16 Fried Egg Recipes for Breakfast, Lunch, or Dinner

Fried eggs make everything taste even more delectable. The runny yolk is the perfect vehicle for golden-brown slices of toast and creates a rich, golden sauce for everything from pasta and salad to baked potatoes and fried rice. Start with the breakfast classics and then plop a sunny-side up egg (or an over-easy one!) on any dish you please. Get cracking with these 16 fried egg recipes.

But before we can start getting into the recipes themselves, we need to make sure you know how to fry an egg to perfection. Follow our recipe for Olive Oil Fried Eggs, the results of which are pictured here, which calls for frying two large eggs in olive oil in a stainless steel skillet. The stainless steel pan will give the whites an incredibly crispy exterior and the oil will not only provide flavor, but also help them to release easily from the pan. Once you've mastered it, celebrate with the eggs and a side of sausage patties.

From here, you can serve fried eggs morning, noon, or night. Turn them into a classic breakfast sandwich with bacon on a roll or place them gently atop a bed of frisée lettuce for a French-style salad with a warm vinaigrette. We also have a delicious upgrade on the classic preparation of shrimp and grits—with a fried egg on top—and we've developed a delicious, savory recipe for Parmesan oatmeal that pairs so well with an ooey-gooey yolk.

Whether you keep things simple and understated or go for an all-out, super colorful presentation for dinner, these fried egg recipes will certainly inspire your cooking routine at home.