The Most Flavorful Fried Eggs Start With A Spoonful Of This Secret Ingredient

Fried eggs are a strong contender for the most perfect food in existence: they're tasty, protein-packed, and easy to whip up at any time of day or night. Even better, it's almost impossible to get bored with eating fried eggs, because there are a million ways to zhuzh them up. One of the tastiest ways to upgrade fried eggs starts with a flavor-packed secret weapon ingredient: garlic confit. 

This allium-rich confit adds a buttery sweetness to fried eggs that's distinct from the sharp flavor of raw garlic, Adam Gallagher, co-founder and recipe developer at Inspired Taste, told The Takeout. "Because it's slow-cooked in oil, the cloves become soft and spreadable, and the oil becomes fragrant and savory," he explained. "If you spoon that over a fried egg, it'll melt into the yolk in the best way."

Even better, adding garlic confit to fried eggs is as easy as can be. "I recommend just one clove per egg, plus a teaspoon of the oil," Gallagher advised. "I like to warm the garlic in the pan right at the end of cooking so it doesn't brown too much, or just spoon it right over the egg after it comes out of the skillet."

If you're thinking garlic confit sounds like an expensive specialty ingredient, think again, because you can easily whip it up yourself with a couple of simple kitchen staples. "I'll place the peeled cloves in a small saucepan, covering them completely with olive oil, and simmer them over low heat until tender," Adam Gallagher explained (this comes with the added benefit of making your whole house smell amazing). He recommends simmering the cloves for about half an hour, keeping the oil from bubbling too aggressively, and staying vigilant to ensure the garlic doesn't brown. "To store, I let it cool off and toss it into the fridge, and I make sure the cloves stay fully submerged in the oil," he said. 

For even more flavor, Gallagher recommends boosting your homemade garlic confit with additional ingredients. "Thyme, bay leaves, red chiles, or rosemary are beautiful for a garlic confit," he suggested. "You can even mix olive oil or butter in for extra richness." (Blending olive oil and butter is one of the delicious secrets of restaurant garlic bread.)

You can also incorporate garlic confit into a fried egg dish after the eggs are cooked. "I love spreading garlic confit on toast and topping it with a fried egg," Gallagher noted. "I'll drizzle the infused oil over the eggs or mash one clove into a garlic butter for serving." No matter how you slice it, garlic confit is an exceptionally versatile, elegant, and flavor-packed fried egg addition.