Looking to make the perfect soft-boiled runny eggs for breakfast? Achieve a lovely soft centre and cooked egg white with our expert cooking tips and advice for boiled egg times.

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For more cooking methods, see how to make hard boiled eggs, how to fry an egg and how to make scrambled eggs in the microwave.

Follow our guide for how to boil eggs perfectly and serve them with toast for an easy high-protein breakfast, cook up a hearty kedgeree or use boiled eggs to top a simple salad. If you're looking to make the classic boiled egg with soldiers check out our best toasters review for the perfect toast with your boiled eggs every morning

Find plenty of inspiration in our best ever boiled egg recipes.

How to boil an egg

Make sure your eggs aren't fridge cold. By having the eggs at room temperature, it will be less of a shock for the egg reaching the hot water and therefore less likely to crack. You can also use an egg pricker to make a very small hole in each egg before boiling, which will also reduce the chances of it cracking in the heat.

We used large hens' eggs at room temperature lowered into boiling water. When done, scoop the eggs out of the pan and put them in a bowl of cold water (if you’re not eating them straight away) to prevent them cooking any further.

If you're looking to upgrade your kitchen kit, here are some of our tried, tested and top-rated favourites that would come in handy for boiling eggs perfectly.

How long to boil an egg

Follow these timings for how to boil an egg for a runny yolk, soft set centre or until hard boiled:

  • 5 minutes: set white and runny yolk – just right for dipping into
  • 6 minutes: liquid yolk – a little less oozy
  • 7 minutes: almost set – deliciously sticky
  • 8 minutes: softly set – this is what you want to make Scotch eggs
  • 10 minutes: the classic hard-boiled egg – mashable but not dry and chalky

Watch the video above to find out how to perfectly boil eggs, whether you like yours runny or hard-boiled.

Now that you have beautifully boiled eggs, put them to good use with 10 sensational soldiers, or whip up one of our favourite recipes:

Scotch eggs
Winter tuna Niçoise
Ramen with chicken bone broth, pork shoulder, soft-boiled egg & greens
Salmon & egg wraps with mustard mayo
Curried egg mayo sandwich topper

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Are you a dippy egg devotee, or a hard-boiled believer? We'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below...

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Comments, questions and tips (20)

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durangotan1316766

I regularly prepare eggs fried, scrambled, and hard boiled. I live at altitude so, quite often, dishes take a few minutes longer to finish. Example: pasta, rice, and boiled eggs. Just heat water to a rolling boil, carefully lower eggs into the saucepan, and leave them be for14 minutes. Do not…

gilljeff65raPrBi1x

Seems some of these recipes are too complicated. Put egg , from fridge, in saucepan of cold water put a lid on pan, check occasionally to see when it comes to the boil, leave for four and a half minutes, lovely egg just right for soldiers.

heatherjulia

Eggs crack when added to boiling water, 3 out of 5 eggs. Been out of fridge for over half an hour.

oreillypaul9

I wouldn't call that water "boiling"

tillyteacake

No no no no no. You don’t boil eggs by lowering them into already boiling water - you should start with cold. This way makes them crack.

jphardage99898

The BBC is not entirely wrong suggesting it be done this way. The problem with starting from cold is it introduces too many starting variables, including amount of water that needs heating, type of pot, starting temperature of water, and heat output of stove. If any of those variables change then…

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