Air-Fryer Poached Eggs on Buttered Toast
Eggs cracked into small ramekins of water, air-fried for six minutes, lifted out with a slotted spoon onto buttered toast. Soft whites, liquid yolks, no swirling vortex of vinegar. The simplest poaching method that actually works.
Poaching eggs is one of those techniques home cooks dread for no good reason — the result is consistently excellent but the methods (vortex of swirling water, vinegar, careful crack) feel finicky. The air fryer poach is the cheat: crack an egg into a small ramekin filled with hot water, air-fry for six minutes, lift out with a slotted spoon. The whites set evenly because they're contained; the yolks stay liquid; the texture is the same as a proper hob-poached egg.
The technique requires four small ramekins (silicon or ceramic, 6oz each) and pre-boiled water poured in just before the eggs go in. The hot water gets the cooking started before the air fryer takes over.
Six minutes at 180°C produces a perfectly runny yolk. Seven minutes gets you a softer-set yolk. Eight minutes is fully cooked through — useful for nervous eaters and Sunday-school morning teas.
The photo shows two perfectly poached eggs on slabs of buttered toast: glossy white surface dotted with cracked pepper, one egg broken to show the bright orange yolk pooling across the toast. The lightest, simplest breakfast.
Method
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01
Boil the water
Bring a kettle of water to a rolling boil. You'll need about 1 cup.
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02
Fill the ramekins
Place 4 ramekins in the air fryer basket. Pour about ¼ cup of
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03
Crack the eggs
Crack one egg into each ramekin. The water should cover the egg by
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04
Air fry
Heat the air fryer to 360°F (180°C). Cook 6 minutes for runny
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05
Toast the bread
While eggs cook, toast the bread (toaster, grill, or briefly in the
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06
Butter the toast
Butter the toast generously.
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07
Lift the eggs
Use a slotted spoon to lift each egg out of its ramekin, letting
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08
Season and serve
Top with flaky salt, cracked pepper, and herbs. Add hot sauce or