The Quick Way To Give Your Morning Egg Scramble Huge Umami Flavor

You might think there are only so many things you can do with scrambled eggs. You can hit it with some good old-fashioned salt and pepper (a relatively recent spice combination, as it turns out); you can drizzle those fluffy, eggy curds with ketchup; you can even splash some hot sauce on that bad boy. But what if you're after a breakfast experience that runs a little deeper than light seasoning? What if you're trying to add some serious flavor to a dish so easy your dad could make it on Sunday mornings more or less on autopilot? Well, you might want to break out a certain tasty ingredient for an umami-forward breakfast: sun-dried tomatoes.

If you're only familiar with fresh tomatoes, you might be a little skeptical of putting them near your scrambled eggs. Sure, it's a good idea to add some acid to cut through the rich egginess, but that much? But the sun-drying process does something wonderful to those tomatoes: it makes them taste deeper, richer, and more savory — not to mention a good deal sweeter. Add some feta cheese (which can also be whipped into a delicious cheesy spread), some spinach, maybe some diced pepper, and you've got something really special going.

As we said, sun-dried tomatoes are a wonderful way to add deep umami flavor and a dense, chewy texture to your scrambled eggs. But let's say you're allergic to tomatoes, or you experienced some significant trauma while watching an episode of "VeggieTales." There are other ways you can boost your scramble, from powders to spreads to sauces and more. Consider that old reliable, soy sauce: just a splash added to your scramble can add welcome layers of meaty, mouth-watering complexity. (If you're not in the mood for Asian-inflected cuisine, Worcestershire sauce will do the job just as well.) Or consider onion powder, which is a terrific way to get concentrated savoriness in your dish.

But if you'd rather your eggs taste like, well, eggs, monosodium glutamate may be the seasoning for you. Although it's had a historically bad rap (mostly due to overblown health concerns exacerbated by anti-Asian sentiment in America), MSG is perfectly safe in moderation, just like salt — and it boosts every flavor in a dish beautifully. Just a couple of shakes should be enough to add flavor and dimension to your scrambled eggs.