Ina Garten's Tip For Perfect, Fluffy Scrambled Eggs

Scrambled eggs. You would think they aren’t difficult to make. Just whip up a couple eggs, put them in a hot pan (or is that a cold pan that you heat slowly?), and then push them around a bit till done.

Simple, right?

It should be, but if it was really that simple, we’d all be making the perfect eggs every single time—but we don’t.

If there’s one person we probably all trust to know how to get scrambled eggs right each and every time, it’s Ina Garten. But even the Barefoot Contessa herself didn’t always get it right. She does now, though.

It’s (Mostly) All in the Liquid 

In a video, Ina shares her tips for getting scrambled eggs light and fluffy. She admits she used to put a lot of liquid in because she thought that was the key, but she discovered it’s the opposite. 

“What happens,” she says, “is that the liquid kind of oozes out. Use less liquid, and they’re lighter and fluffy."

In the video, she’s making scrambled eggs for a crowd, so for 16 extra-large eggs, Ina adds a 1/2 cup of half-and-half, 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt, and 3/4 teaspoon of black pepper. She then whisks it all together.  

Do You Start Scrambled Eggs in a Cold or Hot Pan?

Ina cooks her eggs on an outdoor grill (but a stovetop would work just as well) in a large stainless steel pan that’s been preheated. So as far as Ina is concerned, start scrambled eggs in a hot pan, although some people say a cold pan is best, and others don’t use a pan at all. They create a whirlpool in a pot of boiling water and slowly add their eggs to that. 

But, this is all about Ina’s method, and it starts with a heated pan. Before adding the whisked egg mixture to the heated pan, she melts two tablespoons of butter in it and saves another two tablespoons to add toward the end. 

Ina has a friend swirl the eggs around very slowly in the pan with a wooden spoon. Just when the eggs are cooked to how Ina likes them (you could add a little extra time if you’d like), she crumbles in six ounces of soft goat cheese and sprinkles in chopped chives. Once those are incorporated, she stirs in the remaining two tablespoons of butter. 

Eggs, half-and-half, butter, goat cheese, chives, more butter—we’re loving this perfect, fluffy, scrambled eggs combo. 

Scaling the Scrambled Egg Recipe for One Serving

If you’re not cooking for a crowd, these are the ingredient amounts you’ll need to make just one serving of Ina’s perfect, fluffy scrambled eggs. If you’re cooking for two, just double the amounts.

• 2 extra-large eggs
• 1 tablespoon half-and-half
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• pinch black pepper
• 1/2 tablespoon butter, divided, or more as needed
• 3/4 ounce goat cheese
• 2 teaspoons fresh, chopped chives

The method is the same as described above. 

Now, if we could just get the recipe for whatever bubbly brunch cocktail Ina and her friend are drinking in the video, we’d be set for next Sunday!