Sesame Seeds Are An Unexpected Way To Upgrade Fried Eggs

Eggs are the ultimate convenience food: They are cheap and quick to make, and just one tiny egg can be prepared in 100 different ways. Crack them in a pan and you've got an omelet, but if that goes wrong, it can cleverly be passed off as scrambled eggs! A soft-boiled egg can be prepared in as little as five minutes in a pinch, and leftovers can always be turned into a salad for lunch.

Of all the ways that an egg can be prepared, however, frying remains a favorite. According to YouGov America, while Americans prefer scrambled eggs the most, fried eggs served over easy and sunny side up are the next most popular ways to eat an egg. Considering how easy fried eggs are to make, it's clear why they're so popular. For one, all you need is a pan, some fat, an egg, and voila! A basic fried egg is ready to go. More importantly, though, it helps that fried eggs lend themselves particularly well to plenty of upgrades and aren't limited to just breakfast.

Adding a pinch of spice, like paprika or Chinese five-spice powder, to your oil before frying an egg can easily add a punchy flavor, MyRecipes suggests. Then, there's the option of cracking an egg over a layer of shredded cheese or breadcrumbs to add extra oomph and texture. Currently, a different fried egg trick is making splashes on Instagram, and it suggests using a rather unexpected ingredient to upgrade fried eggs: sesame seeds.

Social media is a goldmine of game-changing viral food hacks, and cookbook author Christine Flynn has another tip to add to the mix: frying eggs in a layer of oil and sesame seeds. Along with a video of her sesame seed-coated fried egg on Instagram, served on toast with labneh and harissa, she wrote, "Don't hold back on frying an egg in sesame seeds is all I'm saying." Viewers' minds were blown by the hack. "I was unaware this was an option!!" one person said, while another wrote, "I'm pretty worried about everything else I might be missing out on after seeing this."

Instagrammers aren't the only ones loving the sesame seed fried egg upgrade, however. The Kitchn put Flynn's recipe to the test and gave it a thumbs up, vouching that the sesame seeds add a nice crunch without burning, while the egg yolk remains perfectly runny. As a twist, the site suggests using pre-toasted sesame seeds for extra ease. A TikTok video shows that the hack is as simple as drizzling oil in a pan, toasting the seeds for a minute, and frying your egg as normal in the mixture. If you, like one commenter, are thinking it involves "an aggressive amount of sesame," consider one responder's retort: "Wait until you see a sesame bagel."