Coddled Egg Recipe · i am a food blog (2024)

When we were down in Yountville, we had an incredibly delicious coddled egg dish at Thomas Keller’s French bistro, Bouchon. The egg was was coddled on top of a potato puree with roasted mushrooms and sautéed spinach. There was buttered brioche for dipping. It was literally the best egg dish I’ve had in a long time.

Coddled Egg Recipe · i am a food blog (1)

Simply put, coddled eggs are eggs that are baked or steamed until the whites are just set and the yolks are gloriously runny. Buttered toast is absolutely necessary for dipping into the runny yolks. Coddled eggs are a great breakfast or brunch item: they’re customizable, they’re mostly hands off and they’re intensely satisfying.

Feel free to experiment with this recipe. I left out the mushrooms just because I didn’t have any, but they totally added an extra dimension of umami in Keller’s version. If you don’t like mushrooms or you’re in the mood for meat, I think a soft pulled pork layer would be just the thing. Not a spinach fan? Leave it out or substitute another leafy vegetable. Also, I kept it simple with the seasoning, but fresh herbs would be a welcome addition. The only thing I wouldn’t switch out are the mashed potatoes. I never thought of pairing mashed potatoes and eggs, but in this dish they really work.

Coddled Egg Recipe · i am a food blog (2)

You can prepare most of this recipe the night before: the potatoes and spinach can be put into the ramekins, covered and chilled. The next day, bring the ramekins up to room temperature before topping with an egg and baking. While the eggs are baking, do a little coffee-making and toast-buttering and you’ll soon be sitting down to a delicious, fancified version of eggsand toast.

Coddled Egg Recipe · i am a food blog (3)

i am steamed, i am creamy: i am coddled egg!

Coddled Egg Recipe
serves 2

  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup of your favourite smooth mashed potatoes
  • 1 cup of spinach
  • olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350°F.In a small pan over medium heat, sauté the spinach in a touch of olive oil until just wilted. Season with salt and pepper and remove from the pan.

Divide the potatoes between two ramekins or small jars. Top the potatoes with spinach and one egg each. Season the egg with salt and pepper. Place the ramekins or jars into a deep roasting pan. Pour enough hot water into the pan to come up halfway up the sides of the ramekins or jars.

Carefully put the tray on the centre rack. Bake until the whites are gently set and the yolks are still runny, about 17-20 minutes. Carefully remove ramekins or jars from the roasting pan and serve with plenty of buttered toast.

Coddled Egg Recipe · i am a food blog (4)

23 Comments

  1. Katherine Hunter says:

    April 28, 2012 at 2:18 pm

    i love coddled eggs so much i eat them “plain” but i do have some potatoes i can puree and some spinach i can wilt so tomorrow morning i will get fancy with the eggs which, btw, are local fresh and i know the hens and they are happy hens

    Reply

  2. Adriana says:

    April 28, 2012 at 2:43 pm

    brilliant

    Reply

  3. andrew says:

    April 28, 2012 at 8:36 pm

    i can one up you katherine, i have a few chickens….they are happy and lay eggs fresh. nothing like eating an egg that was just laid! and home grown chickens produce a yolk that is orange…so good. i gotta try this sometime!

    Reply

  4. April 29, 2012 at 5:17 am

    Wow! this looks brilliant! Coddled eggs sound so fascinating, so much so that i want to try it out for breakfast tomorrow! This is my first time to your blog, and love the stuff, esp the pictures!

    Reply

  5. Katherine Hunter says:

    April 29, 2012 at 8:04 am

    i dont raise my own chickens and ducks anymore but i do value a good “red” (the italians call the yoik “rosso”) yolk as i swallow them raw with a spoonful of honey / but only from the hens that i personally know / smile / a perfect egg yolk contains all the nutrients the brain needs / i see your homegrown eggs and raise you home grown potatoes and spinach / both just harvested / the potato was pureed with fresh local raw cream / we have a small local dairy of five cows and are they happy too ? better believe it and i know all their names / dont try to one up this old broad / now i am going to see how this coddled egg turns out / oh my gosh ! this is divine / thank you so much,Adriana and Thomas Keller too / here’s a tip on coddlers / find the glass ones, the see through ones so you can see what’s happening with the egg / i live in the altitude where boiling or coddling an egg takes longer than closer to sea level / the handpainted porcelain coddlers favored by the English arent as useful / btw i used only the yolk on the potato and spinach / a small pat of butter on the potato and the coddler itself brushed with ghee / the coddlers i have are secured with metal springs which do not get hot in the boiling water so you can lift them out without burning your fingers

    Reply

  6. May 2, 2012 at 4:24 pm

    This looks like such an interesting way to use eggs, but I’m sure that it’s delicious. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply

  7. Carrie says:

    May 3, 2012 at 6:11 am

    Gasp! You are my hero! I can’t wait to try these :) thank you for sharing.

    Reply

  8. Amrita says:

    May 19, 2012 at 8:11 am

    Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous photography!!!

    I’ve been stalking your blog for quite sometime now without commenting. Well, here goes.

    Reply

  9. August 20, 2012 at 2:20 pm

    Made this last night and it came out wonderfully…pretty easy recipe to deal with too. Thanks so much for the idea!

    Kyle

    Reply

  10. Tory says:

    January 6, 2013 at 10:48 am

    This is so delicious!! I had some left over yams that needed to be used and used them instead of regular mashed potatoes, and threw in a few leftover sautéed sh*take mushrooms that I had from omelettes last week… The sweet potatoes, spinach and mushrooms were a perfect complement to the eggs! I need some advice, however… With coddled eggs, are u supposed to put a lid on them at some point to help the whites to set? Because we had a few areas of white that were still clear-ish and runny after cooking 25 minutes, but we couldn’t cook them longer because the yolks were starting to set a little which we didn’t want. We ate thm anyway (and they were delicious), as I figured 25 minutes in the oven would kill the bacteria anyway… But I worry about serving them this way for company that might be more squeamish… Any suggestions?

    Reply

  11. Naomi says:

    February 15, 2013 at 4:14 am

    I never knew what that style of cooking was called. I learned something today!! I’ve made eggs like this before, but never thought of other ways to “coddle” my eggs :)

    Thanks for the recipe, ideas, and new vocabulary word.

    Reply

  12. Leo adam says:

    April 17, 2013 at 11:17 pm

    hi, thanks for the recipe last night i made this french coddled egg with my wife and finally we made it! very nice i like it so much

    take a long time to made a mash potato, i made it from a war potato.. but the final taste make me satisfied

    greeting from indonesia ;)

    Reply

  13. Carrie says:

    August 27, 2014 at 8:09 pm

    Soldiers are toast. This looks like a great recipe, but perhaps you mean eggs and soldiers?

    Reply

  14. AlphaOmega says:

    October 28, 2015 at 11:43 am

    Can you tell me what size Fido canning jar you use for coddling? That is such a super idea! Thank you, -k.

    Reply

    1. Stephanie Le says:

      October 28, 2015 at 12:28 pm

      hi! they’re these ones :)

      Reply

  15. Ken says:

    May 19, 2016 at 11:16 am

    Yummy, but the yokes were overcooked at 15 minutes. 350 in convection oven. Maybe I’ll try it at 325 for 15 minutes. Or, go to conventional oven (just love convection cooking!) Thanks

    Reply

    1. Stephanie Le says:

      May 20, 2016 at 10:33 am

      oof, some ovens do run hot! hopefully 325 works, or the convection! thanks for giving this a go!

      Reply

  16. August 22, 2016 at 1:29 pm

    Do you do these with or without the lid closed? Also do you take off the rubber ring?

    Reply

    1. Stephanie Le says:

      August 22, 2016 at 3:57 pm

      i did these with the lid partially closed – i didn’t close the clasp. if you do want to do it with the lid on, i would use the rubber ring. hope that helps!

      Reply

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Coddled Egg Recipe · i am a food blog (2024)

FAQs

What is the point of a coddled egg? ›

A coddled egg is cooked inside its shell briefly to kill any bacteria before using it like you would use a raw egg. Some of the egg white cooks but not all of it. Fail-proof Instant Pot Poached Eggs are perfectly cooked in minutes with no hands-on cooking required. Great to make for a crowd without any effort.

What liquid does a chef coddle eggs in? ›

Unlike poached eggs, which are cooked directly in a liquid, coddled eggs are cooked in individual vessels or jars. From there, the jars are placed in a water bath and are cooked just below the boiling point. The results are firm-yet-tender egg whites with a creamy yolk.

What is the difference between coddled eggs and poached eggs? ›

It's similar to a poached egg. The difference between a coddled egg and a poached egg is that a poached egg is made by cooking the egg directly in the cooking liquid, whereas a coddled egg is cooked in a small dish (usually a small ramekin) instead.

Are shirred eggs the same as coddled eggs? ›

Unlike French oeufs en cocotte or coddled eggs, shirred eggs are not baked immersed in a water bath. These days, “shirred eggs” is used to name any eggs baked this way, usually with a bit of butter and cream, and served in the baking dish.

Are coddled eggs good for you? ›

However, if the shell is cracked, there is a slim chance the egg yoke can become infected and when ingested raw, it can make a person uncomfortably ill. Even worse for the elderly, children and those with immune deficiency, so play it safe with eggs and coddle to remove bacteria, including salmonella.

Who invented coddled eggs? ›

There is no record of when egg coddlers were invented or who was the first to manufacture them, but they started to become popular in Europe in the late 19th century. The first known Worcester coddlers were made at Grainger's China Works in the 1880s.

Can I coddle an egg without a coddler? ›

To coddle an egg without a coddler, start by bringing a pot of water to a simmer. Place the egg in a heatproof bowl and carefully pour the hot water over the egg until it's submerged. Cover the bowl with a lid and let the egg sit in the hot water for about 5-7 minutes, depending on how runny you want the yolk.

Where did coddled eggs originate? ›

The truth is that coddled eggs have a somewhat cloudy history. According to Royal Worcester, a centuries-old British porcelain producer famed for its egg coddlers, there's no record of who exactly invented the technique. All we know is that by the late 1800s, coddled eggs were a popular dish found across Europe.

What does Irish coddle mean? ›

The word “Coddle” derives from the French term caudle which means to boil gently, parboil or stew. Apparently, coddle dates back to the first Irish famine in the late 1700s where anything to hand got thrown into the pot.

Can I eat 2 eggs a day? ›

Although few studies have been conducted on how many eggs are healthy to have on a daily basis, eating 1-2 eggs a day appears to be safe for healthy adults. If you have heart disease, high cholesterol, or diabetes, however, you should watch your overall cholesterol and saturated fat intake.

What is a synonym for coddled egg? ›

Definitions of coddled egg. egg cooked briefly in the shell in gently boiling water. synonyms: boiled egg. types: hard-boiled egg, hard-cooked egg.

What is an egg with a runny yolk called? ›

Sunny side up: The egg is fried with the yolk up and is not flipped. Over easy: The egg is flipped and the yolk is still runny. Over medium: The egg is flipped and the yolk is only slightly runny. Over well: The egg is flipped and the yolk is cooked hard.

Why is it called dippy eggs? ›

The toast is sliced in this manner so that it can be dipped into the opening of a soft boiled egg that has had the top of its shell removed. Another belief for the origin of the name is from the childhood rhyme “Humpty Dumpty”.

What is a double egg coddler? ›

Egg Coddlers are manufactured in Royal Worcester fireproof hard porcelain. Porcelain is a true cookware material impervious to boiling water with excellent thermal shock resistance properties. Designed to cook up to two eggs sized small, medium, or large (not extra large or jumbo size).

How does an antique egg coddler work? ›

A frame within the egg coddler holds four eggs under the boiling water keeping them warm, and the cover prevents hot steam from escaping and assists the boiling process. The earliest egg boilers date from the 1790s.

What is the purpose of whipping eggs? ›

Whipped egg whites make souffles and cakes rise, lighten pancakes and waffles, and can be sweetened and turned into meringue, among their many uses. Many home cooks are daunted by the prospect of whipping egg whites, but really, nothing could be easier.

What is a substitute for a coddled egg? ›

To coddle an egg without a coddler, start by bringing a pot of water to a simmer. Place the egg in a heatproof bowl and carefully pour the hot water over the egg until it's submerged. Cover the bowl with a lid and let the egg sit in the hot water for about 5-7 minutes, depending on how runny you want the yolk.

Why do people whip eggs? ›

Whisking the eggs also means that you get a bit of air in the mix which helps make the eggs a bit lighter and fluffier. Incidentally do not ever make scrambled eggs in a frying pan, that's for omelettes, scrambled eggs are made in a small saucepan. It's much more controllable.

Why do people tap the top of a boiled egg? ›

Especially in older eggs—which are better for boiling because they are easier to peel—as they have more gas inside the shell and so crack more readily. Fortunately, pricking also allows water to loosen the membrane that attaches the albumen (white part) to the shell, making eggs easier to peel.

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