The Secret Ingredient That Makes IHOP Omelets So Fluffy

Making your own omelets at home seems easy enough, but they never turn out quite like they do in restaurants, do they? There’s a reason so many breakfast spots churn out amazing dishes, and it’s because they each have their own trick to making the perfectly textured egg. So it’s no surprise that popular breakfast go-to IHOP has its own genius way to make a flawlessly fluffy omelet.

Are you ready for their secret ingredient? It’s pretty obvious when you think about it: It’s pancake batter. That’s right, the restaurant known for their short stacks adds pancake batter to their eggs before they’re cooked up into omelets, and that’s what gives them their flawlessly full texture. (If you follow a gluten-free diet and hadn’t realized this is how IHOP has been making your eggs, consider yourself warned!)

Although it might not be something you take the time to do every morning when you cook your eggs, this is a great tip for when you want to recreate an incredible restaurant brunch at home for your family or guests. Plus, if you’re making pancakes and eggs for breakfast, you can always use some of that leftover batter for your egg dish.

To make your own IHOP-esque fluffy omelet, you can follow these directions from Extra Crispy, where they recreated the pancake house’s famous egg dish. All you have to do is take just a few simple ingredients — eggs, pancake batter, salt and pepper — whisk them up, cook for 3-4 minutes, flip and finish cooking, then top with shredded cheese. Extra Crispy also adds some extra depth and flavor by tossing some fresh thyme into the egg mixture before cooking. You could do the same with thyme or any other favorite fresh herb or seasoning. We guarantee you’ll never settle for a flat, dense omelet again.