The Unexpected Ingredient IHOP Adds To Its Omelets
Ah, the versatile omelet. A breakfast and brunch favorite, it works equally well as a light lunch or the ultimate breakfast as dinner dish. Although the French omelet technically doesn't include anything other than eggs and butter, most people are probably more familiar with diner-style omelets that come stuffed with a variety of extra ingredients, from a simple cheese and fresh herb combo to the ham, bell pepper, onion, and cheese combo in a classic Denver omelet. In fact, the beauty of an omelet is that you can add just about anything you want to it, and fully customize it to your tastes. Then there are technical additions like a little bit of water, which is sometimes added to achieve the perfect egg yolk omelets.
That being said, there are still some ingredient additions that are more unusual than others when it comes to omelets. Some of the odder things that have been added to omelets include bread, peanut butter, spaghetti noodles, and even tuna melt (via Mr. Breakfast). And while not as unusual as some ingredient additions, IHOP also adds an unexpected ingredient to its omelets that, according to HuffPost, is the reason their omelets come out so fluffy.
The secret to IHOP's fluffy omelets
Per the IHOP website, their omelets, which come in six variations in addition to a "build your own" version, are all "made with a splash of our famous buttermilk & wheat pancake batter." Considering IHOP made their business and name on pancakes, it probably shouldn't come as a surprise that they would also add pancake batter to their eggs, however unexpected that addition may seem at first.
According to My Recipes, the addition of pancake batter yields the "fluffiest omelets" that are "hefty and airy at the same time." Lifehacker found the omelets made with added pancake batter to be more "springy and (a little) spongy" rather than fluffy, but more durable, which made for easier folding and flipping. Both agreed that the pancake batter also added an extra sweetness to the omelets, which is also not terribly surprising. It's worth noting that adding pancake batter won't work for every type of omelet — it certainly won't work for the classic French omelet. But if you're looking for fluffy and hefty omelets with just an extra touch of sweetness, then take a page from IHOP and add a little pancake batter to your eggs.