This 10-minute Vietnamese omelet with tomatoes and onions is made with simple ingredients, but you will be surprised at how good it tastes. Eggs are fried into an omelet with browned spots at the bottom to enhance the flavors. Then come the juicy tomatoes and sweet onions to make the whole dish tasty.
A super quick and easy meal
While Western-style omelet is often made for breakfast, this Vietnamese omelet is also suitable as a savory side dish (or even a main dish) for dinner. I like to call it omelet with tomatoes and onions (or pan-fried eggs with tomatoes and onions). The name in Vietnamese is trứng chiên cà chua or trứng chiên hành cà.
There is a more traditional Vietnamese tomato and egg dish, called trứng chưng cà chua, in which eggs and tomatoes are stir-fried together. You can watch how that dish is made in my stir-fried tomato and egg with noodle recipe. I think this omelet is more flavorful and delicious than the traditional one.
Everything is cooked in one pan, and it takes just 10-15 minutes from start to finish. We like to serve it with steamed rice and fish sauce (or soy sauce) on the side.
Recipe Video
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Ingredients
This recipe requires very few ingredients: eggs, tomatoes, onions, and scallions. Eggs and tomatoes go really well with each other (like in this Vietnamese tomato egg drop soup).
To season it, we use salt, pepper and fish sauce. If you want to make it vegetarian, you can omit the fish sauce and add more salt or use soy sauce. Then serve it with additional soy sauce on the side.
Cooking Steps
As you can see in the video, it is very easy and straightforward to make this omelet with tomatoes and onions. I will do a summary of the main steps here and explain the way we cook it.
1️⃣ First, sauté the onions briefly until fragrant and add the tomatoes. Cook them for another minute so that the onions are slightly browned, which will bring out their sweetness, and the outside of tomatoes just start to soften.
2️⃣ Next, add the scallion slices. Then pour the beaten eggs into the pan evenly.
Make sure to cook until the bottom of the omelet has some browned spots, producing lots of flavors for the eggs. However, don’t brown it too much since we don’t want our omelet to be dry.
3️⃣ Then flip the omelet and cook the other side very briefly. We want one side to get browned and keep the other side more lightly cooked so that we can still enjoy the softness and richness of the eggs.
Note: It’s best to use a non-stick pan with a coating that allows for browning. I use a 9.5-inch Scanpan skillet.
And that’s it. You can find detailed list of ingredients and step-by-step instructions to cook this Vietnamese-style omelet in the recipe card at the end of the post.
To Serve
As mentioned above, I like to serve this dish with steamed rice. Besides, there are some other ways to serve it that you can try:
- Serve it over a slice of toasted bread.
- Serve it as filling for Vietnamese banh mi or baguette. Drizzle a bit of soy sauce and add some julienned cucumber and cilantro if desired.
- Serve it with roasted potatoes and green salad on the side for a fusion meal.
If you try this Vietnamese omelet recipe, feel free to comment and let me know how you serve it.
Note: the post was originally posted on May 21st, 2020. It has been updated with additional photos and serving tips in April, 2023.
More Vietnamese Recipes for Dinner
⭐️ I’d love to hear what you think about the dish, so please feel free to leave a comment and a rating if you have tried it. New recipes are added every week so let’s connect on Facebook, Youtube, Pinterest and Instagram for the latest updates. You can find my collection of Vietnamese recipes here.
Vietnamese Omelet with Tomatoes and Onions
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon fish sauce (or soy sauce if preferred)
- 2-3 scallion stalks, cut into 2-inch long pieces
- 1 small onion, thinly sliced (or half a medium onion)
- 2 medium tomatoes, cut into wedges (or 3 large tomatoes)
- cooking oil
Instructions
- In a bowl, add eggs, salt, pepper and fish sauce. Beat well.
- Place a pan over medium heat and add oil. Once the oil is hot, add onions. Stir and cook until fragrant (about 40-60 seconds).
- Add tomato wedges, stir to distribute evenly in the pan and cook for a minute until onions start to brown lightly and tomatoes just start to soften.
- Add scallions and give everything in the pan a stir to distribute evenly. Then pour beaten eggs into the pan.
- Let the omelet cook for about 10-15 seconds and then push the edges slightly towards the center to let the uncooked eggs flow out. Drizzle a bit more oil around the edges if needed.
- Cook for about 2 minutes until the bottom of the omelet has browned spots. Don't let it brown too much or the omelet will be dry. Flip (you can divide into quarters so that it will be easy to flip) and cook the other side briefly (about 30 seconds or so). Remove from the heat.
- Transfer to a serving plate and serve hot with steamed rice and some fish sauce (or soy sauce) on the side.
Video
Notes
- Serve it over a slice of toasted bread.
- Serve it as filling for Vietnamese banh mi or baguette. Drizzle a bit of soy sauce and add some julienned cucumber and cilantro if desired.
- Serve it with roasted potatoes and green salad on the side for a fusion meal.
Kat
Simple and delicious! I make this nearly everyday!
Sophie
Thank you! I’m glad to hear how much you enjoyed this dish.