1-Minute Microwaved Scrambled Eggs? Yes, You Can

I trust mrslarkin. If you've made her Cinnamon Scone Bread or her Mozzarella in Carrozza, so do you.

So I was optimistic—but still skeptical—when I saw her post on (Not)Recipes for a one-minute, single-serving scrambled egg made in the microwave. But there was proof!

mrslarkin over 8 years ago

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Amazingly delicious, fluffy, quick and easy microwave scrambled egg.

In a 2 cup glass measuring cup, melt a small amount of butter (like a 1/8" pat). Add a splash of cream. Milk, half and half, or water will probably work. Add one large egg. Small pinch of salt. Beat well. Microwave on high for about 1 minute, stirring every 15 seconds (THIS IS IMPORTANT SO DO IT.) You can add some cheese for the last 15 seconds or so. It's the perfect size for a toasted English muffin, FYI.

Here's how she does it:

I'd read about other methods for micro-scrambling (that's the term, right?), but most use more eggs and ask you to stir less frequently. Mrslarkin's method is smart because you stir vigorously every 15 seconds—which prevents the eggs from cooking unevenly or becoming one big soufflé. In the words of mrslarkin herself...

I honestly didn't know there are other methods to do this. I kind of just transferred my same technique of scrambling in a pan to scrambling in the microwave: Melt butter, beat the egg with a little liquid, a dash of salt, and stir a lot. In the microwave version, I chose to stir vigorously because microwave cooking tends to have hot spots and some parts of whatever you cook always end up overcooked and some parts undercooked.

So obviously, I tried it immediately. My egg took only 45 seconds total, and I broke it up at the end instead of sliding it out of the ramekin as a perfect disk.

The resulting egg could not be mistaken for a slow-scrambled fellow: no almost-wet curds; no really creamy factor. These eggs were of the fluffier and drier variety—still soft, but more of a pillow than a lake bottom; more of the air than of the sea. They reminded me of breakfast buffet or summer camp eggs—I think it's that they steam a bit in the microwave.

You can make a hot breakfast in a sparse kitchen (like a hotel or dorm room) and only dirty one dish, and the result is forgiving and reliable (the same can't be said of microwave-poaching: "It's super tricky to achieve poached egg perfection in the microwave," says mrslarkin, "and I am a poached egg perfectionist").

And mrslarkin's right in her (Not)Recipes caption: Micro-scrambled eggs would be perfect on a sandwich. Their relative dryness means they won't run all over the place or sog up your bread and, if you don't break them up at the end, they'll come out of the microwave in a tidy little circle, great for an English muffin or a bagel. "You could probably cook this in a mug, and pin it to your things-to-microwave-in-a-mug Pinterest page. ;)" she added.

Yes, yes you could:

Would you—have you—cooked an egg in the microwave? Tell us about it in the comments below.

Because we're all in need of an extra-simple, 1-minute breakfast for rushed mornings, we're rerunning this microwave scrambled eggs recipe; it originally debuted on June 12, 2016.