Poached Egg Nutrition

Poached eggs are cooked by being simmered in hot water for three to five minutes. Preparing a poached egg does not require added fat, making it a nutritious choice. Some recipes use only water, while other preparation methods include the addition of salt and vinegar.

Benefits

Poaching an egg is nutritionally one of the best ways of serving an egg. Poached eggs contain all the nutrients of an egg without added fat from frying in oil or butter.

Considerations

A large egg contains 75 calories and 5 grams of fat. Poaching an egg adds no calories or fat. Frying an egg will add 20 or more calories and up to 2 grams of fat.

Cholesterol

Cholesterol is always an issue when cooking eggs. A large poached egg contains 212 milligrams cholesterol, which is more than half the daily recommended intake for cholesterol. To help control cholesterol levels, limit your intake to one to three eggs per week.

Vitamins

Raw eggs and poached eggs do not possess major differences in vitamin content. Folate and pantothenic acid are decreased in a very small amount by poaching.

Types

The nutrient value of an egg will differ depending on its size or fortifications. Egg sizes range from pee-wee (15 ounces per dozen) to jumbo (30 ounces per dozen). Eggs fortified with omega fatty acids, for example, will differ in nutrient content of fatty acids from non-fortified eggs.

References

• Understanding Food Principles and Preparation second edition; Amy Brown; 2004
• Bowes and Church's Food Values of Portions Commonly Used Eighteenth Edition; Jean A.T. Pannington and Judith Spungen Douglass; 2005

Resources

• Simply Recipes: Poached Eggs