Sweeten Up Your Scrambled Eggs With One Unexpected Beverage

Scrambled eggs make the perfect blank canvas. On their own, they don't taste like much, but stir in some spices, herbs, cheese, or what have you, and they effortlessly take on the additional flavors. You needn't stick to the tried-and-true, however — eggs are so neutral they work well with a wide variety of ingredients. Even something as unexpected as orange juice can go into your eggs. Just a small splash of the stuff – a teaspoon or so per egg – can make your scramble look ever so slightly more orange, which is not a bad look for eggs. It will also make them taste sweeter and tangier, with a hint of fruity flavor. If you add salt and butter to the mix, you'll have that holy flavor quartet: salt, fat, acid, and sugar.

As a bonus, adding anything acidic, like orange juice, can be one way to make your scrambled eggs extra fluffy. If you beat the eggs with citrus juice prior to cooking them, the acid reacts with the proteins in the eggs allowing them to trap more air. And, more air equals more fluffiness — always a desirable quality in scrambled eggs.

Orange juice, admittedly, is your best one-stop shop for sweetness with a little tang. Maybe you want just one or the other, though, or perhaps you really don't enjoy the beverage. (Welcome to the club — I've always hated the stuff.) If you're simply looking to sweeten up your eggs, one time-honored way to do this is with jelly — recipes for jelly omelets date back to the early 20^th century and, while an omelet is admittedly a slightly different dish, it's at least scrambled egg-adjacent. One caveat regarding the color: I've found that grape jelly can turn eggs kind of greenish. If you really want to go old school and avoid weird color issues, you can use honey, a key ingredient in an ancient Roman omelet called ova spongia ex lacte. For scrambled eggs that are both trendier and more Canadian, you can also upgrade them with maple syrup.

If you'd prefer your eggs to stay savory but are looking to add a little acidity, lemon juice is always a good bet. As we mentioned earlier, adding citrus juice or other acidic ingredients will make for fluffier eggs. If you want extra sourness, you could even take a tip from Queen Elizabeth II (or her chef) and season your eggs with lemon zest. Venturing a bit further afield, the creamy eggs on the menu at Manhattan's Casa Momo are flavored with lime juice, while Heston Blumenthal has a recipe for scrambled eggs made with sherry vinegar. Either ingredient would result in tangy, airy eggs without added sweetness.