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boiled omelets

boiled in a bag omelets

While I was away for Thanksgiving visiting family one of the breakfasts we made were these boiled omelets. We set out things to add (chopped peppers, onions, cheese, crumbled bacon or sausage) so that each person could construct their own. The recipe was originally shared as a way to make breakfast aboard a boat so that there were fewer large items to wash. Since the recipe says you can make up to eight at a time it means everybody can get omelets at the same time. They even came out looking scrumptious!

boiled in a bag omelets

Here is the recipe shared with me, the origin has been long lost I’m afraid:

ZIP LOCK OMELET

This works great when you have a group of people together. No one has to wait for their omelet, everyone gets involved in the process and it’s a great conversation piece.

Have guests write their name on a quart-size Ziploc freezer bag with permanent marker.

Crack no more than two eggs (large or x-large) into each bag and shake to combine.

Put out a variety of ingredients such as cheeses, ham, onion, green pepper, tomato, hash browns, salsa, etc as selection.

Each guest adds prepared ingredients of their choice to their bag. Shake, carefully press air out of bag and zip it up.

Place the bags into rolling, boiling water for exactly 13 minutes. (We suspect that if you only make fewer at a time you might not need to cook them for that long.)

You can cook 6-8 omelets (bags) in a large pot. For more bags, make another pot of boiling water or cook in shifts.

Open the bags and the omelet will roll out easily. Be prepared for everyone to be amazed.

boiled in a bag omelets

· comments [48] · 11-29-2011 · categories:food ·

48 responses so far ↓

  • 1 tracylee // Nov 29, 2011 at 1:43 pm

    I made breakfast for everyone at a family reunion one year by doing this! It was such a big hit :)

  • 2 Kathrine // Nov 29, 2011 at 1:44 pm

    I believe you have just made sous vide eggs.

    http://www.cookingsousvide.com/info/sous-vide-recipes/more/scrambled-eggs-sous-vide

  • 3 SAWK // Nov 29, 2011 at 1:45 pm

    Megan! This would be soooooo awesome for camping! You can pack the little ziploc eggies ahead of time and then just boil water for breakfast.
    Great great great!

  • 4 Stephanie // Nov 29, 2011 at 1:47 pm

    Someone educate me. Do ziplock bags contain BPA? If so would boiling them be dangerous?

  • 5 megan // Nov 29, 2011 at 1:48 pm

    Katherine – Perhaps, but I think real sous vide involves far more precise temperature control than a big old pot of boiling water :)

  • 6 megan // Nov 29, 2011 at 1:55 pm

    Stephanie – I am not certain, but I will say that boiling omelets isn’t something you’d do every day. Some people close to me are chemists who have worked in food safety for their entire lives and I’ve asked them about BPA, they say it is vastly overhyped by the media. One always tells me that the pollution in the air we breathe is a far worse threat. This isn’t to say that BPA is a good thing, of course, but one boiled omelet won’t be your downfall :)

  • 7 Britt // Nov 29, 2011 at 1:59 pm

    http://nutrition.about.com/od/ahealthykitchen/tp/bpa-free.htm
    Ziplock brand is okay.

    Looking forward to trying these with the family for Christmas break – if my snob husband will condescend to try one.

  • 8 Maggie // Nov 29, 2011 at 2:00 pm

    BRILLIANT!
    What a great idea! Making omelets individually takes forever. I love @SAWK’s idea of doing it for camping, too.
    Sounds a lot like my dad’s recipe for Dishwasher Salmon.

  • 9 Stephanie // Nov 29, 2011 at 2:00 pm

    Cool, thanks for the info everyone :)

  • 10 LJG // Nov 29, 2011 at 2:00 pm

    Will it work with egg whites?

  • 11 Steffy // Nov 29, 2011 at 2:03 pm

    Do you think you can substitute the eggs for egg whites, such as the egg beater egg whites?

  • 12 megan // Nov 29, 2011 at 2:06 pm

    Britt – Thanks!

    Steffy – Yes, I don’t think that would be a problem at all. You might even be able to cut the cooking time down a bit.

  • 13 brianne // Nov 29, 2011 at 2:43 pm

    This is genius – especially for camping!

  • 14 Adrienne // Nov 29, 2011 at 2:50 pm

    My friends did this while camping, and said it turned out great! (I had to leave due to massive allergy attack, boo.)

  • 15 Jane // Nov 29, 2011 at 3:30 pm

    Woah I’m definitely trying this! Sounds like it’d be something good I could take with me to work. I could prepare them at night and then boil them while getting ready.
    I’ll try it with the egg whites that I already have and report back haha

  • 16 Rachel // Nov 29, 2011 at 3:52 pm

    These are great for camping/large groups. One time, I went camping with a bunch of people, and they did this. Make sure to use the freezer bags, the thinner kind will melt in boiling water. Another cool idea I saw that weekend was somebody had taken a keg and converted it into a pot you could use to boil the water in over a large propane burner like you’d use to boil oil for frying turkeys. It was great.

  • 17 Maggie // Nov 29, 2011 at 4:03 pm

    I am already amazed!

  • 18 Shelley Noble // Nov 29, 2011 at 4:17 pm

    I saw you addressed the question of eating food made with heated plastic for yourself and I admit it is a clever cooking method that I wish I could feel good about myself. But I can’t.

    I try to avoid plastics, even cold, coming in contact with my food. Not because of media hype. Just because it makes sense to me to avoid ingesting these chemicals, especially since we get enough via other means as you point out.

  • 19 Alison // Nov 29, 2011 at 4:44 pm

    Stephanie, though the bags don’t have BPA, they likely have another bisphenol that has not yet received the scrutiny BPA has. At any rate, Ziploc says its bags should not be boiled and many should not even be microwaved. http://www.ziploc.com/Pages/Bags.aspx

  • 20 Lori // Nov 29, 2011 at 5:13 pm

    As a former Girl Scout leader who has tried this several times I have one thing to say: Pass the Frosted Flakes, please.

  • 21 Angela // Nov 29, 2011 at 5:13 pm

    Brilliant – I can’t wait to try this! And to those who suggest it for camping – double brilliant!

  • 22 Meister @ The Nervous Cook // Nov 29, 2011 at 6:48 pm

    THIS IS GENIUS. I’ve always been too intimidated to attempt omelettes (one of those things that looks easy but I know is secretly super difficult), but this might be the great equalizer!

    SERIOUSLY, GENIUS.

  • 23 Patti // Nov 29, 2011 at 7:41 pm

    in a plastic bag? sorry but that’s not good….

  • 24 Lynn in Tucson // Nov 29, 2011 at 8:36 pm

    Intriguing…. I would rub the inside of my bag with butter first, just for the flavor!

  • 25 sarah // Nov 30, 2011 at 12:03 am

    It would be fantastic to figure out a different container option. Personally, I can often taste the plastic in things and nothing creeps me out more than melted plastic.

    Cheesecloth?

  • 26 Dot // Nov 30, 2011 at 6:05 am

    @sarah – i think eggs would seep through cheesecloth.
    —
    Such a fun idea! I especially like that it feeds a ton at once.

    I actually read the comments to see when the first obligatory “Eep! Plastic!” comment would be– I posted a project using plastic bags years ago and I still get random comments to this day warning of dire consequences. I’d suggest you add a disclaimer to the bottom of the post that ‘i don’t see any major health risks doing this occassionally, but if you do, don’t do it.’ It won’t stop your comments section being taken over by a danger of plastics discussion, but it helps! :)

  • 27 Lara // Nov 30, 2011 at 6:16 am

    There is an old camping recipe for doing this in a paper bag. Instead of the boiling water, you poke a stick through the folded top and hang it over your campfire.
    I am some kind of plastic bag miser so I’m more shocked at the idea of using that many plastic bags at once!

  • 28 Carrie // Nov 30, 2011 at 10:12 am

    This is standard camping fare for us. Huge fan of not scraping egg bits out of a cast iron pan. You can also crack eggs into bags ahead of time & keep in your cooler, if you’re concerned about whole eggs getting crushed.

  • 29 Debra I. // Nov 30, 2011 at 11:12 am

    Yum, looks great! The magazine i work for ran a similar recipe for making omelets in canning jars. That also works well, so for folks who are creeped out by boiling plastic bags, that’s an alternative to try. We did it without the lids on, just filling the pot up halfway with water and letting the jars rest on the jars’ lids and lid rims, which we threw into the bottom 0f the pot…

  • 30 Laura B. // Nov 30, 2011 at 2:34 pm

    I immediately thought of camping! Apparently, I’m not the only one. Can’t wait to try this!!

  • 31 JM // Dec 1, 2011 at 6:45 am

    http://www.ziploc.com/Pages/Bags.aspx

    Can I boil in Ziploc® Brand Bags?
    No. Ziploc® Brand Bags are not designed to withstand the extreme heat of boiling.

    http://camping.about.com/od/campingrecipes/a/ziplocbaggies.htm

  • 32 TheLetterL // Dec 1, 2011 at 5:55 pm

    Alternative: Pour eggs/fixings into Ziploc Zip’n'Steam bags and microwave. Timing varies, but start checking somewhere in the three minute range.You can only do one at a time, BUT you don’t even have to boil water!

  • 33 Sara McDaniel // Dec 1, 2011 at 6:43 pm

    This is fantastic!! Thanks so much for sharing – I can’t wait to try this!

  • 34 Design Crush » Happy Weekend // Dec 2, 2011 at 7:01 am

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  • 35 Fun for the weekend, 12.2.11 « tiny squared // Dec 2, 2011 at 10:29 am

    [...] to make a bunch of omelets in a short amount of time? These boil-in-a-bag omelets fit the bill [...]

  • 36 Sara // Dec 2, 2011 at 10:59 am

    Popular with scouts on campouts.

  • 37 Olive // Dec 2, 2011 at 3:14 pm

    Quit whining y’all. If you don’t want to try it – no need to comment about how bad plastic is and how one cannot boil ziploc bags!

    I think it’d be fun for a big fam reunion, esp. for the little squirts.

  • 38 Erica // Dec 2, 2011 at 3:52 pm

    My bags melted… Took me ages to clean The pan.
    Love The idea though

  • 39 Amanda // Dec 2, 2011 at 7:03 pm

    @Olive – It seems to me that the comments section is the appropriate place to express doubt over the efficacy and safety of boiling plastic bags.

  • 40 megan // Dec 2, 2011 at 9:08 pm

    Olive, Amanda and everybody else – I’m more than happy to let people voice thoughts about this technique here in the comments. Let everybody say what they want and if you don’t agree so be it.

    Erica – I’m so sorry to hear! Did you use the freezer bags the way the recipe calls for ? Can you let us know what might have gone wrong?

  • 41 Kjersten // Dec 4, 2011 at 7:19 am

    We have been doing this for years. One of our favorite meals when we go to Lake Powell. Make sure to use freezer bags. After the eggs and other ingredients are in the bag squish the bag up really well to mix everything together. They are delicious.

  • 42 Meister @ The Nervous Cook // Dec 6, 2011 at 11:50 am

    I tried this last night with off-brand (i.e. not Ziploc) freezer bags, and it didn’t 100% work, but the results were promising!

    (By “didn’t 100% work” I mean my bags kind of got melty — not in a totally ruined way, but just enough for me to get a little nervous about eating the resulting omelettes. I will, however, be trying the canning jar trick, and I think this is totally genius regardless of last night’s near miss. Thank you so much for this awesome dinner science project!)

  • 43 amy // Dec 6, 2011 at 3:08 pm

    I was thinking about whether we could make these like boiled eggs (bring water up to boil with bags/jars in it, then put a lid on top and turn off pot for @14 min) – if I get the time, I’ll try it and post my results in comments.

  • 44 Jamie // Dec 6, 2011 at 4:39 pm

    People, I would like to do this too, but it’s not safe. Just because people point out that it isn’t safe, doesn’t mean they are trying to take away your fun activity. Stop being angry at the plastic conversation, because there are people out there who really have no idea that it’s not safe. My in-laws used to enjoy riding their bikes behind the trucks that fogged with mosquito killer, too. That was fun. Would anyone do it now? No. Why? It’s not safe. That doesn’t mean that we’re all killjoys for mentioning it. When they make a plastic bag that is safe to boil in, I’m there.

  • 45 Erin // Dec 13, 2011 at 10:54 pm

    This is basically amazing. I never would have thought to do this!! I’m definitely making this in the morning – thank you SO MUCH for sharing this technique.

  • 46 AJ // Dec 13, 2011 at 11:24 pm

    I cringed at this too but then I remembered that the bags for my seal-a-meal are safe to boil in. I’m pretty sure that’s true of all of the bags of that nature. More expensive and it will take a bit to make the bags (you have to seal the ends w/o the suction on) but SAFE.
    http://www.sealameal.com/Products.aspx?pgid=480

  • 47 marie // Dec 17, 2011 at 4:20 pm

    @Debra that’s a great idea! I don’t microwave my food with plastic because 1. it creeps me out and 2. I can taste it. Using a glass jar of some sorts, or even a metal can would work just as well! Though they would get hot.

  • 48 WellerEE // Jan 6, 2012 at 8:44 pm

    We used to call these “Hobo Omelets”

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