How to make feta fried eggs, TikTok's viral breakfast dish

Aug 11, 2023

TikTok is a treasure trove of recipes, with many chefs swapping cookbooks for the platform.

Food writer and recipe developer Grace Elkus recently shared a video of how to make feta fried eggs, racking up millions of views across social media.

“You'll thank me next time you're hangry,” she writes in the caption.

The dish resonated well online, partly because of its simplicity. It only takes five minutes to cook using basic pantry ingredients.

Elkus said she was inspired by cookbook author Ali Slagle's crispy potato, egg and cheese taco recipe from I Dream of Dinner. She tweaked it by using feta cheese instead of potato.

5-minute feta fried eggs: you’ll thank me next time you’re hangry 🍳 Inpired by Ali Slagle’s potato, egg, and cheese tacos 🧀 Heat small nonstick skillet over medium heat. Crumble in feta around perimeter. Crack egg into center; season w/ black pepper & red pepper flakes (no need to add salt, the feta is plenty salty) Cover pan and cook until white is set, yolk is still runny, and cheese is unbelievably crispy. Serve atop toast, w/ hash browns, or my personal fave: in a charred tortilla with avocado & lime. You can oil the skillet, esp. if you’re not using nonstick, but I find the cheese gets crispier w/o More tips on my IG @graceelkus #friedeggs #feta

The dish is essentially fried eggs with feta crumbled around the edges, seasoned with black pepper and red pepper flakes. Elkus suggests forgoing salt as the cheese adds enough seasoning.

She recommends cooking it on a small non-stick frying pan over medium heat.

“Cover pan and cook until white is set, yolk is still runny, and cheese is unbelievably crispy,” she adds.

It can be served on top of toast with hashbrowns or, as Elkus does, on a charred tortilla with avocado and lime.

Other social media users have tried recreating the simple dish, adding different elements to spice it up. One version has pesto, while others use chilli oil.

In an interview with Today, Elkus said: "Everyone can jazz it up to their preference," adding that she once tried it over pasta with cherry tomatoes.

“I used the same pan to fry the egg and mixed it all up with some spaghetti. The yolk coated the noodles.”

Elkus frequently shares easy recipes on her social media accounts, with a focus on high-protein vegetarian recipes. She has posted recipes for cottage cheese scrambled eggs, smash burger tacos and a variety of salads and pastries.