 hour 15 min.
Poached eggs with spinach and Comté milk
Poached eggs with spinach and Comté milk

The combination of eggs with spinach is always a winner, but this recipe elevates it to another level with the original and delicious flavour added by the Comté milk.
35 K 1 hour 7 min.
This recipe uses (among others)
Other recipes you may also like
Vanilla sugar
Vanilla sugar
Almost essential in patisserie, you can find it in expensive little sachets of about 10g. It's necessary to distinguish between the vanilla sugar which really contains vanilla, and vanillin sugar, purely chemical which has never seen a vanilla pod. Here is how to quickly make a whole jar full of your own vanilla sugar.
August 12th 2018438 K 15 30 min.
Rémoulade dressing
Rémoulade dressing
This dressing is a kind of mayonnaise with vinegar, used for some salads like celeriac rémoulade. Usually it is prepared from mayonnaise, but here is another version, simpler and just as tasty.
October 3rd 2010893 K3.8 6 min.
Crispy rolls with chicken and leek
Crispy rolls with chicken and leek
Finely sliced leeks are cooked with a shallot, to which is added leftover chicken with a little cream and parmesan. This mixture is rolled up in filo pastry, and cooked in the oven.
February 21th 2011246 K5 50 min.
Home-made doner kebab
Home-made doner kebab
The kebab is a way of cooking meat that originated in the Middle East (the word means grill or grilled meat in different languages). The doner kebab is made up of slices of meat skewered and grilled vertically. The Turkish version is traditionally served with a yogurt and herb sauce in bread and/or with chips; the Greek version is served with salad in pitta bread. Here's how to make one yourself if your oven has both a grill and a...
May 20th 2015359 K 15 2 hours 35 min.
Coupe Augustin
Coupe Augustin
A "coupe Augustin" is a kind of sundae made with mint ice cream, slices of white peach poached in a light syrup, Chantilly cream, raspberry coulis and topped with toasted flaked almonds.
September 8th 201388 K4.7 30 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com

Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2025-10-19)

*Your e-mail Your first name or nickname
I am not a leaving thing
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Post a comment or question
Posted by:
I am not a leaving thing

Follow this recipe (as 2 people already do)
If you are interested in this recipe, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the recipe is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
I am not a leaving thing
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.

Back to top of page