Learn how to make perfect soft boiled eggs! Top them onto toast or grain bowls, or sprinkle them with salt and enjoy them on their own.
There’s something so crave-able about a perfect soft boiled egg. The tender white, the runny yolk. If you ask me, it’s something everyone should know how to make. It takes minutes, it requires 1 ingredient, and it’s an easy way to add protein and healthy fats to just about anything! Want to round out a salad or turn a slice of toast into a meal? Put a soft boiled egg on it.
Below, you’ll find my foolproof method for how to soft boil an egg. It yields soft boiled eggs with perfectly cooked whites and gooey, jammy yolks. This simple recipe is a staple in my kitchen. Once you try it, it will be in yours, too!
How to Make Soft Boiled Eggs
My method for how to make soft boiled eggs couldn’t be simpler! Here’s how it goes:
First, heat the water. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium, so the water maintains a gentle boil.
Then, add the eggs. Using a slotted spoon, carefully lower the eggs into the simmering water. Set a timer for 7 minutes.
While the eggs cook, prepare the ice bath. Fill a large bowl with cold water, and add a handful of ice. When the timer goes off, remove the eggs from the hot water, and immediately add them to the ice bath. Allow them to chill for at least 3 minutes.
Finally, peel the eggs! Tap the bottom of a soft boiled egg to remove a little of the shell. Carefully slide a small spoon between the egg and its shell, and slide it around the egg to loosen the shell and remove it. I love this easy method for peeling a soft boiled egg, but it can take a little practice to get just right. If you prefer, you can also peel the eggs with your hands, like I do in my hard boiled egg recipe.
Repeat the peeling process with the remaining eggs, and enjoy!
Perfect Soft Boiled Egg Tips
- Cook them how you like them. My definition of a perfect soft boiled egg might not be the same as yours, and that’s ok! It all comes down to the consistency of the yolk. I like mine to be gooey and jammy, with some parts runny and some parts starting to solidify. To achieve this texture, I cook mine for 7 minutes. If you prefer a runnier yolk, cook your eggs for 6 1/2 minutes.
- Watch the water. Have you ever cooked eggs in rapidly boiling water? (I have.) Did they crack? (They did.) In this recipe, make sure the water maintains a gentle boil. It should be bubbling, but not so hard that the eggs bounce around. If the water starts to boil too fast, the shells will break against the bottom of the pot.
- Don’t skip the ice bath. For the sake of convenience, it might be tempting to skip the ice bath in this recipe. But trust me, I wouldn’t ask you to do this step if it wasn’t necessary. The ice bath stops the cooking process, so the eggs keep their crave-worthy runny yolks, and it makes them far easier to peel. It’s super easy and totally worth it.
Soft Boiled Egg Serving Suggestions
There are so many ways to enjoy a perfect soft boiled egg! If you’re feeling fancy, don’t even bother to peel it. Instead, pop it in an egg cup, and use a spoon to crack the shell and remove the top quarter of the egg. Sprinkle it with salt and pepper, everything bagel seasoning, or za’atar, and eat it straight out of the shell.
A soft boiled egg is a great topping for larger dishes, too. I especially love adding one to avocado toast and grain bowls, like my Power Bowl or Farmers Market Breakfast Bowl. Try these recipes, or have fun creating your own bowl with these components:
- A soft boiled egg! It’ll add richness and protein.
- A grain. Think white, brown, or black rice, quinoa, farro, or wheat berries.
- Veggies. Anything goes! Experiment with fresh greens, sautéed mushrooms, roasted broccoli, cauliflower, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts, asparagus, and more.
- And a punchy sauce. Tie it all together with sesame ginger dressing, gochujang sauce, peanut sauce, homemade Italian dressing, or lemon vinaigrette.
Let me know what combinations you try!
More Favorite Cooking Basics
If you loved learning to how soft boil an egg, check out one of these basic tutorials next:
- How to Make Sunny Side Up Eggs
- Baked Tofu
- How to Cook Tempeh
- Crispy Roasted Chickpeas
- How to Cook Lentils
- How to Cook Dried Beans
How to Make Soft Boiled Eggs
Equipment
Ingredients
Instructions
- Fill a medium pot with water and heat to a gentle simmer, just below boiling. Using a slotted spoon, carefully lower the eggs into the water and let simmer for 7 minutes (6 minutes for a runnier egg). Set a bowl of ice water nearby.
- Remove and chill immediately in the ice water for a minute or two until the eggs are cool enough to handle.
- Tap the bottom of each egg to crack off a little bit of the shell.
- Take a small spoon and carefully slide it in and around the egg to loosen and remove it from the shell. This takes a little bit of practice to get exactly right. If your first eggs aren’t perfect, it’s ok. They’ll still be delicious!
- Season eggs with salt and pepper, to taste.
After taking the shells off of the eggs, I was disappointed to see that the whites looked undercooked and that I wouldn’t be able to eat them. I was VERY wrong😆 The whites were perfectly cooked and the yolks were about as runny as they get! I’ve been trying to achieve this consistency for a long time and I’m glad to have finally done it. 10/10 recipe!
Hi Tahin, I’m glad they were perfect!
amazing! eggs were perfect! Thank you for the accurate instructions
Turned out great thanks for the help!
I’m so glad they were perfect!
Said 7 minutes but my eggs were runny
I discovered soft-boiled eggs in a Mexican country club. They used egg cups to hold them upright while using real egg scissors to snip off the tops; they provided a small spoon with which to dip the egg and ingredients (salt, pepper, a dash or two of Tabasco sauce and bits of butter) out of the shell, one dip at a time. Suggest including buttered toast (sliced) on the side, a small glass of juice and your favorite coffee. But used your recipe to soft-boil the eggs, which came out… perfect. Thanks a bunch.
Do you use cold eggs out of the fridge, or do they need to be room temperature to start?
The eggs were cold. To long in ice bath?? 3 minutes. Yolk perfect.
Hi Kim, chilling the eggs in the ice bath makes it easier to remove them from the shells. You could chill them for less time, just know that they may not be as easy to peel.
Forgot the stars.
Worked perfectly. Thanks!
Goodmorning
Very good, whites had good texture, yolks were almost completely liquid.
We’re making the eggs for a brunch, how far ahead of time can I boil the eggs? Ideally, I’d like to do it the day before. Is this possible w soft boiled?
Hi Erin, yes you can make them a day or two ahead of time and store them in the fridge.
after the ice bath of 3 minutes, are the eggs still hot?
Hi Mossy, they’re cooled down to about room temperature by then. If you would like a hot egg, you can do less time or just run the egg under cold water until it’s cool to the touch to peel.
This was super easy to follow and came out perfectly! Thank you
Hi Surya, Awesome! So glad you loved the recipe.
Perfection
Perfect soft-boiled eggs! All of your recipes are wonderful and create delicious results!
I’m so glad your eggs turned out perfect!
Wow. This worked so perfectly fo me. Lowering the heat on the boil prevented eggs from popping open. Whites were tender, not rubbery with perfect runny yolks. Yay! Thank you!
Hi Holley, I’m so glad you loved the soft-boiled eggs!
3 eggs popped straight off the bat. Crap recipe!
Did you take them straight from the fridge to the boiling water? Either at them to the water before the water starts boiling, or drop room temp eggs into the boiling water.
Lowered eggs into the non boiling water as if I was stepping away from a ticking bomb and every single egg broke ??♀️
Hi Allison, I might try a different brand of eggs.
If your eggs come directly from a cold fridge into boiling water they will crack and be ruined every time. If your eggs are more room temp when added to boiling it will work. Or put cold eggs in at the very beginning.
Eggs were over cooked and cold even at 6.5 mins. I’ll try a different method