Spice Up Basic Scrambled Eggs With One Jarred Ingredient That's Rich In Italian Flavor

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When foodies are looking for ways to add spice to their eggs, relenting to a stale, extremely aged jar of dried red pepper flakes is often the begrudged M.O. Happily, those days are over. All it takes to enjoy spicy, complex, elevated scrambled eggs every time is a jar of Calabrian chiles.

For the unacquainted, Calabrian chiles are small red peppers grown in the eponymous region of Calabria, Italy. These peppers are a staple in Southern Italian culinary tradition, and each bite captures the area's distinctive coastal, mineral-rich terroir. On the palate, Calabrian chiles deliver an impactful-yet-accessible, medium-hot spiciness level (25,000 to 40,000 SHU), keeping things interesting without overwhelming a dish. Perhaps best of all, this pepper features a signature lingering fruitiness mixed with an earthy, smoky funk that takes things to the next level — especially when applied to mild, fairly neutral scrambled eggs. 

Calabrian chiles contribute far more flavor than many other chile pepper varieties, and subsequently, this spicy condiment is often used to add depth to pizza slices and pasta sauces. It's the ultimate tool for adding a pop of rosy color to pale yellow scrambled eggs, a major upgrade in both the aesthetic and flavor departments. To make this small-but-mighty pepper work for your eggs, the best course of action is to proceed with caution. Add a small dollop of crushed Calabrian chiles at a time, taste-testing after each addition. The chiles can also be mixed directly into the raw eggs before adding them to the hot pan to cook. For more spice, you could even scramble those eggs in some of the jarred oil from the chiles.

Whole dried Calabrian chiles can be purchased from a wide variety of online retailers, as well as in specialty Italian grocery stores. But, for the quickest, easiest inclusion in your scrambled eggs, jarred crushed Calabrian chiles are the way to go. A 10-ounce jar of crushed Calabrian chiles by the Tuttocalabria brand, for instance, currently costs $12.93 on Amazon. These pre-crushed chiles are jarred in oil, presenting a ready-to-use condiment that can be spooned directly into or on top of scrambled eggs for easy incorporation. 

Calabrian chiles offer a more dimensional, complex flavor than crushed red pepper flakes, while still boasting the same wide-ranging versatility in the kitchen and a similarly impressive shelf life. Opened jars of Calabrain chiles in oil will last in the fridge for several months. If you prefer, whole peppers can be blended into a paste using a food processor and a drizzle of olive oil. You can also just go with a seedless Calabrian chile paste if you prefer a smoother consistency, which happens to be one of the suggestions in our 22 ways to add spice to eggs.

To complete the brunch, pair Calabrian chile scrambled eggs with a slice of avocado toast. The creamy avocado will round out the spiciness of the pepper. Beyond breakfast, you could also mix a dollop of crushed Calabrian chiles into the creamy yolk filling for devilled eggs. Here, the interplay of the spicy peppers and the rich, creamy yolk filling is oh-so right. Bonus points if you serve those Calabrian chile deviled eggs on a charcuterie board with prosciutto and pickled cornichons for an elevated cocktail hour snack. To help put the rest of the jar to good use, we've rounded up 14 more delicious ways to use Calabrian chiles.