Egg in a hole with Salmon and Spicy Tartar Sauce

Warm, buttery toast with a rich, runny egg in a hole, served with juicy salmon and topped with crunchy bits of pan-fried salmon skin and a tangy, spicy tartar sauce – this Egg in a hole with Salmon is the perfect breakfast/brunch recipe to use up leftover salmon! 

“Just put an egg on it” is pretty much my life motto when it comes to breakfast, or any meal for that matter. One of my favorite breakfasts is a simple egg with toast. Especially, an egg in a hole toast!

It’s such a simple idea, but it can be jazzed up in so many different and delicious ways! One of the easiest ways in which I make my egg in a hole toast better is by using previous night’s leftovers. Whether it’s some shredded chicken curry, or potatoes, or like in this case, some juicy slow roasted salmon.

So say hello to Egg in a hole with Salmon. This is a great leftover salmon recipe (or you can use any other type of leftover fish too). If not leftover salmon, you can also use freshly slow roasted salmon, or hot smoked salmon or even cold smoked salmon.

The toast is pan-fried here, and it’s really buttery and encases a perfectly cooked egg with a runny yolk! This egg in a hole toast is perfect on its own, but when topped with juicy, lemony, slow roasted salmon, crispy skin and a spicy tartar sauce, this is just breakfast/brunch/lunch heaven!

If you have a griddle, you can make multiple toasts at the same time. Or you can make two at a time on a large non-stick pan. While it’s easier to make egg in a hole in the oven (and I’ll share this recipe with you guys soon!), the pan-friend version tastes better because it’s just so buttery and crispy.

In my recipe for slow roasted salmon, I talked about how you may miss out on crispy salmon skin by slow roasting the salmon. But for this egg in a hole with salmon recipe, I actually separate the salmon flesh from the skin and then fry the skin until it’s nice and crispy, and then it’s chopped into strips and sprinkled over the salmon toasts, like little bits of salmon skin chips! This is optional of course, but totally recommended. 🙂

And since both K and I love spicy food, I decided to pair the salmon with a spicy tartar sauce. You can use store-bought sauce to make it easy, but this semi-homemade spicy tartar sauce is also quite easy and tastes fabulous with heaps of chopped pickles, capers, chives, dill, lemon and a good kick from cayenne pepper and pickled jalapenos.

Here are some tips on how to make egg in a hole toast. 

• Use bread that you can cut yourself if possible – I prefer to cut nice thick pieces of bread (about 1 inch thick), so that I can cut a smaller hole in the middle which can accommodate the whole egg. If you use thin slices of pre-cut bread, you have to cut a larger hole to fit your egg, and then you end up with less bread. Not ideal.
• The perfect hole for a large egg is 2 inches wide and 1 inch deep. Use a cookie cutter to get perfectly cut circles. DO NOT press the cookie cutter into the bread hard, because that way you will push the bread down in the middle. Instead, gently press the cookie cutter into the bread WHILE rotating the cookie cutter. This will give you nicer, cleaner cuts.
• Use a timer. Timing is everything for that perfectly cooked egg. My timing for making PERFECT egg in a hole toast is 2 min – 2 min – 1 min (2 mins on one side of the toast, 2 mins on the other side with the egg, then 1 min on the first side again to seal in the egg).
• Butter does make this taste better. It really does. But if you don’t eat butter or want to avoid butter, you can use oil instead. If you want to add even more flavor however, use garlic butter spread (or garlic-infused or garlic-mixed oil) instead. Takes this toast to a whole new level!

This step by step recipe for egg in a hole salmon toasts with tips should make the whole process easier for you guys AND give you the BEST results! And since I’m not reheating the leftover salmon here, I really love the contrast of warm buttery toast and egg with the cold (or room temperature), juicy salmon, and crunchy bits of salmon skin, topped with some tangy, spicy tartar sauce and lemon juice too. All that paired with the rich, runny egg yolk inside buttery toast will be the most satisfying breakfast/brunch you could make with leftover salmon (or any other type fish). 🙂

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Egg in a hole with Salmon and Spicy Tartar Sauce

Egg in a hole with salmon and a spicy tartar sauce - warm, buttery toast with a rich runny egg in a hole, and topped with salmon and crispy skin. A delicious brunch or breakfast recipe and a great way to use leftover salmon. 

Total Time 40 minutes

Serves 2 people

Prep: 20 minutes

Cook: 20 minutes

Print Rate

Ingredients:

Egg in a hole toast

• 4 x 1 inch thick slices of bread I used Italian bread
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter plus more, if needed
• 4 eggs
• Salt

Spicy Tartar Sauce

• ½ cup mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp chopped dill pickle
• 1 tbsp chopped capers
• 1 ½ tsp whole grain mustard
• 1 tbsp chopped pickled jalapenos
• ½ tbsp chopped chives
• ½ tbsp chopped dill
• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper reduce to 1/8th tsp if you prefer less heat
• 1 tbsp lemon or white wine vinegar
• Salt to taste

To Top

• 4 - 6 oz of slow roasted salmon or smoked salmon slices
• Chopped dill and chives

Instructions:

Egg in a hole Toast

• Using a 2 inch cookie cutter, cut out holes from the 1 inch thick bread slices. Gently press down the cutters into the bread with a back and forth motion to prevent the bread from getting squashed while cutting out holes. 
• Butter both sides of the bread.
• Heat a non-stick pan or griddle to medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, place the bread slices on the pan. Pan fry for 2 minutes, until the bread turns a light golden brown. Pan fry the bread holes 2 minutes on each side until golden brown as well.
• Flip over the bread slices, and add just a little butter (optional) and salt into the hole. Crack an egg into the hole and let it cook for 2 minutes. Sprinkle a pinch of salt on top of the egg.
• Flip over the egg in a hole toasts to cook on the first side again for 1 minute (45 secs - 1 min), to seal in the egg. If needed, add a little butter or oil to prevent the egg from sticking to the pan.
• Remove the toasts from the pan and keep them on a wire rack to prevent them from becoming soggy.
• Top with cold or room temperature salmon (slow roasted or smoked salmon), crispy salmon skin (optional), spicy tartar sauce and chopped herbs.

Spicy Tartar Sauce

• Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Season to taste. Refrigerate until needed.

Crispy Salmon Skin (optional)

• If you are using slow roasted salmon - gently peel off the skin from the salmon (it should come off cleanly). Pat dry the skin to remove any excess moisture.
• Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a non-stick pan, and when it's hot, add the skin and fry for a few minutes on each side until the edges start to crisp up and you get caramelized patches on the skin.
• Place the crispy skin on paper towels to drain off excess oil, and sprinkle lightly with sea salt.
• Cut strips of the skin and serve.

Course:Breakfast, Brunch

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