Buzz
A few weeks ago, I found myself stocked with barbecue sauce after testing eight popular varieties to discover the perfect pizza sauce (check out the saucy results here). I ended up with a ton of pizza and eight nearly full bottles of BBQ sauce, an unusual fridge situation for me. Fortunately, I found a tasty solution to use up the sauces that didn’t involve a grill or more pizza—eggs, of course. Barbecue sauce is the secret ingredient for a feisty fried egg.
The ideal sauce for eggs
The sauce that inspired this idea is Bachan’s Japanese Barbecue Sauce. It’s like the versatile little black dress of condiments—perfect for anything. Unlike thicker American-style barbecue sauces, this one is more savory, making it a natural fit with eggs. I melted butter in a frying pan, squeezed a tablespoon of sauce into it, and let it bubble before cracking in my egg. The sauce quickly thickened, and after flipping the egg (I'm a fan of over-easy), I plated the delicious creation.
This egg turned out to be an extraordinary breakfast. While Bachan's sauce doesn’t initially taste overtly sweet, as it cooks, its sugars intensify and the flavor profile evolves. The sauce thickens into a sweet, savory coating. The egg’s edges become a crispy, chewy candy, while the sauce stays as a delicate glaze where it meets the egg.
Any barbecue sauce can be used in this recipe.
After this success, I decided to try frying more eggs with a classic American-style barbecue sauce. What began as an uncertain choice turned out to be a stroke of genius. This time, I used Dinosaur Barbecue’s BBQ sauce. While it didn’t make a great pizza sauce due to its mild flavor compared to others, it worked perfectly for frying. When poured into a hot pan, the sauce thickened as the water evaporated, leaving behind a concentrated tomato jam full of sweet and tangy notes.
For the best barbecue-fried eggs, I recommend using a non-stick skillet and melting a small pat of butter in it before adding the sauce. Since barbecue sauces vary in sweetness, it’s important to prevent the sauce from sticking and burning. While it’s unlikely to reach that point, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Let the sauce heat up and begin to bubble, then crack in your eggs and cook them to your liking. Pair it with toast, or go all out with the true backyard BBQ feel by serving it alongside buttery corn and potato salad.
