Give Scrambled Eggs A Major Upgrade With A Delicious Jarred Pantry Staple

First developed around 2016, the recipe for "marry me chicken" has gone on to become a viral sensation and (hopefully) led to many a question being popped. You might think the secret to the success of this dish was in the chicken, but you'd be wrong. We think it's really in the sun-dried tomatoes, and they bring the same burst of intense, tangy sweetness to a plate of scrambled eggs. Dark, withered, and slick with olive oil when teased from the jar (one witty Redditor described them as "tomato raisins"), sun-dried tomatoes might not look particularly appetizing, but their concentrated umami flavor is a fabulous counterpoint to the creaminess of scrambled eggs.

Depending on how much you like the taste of tomatoes, two or three of the sun-dried kind, chopped fairly small, will be enough to give your eggs a major flavor upgrade. It's up to you precisely how and when you add them to your eggs. Some people toss them in first, but they need to go in before the extra yolk if you're making sunny style scrambled eggs. Sun-dried tomatoes are already cooked, so you can play around and find out what method tastes the best for you. An unopened jar of sun-dried tomatoes in oil will sit on a pantry shelf for years, but once cracked open, it should be kept in the fridge and eaten within three weeks.

Homemade sun-dried tomatoes can help use up a bumper crop of the fruits from your garden, and it's the drying process that intensifies their flavor, whether it's done outdoors, in an oven, or in a dehydrator. If you're lacking a green thumb, don't worry. Most grocery stores carry a range of sun-dried tomatoes, though specialty outlets might stock fancier varieties, made with plum, cherry, or different colored tomatoes, as well as the dry-packed kind.

Unlike jarred sun-dried tomatoes, which typically sit in oil, dry-packed ones need rehydrating before use, either by soaking them in warm water, a splash of wine, or some stock for around a half hour. You could also immerse them overnight in olive oil. Don't throw away any of those liquids or the oil from the jar either, as they're infused with delicious tomato flavor. Use the stock or wine to add depth to broths and sauces, and if you have leftover olive oil, drizzle it over a salad or a chunk of fresh, crusty bread served with your tomatoey scrambled eggs.

As well as inviting vegetarians to the "marry me" recipe party, adding sun-dried tomatoes to your scrambled eggs carries some potential health benefits, too. They contain higher levels of the antioxidant lycopene, per Healthline. We think it's worth bringing more sun-dried versions to the huge number of tomatoes Americans eat each year!