Don't Throw Out That Extra Pasta Water — Add It To This Breakfast Dish Instead

For most people who regularly cook pasta, the chain of events includes boiling salted water, adding pasta, straining the noodles after they're done cooking, and dumping the water down the drain. However, this is a fairly wasteful way of doing things, as pasta water is actually a great ingredient to add to foods including, but not limited to, scrambled eggs.

We discussed using pasta water in egg recipes with Nelson Serrano-Bahri, a professional chef and the director of innovation at the American Egg Board. He explained exactly why pasta water (which can also do wonders for sauce) should be kept on hand for the homemade breakfast staple. "Mixing leftover pasta water into scrambled eggs can help produce a softer, more tender scramble," Serrano-Bahri told The Takeout. 

Adding water is the best way to make rich, luxurious scrambled eggs without any dairy, and the leftover water from cooking pasta is even better because of that starchy quality. Serrano-Bahri explained it this way: "Pasta water contains starch, which may slightly buffer the proteins from over-coagulating, leading to gentler cooking ... It might also add a subtle umami note due to salted pasta water, which could enhance flavor." While he does say that a starchier ingredient like a cornstarch slurry has a stronger tenderizing effect, pasta water still works well.

Simply whisk the reserved pasta water and eggs together until well combined before adding the mixture to a preheated pan. When it comes to just how much pasta water to add, chef Serrano-Bahri shared a rule of thumb to use in order to get the best results. "A good starting point would be 1 to 2 tablespoons of pasta water per two eggs," he explained. "This allows for slight dilution and starch contribution without making the eggs watery. More than that could affect the structure and flavor balance." 

Furthermore, water creates steam as it evaporates within the eggs as they cook, yielding a light and fluffy curd. But you really don't need all that much water to get the job done — it's always better to go light on the pasta water rather than overdoing it. 

From there, how you cook up your scrambled eggs can also impact the dish's texture. There are many tricks to making the fluffiest scrambled eggs, but likely the best way to achieve this with pasta water scrambled eggs is to use medium-low heat while slowly folding the eggs over in the pan until they are just set but are not yet dry and overcooked.