For Super Easy Omelets, Reach For Your Waffle Iron

The omelet is one of the most iconic homemade dishes in the world, but it has proven incredibly difficult for many to master the simple recipe. While egg aficionado Alton Brown recommends learning how to cook omelets the old-fashioned way, one simple hack for making the staple dish is to use a waffle iron to get the job done.

Using a waffle iron is a tremendous tool for omelets, because cooking the breakfast food evenly without it falling apart is the most difficult part of the equation for many, especially for novice cooks. With a waffle iron, however, the process of flipping an omelet becomes completely automated and produces an evenly cooked omelet every time. Plus, contrary to Bobby Flay's method of cooking French toast in a waffle iron, which results in a crunchy yet delicious end product, waffle iron omelets turn out incredibly fluffy if made properly, making the strategy even more enticing for fans of eggs that are on the lighter side.

The simplicity of making omelets in a waffle maker allows you to spend more time and energy on choosing what inclusions you should add to the classic dish. From big mix-ins like ham or spinach to small ones like a pinch of nutmeg (our favorite spice to add to omelets), the waffle iron is perfect for packing your dish full of all the upgrades you want included within it.

However, with this in mind, ensuring you don't add too much to your waffle iron is quite important when adding extra ingredients to the mix. Similarly to when you're making standard waffles, you need to account for how much of your mixture — in this case, eggs — can fit inside the waffle iron so that none oozes out the sides and causes a mess. 

Because waffle irons come in many different shapes and sizes, there isn't an exact answer regarding how many eggs to cook at once, but most would say anywhere from two to three eggs can fit into a waffle iron at once. Furthermore, spraying your waffle iron with cooking spray ensures the omelet doesn't stick to the appliance as it cooks, making your end product much more solid and easier to plate in the process.