I Tried This Brilliant “Egg Pocket” Trick for Making Breakfast Sandwiches

TikTok food trends are a double-edged sword for me. On the one hand, I love to see the clever, imaginative hacks that people on the internet are creating, but on the other hand, I cannot help but be filled with remorse and self-hatred for not thinking of them first. Who knows what my life would be like right now if I had thought to bake a huge block of feta with some cherry tomatoes? I could be in the Hype House making dinner for Addison Rae. Alas, that is not my current reality. Sigh.

All that to say, these egg pockets are another perfect example of an ingenious hack I completely adore, yet they have also caused me to lose sleep at night for not thinking to do this years ago. TikTok, you’ve done it again.

If you’re ready to whip up some egg pockets of your own, it’s quite simple. Here’s my step-by-step breakdown of the video.

• Coat a slotted spoon and a nonstick pan with cooking spray.
• Crack two eggs into the slotted spoon over the pan so that only the whites go through the slots and into the pan while the yolks remain in the spoon. Swirl the pan around to spread out the egg whites.
• Gently place the yolks in the center of the egg whites.
• Add cheese, bacon, and any other fixings you like around the yolks. A sprinkle of salt and pepper on the yolks and whites isn’t a bad idea, either.
• Once the whites have mostly set, carefully fold them over the yolks like you’re wrapping a present to make a pocket of whites that fully encase the yolks.
• Finally, slide the pocket off onto a slice of toasted bread, add another slice on top, and cut your sammie in half.
  
  Ta-da! You’ve got yourself a breakfast sandwich for the books.

I’ve made a lot of breakfast sandwiches in my day. These egg pockets are the perfect method for someone who wants a runny yolk in their sandwich but doesn’t want a complete, bursting mess when the yolk breaks. Don’t get me wrong: You’ll still get some runny yolk action down your fingers when you go to eat this thing, but it won’t be as catastrophically messy as eating a sunny-side-up egg. 

To be clear, this egg pocket method does not change the taste of your breakfast sammie at all. The trick with the slotted spoon is purely for structural reasons (which is very important for sandwiches!), and the egg-pocket hack makes the process of constructing and consuming your sandwich much easier. Plus, everyone knows that anything with pockets is better — dresses, skirts, cardigans, and sandwiches.

When I gave these egg pockets a test drive, I ended up making them three times (purely for professional research, of course). On my first attempt, I broke both yolks. Womp. I think it was a combination of overstuffing the center with too much cheese and bacon (what can I say? I have a heavy hand) and not maneuvering around the yolks with enough caution. Despite my premature yolk breakage, the sandwich was still delicious. That said, my ego couldn’t live with a double broken yolk sammie, so I had to go back for round two. 

This time, I decided to put the cheese in the pan first (after coating with nonstick spray), both so that I didn’t have to stuff it in the center of the pocket (which I think may have contributed to my breaking yolks), and also because when cheese comes into contact with a hot pan, the results are nothing short of perfection. I will seek out crispy cheese any time that I have the chance — this is simply who I am as a person. 

The crispy cheese exterior on the outside of the egg pocket was a HUGE success. I found the pocket was easier to fold up, and the cheese crisped up at the same rate the egg whites cooked. I also added avocado slices to this sandwich (off the heat) because who wants to eat an egg sammie without avocado? This sandwich was a major step up from my first one; however, when I sliced it open, I realized that my yolks had slightly set. I had spent too much time admiring my crispy cheese egg pocket in the pan, which meant that the yolk had lost all of its runniness. Bummer.

I could’ve stopped there, but I’m no quitter. Do you think Charli D’Amelio got 100 million followers on TikTok by trying the renegade once and saying “Oh, I was close enough?” Absolutely not. So, on my third go-around with this egg pocket I repeated my crispy cheese method, except when it came time to fold it up, I worked with a little more sense of urgency. My high school basketball coach used to say “Be quick, but don’t rush.” I really didn’t like that dude, but the saying applies here. This way, when I pulled the egg pocket from the pan, the exterior was fully set and crispy, yet the yolks on the inside were still runny. When I sliced my third and final attempt open, it had crispy cheese AND a runny yolk. Success. I doused it in some hot sauce and patted myself on the back. 

1. Crack your eggs into a bowl first. Rather than trying a one-handed crack over a slotted spoon over a hot pan (seems like a disaster just waiting to happen), simply crack both your eggs into a small bowl first, then pour that bowl over your slotted spoon.
2. Put the cheese directly into the pan. Like I said, I think this egg pocket method is greatly enhanced by sprinkling on a thin layer (you should still be able to see the pan) of shredded cheese. Immediately after, strain your egg whites over the cheese. As long as you’re using nonstick spray with a nonstick pan, there’s no need to worry about any stickage issues. Melty cheese is good, but crispy cheese is better.
3. Consider your sandwich vessel. Since I was using longer slices of bread, I intentionally folded my pocket into a rectangular shape so that the pocket would sit pretty on the bread. If you’re eating your sandwich on an English muffin or a bagel, try to fold it up more like a square so that it fits easily on your bread. You could even throw your pocket on a 6-inch tortilla and eat it like a taco. For the construction of this sandwich to work, the shape of your pocket should loosely match your bread of choice.
4. Work quickly over medium-high heat. The assembly of these egg pockets happens fast, so make sure you have all your ingredients nearby and ready to go. And remember, once the pocket is folded up, try to get it out the pan as quickly as you can to preserve that runny yolk.
5. Get creative! You should look at this egg pocket as a starting point for your dream breakfast sammie. If bacon isn’t your breakfast meat of choice, then sub it with sausage, chorizo, crumbled tofu, or black beans. If you like to add cilantro, avocado, or sliced scallions, then you should do that. And don’t forget to give it a few hits of your favorite hot sauce, and maybe a drizzle of honey, too.