How to Make an Omelette
Published November 15, 2023. This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
This easy-to-make classic French Omelette recipe is loaded with ham and shredded cheddar cheese for the perfect breakfast. You will love how quickly this comes together, not to mention it’s a great way to use leftover ham.
This is one of my favorite things to eat for breakfast. It’s incredibly easy to make, and you can customize them with all your favorite ingredients. If you love breakfast as much as I do, try my Chilaquiles or Corned Beef Hash.
Omelette
An omelette is a classic French recipe consisting of eggs with salt and pepper whisked together until combined and then cooked in some butter in a nonstick skillet. You then fold it over, and it becomes long and narrow in shape and is smooth on top, with a few layers of cooked eggs in the middle. Often, they are cooked with meat, cheese, and vegetables.
I’ve spent most of my professional chef career making and serving omelets at brunches. Everyone in the restaurant industry has worked at this station before. While I was annoyed back then, I certainly learned this classic French technique to perfection, so now it’s your turn, and you won’t believe just how easy it is.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Eggs – You will need large chilled or room-temperature eggs.
- Seasoning – I use only coarse salt and fresh cracked pepper.
- Butter – I always use unsalted butter in my cooking and baking to control the sodium content and not a butter company.
- Cheese – Sharp or mild cheddar works well. American, Swiss, gruyere, comté, or gouda are other great options. Feel free to get creative with this.
- Optional Ingredients – My favorite omelette ingredients include ham, Boursin cream, onions, garlic, mushrooms, asparagus, bell peppers, herbs, and spinach.
How to Make an Omelette
Start by whisking some eggs, salt, and pepper together with a fork or whisk until completely combined. The yolks and whites should be emulsified together.
Next, simply add in your small diced leftover ham and give it a quick mix together. Set aside.
Add unsalted butter to a non-stick pan over low heat until it has melted. You may notice a few bubbles from the perfect butter!
Pour in your eggs and immediately grab the handle with one hand and move it back and forth while whisking the egg mixture with your other hand using either a fork or a rubber spatula.
You’ll notice that the eggs will form a cooked bottom layer while the top part is a little soft and undercooked. This is perfect; stop mixing. You do not want to break that bottom-cooked layer.
Sprinkle your cheddar cheese all over the top of the eggs.
Starting from the top of the pan, while tilting it down, scrape under the bottom cooked layer and fold over gently.
Garnish with optional chopped parsley and chives.
Make-Ahead and Storage
Make-Ahead: This is meant to be eaten as soon as it’s done cooking.
How to Store: The omelette can be stored in the refrigerator covered in plastic for up to 2 days. This will not freeze well.
How to Reheat: Add your desired portion to a pan, cover it with foil, and heat it in the oven at 350° for 4-6 minutes or until hot.
chef notes + tips
- Use a non-stick skillet to make this recipe; preferably, it should be 10”.
- In a classic recipe, there is no need to add any milk or cream. It is whisked eggs. That said, you can add some milk or cream if you’d like to enhance the flavor and extend the amount of your recipe.
- Do not limit yourself to the ham and cheese once you perfect the technique; feel free to add your favorite vegetables, proteins, or cheeses.
More Breakfast Recipes
Video
How to Make an Omelette
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs
- ¼ cup of small diced cooked ham
- 2 teaspoons unsalted butter
- ¼ cup shredded cheddar cheese
- sea salt and cracked pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a medium-sized bowl whisk together the eggs, salt, and pepper until completely combined. The yolks should be emulsified with the whites.
- Next, add in the ham and give it a quick mix.
- Add some butter to a non-stick skillet over low heat until melted.
- Pour in the egg mixture and move the pan back and forth with 1 hand while constantly mixing the eggs with your other hand using a fork or spatula.
- Cook it until a bottom layer of cooked eggs is formed and it is soft and slightly undercooked on top.
- Sprinkle on the cheese.
- Tilt the pan and gently fold the omelette over, creating rolled-up layers of cheesy eggs.
- Garnish with optional chopped parsley and chives.
First one tasted delicious but didn’t look very pretty. Second one I stuck under the broiler for a few seconds after it started to form a crust underneath. That one turned out absolutely perfect!
practice makes perfect
Can you use olive oil instead of butter?
yes
Outstanding!!
awesome!
Great instructions every time! I appreciate you Chef!
Thanks for the support!
DONE! Not perfect but a huge jump up from previous ones I have made. I had to increase my heat from low to medium as it was taking far too long but I was watchful. Moving the pan forward and back while stirring is kind of like rubbing your stomach and patting your head – takes a bit of practice but it works. Another big help for me was NOT using too much filling; otherwise the flip is impossible. My omelette would not impress a French chef but it was so close to my idea of perfection and looked great! I will keep practicing. Thank you for all those great tips that somehow I had missed in other lessons.
Awesome
Great instructions!! Turned out excellent
Awesome!
Just made this for lunch today, but since it’s a Friday in Lent, I omitted the ham. It was only the third one I’ve ever done, and it came out pretty good. The other two I made a couple of weeks ago, just after you posted the video. I used some eggs I bought from 5th-graders at my granddaughter’s school in North Ridgeville, Ohio. They are in a chicken club, and take care of laying hens after school.
nice work!
Yes, scrambled the eggs first time around because I had the heat too high. Second time was a charm, A smooth creamy omelette that looked almost like Chef Parasi’s.
thanks for giving it a shot!!
Thanks for posting this great recipe / technique info. My son is a professional chef and like you, about 20 years ago he had a period of time when he worked the Sunday brunch omelet station at a high end hotel. I thought I would share a quick story about this that you might enjoy.
We went there for brunch one time and asked him to make a “chef’s choice” omelet for each of us. The line was short at that moment, so he disappeared for a couple of minutes and returned with some items from a couple of the other brunch stations. Then he went to work making our omelets with the items he had gathered … Brie as the cheese along with smoked salmon and capers. It was outstanding (I still make one periodically) … and the next two people in line behind us saw them coming together and asked for the same thing (he had to go rob the other stations again to make theirs).
I recommend everyone try this combo of ingredients sometime … I think you will be glad you did. Cheers.
I love omelets! This recipe was so simple but totally delicious. Thanks.
The perfect breakfast
This is my new go-to recipe for omelettes! I add ham, cheese and whatever veggies I have in the fridge. Love it!