Give Fried Eggs A Rich Flavor Boost With Just One Canned Ingredient

Melt some butter or oil in a nonstick pan, crack an egg or two into it, cook for a few minutes until the white sets — and you have fried eggs. There are many methods to fry eggs, but no matter what your go-to technique is for breakfast, there's a canned ingredient that can give them a richer flavor. It's not trendy chili crisp oil or brown butter — but that can or tube of tomato paste that you likely reserve for pasta recipes (yes, it's different from tomato sauce).

Tomato paste is concentrated so it provides a deep, tomato flavor with just a small amount. You might have pure tomato paste, salted or unsalted, or a brand that blends spices, sugar, and aromatics like garlic or onion. All of those compact flavors means it can easily give a boost to eggs without the need to wash and dice fresh tomatoes. This ingredient upgrade certainly works for anyone, but especially for those who like a squirt of ketchup on their fried eggs or shakshuka.

It only takes about 1 teaspoon of tomato paste for every fried egg, so it's an ideal hack if you only have a bit of paste leftover from another recipe. To pull it off, heat your go-to pan, combine the tomato paste and oil, then crack your egg (or eggs) over the tomato paste mixture. Try to spoon over a little of the tomato paste and oil over the top of the egg, or let it stay under the egg to create a caramelized-tomatoey crust. You'll definitely want some fresh black pepper and a dash of salt to pull out the flavors before you dig in. No tomato paste? Cook diced tomatoes in oil to create something similar to a paste, then fry the eggs over the homemade mixture.

There are many other ingredients to upgrade fried eggs like fresh herbs if tomato paste alone doesn't satisfy your morning craving. Combine the tomato paste with a dash of hot sauce for heat or add chili crisp oil for a bit of spice and crunch. Minced garlic and diced onions cooked in the oil first will give more flavor if pure tomato paste is what's in the cabinet. Serve the tomato paste eggs over leftover rice, or on toast or an arepa to soak up the rich, tomato flavor.