In theory, scrambled eggs are supposed to be an easy breakfast food to whip right up, right? You crack a few eggs, give them a good whisk and then stir them around the pan while they cook. But in reality, it’s more complicated.
It’s deceptively difficult to replicate the soft, fluffy, almost custard-like scrambled eggs you get at a great breakfast spot when you’re standing at your stove at home. No matter how low and slow you cook them, they often end tough rather than cloud-like. So when I came across one of the internet’s favorite scrambled egg hacks—courtesy of food writer and cookbook author J. Kenji López-Alt—I had to see if it really worked. The secret? Cornstarch.
We typically think of cornstarch as a thickener for gravy to pie fillings, but as López-Alt explains in his research (which originated on the blog Lady and Pups and later appeared on Food52), whisking a little cornstarch into your eggs before cooking helps protect them from overcooking. It essentially creates a thin barrier that keeps the proteins from tightening up too quickly.
The promise is, even if you accidentally turn the heat a little too high, the cornstarch will help your eggs stay soft, tender and creamy. Intrigued, I put this viral hack to the test to see if it really delivers on its promise of perfect scrambled eggs.
Related: The ‘Old School’ Way to Make Perfectly Fluffy Scrambled Eggs, According to Anthony Bourdain
How to Make Your Scrambled Eggs 10x Better Using Cornstarch
This cornstarch hack is the definition of low effort, high reward. The only change you need to make to your typical scrambled eggs procedure is whisking in a bit of cornstarch before cooking. People seem to generally agree that about 1/2 teaspoon of cornstarch should be used for each egg that you’re cooking.
To make your life easier, you’ll want to dissolve the cornstarch in a tiny bit of milk or cream in a small bowl before adding it to the eggs. If you add the cornstarch directly to the raw eggs it might clump up, which is exactly what you don’t want. Dissolving it in milk or cream first will ensure that it mixes into the eggs smoothly.
From there, it’s time to cook your eggs. Heat a nonstick pan over medium-low heat, add a generous dollop of butter to the pan, and once the butter is fully melted, pour in the eggs. Gently stir the eggs around the pan in a circular motion using a silicone spatula. You’ll notice that the eggs are cooking evenly and resisting the urge to turn into rubbery clumps. Magic! (Or science, but it feels like magic.)
Related: The Queen Elizabeth-Approved Way to Make Scrambled Eggs
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The Science Behind the Cornstarch Scrambled Egg Hack
Why does this work? Essentially, the cornstarch swells in size and becomes gelatinous when you introduce heat and hydration. With scrambled eggs, what happens is that as the cornstarch granules heat up in the whisked egg mixture, they begin to form a barrier around the proteins in the eggs. The reason why eggs cook so quickly is because when the proteins get exposed to heat, they coagulate, which makes them get very firm very quickly.
The protective barrier that the cornstarch creates over the proteins slows down the coagulation process, but it doesn’t slow down the cooking time. That means you get to keep the cooking speed and also serve up creamy, custardy eggs. It’s sort of mind-blowing how such a tiny addition can result in such a huge payoff.
Related: Dolly Parton’s Secret Ingredient for the Fluffiest Scrambled Eggs
Why I’ll Never Make Scrambled Eggs Any Other Way
Simple discoveries like this cornstarch hack are one of the things I love most about cooking. Who would have thought that a tiny spoonful of cornstarch would be the solution for all of my scrambled egg woes? I’ve tried countless kitchen tips and tricks over the years, but this one ranks very high on the list. Once you give it a try, you’ll wonder how you ever made scrambled eggs without it.
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