Pepper Fried Eggs (great fridge clearer!)
If you’re anything like me, you’ll love a recipe you can make without having to make a trip to the shops – something that can just use up whatever you already have in the house. Enter: Pepper Fried Eggs! Perfect little servings of egg, cooked inside bell pepper rings, and livened up with whatever other ingredients your heart desires.
This recipe is a game-changer for those lazy weekend mornings, when you want a bit of a special breakfast, but don’t want to have to work too hard for it. These eggs can handle whatever you throw at them – leftover veggies, cheese, herbs, or anything else you have on hand. It’s such a versatile recipe!
I like to make each egg different – variety is the spice of life, after all.
This time, I made 4 different kinds, using broccoli, cabbage, garlic, cheese, olives, and more, in various combinations… You only need a tiny amount of each ingredient, so don’t go buying anything specially – use it as an opportunity to clear out the fridge!
🥗 Ingredients and Substitutions
Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe. See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.
- eggs
- bell peppers – any colour, but I find red, orange and yellow the best. Green peppers are less tasty.
Filling / topping ideas (use any or all of my ideas, or whatever else you have on hand!):
- finely chopped broccoli
- finely chopped cabbage
- grated cheese
- minced garlic
- herbs (dried or fresh)
- olives
- a small dollop of pesto
- jalapeños
Becca’s Top Tip
If it’s an ingredient that would benefit from a bit of cooking, like cabbage or garlic, add it underneath the egg. Or, if the ingredient is there to add flavour but doesn’t need to be cooked (like olives or cheese), you can add it on top of the egg.
📹 Recipe Video
🔪 Equipment
This recipe requires a large, non-stick frying pan (or two smaller non-stick pans, if you don’t have one big enough). You’ll also need to cover the pan to help the eggs cook through, so if your pan has a lid, that’s ideal.
My all-time favourite brand for cookware is Circulon – they’re perfectly non-stick, and they last for years. You can see my favourite pans in all of my recipes!
I’d recommend this one for your pepper fried eggs – it’s suitably large, wonderfully non-stick, an it has a sturdy lid. Find it on Amazon US / Amazon UK (affiliate links).
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🖨️ Printable Instructions
Pepper Fried Eggs
If you’ve cooked this recipe, don’t forget to leave a star rating!
Print Pin CommentIngredients
- 1/2 Tbsp butter or oil
- 2 large bell peppers (I used yellow and red)
- 4 medium eggs
- Your choice of toppings / fillings, e.g. finely chopped vegetables (I used broccoli and cabbage), grated cheese, dried herbs, minced garlic, chopped olives, jalapeños, a dollop of pesto, etc.
Instructions
- Cut a couple of thick slices from each pepper, making sure to cut crosswise to form complete rings. Remove any of the white ribs from the pepper slices, and rinse off any loose seeds. The top and bottom of the peppers can be kept to use in another recipe.
- Rub a little butter around the base of a large non-stick frying pan (or use a dash of oil, if you prefer), and place over a medium-low heat. When the butter is warm, add the rings of pepper next to each other on the base of the pan. Add your choice of fillings to each pepper ring (if any), especially those that require a bit of cooking, e.g. garlic, broccoli, cabbage.
- Break an egg into each pepper ring. Don’t worry if a little egg leaks out the bottom – you can always trim it off later if it bothers you.
- Add any additional toppings which don’t require as much cooking, such as grated cheese, olives, or black pepper.
- Cover the pan with a lid, and leave to cook over a medium heat until the eggs are cooked to your liking – perhaps around 5 minutes. If you don’t enjoy a runny egg, you might want to flip each piece of pepper over just before serving, to make sure the top is thoroughly cooked.
- Serve immediately. I like mine with some toast or a tortilla (crisped up in a dry frying pan).
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on your exact ingredients. Please calculate your own nutritional values if you require accuracy for health reasons.
💭 Recipe FAQs
I like a bit of crunch in my meals, so I like to serve these eggs with either some buttered toast, or a tortilla which I crisp up for a few minutes in a dry frying pan.
I wouldn’t recommend cooking the eggs in advance of when you need to serve them. However, you can easily prepare the toppings in advance, so that assembly is super quick. For example, you could have some vegetables chopped ready to use, some cheese pre-grated, etc.
Honestly, fried eggs don’t reheat particularly well – they can become very rubbery. Since this is quite a quick recipe anyway, it’s best to eat your eggs right after cooking.
After cutting rings from your peppers, don’t waste the tops and bottoms! There’s probably plenty of edible pepper left, so make sure you store it in the fridge, and use it up in another recipe. You could chop it up and mix it through vegetable scrambled eggs, pop it in a vegetable bake, blend it into lentil soup, or any number of other things!
Really quick, easy and flexible recipe for a healthy, tasty breakfast
Thanks so much Ian!