Fried Egg Sandwich

Yes, you will say “Oh my gah, so freakin’ good!” when you eat this fried egg sandwich. I think it has healing properties. It’s midnight food but it’s also food you eat when the world is too loud and too bright. My pan needed about a minute to heat, but you know your stove better than anyone. When you slide your egg with its still-quivering yolk onto one of the burnished cheese toasts, let a little of that olive oil dribble over the top, too. If your constitution demands it, season liberally with salt, pepper, and hot sauce. Now turn off the TV or the radio, put the laptop or tablet aside, and sink into this sandwich. It’s what you need. Oh my gah, so freakin’ good!

Outstanding! Thick bread, bold cheese, and runny egg. I am in love with this fried egg sandwich and it’s ridiculously easy. I was skeptical about not toasting the bread, and I thought, “Well, this runny egg is going to make it a sloppy, wet mess.” But I pushed forth and despite my fears, the thick bread reigned supreme in structural prowess. Here is my new routine: wake up, take the dog on a super long walk (energy expenditure), come home, make this sandwich, eat (energy replenished). So good.

This fried egg sandwich is a very satisfying hot mess to enjoy. It’s like a grilled cheese and fried egg sandwich all rolled into one. Since I was unable to find a sourdough loaf, I used soft ciabatta bread. There’s little in the way of preparation and the cooking method is very simple. Since the bread I was using made large slices, we used 2 eggs on each sandwich. There’s something satisfying about biting into a hot cheese sandwich and tasting the velvety egg yolk as it dribbles down the bread. I used hot sauce on mine while my taster didn’t. I found mine to have a slightly more complex flavor with the hot sauce included. I think for an easy weeknight supper or weekend lunch this comes close to perfect. To make it truly perfect, I’d toast the bread slightly before adding the cheese and then broil it to get a little more crunch. The bread got a little crisp around the edges, but I’d have preferred a little more crunch. I’d also consider adding a little arugula to the top of the eggs before sealing the sandwich. I think the peppery taste of the arugula would add considerably to the overall taste. Even without the changes, it’s a tasty sandwich.

This WONDERFUL and simple sandwich reminds me of my father, on any Sunday morning, 45 years ago. A fried egg sandwich was always a bonding moment for us. I really thought that the thick-sliced sourdough and the highest-quality Cheddar cheese made this a winner. I also used a fat, brown, free-range egg. I personally wouldn’t hesitate to make this for any meal or snack. Delicious!

What’s not to love about this fried egg sandwich? Crisped fresh bread, gooey melted cheese, perfectly cooked eggs, and a zip of hot sauce. Delicious! I used a boule of freshly baked sourdough, which created very large sandwiches. I couldn’t find good-quality thinly sliced Cheddar, so I bought Boar’s Head White Cheddar (regularly sliced) and used 2 slices per piece of bread, which was plenty. The cheese only needed about 3 minutes under the broiler to melt. I covered the eggs for the last minute to help the yolk cook through and then drizzled with hot sauce.

I was skeptical of both the technique and of the Cheddar, and was I wrong! This is a fantastic fried egg sandwich. The egg sandwiched between the slices of toasted cheese bread with a few drops of hot sauce was both simple and perfect. I used my cheese slicer to cut the thin slices of Cheddar from a large block. It didn’t even take a minute under the broiler for the cheese to be sufficiently melted but not burned. I made 2 sandwiches, frying both eggs in the same large skillet. One of the yolks broke as I put it in the pan, and that egg, all folded up onto the bread, was quite wonderful. I think I might even prefer that to sunny-side up, though I did manage to keep the second egg intact. The bread I had was a large sourdough boule, and I used 2 long pieces that I cut in half. They were the perfect size to accommodate the cheese slices and an egg.

I’d forgotten just how good a simple fried egg sandwich can be! I haven’t made one in years and this was a nice reminder of what I’ve been missing. It’s funny the author mentions that it’s a food we love to eat at midnight. I can attest to making egg sandwiches many a time in the early morning…decades ago, like in the ’80s! (My shortcut method back then was toasting the bread in a plain, old toaster, slathering some butter on it, and topping it with a fried egg sprinkled with salt and pepper. Sometimes I’d add a side of potato chips and always a big glass of milk. Oh, the good old days!) The recipe called for sourdough bread, which was a nice treat because I rarely buy it. I broiled it with sharp Cheddar cheese in the oven on high for about 3 minutes…and didn’t walk away! I’ve burned so many things using the broiler that I’ve learned my lesson about multitasking when it comes to broiling. There’s just something about it that makes me forget until the smell hits. And many of us know that smell and then it’s too late. Anyway, the edges were crisp, the cheese gooey, and the underside was soft. I cooked 2 eggs since I wanted to finish up the carton. I slid a sunny-side up egg onto 1 slice of cheese toast and an over easy egg onto the other. I ate them open-faced with a few splashes of Crystal sauce for brunch! The sourdough flavor complemented the sharpness of the Cheddar and the runny yolk made for great sopping. This is a really quick and easy recipe that I’ll keep in my back pocket!

What can I say? I’m a sucker for a fried egg sandwich. It works for any meal and with the sourdough bread and the Cheddar cheese it’s almost perfect. For me at least, perfection would require the eggs to be done over easy/medium and the addition of—you guessed it—BACON. This sandwich is simple and easy to prepare. I skipped the hot sauce.

Holy fried egg…that was a good fried egg sandwich! While this sandwich doesn’t necessarily require a recipe, it serves as a simple reminder of one delicious and often forgotten mainstay. I thoroughly enjoyed the salty gooeyness of the Cheddar cheese and once I bit into the soft yolk, my heart stopped for a moment…heaven. I chose to dunk mine into Sriracha sauce, which offered a tangy, spicy bite to complete the sandwich. I like the fact that the olive oil helped the egg to move freely in the pan while cooking; I find that sometimes butter alone doesn’t accomplish this as well. When I make this again I’ll try it on denser bread, like rye or even an English muffin, so that the bread remains firm and doesn’t get too soggy. All in all though, I find it refreshing to go back to the basics and remember just how good they can be. This was a winner in my book!

It hardly gets any easier than this, but a fried egg sandwich is one of the few things that everyone in my family will eat. When making this again, I’d add fewer cheese slices—8 slices per sandwich seemed like more than enough. I’d also use a different type of bread since the sourdough seemed to overwhelm the other flavors.

I couldn’t justify using 8 slices of cheese on a single fried egg sandwich, even thin sliced ones, but this was a great sandwich. I only used 1 slice of cheese on each slice of bread. Maybe my cheese was thicker sliced than the author’s but my son and I felt like this was plenty of cheese and we’re cheese lovers. I’m sure it’s good that way and if you feel you can indulge that much then go for it. This sandwich is great on the sourdough bread with hot sauce added to your liking.

This fried egg sandwich recipe works very well as written. I must say that 8 slices of cheese make this more of a grilled cheese sandwich with a fried egg on it than a fried egg sandwich. The egg was really overshadowed by the cheese. I ended up with an even better sandwich my second time, after I spread some Dijon mustard on 1 slice of bread and added some sliced tomato to the other before putting on the cheese. I didn’t use quite as much cheese, which really let the ooziness of the yolk and tenderness of the egg white shine through. I have more variations in mind for this sandwich—bacon or Black Forest ham, to name just two.

A fried egg sandwich is one of those things makes my heart pitter-patter. Oh-so-gooey, drippy, crunch, cheesy, late-night nirvana. I started having fried egg sandwiches almost 30 years ago when I first worked in restaurants. Always late nights when you didn’t have time for dinner were followed by something simple like this little beauty. Perfection between 2 slices of bread that’ll fill you, but not stuff you, just before drifting off to dreamland. This one is no different than the ones of my early years except I do prefer to toast the bread before I put on the cheese to broil. It makes it crisp on both sides, creating the perfect wrapping for that fried egg. Now picture this: cheese melting, egg frying, and mouth watering. Yep, you guessed it; my fried egg sandwich awaits.