This Easy TikTok Hack Will Make Your Eggs More Flavorful Than Ever

The humble mix of fresh basil, olive oil, parmesan cheese, and nuts is a pantry must-have for many households, thanks to its ability to hold its own as a pasta sauce, or as an ensemble player as a sauce or dip (via The New York Times). And while most of us wouldn't need to think twice about consuming a jar of (commercial or home-made) pesto for lunch or dinner, we might need a bit of convincing to use pesto to prepare fried eggs for breakfast. But as it turns out, this versatile sauce works so well with this breakfast staple, we probably wouldn't be able to remember what life was like when we didn't cook fried eggs this way. 

Dietitian Amy Wilichowski took to TikTok to share her breakfast hack, which involved heating up a few spoonfuls of pesto in a pan before laying freshly cracked eggs amid the sea of ground basil. "All you do is use pesto instead of the normal cooking oil that you cook your eggs in," she said. "You can do a fried egg, scrambled eggs, or a sunny-side-up egg."

Once the eggs have warmed to the presence of quality pesto in the frying pan, they join a piece of toast which has been dressed up with ricotta cheese and avocado. Wilichowski then slides the aromatic, pesto-infused fried egg on top of the prepared slice of toast before creating a tastebud party with the addition of salt, pepper, honey, and red pepper (via Today). You'd think a dish as simple as this one didn't really need much guidance from its creator, but the outlet was concerned with how to heat the pesto without scorching it. 

"It's important to keep the heat on low [while heating the pesto] though, since extra virgin olive oil, the oil that is typically in pesto, has a low smoke point," Wilichowski explained. "That way, you don't burn the pesto." The registered dietitian also admitted she didn't set out to create a viral TikTok when she first came up with the dish. "I actually started by putting pesto on top of my eggs after cooking them," she said. "Then I realized I could just use the pesto as a replacement for the cooking oil since it has olive oil in it already." And we are really glad she did.