22 Ways To Add Spice To Your Eggs

It's an age-old question with so many answers: "How do you like your eggs?"

There are countless ways to cook an egg: scrambled, poached, hard-boiled, sunny-side-up, and on and on. Versatile, tasty, and healthy, eggs provide an excellent way to round out breakfast (or really, any meal). Eggs are high in protein, rich in healthy fats, and contain quite a few essential vitamins and minerals like Vitamin A, iron, and folate. Additionally, while not vegan, eggs fall under the category of lacto-ovo vegetarianism, making them a great protein source for people who don't eat meat.

Eggs can taste wildly different, depending on the method used to prepare them. Hard and soft-boiled eggs take on a pungent taste and can smell like rotten eggs when no other ingredients are added. Scrambled eggs, while nutritious, can be bland without added seasoning, and while the yolks of a sunny-side up or poached egg are richly flavored (and Instagram gold), the whites don't taste like much. Thus, eggs are almost always served with other ingredients, whether it's bacon and toast, a sauce, or seasoning. There are a lot of ways to add flavor to eggs, from basic salt and pepper to chili verde sauce to everything bagel seasoning. If you're a spice fiend and want to add some spice, here are 22 ways to crank up the heat and make those eggs sing.

Many regions of the world have their own takes on spicy chile paste. When it comes to North Africa and some Middle Eastern cooking, harissa is where it's at. Concocted from a heat-packed blend of red chiles, oil, garlic, seeds, and spices, harissa is not the most common topping, but it can be found online, in specialty grocery stores, and occasionally in the international foods aisle of large supermarkets.

The seeds and/or spices (blends of the paste vary, but often contain cumin, caraway, and coriander) make harissa an exotic, savory choice for spicing up eggs. The chile paste is a great addition to shakshuka, but the boldest among us may choose to drizzle it directly on top of over-easy eggs or mix it into an egg salad recipe.

Much like harissa, sambal oelek is a spicy chile paste, but it originated in Southeast Asia. The fire-fueled chile paste is derived from piquant red chile peppers, vinegar, and salt, so it carries a bright, vinegar-forward taste that is somewhat similar to Tabasco and other vinegar-based hot sauces. 

Sambal oelek's spicy, tangy flavor profile makes it an easy choice for adding spice to eggs; it'll play nicely with egg-based dishes prepared in just about any style, whether you're using it to top an omelet, drizzling it over a soft-boiled egg in your ramen, or as a dipping sauce for eggs over easy on toast. Because of sambal's vinegar-forward notes, it can also make a nice accompaniment to a couple of deliciously briny pickled eggs.

Hot pepper enthusiasts are undoubtedly familiar with the ominously named "Carolina Reaper." Though it has since lost the title, the Carolina Reaper was named the world's hottest chile pepper by the Guinness Book of World Records in 2013. Ringing in at an average of 1,569,300 Scoville Heat Units (SHU), you should definitely fear the reaper. You're not likely to find Carolina Reapers in a regular grocery store, but they may be available from local farmer's markets, and both fresh and dried reapers are available via online ordering.

Carolina Reapers carry a surprising amount of flavor buried beneath the heat. The peppers are quite sweet upon first bite, with subtle notes of chocolate and baking spices. If adding these hot chiles to your eggs, consider baking fresh peppers into a frittata or dicing up a small amount of dried reapers to sprinkle on top of poached eggs. But be sure to have a glass of milk handy when you're ready to munch, just in case.

Whether preparing for the apocalypse or simply stocking your cupboards for a rainy day, make sure you have canned chiles in your pantry. Many varieties of chiles are sold in canned form, and green chiles, in particular, are fantastic for adding spice to breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Canned green chiles have a peppery kick, but they're far less spicy than their fresh counterparts and bring a dash of sweetness and vinegar to the table.

There are many ways to use canned green chiles to spice up your eggs. As long as the can has been drained and the chiles dried, you can sling them right on top of an omelet or over-easy eggs, no problem. Diced green chiles from the can are a boost to deviled eggs or a scramble, and you can even use them to make chile verde sauce for topping off breakfast tacos.

Times are hard, and we can't all afford a plane ticket to Jamaica. Luckily, you can experience one of Jamaica's best-known flavors right in your kitchen. Modern jerk seasoning consists of dried hot peppers, dehydrated scallions or onions, sugar, and a blend of unusual aromatic spices like thyme, ginger, and cinnamon. You can find jars of pre-mixed jerk seasoning at many grocery stores and online, but it's not hard to mix up your own if you have the right spices.

Jerk seasoning has a striking, pungent, smoky-sweet scent and taste, and while it's not overwhelmingly spicy, there's definitely some kick to it. Jerk seasoning can be mixed right into hard or soft-scrambled eggs, sprinkled atop a poached or hard-boiled egg, or used to jazz up a slice of fried egg-topped avocado toast.

Red pepper flakes offer a convenient way to crank up the heat on just about anything, eggs included. The crushed flakes, which are readily available in supermarkets, are composed of a mix of dried peppers — the exact mix varies from brand to brand, but spicy dried cayenne peppers tend to make up the base. 

Crushed red pepper flakes and eggs are a match made in heaven for spicy food lovers. The multicolored flakes amplify the heat and the deep reds, oranges, and yellows have a pleasing aesthetic effect against bright egg whites. Use red pepper flakes to give your quiche some oomph, shake them on top of a fried egg for a spicy breakfast burger, or sprinkle them over a shakshuka for extra pizzazz.

For many years, habaneros were considered the hottest variety of chile peppers. While hotter chiles have since been unearthed, the habanero still packs a peppery punch at 100,000 to 350,000 SHU. 

Fruity, sweet, and a little smoky underneath their bold heat, these peppers aren't for the faint of heart — for context, a jalapeño clocks in at around 2,500-8,000 SHU — but if you're a glutton for punishment and love the taste of really, really hot peppers, give habaneros a shot. These spice bombs will add a ton of heat wherever they're used, so start slowly when using habanero to spice up your eggs. Consider adding a small amount of chopped habanero to a frittata or omelet. If you're feeling intimidated, keep the peppers on the side and add a few pieces at a time to your breakfast tacos.

You know those fancy-schmancy olive oil stores that sell all kinds of flavored and infused olive oil? Making your own infused olive oil at home on the stovetop or in the refrigerator is a breeze. It's as simple as simmering your flavoring agent and olive oil together in a saucepan on the stovetop, or allowing the oil and flavor additives to sit together in the fridge for a few days. 

Make a spicy infused olive oil by combining high-quality oil with fresh or dried whole peppers, herbs, and spices. Once your infusion is complete and you've strained the ingredients from the oil, use it to cook your eggs in a saucepan, drizzle it over a soft-boiled egg, or pour some into a ramekin on the side of an eggs, bacon, and toast plate.

What's not to love about tacos? While tacos can be made from just about any veggie or protein and may use any number of sauces or seasonings, when most people think "taco seasoning," a blend of aromatic spices like cumin, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, and chili powder comes to mind.

The savory seasoning blend has applications that range far beyond taco meat. Use it to elevate the flavor of popcorn, crispy chickpeas, roasted vegetables, and eggs. While you can buy packets of this blend at the grocery store, homemade taco seasoning is quick and easy — plus, those who have to watch their sodium intake can reduce or omit salt from the recipe. Taco seasoning is a great way to kick scrambled eggs up a notch — use taco scrambled eggs in breakfast tacos, or make yourself a morning burrito.

Sriracha has a rich and fascinating history. The spicy sauce originated in Thailand, and while it's certainly still popular in Southeast Asia, the recipe has been greatly altered from the original in the immensely popular American version. 

Colloquially known as "rooster sauce," sriracha refers to a recipe rather than a brand, so flavors may vary slightly depending on your bottle of choice, but eggs and sriracha pair together beautifully. The sauce is made from chile peppers, garlic, sugar, vinegar, and salt, giving it a spicy, tangy, and sweet bite on the tongue. Sriracha can elevate the taste and spice factor of eggs in a number of ways — pour it on over-hard eggs and toast, use it to lace your breakfast burrito, or drizzle it onto the poached egg in your pho.

Whether it's achieved via crisp bacon, flaky sea salt, fried onions, or something else, there's something magical about the contrast of soft, fluffy eggs and crispy, crunchy ingredients. Chili crisp, made from a blend of dried chile peppers, aromatics, spices, and oil, can make that magic happen. 

If you've never tried this crunchy, spicy phenomenon, stop what you're doing and grab a jar from your go-to grocer's international foods aisle or an Asian market. Seriously, it's that good. With a good amount of heat from chiles, a pungent bite from garlic, and a bit of sweetness from the other spices, chili crisp is a fantastic way to elevate your eggs. Spoon it over a poached egg in your ramen, add a drizzle to your egg and avo toast, or use it to jazz up a breakfast bowl — the sky's the limit.