What Is the Difference Between Over Easy and Sunny-Side Up Eggs? Plus Cooking Tips

Fried eggs are cooked in fat, such as butter or olive oil, on the stovetop in a frying pan (or on a flat top grill). This direct-heat cooking method means that an egg cracked into a hot pan receives heat from below, quickly cooking from the bottom up.

Both sunny-side up and over easy eggs are fried in fat until their whites (albumen) are set. A sunny-side up egg is cooked undisturbed until the whites are just barely set, and the yolk is still raw and translucent. Over-easy eggs are flipped “over” to lightly sear the top of the egg, containing the still-runny yolk in a package of set whites.

• To make a sunny-side up egg with fully cooked whites, you can gently run a spatula through the whites to spread out the runnier part of the albumen. Cook undisturbed until the white is set, but not rubbery, and the yolk is still runny, 1-2 minutes.
• To help cook the top of the egg you can add a teaspoon of water and a lid to use steam to cook the white, but make sure to keep an eye on your egg otherwise it'll become overcooked.
• Another way to set the egg white is to “baste” it by spooning a little fat over the white during cooking.

• To make an over easy egg, fry the egg until the bottom has set, about 1 minute. Use a spatula to gently flip the egg over and cook until the white is set but the yolk is still fully runny, about 15-30 seconds.
• Over medium eggs are cooked a little longer, about 30-60 seconds after flipping, to yield whites that are firm and yolks that are jammy, like soft-boiled eggs.

Over hard eggs are cooked even longer, about 2 minute after flipping, until egg yolks are firm and fully cooked through with a powdery, crumbly texture like hard-boiled eggs.

Find a quick and easy recipe for over easy eggs here.

Once you’ve fried perfect eggs, you need a place to put them! Try fried eggs:

• With buttered toast, seasoned with salt and pepper, and topped hot sauce or ketchup.
• On fried potatoes, sweet potatoes, or hash browns.
• In a grain bowl with farro or quinoa and your favorite veggies.
• Over buttered jasmine, basmati, or brown rice.
• On kimchi fried rice.
• In Eggs Benedict, in place of the usual poached eggs
• On a warm corn tortilla with salsa verde, queso fresco, cilantro, and hot sauce.
• In a sandwich, such as a BLT.
• With a side of bacon, ham, or sausage.