The Surprising Ingredient IHOP Adds To Its Omelets

Whether it's loaded with veggies or kept simple with only the addition of shredded cheese, nothing hits the spot quite like an omelet. While famous for their pancakes, breakfast chain IHOP is also well known for having some of the fluffiest omelets around.

Anyone who's made an omelet at home knows that proper technique is key when making the perfect omelet. As Epicurious demonstrated in a YouTube video, achieving a fluffy omelets involves a fair amount of food science. (Experience doesn't hurt, either.) When whisking the eggs, salt must be incorporated in order to break down the proteins. Then, when the eggs are in the pan, they must be carefully monitored, not only to ensure that they cook evenly and reach a foldable consistency, but also to ensure that the egg proteins don't toughen. How the eggs are handled from start to finish has a direct impact on the fluffiness of the omelet.

Though the taste and texture of IHOP omelets would have you believe that their kitchens must surely be staffed with a team of food scientists and expert chefs, HuffPost revealed that IHOP's mastery of the egg dish actually doesn't involve any of the methods Epicurious elaborated on.

If you've ever been to IHOP mid-morning on a weekend, chances are you probably had to wait a solid 20 minutes or longer before you even got seated. Some locations are so busy they remain open for 24 hours, and even actor Adam Sandler once couldn't get a table. While this does indicate that IHOP has a lot of turn-around in the kitchen, it also means the line cooks don't have time to babysit each omelet, so measuring the temperature of the eggs, observing the protein breakdown, and carefully salting each omelet is out of the question.

Instead, as HuffPost shared, IHOP adds a splash of pancake batter to their omelets. IHOP's menu does in fact list pancake ingredients in the omelet nutrition facts, and former IHOP employee Christian Grossi  confirmed the recipe on TikTok.

LifeHacker explained that adding pancake batter works by introducing leavening ingredients to the recipe, giving IHOP omelets an "air-capturing structure." This also means that they're easy to flip during cooking, can fold without falling apart, and don't burn as easily. It's a major game changer in a busy kitchen, and most importantly, they taste deliciously fluffy and make for happy customers.