If you’re like I was a few years ago, you may be wondering what “egg in a basket” means. No, it’s not an Easter reference–it’s a real recipe that you can cook for breakfast, and it isn’t at all complicated.

My first introduction to egg in a basket was watching the movie V for Vendetta. Watching the movie, I really had no idea what it was they were eating, but I gathered (based on my powerful skills of deductive reasoning at the sound of the name and sight of the dish) that it was egg somehow cooked with bread.

That actually turned out to be fairly accurate. Egg in a basket is, essentially, an egg that is fried in the center of a slice of bread; the bread has the center removed to better accommodate the egg, but that’s really about all there is to it.  Egg in a basket is an easy, tasty breakfast; here’s how you make it:

Ingredients

• 4-8 slices of bread (depending on the number of people you’re feeding and the number of eggs they will each want).
• 4-8 eggs (one for each slice of bread).
• Butter or margarine
• Salt, pepper, syrup, or anything else you would like on your egg

The Process:

1. Start by removing the center from each slice of bread; you’ll want to remove enough bread to accommodate an entire egg yolk and some egg white.
2. Butter each side of the “holey” bread.
3. Heat a skillet to medium high.  Grease the skillet with some margarine or butter after it warms up a little.
4. Place the buttered bread in the skillet; you can let it brown for a moment if you like, or you can move straight to the next step.
5. Crack each egg, and carefully drop its contents into the center of the whole in each slice of bread.
6. The eggs will effectively fry at this point; when they are solid enough to flip with a spatula, turn them over to cook the other side.
7. Fry the eggs in their bread “baskets” until they are cooked to the consistency you desire (over easy, over medium, or over hard); if you like salt and pepper on your eggs, sprinkle a dash on as the eggs cook.
8. Remove from heat, and serve.

The break will turn to a toast-like texture, and is very good with syrup, molasses, and just about any other topping that’s good on eggs, toast, or french toast.

If you make very much of this, it won’t be quite the money saver some other meals are, but it’s still good.  The eggs will run you about a dime to 15 cents each; so will the slices of bread; factor in the cost of butter, syrup, and anything else you add to the mix, and you’re looking at a few dollars for this deliciously simple breakfast.

It might be more pricey than some of the other recipes we’ve featured on Cook on a Shoestring, but it’s still cheaper for a family to eat eggs in a basket than it is to hit the drive-thru window.

Filed under: Recipes

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