Spices You Need to Add to Your Next Egg Dish
Posted on: December 7th 2021
Every egg dish is a blank canvas waiting for you to craft a masterpiece of seasonings. From classic scrambled eggs to a fancy egg frittata, you can use herbs and spices to ramp up the flavor of any egg dish. By playing around with different seasoning combinations, you can make your eggs anything but boring.
Get started on your personal culinary adventure by becoming familiar with the spices available to you. Below, you’ll discover why you should add herbs and spices to your eggs, the best herbs for eggs, and how to season your egg dishes effectively. Learn the best tasty spices for your egg recipes, along with how to mix and match your seasonings.
Why Add Spices to Your Eggs
Spices make a great addition to any egg dish for many reasons. Most notably, using spices in your egg recipes will enhance the flavors of your dishes. Herbs, spices, and other seasonings are popular in all sorts of recipes simply because they make your food taste better. Instead of leaving you with a bland meal, spices bring complex flavors into your dish that appeal to your palate.
Besides making your food more delicious, spices offer a wide range of health benefits. Spices contain antioxidants, which are substances that protect your body’s cells from damage. Various spices and herbs also guard your cells against harm by fighting inflammation, lowering blood sugar, and supporting organ function.
Eating herbs and spices, as opposed to taking supplements of them, is the best way to take advantage of their health properties. Using herbs and spices to flavor your food is also a great strategy for cutting down on other, less healthy ingredients like sugar and added fat. The various spices available can also help keep you from getting bored with cooking healthy recipes, making a healthy diet more attainable in the long term.
In short, if you want to eat yummy food and lead a healthy lifestyle, add more spices to your recipes. Do your best to cook with herbs and spices regularly, using several seasonings for bolder flavors and more health benefits whenever possible. Using spices for eggs will help you achieve this goal because eggs’ naturally mild flavor profile makes them perfect for pouring on multiple seasonings.
20 Best Seasonings to Use in Egg Dishes
If you’re looking for ingredients that can jazz up a variety of egg dishes, check out these top 20 egg seasoning ideas:
1. Salt
Salt is one of the most popular and obvious seasonings for any egg dish. This basic seasoning enhances the overall flavor of the eggs and brings out the flavor of any additional ingredients. Sea salt does an exceptional job of complementing main dishes. You can also use seasoned salt to give your eggs an extra flavor boost.
2. Pepper
There’s a reason salt and pepper are a classic duo — no other pairing tastes quite as scrumptious together as these two seasoning superstars. Black pepper offers a slightly hot, piney taste that goes perfectly with the taste of salt. If you want a more earthy flavor, try using white pepper.
White pepper is more aromatic than black pepper and packs less heat. However, both white pepper and black pepper taste excellent with scrambled eggs, so your choice of peppers relies solely on your personal flavor preferences or how you want your finished egg dish to look.
3. Red Pepper Flakes
Try sprinkling red pepper flakes on top if you want your eggs to have a bit of a kick. Also known as crushed red pepper, red pepper flakes are dried and crushed red chili peppers that you can use to turn up the heat on any egg dish. Although red pepper flakes aren’t the spiciest seasoning you could choose, they do have a nice, sharp taste that’s slightly earthy and still spicy enough to wake up your senses.
4. Chili Powder
Chili powder is another great option for ramping up the heat for those who like their eggs even spicier. A dash of chili powder will liven up any kind of egg dish, from scrambled eggs and deviled eggs to omelets and quiches. Chili powder offers a decent level of spice, so try to use this hot seasoning sparingly.
On the other hand, if you want to add even more fire to your egg dish, try using ground cayenne pepper. Cayenne is a type of chili pepper that contains a substance known as capsaicin, which makes the pepper extra spicy. As a bonus, the capsaicin found in cayenne can provide pain relief by reducing the number of pain signals sent to your brain. As a result, cayenne can help alleviate the pain associated with arthritis, ulcers, and diabetes-related nerve damage.
5. Hot Sauce
Try getting your spice through a different means by dousing your eggs in hot sauce. Sriracha hot sauce tastes fantastic with fresh-cooked eggs. Because eggs on their own are quite mild, mixing sriracha into your scrambled eggs or drizzling the hot sauce over your omelet will give your egg dish the punch of heat and mild acidity you’re craving.
You can add your hot sauce to your eggs while cooking or after they’re cooked. If you incorporate your sriracha before or during the cooking process, most of the moisture will evaporate, and your eggs will not be wet. Whether less-moist scrambled eggs is a pro or con is up to you and your taste buds.
6. Tarragon
Tarragon is a potent spice that will quickly spruce up your plain old scrambled eggs. More specifically, tarragon has a pungent, bittersweet taste that’s similar to licorice. If you want to fool your friends into thinking you’re a professional chef, add a hint of tarragon into your Hollandaise sauce before spreading it onto your egg dish.
7. Dill
Dill is one of the best herbs to use in scrambled eggs. Dill’s subtle sweet flavor with citrus undertones makes it the perfect partner for eggs. Although dill brings enough flavor to stand on its own, it also serves as a good background ingredient for brighter flavors. Besides tasting delicious, fresh dill’s bright green feather fronds provide a beautiful contrast to eggs’ natural white and yellow coloring.
8. Basil
Basil is a versatile herb that works wonderfully in many dishes, including egg-based recipes. The mild notes of anise and mint that fresh sweet basil brings are quickly followed by a sharper finish of black pepper. On the other hand, Thai basil offers a powerful black licorice flavor. Both types of basils can up the deliciousness of scrambled eggs, omelets, frittatas, and more egg dishes.
9. Pesto
If you can’t get enough of the taste of basil and eggs together, try putting some pesto on your favorite egg dish. Traditional pesto is a tasty topping made by grinding basil leaves, olive oil, garlic cloves, and pine nuts with parmesan cheese. Blending these ingredients creates a rich and herbal spread that can take regular eggs from drab to fab.
Pesto is perfect for folding into an omelet, scrambling into eggs, or enjoying alongside a fried egg. You can also make a decadent meal by stacking pesto, scrambled eggs, and ciabatta bread into a sandwich.
10. Thyme
Thyme is an herb similar to basil that tastes equally as delicious paired with eggs. Adding thyme to your next egg dish will give it a pleasantly sweet and savory taste without bringing so much flavor that the rest of the dish gets overwhelmed. However, because thyme has a more aggressive flavor than most herbs, you may want to use a light touch when sprinkling it into your eggs.
11. Paprika
While paprika is most popular with the main spice in deviled eggs, paprika goes just as well with many other egg-based dishes. Although paprika is not an overly strong spice, it provides a good balance of mild, sweet peppery flavor to egg dishes. If you want your paprika to pack a bit of heat, use smoked paprika. Smoked paprika offers a bolder flavor that will really make your eggs pop.
12. Cumin
Cumin is a semi-hot spice that will give your eggs some subtle heat. Aside from a hint of spice, cumin has rich, hearty, earthy, and warm flavors with an edge of citrus. By combining all of these flavors, cumin offers a unique element for any egg dish, including scrambled eggs, quiche, and souffles.
Along with tons of flavor, cumin offers a fair share of health benefits. Cumin is incredibly rich in iron and may play a major role in promoting weight loss. Research has found that consuming a small amount of cumin each day while following a low-calorie diet promotes more body fat loss than following a low-calorie diet without cumin.
13. Oregano
Oregano is generally an assertive and peppery herb that can sometimes have a bitter or astringent taste. Using oregano livens up your regular eggs. Sprinkling even a tiny bit of this sharp herb will take your egg dish’s flavors up a notch. If you want to even out the taste of oregano with complementary spices, give Italian seasoning a try. This spice blend combines the great flavors of many seasonings commonly used in Italian cooking.
14. Garlic
Garlic is a good seasoning for eggs because it adds a ton of flavor on its own while giving other spices and herbs an extra boost. Stirring a dash of powdered garlic into your egg recipes is an easy way to ensure they’re overflowing with flavor. If you have more time, you can also roast garlic, which tones down the cloves’ pungency and transforms each clove into a rich, delicious spread that you can smear on any type of egg dish.
Along with your taste buds, your heart with thank you for adding garlic to your eggs. Studies have found that working garlic into your regular diet can lower blood pressure. Along with protecting against heart attacks and strokes, eating garlic might reduce cholesterol levels.
15. Chives
Chives are a popular addition to scrambled eggs and other egg dishes. Chives have a savory flavor similar to onions, making them stand out well against the taste of eggs. Along with extra savory notes, chives offer a bit of visual appeal to your eggs, adding bright green flecks that create a feast for the eyes.
16. Za’atar
Za’atar is a Middle Eastern spice blend that features bold flavors with pleasantly woodsy, earthy, tart, and nutty tastes. Za’atar also has a slight tang, making it a great addition to more decadent egg dishes like quiche or souffle. The spices in za’atar will cut the richness of these egg dishes and brighten them up.
17. Turmeric
Turmeric is a unique spice with a robust earthy, bitter, and peppery flavor. If you’re a fan of curry, you might recognize turmeric as the deep, flavorful spice that gives the curry its beautiful golden hue. By adding turmeric, you can make your egg dishes equally as delightful, both in looks and taste. A dash of turmeric will give your eggs a more complex flavor profile you can’t get enough of.
If you want to spice up your egg dishes while supporting your health, turmeric is your solution. Besides contributing strong flavors, turmeric has anti-inflammatory properties that can help to relieve pain from arthritis. Consuming turmeric can also help improve liver function, aid digestion, and reduce your risk of cancer.
18. Cilantro
Cilantro leaves are a strong, distinctive-smelling herb that’s popular for flavoring dishes across many cuisines. Most often, cilantro is used in Mexican and Indian cooking to give meals a burst of freshness. You can take advantage of the refreshing citrus taste of cilantro by pairing it with earthier ingredients to make tasty dishes like garlic-cilantro scrambled eggs.
19. Salsa
Salsa is a refreshing ingredient for brightening up any egg dish. Salsa is the ultimate egg condiment, great for topping omelets or stuffing it into breakfast burritos with scrambled eggs. Traditional red salsa is made with spices and fresh tomatoes, allowing it to lend a bit of acidity to your egg dish. Red salsa can range from mild to hot, so you can choose whatever suits your taste buds.
Alternatively, you could use salsa verde in your egg dish. Salsa verde is a zesty sauce made from spices and tomatillos — small, tart Mexican tomatoes. Whether you use standard red salsa, salsa verde, or any other type of salsa, your eggs will benefit from a douse of salsa.
20. Parsley
Fresh parsley offers a clean, peppery taste with a hint of earthiness, making it an all-around excellent ingredient. The unmistakable flavor of parsley and striking hue of its green flakes make the herb an excellent match for eggs. Pairing the distinctive taste of parsley with the mild taste of eggs will make your dish complete.
Does How You Cook an Egg Affect Which Spices You Should Use?
Now that you know which spices taste best with eggs, you need to know how and when to use each of them. Although you can use any seasonings listed above to spice up just about any egg dish, some egg dishes will go better with certain spices. Once you experiment in the kitchen more and get a better understanding of how each seasoning tastes, you’ll become a pro at matching them with egg dishes.
For now, here is a quick guide to pairing egg dishes with spices:
- Scrambled: Plain scrambled eggs provide the perfect blank slate for all kinds of seasonings. Depending on the day, you can make your scrambled eggs spicy with hot sauce or chili powder, intensely savory with turmeric, cumin or tarragon, or light and refreshing with dill or parsley.
- Over-easy: Because an over-easy egg has a runny yolk, topping it with a spread like pesto or salsa can help absorb some of the excess liquid. If you like using toast to soak up the runny yolk, the spread will help turn the egg and toast into a mini breakfast sandwich.
- Fried: Frying your eggs in a spice mix like za’atar is a great way to guarantee a flavorful breakfast. You can also create your own blend of seasonings by combining crushed red pepper, paprika, and chives.
- Hard-boiled: Sprinkling your hard-boiled eggs with some good old salt and pepper is a classic way to enjoy this egg dish. Or, liven up your hard-boiled eggs with the flavors of garlic, chili powder, or smoked paprika.
- Omelet: Omelets were made to be smothered in delicious spreads like pesto, salsa, or roasted garlic. Because frittatas are similar to omelets, you’ll also love topping your frittatas with flavorful spreads. Fresh herbs also make a wonderful garnish for these two egg dishes.
- Quiche: A quiche typically has deep, bold flavors that work well with robust spices like thyme, tarragon, oregano, or cumin.
- Souffle: As a rich, dense dish, a souffle usually benefits from lighter, brighter ingredients like fresh parsley, dill, cilantro, or chives.
- Deviled eggs: Although paprika is the classic deviled eggs seasoning, you can spice up your deviled eggs with chili powder, hot sauce, or turmeric.
- Egg salad: The heavy mayonnaise in egg salad recipes balances well with fresh herbs like basil, cilantro, dill, chives, or parsley.
Top 3 Tips for Seasoning Eggs
If you want to wield your spices effectively, you need to know some key seasoning secrets. Follow the three tips below and you’ll be seasoning your egg dishes like a pro in no time.
1. Practice Moderation
Considering how many amazing herbs and spices you have to choose from, getting carried away when seasoning your eggs can be easy. However, using too much spice or too many seasonings at once can be overpowering. For most herbs and spices, a little goes a long way. Make sure you don’t overdo it by using a teaspoon or half teaspoon to measure your seasonings accurately.
2. Play Matchmaker
If you want to create your own seasoning blend, you have to know which spices work well together and which don’t. Figuring out which spices you enjoy most together may involve a lot of trial and error, but you can get ahead in the game by recognizing some of the most popular spice pairings in the culinary world. Check out this cheat sheet for common seasoning mixes and which spices they contain:
- Mexican adobo: This blend mixes garlic, onion, cumin, black pepper, cayenne, and oregano.
- Herbes de Provence: This combination includes thyme, tarragon, basil, rosemary, fennel, chervil, and lavender.
- Italian seasoning: Classic Italian spice blends contain basil, thyme, oregano, rosemary, and marjoram.
- Steak seasoning: Steak seasoning combines black pepper, salt, garlic, dill, coriander, red pepper, and mustard.
- Greek seasoning: This mix of spices includes paprika, oregano, onion, cumin, rosemary, thyme, and marjoram.
- Curry powder: Curry powder is a blend of turmeric, cumin, coriander, ginger, white pepper, cardamom, and fennel.
- Chili lime seasoning: This seasoning combines chili powder, paprika, cayenne, salt, sugar, and lime juice.
3. Pick a Theme
Once you’ve selected your spice blend, make sure the rest of your egg dish ingredients mesh well with your seasonings. For instance, choose mozzarella cheese for a dish with Italian seasoning and goat cheese for a dish with herbes de Provence. You can also use toppings that fit with your dish’s theme, such as kimchi for an egg-topped stir-fry or chutney for a turmeric egg scramble.
Get Your Farm-Fresh Eggs From Sauder Eggs
Are you ready to wow your senses with expertly seasoned eggs? Pick up fresh, high-quality eggs from Sauder Eggs and get cracking! Sauder Eggs provides tasty, quality eggs from dependable sources so that you can rest assured you’re cooking with the best ingredients. Between your seasoning skills and our farm-fresh eggs, your eggs recipes will taste better than ever.
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