This recipe for easy poached eggs using a Mason jar ring will have you wondering why you've never tried poaching an egg before. Or maybe you have an just need an easier way. Try this!
But why would you want to poach an egg anyway?
Here are a few reason:
- You don't need butter, oil or non-stick spray
- You won't get any crispy, burned or rubbery edges
- You can keep the yolk runny without having to worry about whether the white of the egg is cooked all the way or not.
I thought poached eggs were for fancy people and I was just fine scrambling my eggs thank you very much until I came across this delicious photo of poached eggs over top of avocado toast (which I highly recommend!).
I do like my eggs over medium on occasion but I do not like those brown crispy edges. So a poached eggs is truly the only way to get the best of both egg white and egg yolk worlds. Just like a fried egg, you can create runny or firm yolks depending on how long you cook your egg. So if you like your poached egg runny, then you're going to want to cook it for just 4 minutes. If you like it firm but a bit jello-y like I do, then go for 4 and ½ minutes. Hard, a full 5 minutes.
It's easier than you think to poach an egg!
If I can do it, you can do it. I was able to successfully poach on egg on my the first try using a Mason jar ring! I learned this little trick from reading one of my favorite food blogs, Pinch of Yum. It's not 100 % necessary to use a Mason jar ring, but when you're just learning to poach an egg, it makes things a lot easier. And you know me at all, you know I like to cook. But only if it's easy.
Mason jar rings help poach multiple eggs at once.
Final cool thing about the mason jar lid trick is that if you use a large pot or skillet then you can cook several poached eggs at once. Pretty much however many mason lid jar tops (just the ring) you can fit into your pot, that's how many poached eggs you can cook. So hurray! for making a tricky cooking technique super easy and achievable for the not-so-fancy cooks like me (and maybe you too?).
Tip: If you don't already have a metal Mason jar ring laying around, check out these cute silicone ones. Truly these would probably work even better than the metal rings because I did notice that the egg sometimes sticks to the metal and puts the yolk at risk of breaking as you remove it from the pot.
What to eat with poached eggs?
Now that you know how to make a perfectly poached egg on the first try, you might be wondering what goes well with them. Well, I have a couple ideas for you. The first one is my favorite breakfast of all time—Eggs Benedict. I just love the combination of the English muffin, ham, egg and Hollandaise sauce. This dish is surprisingly easy to make at home for as fancy as it looks and tastes.
Get my recipes for Eggs Benedict and Hollandaise sauce.
Here's a super healthy breakfast idea using poached eggs: Try my homemade low carb bagels, topped with smashed avocado, a little sea salt, a poached eggs and microgreens. So yummy and filling yet so good for you too!
Want more breakfast or brunch ideas?
Browse all my breakfast recipes
This recipe for easy poached eggs using a Mason jar ring was featured on Back to My Southern Roots!
Easy Poached Eggs using Mason Jar Ring
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 slices toasted bread
- Shredded cheese
- Fresh parsley to taste
Instructions
- Place two mason jar lid rings (without the center) into a large pot. Fill the pot with water just above the lids. Bring water to a boil then turn the heat off.
- Crack and drop an egg into each mason jar lid then cover the pot.
- Let the egg poach for 4-5 minutes depending on your yolk preference then remove gently with a spatula.
- Serve on top of toast with your favorite shredded cheese and/or smashed avocado. Spice to taste.
I can't believe how easy this recipe is. I lost my egg poaching pan during a move and have not made poached eggs since. I don't like how they come out in boiling water. I truly enjoyed my breakfast this morning and have already passed the recipe on to my 2 daughters. So easy... so delicious...
I have been poaching eggs in bulk for 5 years and have developed similar techniques by trial and error. The salt density is important to keep the eggs suspended in the water (I use the same salinity as sea water) but I was grateful for your suggestion to add acid (having no acetic acid to hand, I used lemon juice). With really fresh and really cold eggs, even the ‘thin’ white didn’t go thru the sieve so I used a colander to good effect. So, I’ve just poached 90 eggs for use in our breakfast place and only two had the yolks ‘escape’ their white. I did break the yolks on 5 more. I crack maybe 400 eggs a week but still haven’t found the perfect way to crack them! Any suggestions? Sharp edge or flat surface? I’d like to reduce the 5% wastage if you can help!
I'm glad this is working out for you, Ethelyn! I have found that cracking an egg on a flat surface is ideal and causes less shell fragments and less broken yolks. And try to crack it at the "equator" of the egg.
If I fill the pan with water to just above the rim of the ring like your directions state, then water flows into the center of the ring and fills it up. Then when I try and crack my egg into the ring, the white just runs everywhere as the egg can't stay inside the ring due to the water level. I don't see how this works.
Hi Patti, You do want water inside the ring. The key is to crack and empty the egg shell really slowly into the ring so the egg stays inside the ring. You can use a silicon spatula to guide any bits of egg that want to stray out of the ring if needed. The egg will start to cook and gel together quickly after that. Thanks for asking. Let me know if you have any other questions or troubles.