Coddled eggs are just so incredibly easy to make! If you’ve ever wondered how to coddle eggs, wonder no more. Just get yourself an inexpensive coddler, splurge on an elegant Royal Worcester egg coddler, or just use a small ramekin.

A few years ago, my friend Marie gave me an egg coddler.

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It was made by Royal Worcester and had lovely birds on the porcelain cup. I bought myself another when I was in the UK, and have been coddling eggs ever since. Now I want to tell you everything you could ever want to know about coddled eggs!

What is an Egg Coddler?

egg coddler and egg — Two Royal Worcester egg coddlers.

Egg coddlers are simply porcelain or glass containers that allow the egg to be soft-cooked without being placed directly into water. As you can see from the photo above, there are some very pretty egg coddlers; the most iconic British ones being made by Royal Worcester. The egg is cracked into the coddler, the top is screwed on and then placed into a pot with water to cook. It’s a very simple process to coddle eggs as you’ll see below.

According to the Museum of Royal Worcester, there is no record of who invented coddlers or the first manufacturer, but they became popular in the 1880s. You can read more on the history of egg coddlers. Small egg coddlers accommodate one egg, but I’ve learned that there are larger ones to coddle two eggs at a time.

You may also enjoy dippy eggs (soft-boiled) and soldiers!

Soft boiled egg and soldiers

What is the Difference Between a Poached Egg and Coddled Egg?

Coddled eggs are cooked inside their own little “pots”, so the egg never touches the water, unlike poached eggs which are cooked directly in water. Ouefs en cocotte is the French name for eggs in pots which could refer to coddled or baked eggs.

How do you eat Coddled Eggs?

You can eat coddled eggs as you would a soft-boiled egg in an egg cup. I love to make “soldiers” with toast and dip them into the soft yolk.

Or you can empty the egg onto a piece of buttered toast and eat it this way.

Good bread is a game-changer, though.

If you don’t have a proper egg coddler, no problem. Just use a ramekin to coddle your eggs (I’ll show you below) and your eggs will look like this. Who’s hungry?

How to Coddle Eggs
(with and without a coddler)

FULL PRINTABLE DIRECTIONS BELOW

Coddled Eggs Using Coddlers.

Put some water into a small pot and add the coddlers, just to check the level of the water. Make sure the water is halfway up the coddler. The coddlers are NOT submerged when cooking the eggs.

Butter the inside of the coddler using your finger. Do I need to tell you to wash your hands first? 😂

Crack the egg into the coddler.

Repeat with the other coddler if using two, and then add seasonings (and other ingredients if you choose, like a bit of butter, some cheese, ham, herbs, etc.)

Screw on the lid.

Bring the water in the pot to a boil and carefully add the coddlers. (I had to take the pot off the stove to take a photo, but the water was boiling.)

Note: Norma kindly noted in the comments that the ring on top is only to be used to lifting the coddlers, do not use it to twist the top open.

Simmer for about 7 to 9 minutes, or until cooked to your liking. The nice thing about using a coddler is that you can check to see if the egg is ready, and if it’s not, you can just continue cooking a bit more, unlike soft boiled eggs. Serve with toast.

Delicious!

Coddled Eggs Using Ramekins.

Place the ramekins into a pot and fill with water so it reaches halfway up the ramekins. Remove the ramekins and butter them inside.

Crack the an egg into each ramekin. Add seasonings and other ingredients as desired.

Bring the pot of water to a boil, then carefully place the ramekins into the pot. (Again, the water was boiling, but I had to take it off the stove to take a photo!)

Put the lid on the pot for the first 2 minutes (just to help cook the top) and continue to cook for about 5 minutes with the lid off. It’s easy to see when the egg is cooked to your liking. CAREFULLY remove the ramekins from the pot. I used tongs, but even better, I recently bought this handy tool for helping take things in and out of my airfryer, and it works brilliantly for this, too. Things are much less likely to slip.

Using a small spatula, you can loosen the egg from the ramekin if you don’t want to eat it in the ramekin.

Then place the egg onto a plate or a piece of toast to enjoy!

Isn’t this a perfect breakfast or lunch (or dinner? I won’t tell)!

And I mean perfect.

Now I’m just teasing you! :)

Heck, do you even need a fork and knife? I don’t think so!

Are you an egg lover? What about this fancy Eggs Royale recipe from Cynthia at What a Girl Eats?

And if you want to throw all caution to the wind, try my fried bread recipe! It’s soooo good!