Fry Your Eggs in Barbecue Sauce for a Feisty Start to Your Day

I became barbecue sauce-rich a couple weeks ago. After testing eight popular sauces to see which would be best as a pizza sauce (check out the saucy results here), I ended up with a lot of pizza, and eight nearly full bottles of BBQ sauce—not my usual fridge conundrum. Luckily, I found a sustainable way to enjoy these sauces that doesn’t include a grill (or more pizza). It’s eggs, of course. Barbecue sauce is the secret to a feisty fried egg.

The best sauce for eggs

The sauce that spurred me to do this is Bachan’s Japanese Barbecue Sauce. It’s like the little black dress of condiments—it’s great on everything. This sauce is less thick and more savory than the other American style bbq sauces, so pairing it with eggs seemed like a small leap. I melted some butter in a frying pan and squeezed out a tablespoon of sauce on top. I let it bubble up first before adding my egg. It didn’t take long for the sauce to thicken over the heat. I flipped the egg (I’m an over-easy kinda girl) and shortly after, plated the swarthy morsel. 

Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

This egg was a breakfast experience unlike any other. Bachan’s doesn’t read “sweet” like some of the others, but as it cooked and concentrated, the sugars really showed up to the party. The sauce reduced down to a bold, sweet and savory shell. The edges caramelized into a chewy, crunchy, umami candy, but the sauce remained a fine glaze where it contacted the egg. 

Any barbecue sauce will work

As this was a success, I decided to fry up more eggs with a more American-style barbecue sauce. Like all great food discoveries, what started out as questionable judgment turned out to be good thinking. This time, I used Dinosaur Barbecue’s BBQ sauce. I didn’t particularly enjoy it as a pizza sauce because it was bland compared to the others; however, it makes it a great candidate for frying. Pouring it into a frying pan cooks off a good deal of water, thickening the sauce and concentrating the sweet, acidic, tomato-y flavors. Instead of a bland sauce, I now had a flavorful tomato jam.

When barbecue-frying your eggs, I suggest using a non-stick pan and melting a pat of butter in it before adding the sauce. Since barbecue sauce recipes vary in sugar content, you want to avoid the sauce sticking and burning. It probably won’t get to that point, but why risk it? Allow the sauce to heat up and start bubbling. Then add your eggs and cook them to your preference. Serve with toast, or set yourself with real backyard BBQ vibes and plate it up with buttery corn and potato salad.