Next Time You Make Fried Eggs, Add A Half Teaspoon Of This On Top (It's Briny Heaven)

After that first sizzle in the frying pan, your breakfast eggs usually get nothing more than just a sprinkle of salt and pepper. That's all well and good, but have you ever considered adding something a little unexpected, like capers? Out of place as these pickled flower buds seem when they're not scattered in a plate of chicken piccata, rest assured, they are one of the best ingredients to upgrade fried eggs.

Much like how scrambled eggs need capers for an umami blast, your fried eggs benefit from these tiny buds the same way. Sitting atop of the eggs, their briny, citrusy zing disrupts the savory richness in the best way. No more one-note forkfuls that feel heavy after three bites. Add half a teaspoon of capers, and you've got acidic sparks in between, sometimes assertively salty, other times a smidgen floral.

Even better, slightly fry the capers first, because then they turn crispy. Every tiny piece is a certified flavor bomb as they crackle into pieces on your taste buds. It's textural contrast at its best when you find them wrapped in the smooth, luscious egg yolk.

At their simplest, capers can just be a last-minute finishing touch on your fried eggs, alongside chopped herbs and perhaps a squeeze of lemon. If you're going for the fried capers option, a quick saute at the beginning is the way to go — and take the opportunity to include other aromatic ingredients such as sage leaves or garlic to imbue a fragrant undertone into the eggs. A little less common is caper-infused oil, which you can make at home by soaking pickled capers in olive oil, and just use it to fry the eggs. Alternatively, caper powder, made from crushed dehydrated capers, can be used as a flavoring, and sprinkled over fried eggs.

This caper twist works for so many different fried egg recipes. Eggs in purgatory is a comforting, customizable dish you should try, and it's so much better when you bring capers and their juice into the tomato sauce base. A stir-fry style fried eggs, loaded with fried herb leaves, chili flakes, and ground meat, can always use a pinch of capers to tie everything together. Maybe even try it with the classic Thai dish pad kra pao, letting the capers' tantalizing zing mingle with holy basil and fish sauce. Inching over to Mexican cuisine, fried egg tostadas are another way to have fried eggs for breakfast, and with a caper–whisked oil sauce drizzled over top, they've never been more toothsome.