'Pizza eggs' gain steam on TikTok as a protein-packed dish: 'Pair well'

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Pizza and eggs are colliding in an unexpected way on TikTok.

Creative foodies have been combining the two together long enough that the hashtag #pizzaeggs has trended enough to rack up more than 1.9 million views on the video-sharing app.

Some of the viral recipe videos on the app stick to eggs and popular pizza toppings like a traditional omelet while others involve actual leftover pizza slices and scrambled eggs.

Content creator Elyse Myers, who has the highest viewed pizza eggs video on TikTok so far, makes her recipe with butter, pre-cooked chicken, pepperoni slices, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, eggs and cheese.

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"This was an original recipe that came from me trying to eat up all the leftovers in the fridge," Myers told Fox News Digital. "It kind of evolved over time and then we just ate it so much, we gave it the name ‘pizza eggs.’"

She added, "The taste is kind of like eating a spicy sausage, egg and cheese scramble."

While Myers isn’t the first to share a pizza-inspired egg recipe, other TikTok users have opted to fry leftover pizza and fresh-cracked eggs in a skillet.

Shay Spence, a self-proclaimed "professional eater," is one of the many leftover pizza remixers who turn to eggs to liven up the dish.

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He first shared his pizza eggs recipe in 2020 and then again in 2022, which involves cutting up pizza slices into cubes and frying it in oil before adding optional sauce, blended eggs, salt and pepper – all cooked on medium heat.

Spence told Fox News Digital that he first learned how to make pizza eggs from his college roommate.

"I put my twist on it by really caramelizing the pizza pieces until they’re almost like croutons and the cheese gets nice and crispy," he said. "The eggs start to rehydrate the pizza also, so it’s the perfect way to use up leftovers that are going stale."

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What do food experts think about pizza eggs?

Kimberly Baker, the director of the Clemson Extension Food Systems and Safety Program at Clemson University, told Fox News Digital that "eggs are a good protein source and have a mild flavor" that can "pair well with many other foods."

"Eggs cook quickly with minimal equipment and clean-up, and pizza is a dish that most Americans love and can modify the toppings to their preference," she continued. "Therefore, combining the ease of preparation, flavors that blend well with almost everyone’s taste preference, and a nutritionally dense dish makes it a recipe that many people want to try after seeing how easy they are to make on social media."

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Eggs are occasionally used as a pizza topping by adventurous eaters. (iStock)

Retired pizza chef of 30 years and Pala Pizza blog writer Stefano Velia told Fox News Digital that eggs have long worked with cheese, sausage and bacon. 

In his professional opinion, popular meat-based pizza toppings like pepperoni aren’t "too far of a flavor stretch."

"The most unusual combination would be eggs with pizza sauce," he went on. "However, the ever-popular North African dish Shakshouka uses spicy tomato sauce and poached eggs. All of the ingredients, in one way or another, work well together."

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Sylvia Fountaine, a professional chef and CEO of the recipe website Feasting at Home, told Fox News Digital that she thinks pizza-inspired egg recipes might be seeing a rise in interest due to the popular ketogenic diet.

Some TikTok users make pizza eggs with fresh-cracked eggs and popular pizza toppings while others make pizza eggs with actual leftover pizza slices and scrambled eggs. (iStock)

"Keto involves consuming high fat, high protein and low-to-no carbohydrates, meaning [regular] pizza is off the menu," she said. "Eggs are high protein, and cheese, pepperoni and certain tomato sauces are considered keto compliant, so pizza eggs can be a tasty substitute if avoiding carbs."

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"With summer on the horizon lots of young people are unfortunately focused on weight loss, and the prevalence of this dish seems to align with those goals," Fountaine continued. "In my view, food can be healthy and delicious even with the inclusion of carbs. I'd recommend adding peppers, mushrooms and green onion to pizza eggs for a boost of fiber and vitamins."