Scrambled eggs are the dish most people think they can cook and most people get wrong. They’re overcooked, they’re watery, they’re rubbery, or they’re that sad grey colour that suggests the pan was too hot and the cook didn’t care.

Good scrambled eggs take about three minutes and they’re genuinely one of the best things you can eat. Here are three methods, from fastest to fanciest.

Method 1: Fast and fluffy (3 minutes)

This is your weekday method. Quick, reliable, satisfying.

What you need: 3 eggs, 1 tablespoon butter, salt, pepper.

Method:

Crack the eggs into a bowl. Add a pinch of salt. Beat them with a fork until the whites and yolks are fully combined. Don’t add milk or cream — it dilutes the flavour and makes them watery.

Heat a non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Add the butter. When it foams and the foam starts to subside (but before it browns), pour in the eggs.

Wait 10 seconds. Then use a spatula to push the eggs from the edges toward the centre in big, gentle folds. Don’t stir constantly — you want large, soft curds, not a scrambled mess.

Continue folding every few seconds. The eggs will set faster than you expect. Pull the pan off the heat when they still look slightly undercooked and wet. They’ll continue cooking from residual heat.

Plate immediately. Season with more salt and pepper.

Total time: About 3 minutes from cracking to eating.

Method 2: Slow and creamy (8 minutes)

This is the Gordon Ramsay method, more or less. Lower heat, more stirring, incredibly creamy results.

What you need: 3 eggs, 2 tablespoons butter (cut into small pieces), 1 tablespoon creme fraiche or sour cream, salt, pepper, chives.

Method:

Crack eggs directly into a cold non-stick saucepan. Add the butter pieces. Place the pan on low heat.

Stir continuously with a spatula or wooden spoon, scraping the bottom and sides of the pan. The eggs will begin to form tiny, soft curds. Keep stirring.

Every 30 seconds or so, take the pan off the heat entirely and keep stirring. This prevents the eggs from getting too hot and overcooking. Then put it back on the heat. On heat, off heat, on heat, off heat.

After about 6-7 minutes of this, the eggs will be thick, creamy, and barely set — like a soft custard with small curds. Take the pan off the heat for the last time and fold in the creme fraiche. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve on toast with snipped chives.

Total time: 8 minutes, but you need to be actively stirring the whole time. This is a meditative process, not a background task.

Method 3: French-style (Oeufs brouilles, 10 minutes)

The fanciest version. Silky, almost sauce-like, impossibly smooth.

What you need: 4 eggs, 2 tablespoons butter, pinch of salt, bain-marie setup (a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water).

Method:

Set up a bain-marie: simmer water in a saucepan and place a heatproof bowl on top, making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water.

Beat the eggs with salt until fully combined. Pour into the bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of butter.

Stir constantly with a spatula, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl. The gentle, indirect heat cooks the eggs incredibly slowly. Stir, stir, stir.

After about 8-10 minutes, the eggs will have the consistency of thick custard — smooth, with no distinct curds. Remove from heat and stir in the remaining tablespoon of butter (cold, cut into pieces) to stop the cooking and add richness.

Season. Serve in a warm bowl or on a single piece of buttered toast.

Total time: 10 minutes of active stirring. The result is unlike any scrambled eggs you’ve had before.

Universal tips

Don’t add milk. Milk makes scrambled eggs watery. The water in milk creates steam which puffs the eggs up temporarily but they deflate into sad, weepy curds. If you want richness, use butter or creme fraiche.

Season at the right time. Salt before cooking helps the proteins set more evenly. But don’t add salt too early and let the eggs sit — they can become discoloured.

Use fresh eggs. Fresh eggs have tighter whites that create better curds. Old eggs spread more and produce a flatter result. This matters more for the slow methods than the fast one.

Don’t overcook. This is the most common mistake. Scrambled eggs should be pulled off the heat while they still look slightly wet. They continue cooking on the hot plate and from their own residual heat. If they look perfectly done in the pan, they’ll be overcooked by the time you eat them.

Warm your plates. Cold plates cool the eggs too fast. Run the plates under hot water or put them in a low oven for a minute.

Toppings and additions

Once you’ve mastered the basic methods, experiment:

• Smoked salmon and dill (classic for good reason)
• Sauteed mushrooms and thyme
• Kimchi and sesame oil
• Grated aged cheddar, folded in at the end
• Fresh herbs: chives, parsley, tarragon
• Truffle oil (a tiny amount — it’s intense)
• Hot sauce (always)

Scrambled eggs are breakfast’s most generous canvas. Learn to cook them well and you’ll never be bored in the morning.