My Boyfriend Makes the Best Scrambled Eggs—You’ll Never Guess His Secret Ingredient

I won’t lie—being a food writer is a pretty great gig. But being the partner of a food writer? Now, that’s a cushy job. You get all the perks of the role (testing delicious recipes, trying new and exciting products, the list goes on), without having to do any of the heavy lifting behind it. The only con is you have quite the critic in your home, which can making something as simple as cooking dinner a daunting task. I’m lucky enough to have a boyfriend who not only greets the challenge, but tackles it with aplomb. In fact, I’m mature enough to admit he even makes some dishes better than me.

These days, when the morning rolls around, I don’t even set foot in the kitchen because honestly, he makes the best scrambled eggs I’ve ever had. And shh—don’t tell him—but I’m sharing his secret ingredient.

My Boyfriend’s Secret to the Best Scrambled Eggs

Look, I know I’m not the first person to get on the internet and tell you all the ways you’ve been making scrambled eggs wrong—or how to make them better. I’m not even the first person at Allrecipes to claim their partner makes the “best” scrambled eggs. But my boyfriend’s technique is one you can apply to any scrambled egg recipe, with any mix-ins—be it cottage cheese, crème fraîche, or even panko.

He first learned this tip from J. Kenji López-Alt, the best-selling cookbook author, chef, and culinary scientist. Like Julia Child, López-Alt is one of those chefs who has fundamentally changed the way we cook everything from simple tomato sandwiches to crispy oven-roasted potatoes. That’s because Kenji dives into the food science behind recipes, and dissects the hows and “whys” of what makes them work. And this scrambled egg tip is a spark of pure science-backed genius.

According to a 2021 New York Times column he penned, López-Alt learned this tip from food blogger and cookbook author Mandy Lee. Lee stumbled upon this trick when trying to get her sick dog to eat something, and all it is is adding a starch slurry to the egg mixture before scrambling it.

Why You Should Add Cornstarch to Scrambled Eggs

You’ve likely made a cornstarch slurry before to quickly thicken a sauce or gravy. But here, the cornstarch (or potato or tapioca starch) and water mixture don’t thicken the eggs—they keep them tender and creamy. Without getting too deep into the science of it all (I’ll leave that to Kenji), the cornstarch helps the eggs retain their moisture while cooking, while also keeping the proteins in eggs from linking to quickly, therefore keeping them tender. It’s a process similar to velveting chicken or beef, which is a traditional process in Chinese cooking, and how meat stays moist and tender even in high-temperature cooking like wok stir-fries.

But here’s why I really love it; I’m not a fan of super wet or runny scrambled eggs. However, dry and rubbery scrambled eggs are never something anyone should eat. Adding cornstarch to scrambled eggs allows you to cook them a bit longer—just those 30 seconds make all the difference between too-raw and perfectly cooked eggs—without them drying out or getting tough.

How to Make Tender Scrambled Eggs

My boyfriend has adjusted the technique a bit from Kenji’s recipe slightly. He uses about a teaspoon of cornstarch to a bowl for every two eggs. Then he adds just enough cold water (though you can swap milk in, if you prefer) to wet the mixture into a slurry, about a 1/2 tablespoon, and whisks that together before adding the eggs and scrambling them in the bowl. If he’s making them extra-decadent, he follows Kenji’s full recipe and adds tiny pats of cold butter into the mixture, too.

From there, you can cook them however you like. He likes to start with a cold, nonstick pan, then add a bit of butter before adding the eggs. He stirs them with a spatula gently and frequently, and for me, cooks them until they are just dry throughout, but if you like a softer scramble, stop whenever you like. I guarantee this simple addition will give you the best, most tender scrambled eggs yet. And if you’re anything like me, you’ll teach your partner how to make them, so you, too, can stay in bed those extra few minutes on Sunday morning.