Q. I like to cook a fluffy omelette for breakfast. But can I reheat a leftover omelette for dinner?
A. The real trick to reheating any egg product is how you prepare it and how you cool it down. Eggs left out at room temperature for too long may not be safe to reheat and enjoy. Once you’ve eaten a portion of your omelette, place it in a shallow microwave-safe plastic dish and cool it in the refrigerator.
Use Your Microwave – Keep An Eye On Liquid
An omelette is generally comprised of eggs, milk, cheese and a filling. If your filling is high in liquids, such as a veggie omelette, be aware that water may pool in the bottom of the dish as it cools. Before you place the dish in the microwave, be sure to drain any fluid out of the bottom of the dish. Once the water has been drained from the dish, lightly dampen a paper towel and lay it over the omelette before putting it in the microwave. Reheating an omelette shouldn’t take a lot of time. Take care to check it every 30 to 45 seconds. Overheating it will cause rubbery eggs.
Use Your Stovetop – Add Butter
When working out how to reheat an omelette, consider how you stored it. If the leftover omelette has been in the refrigerator, you can reheat it on the stovetop with a bit of butter in the pan and a tight-fitting lid. Butter will add more flavor to the eggs while oil will just make them greasy, so be sure not to raise the temperature too high. Butter burns at approximately 350 degrees. Simply place the omelette in the melted butter and heat it at the same temperature you used to cook it. Be aware that as the eggs and the filling heat, they may release more water. Pull the lid and let the water steam away if you notice any pooling.
Use Your Oven – Heat Slowly
The real trick to reheating an omelette is not to rush things. Eggs are extremely versatile, but once they get too hot too quickly they will turn to rubber and lose flavor. If you’ve chosen to cook ahead and freeze your omelette, the concern about how to reheat an omelette will take a bit more work. You’ll want to use a baking sheet with a lip as the omelette may exude liquid as it warms. Make sure to put down a bit of butter or some parchment paper so your eggs don’t stick to the pan as it heats up. You’ll need to thaw a frozen omelette before you put it in the oven. Set your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and once it’s warm, place the omelette on the baking pan on the center rack. Let it bake for at least 5 minutes, then flip and put back in the oven.
So can you reheat an omelette if you’re lucky enough to have some leftover? Yes! The key to heating up eggs is to go slow and add a little fat unless you’re heating them in the microwave. Butter is a great foil for the flavor of eggs, so use that as a fat source if at all possible. Carefully consider all the filling inside your omelette and remember that, as it cools in storage, it may release liquid. If you used cheese in your omelette, try not to overheat it as it may turn stretchy and gooey in the pan or microwave. Vegetables will likely release water, so place your cooled omelette on paper towels in the microwave or be ready to leave the lid off your frying pan at the end of the heating process to allow water to steam away.