Omelet

By Melissa Clark

Updated May 29, 2024

Omelet
Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Total Time
5 minutes
Rating
4(712)
Comments
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This recipe is for a basic French omelet with three eggs: enough for a hearty breakfast or brunch, or a light supper for one. The key to mastering this recipe is controlling the heat so the eggs do not brown, and whisking the eggs in the skillet so they set on the exterior but remain fluffy inside. A good nonstick or well-seasoned carbon-steel skillet is central to cooking the ideal omelet, which should be tender and slightly runny. Once you’ve got the technique down, you can play around with your seasonings, adding minced herbs, grated cheese, diced ham or sautéed vegetables. This recipe is part of The New Essentials of French Cooking, a guide to definitive dishes every modern cook should master.

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Ingredients

Yield:1 serving
  • 3large eggs
  • Large pinch fine sea salt, to taste
  • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 1 to 2teaspoons minced fresh herbs, such as parsley, tarragon, chives or a combination (optional)
  • 1tablespoon unsalted butter
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (1 servings)

318 calories; 26 grams fat; 12 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 9 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 1 gram carbohydrates; 0 grams dietary fiber; 1 gram sugars; 19 grams protein; 386 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Crack eggs into a medium bowl. Add 1 tablespoon water, and salt and pepper. Whisk with a fork until egg whites are incorporated into yolks. Mix in herbs, if using.

  2. Step 2

    Place a 8- to 9-inch skillet (preferably nonstick or seasoned carbon steel) over high heat. Melt butter until bubbling subsides.

  3. Step 3

    Pour in egg mixture and reduce heat to medium. With the back of a fork or a heatproof rubber spatula, whisk eggs around skillet until the bottom begins to set. This takes only a few seconds. Add any fillings, if using.

  4. Step 4

    Tilt skillet and either bang or flip egg over itself. Use fork or spatula if necessary to complete folding in half or thirds.

  5. Step 5

    Angle the skillet and a serving plate together, and flip omelet onto plate.

Ratings

4 out of 5
712 user ratings
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Comments

DPChurch

Kenji Lopez-Alt of Serious Eats (@thefoodlab) did his usual rigorous experiments on when to add salt to scrambled eggs and omelettes.

Salting eggs about 15 minutes before cooking had the best results: "Adding salt to the eggs well before cooking can prevent the proteins from bonding too tightly by reducing their attraction to one another, resulting in a tenderer curd and lower likelihood of unattractive weeping."

It actually does make a noticeable difference.

James McGinnis

Watch the Jacque Pepin omlette videos on YouTube. He describes two styles; the country style uses the " pull from the edges" method and creates a firm browned omlette, the traditional style is whisked in the pan and creates a smaller, softer curd without browning. The latter is actually more tender.

JMR

Normally I worship Melissa Clark but I have to disagree about her technique here. I've lived in France and taken cooking classes there and was taught that the correct way to cook an omelet is to gently pull the edges of the cooking eggs toward the middle and tilt the uncooked to the edge. Never to whisk it in the pan which I think would make the omelet "tough". Sorry.

Andy Swadener

How to cook an omelet: https://approvedpromo.info/article/omelette?referring_source=newsreader

Thomas Smith

I'm sorry but the fact you are using a scratched teflon pan for this demonstration is laughable. The NYT Cooking section should have higher standards than that!

GreenSageSJ

I hope Melissa didn't make the omelet in the photo! Because that's over-cooked. A true French omelet has absolutely no browning. The finished omelet should be silky and glistening with butter on the outside and moist and tender (rather than dry and fluffy) on the inside. If it's brown on the outside, the pan was too hot or the eggs were in the pan too long. Or both. This sometimes happens out of fear that the top (the inside) is uncooked. It's not. It firms a bit more after folding.

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