How to poach eggs in an air fryer

It’s the game-changing technique for perfect poached eggs, every time.

Air fryer poached eggs hero

If there’s one cooking technique that’s deceptively simple, it’s poaching eggs. The instructions are simple enough: crack an egg into a pot of simmering water and cook. So why is it that so many people have trouble with it? 

It’s because it’s one of those techniques that require practice and patience to perfect. So if you’re craving cafe-style poached eggs for your sourdough toast but haven’t yet mastered the art of poaching eggs like a chef, you have to try our latest air fryer trick. It’s as simple as cracking an egg in a ramekin and turning on the air fryer.

Air fryer poached eggs ramekin

How to cook eggs in your air fryer

It’s no secret that we love an air fryer hack, and it turns out plenty of other people do, too! We shared a video of our air fryer poached eggs and it got an incredible 10 MILLION VIEWS in just a few days. 

During the testing process, food director Michelle Southan used three dozen eggs in order to perfect the recipe. She cooked them all in the air fryer at a variety of temperatures and at different cooking times to get the best result. Too low a temperature led to uneven cooking and too high a temperature led to overcooked eggs. 

It turns out that 200C in the air fryer is just right. Cook the eggs for 5 minutes for really runny yolks, 6 minutes for soft yolks and 7 minutes for firmer yolks.

And, once Michelle cracked the formula, it led to everyone in the office asking the same question: “Why didn’t I know this before?” We don’t have a stove to cook poached eggs in the office, but we do have an air fryer, which will make lunchtime eggs so much easier now.

Get Michelle’s recipe for perfect air fryer poached eggs.

Top tips for cooking eggs in your air fryer

That’s not all. Michelle has so many other expert tips and tricks to perfecting poached eggs in your appliance. “Firstly, be sure to use boiling water, not just hot tap water as this affects the cooking time,” she says. 

The next thing she recommends is to open up the air fryer basket once the cooking time is up and allow them to stand for at least a minute. “One of the most important parts of the recipe is to leave your ramekins and eggs still in the basket. Do not move them yet,” she warns. “I know it’s hard as I wanted to touch them, but trust me. The eggs will continue to cook on standing, so don’t worry if they look a little underdone at first.”

Air fryer poached eggs cooked

Air fryer poached eggs: safety tips

Leaving the ramekins in the basket isn’t just a technique to get the perfect egg. Michelle says: “This standing time is also really important to cool down the ramekins a little bit so that you can safely remove them from the air fryer basket.”

Of course the ramekins heat up a lot with the powerful blast of the mini-but-mighty air fryer, so be extra careful when removing the ramekins from the air fryer after standing time. Use an oven mitt (silicone ones are very handy) or a dry, thick tea towel. 

How to remove air fryer poached eggs

Michelle recommends using a dessert spoon to lift the eggs out of the water. “Ramekins are too small to get your slotted spoon in, which would have been ideal to drain the water away at the same time,” she reveals.

Air fryer poached eggs safe

“Transfer to a plate lined with some paper towel to avoid soggy toast. You do need to scrape firmly around the edge and underneath to get the middle of the spoon under the egg yolk. Remember the egg underneath is soft and can be easily punctured if your eggs are super runny.”

OK so now that you’ve got all the secrets, it’s time to get cracking on those foolproof poached eggs.

Originally published as How to poach eggs in an air fryer