How to Cook Eggs Without Oil or Butter

A single large egg contains 5 g of fat. In other words, 45 of its 70 calories are from fat. If you are trying to cut the amount of fat in your diet, the last thing you'll want to do is to add more fat to the frying pan when you're cooking the egg. To cook an egg without added fat, you have at least two simple options: hard-boil it or cook it scrambled in the microwave.

Eggs and sausage in a skillet. (Image: contrail1/iStock/Getty Images)

Hard-Boiled

Step 1

Place the eggs in a saucepan in a single layer. Cover them with water so that the level of the water is 1 inch over the top of the eggs.

Step 2

Cover the pan and heat it on high until the water comes to a full boil.

Step 3

Turn off the heat. Cover the pan with the lid. Let the eggs sit in the water covered for 15 minutes for large eggs, 12 minutes for medium and 18 minutes for extra large.

Step 4

Run cold water over the eggs or put them in ice water to cool them immediately.

Microwave Scrambled Eggs

Step 1

Beat the eggs in a microwave-safe dish with 1/4 cup of milk for each egg.

Step 2

Stir in a dash of salt and pepper.

Step 3

Microwave the eggs one to two minutes at medium power.

Step 4

Stir the eggs thoroughly. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and return the bowl to the microwave.

Step 5

Cook the eggs for another 30 seconds on medium. Check the eggs. If they are done to your taste, remove them from the oven. If they are still too soft, stir them again, and put them back into the microwave for another 30 seconds of cooking.

Things You'll Need

• Eggs

• Saucepan with lid

• Water

• Stove

• Microwave-safe dish

• Whisk or fork

• Milk

• Microwave

Tip

Poaching, coddling, baking, and soft-boiling are other ways of cooking eggs without oil or butter.

Warning

When you are hard-boiling eggs using the cold-water method, never stack the eggs two deep. Use a pan large enough to accommodate all of the eggs you want to cook in a single layer. Stacking eggs may cause your eggs to cook incompletely.