How to make feta fried eggs, TikTok's viral breakfast dish

The simple dish, popularised by food writer Grace Elkus, can be whipped up in five minutes

Feta fried eggs by Grace Elkus. Photo: @graceelkus / Instagram

TikTok is a treasure trove of food ideas, with the platform giving budding and professional chefs dishes such as creamy lemonade and date bark, concepts such as girl dinners and even Ramadan recipes.

Food writer and recipe developer Grace Elkus recently shared a video of how to make feta fried eggs, racking up millions of views across social media.

“You'll thank me next time you're hangry,” she writes in the caption.

The dish resonated well online partly because of its simplicity. It only takes five minutes to cook using staple pantry ingredients.

Elkus said she was inspired by cookbook author Ali Slagle's crispy potato, egg and cheese taco recipe from I Dream of Dinner. She tweaked it by using feta cheese instead of potato.

The dish is essentially fried eggs with feta crumbled around the edges, seasoned with black pepper and red pepper flakes. Elkus suggests forgoing salt as the cheese adds enough seasoning.

She recommends cooking it on a small non-stick frying pan over medium heat.

“Cover pan and cook until white is set, yolk is still runny, and cheese is unbelievably crispy,” she adds.

It can be served on top of toast with hash browns or, as Elkus does, on a charred tortilla with avocado and lime.

Other social media users have tried recreating the simple dish, adding different elements to spice it up. One version has pesto, while others use chilli oil.

In an interview with Today, Elkus said: “Everyone can jazz it up to their preference”, adding that she once tried feta eggs over pasta with cherry tomatoes.

“I used the same pan to fry the egg and mixed it all up with some spaghetti. The yolk coated the noodles.”

Elkus frequently shares quick and easy recipes on her social media accounts, with a focus on high-protein vegetarian dishes. She has posted recipes for cottage cheese scrambled eggs, smash burger tacos and a variety of salads and pastries.