The Best Ways To Make An Omelet (French & American)

I'm Adrienne Cheatham.

I'm a professional chef,

and today, I'm gonna show you

how to make two classic omelets.

The American [egg cracks] and the French.

[laughs]

I'll be going over techniques that pros use

so that you can make restaurant-quality

omelets at home.

We'll be whisking, scrambling, flipping,

and rolling our way to perfect omelets.

This is Omelets 101.

Making omelets is like one of those things

that every chef is expected to know how to do.

So it's kind of like bragging rights

to be able to nail it every single time.

So many people can mess them up

by overcooking them, overfilling them,

breaking them, ugh, cardinal sin.

Overcooked eggs tastes like ass.

So with that, Chapter One: Le French Omelet.

[gentle music]

So there is no questioning,

the French omelet came before

the American omelet,

and it is the archetype

that all other omelets are based on.

The French omelet has to be smooth,

perfectly even, no craters, no brown spots

and rolled like a boss.

For my omelets, I like to use three eggs.

You wanna have enough to fill your pan

with a nice, thin, even layer.

I like to use a fork to whisk,

because you have the perfect amount of air

being whipped into the eggs,

and the tines of the fork will break up

the egg white and the yolk

without incorporating too much air.

We're not making a soufflé.

You know when it's done

because you won't see any streaks of egg white.

[bowl clacking]

For omelets and pretty much all egg cookery,

I always use a non-stick pan.

So I always start with

just enough clarified butter

to coat the bottom of the pan.

If you don't have clarified butter

or ghee at home, you can use canola oil,

vegetable oil, or even whole butter.

But if you're using whole butter,

just watch your heat.

Because if your pan is too hot,

it'll start to brown and bubble

as soon as the butter hits the pan,

which you don't want.

I'm gonna whisk in a little bit of salt

to our eggs.

[bowl clacking]

You wanna have your rubber spatula ready.

Egg and a plate to dismount on close by

'cause things move fast.

You wanna start scrambling

[pan scraping]

like you're making scrambled eggs.

A French omelet should be soft in the center,

not fully set.

And you wanna scrape the sides a little bit

to get all those little wispy edges.

So just go around the edge of the pan

to even that out.

You get some craters on the bottom,

so tapping your pan,

[pan banging]

it doesn't have to be as dramatic as I did,

tapping it gently

[pan tapping]

is just helping the liquid egg

settle into those crevices

to help make a smooth outer layer.

I know it's ready to roll

because the egg is set on the bottom,

and on the top,

I just have barely a little bit of liquid.

So you wanna make your first fold,

second fold, third fold, and then the dismount.

[magical music]

What am I, like, a pro or something?

[laughs]

If you're folding your omelet and it sticks,

then you may wanna add a little bit more oil

and really try to get under the egg

with your spatula to release it from the pan.

So the only thing that you're really gonna add

to a French omelet is a little bit

of sliced chives or fines herbs,

or if you have some truffles during the season,

shave those over the top for the win.

This is what an omelet should be.

It's rolled.

It's soft in the center.

It's fluffy, yellow and nice and tender.

Can I eat it now?

Thank you.

Ooh, look at that.

The inside should be like soft scrambled eggs.

Like, small curd, slight bit of moisture.

Not fully set like the outside.

Yeah, that's a whole lot of layered love.

Now I'm ready for my second breakfast,

the American omelet.

[gentle music]

So American omelets are like

the mullet-wearing cousin

who comes to the cookout.

American omelets compared to French

are less technical, more casual,

and don't have to be as perfect.

You can have brown spots on it.

You can get crispy edges.

They can be craggily.

They tend to be thicker on each side

and whisked a little more, so they're fluffier.

So for American omelets,

you'll typically see a mixture of meat,

cheese, vegetables.

It's a great way to use up

things that you have,

leftovers knocking around your refrigerator.

Today, I have some shredded cheddar,

some diced tomato and some parsley.

Just some of the ingredients like onions

and things like that,

cook 'em a little bit first,

'cause you don't wanna put certain things in raw

because they're not gonna cook

between the layers of egg,

they're just gonna get warmed up.

As long as you can fit it

between the fold of the omelet,

there's no such thing as too many fillings.

I mean, this is America, more is more.

Let's do it.

So for this size pan, I'm gonna use four eggs.

If my pan were a little smaller,

I would still go with three,

but we do want our layers to be a little thicker.

I'm gonna season these eggs now.

For the American omelet,

I'm gonna also add black pepper to the eggs.

Whisking the same way.

[bowl clacking]

Another difference is, for the American omelet,

your pan can be a little hotter.

You can go medium-high on the heat

as opposed to medium,

that we did for the French omelet.

So this is gonna start the same way

as the French omelet

with clarified butter in the pan.

You could also use whole butter

because, again, we don't care

if you get some brown spots.

Eggs are going in.

Similar thing, you're kind of

scrambling your eggs a bit.

Another difference with the American omelet

is that you do want it to be fully cooked

on the inside.

I'm adding my cheddar now.

That heat is gonna continue to cook through

and cook the surface of the eggs,

and it'll also help melt the cheese.

I'm gonna add my tomatoes as well

right on top of the cheese.

I'm gonna add a little parsley.

It looks like we could use a little more cheddar.

Now that looks like an American omelet.

I know I'm ready to flip

because the eggs are set on this top layer,

they've cooked through.

Anytime you're using a non-stick pan,

you wanna use a rubber or silicone spatula.

Silicone has a higher melting point

so it's always safe,

you don't have to worry about it burning

and melting.

So we're folding and flipping.

That's a big guy.

Garnish covers a multitude of sins

when it comes to most food.

But with American omelets,

we embrace these imperfections,

so we're just using garnish for color.

It's still fluffy on the inside.

On the outside, we have some spots of brown,

little crispiness at the edges,

and that's a great thing.

Mm, this is so good.

If you're trying to make a French omelet

and you start messing it up

or getting brown color on the bottom,

just fold it in half

and say you were going for an American omelet.

Easy.

[gentle music]