Chef and food writer Anne Wolf says swapping butter for ghee is the "easiest upgrade" you can make to scrambled eggs, delivering a richer, nuttier flavour every time.
Why ghee beats butter
Anne explained that options such as clarified butter and browned butter will only deliver a fraction of the richness and depth of flavour. Instead, she swears by ghee for its richness and toasted notes.
Ghee is a form of clarified butter commonly used in Indian, Middle Eastern and South Asian cooking. It is made by gently heating butter to remove the water and milk solids, leaving behind a golden, rich-tasting butterfat.
With the milk solids removed, ghee has a higher smoke point than regular butter, making it a useful ingredient for frying, roasting and sautéing. It also adds a distinctive buttery and slightly nutty flavour to dishes.
What the chef says
Writing for Simply Recipes, she explained: "Clarified butter gets you partway there, with a rich fat that won't scorch. Browned butter gets you flavour, but toast it again in a hot pan, and you're flirting with burnt bitterness."
"Ghee splits the difference. It combines clarified butter's discipline with browned butter's payoff, and is the easiest upgrade you can make to your morning eggs."
While brown butter can bring a lovely richness to scrambled eggs, there's a danger of overdoing it and ending up with a burnt flavour. Ghee strikes a balance between brown and clarified butter, being prepared in much the same way as the latter.
How to cook with ghee
Ghee can handle temperatures as high as 485F (251C), compared to vegetable oils, which typically range from 400F (204C) to 450F (226C).
Just as you would with vegetable oil or clarified butter, add enough ghee to coat the pan. Then make your scrambled eggs in the usual way, whisking them in a bowl along with any extras you fancy, such as cream or crème fraîche.
Season the eggs as you normally would. Then cook them in the pan as usual. Unlike regular butter, ghee needs a hot pan from the start, so resist the urge to add the ghee to a cold pan.
Serve with your preferred herbs, seasonings and whatever breakfast accompaniments you fancy.
