9 Eggs-traordinary Facts About Eggs

You know them. You love them. But just how amazing are eggs? Let us count the ways with these fun facts.

1. The average American eats 279 eggs per year, or about one egg sandwich almost every workday.

2. In 2019, a photo of an egg beat out Kylie Jenner for most-liked Instagram post, racking in an impressive 28 million likes at the time to beat out Jenner's 18 million on a photo of her newborn daughter.

3. The heaviest chicken egg ever laid clocked in at 1 pound and had a double yolk and double shell. 

4. Iowa has more than 18 times as many hens than people: In 2019, the human population of Iowa was 3.16 million (per the United States Census Bureau). The laying-hen population (in industrial egg farms) was more than 58 million.

5. States that produce the most eggs for eating:

6. In 2019, China produced 662 billion eggs, almost six times the amount produced in the United States. 

7. A hen lays around 300 eggs per year, almost one egg per day.

8. One large egg contains about 6 grams of protein.

9. You can sometimes predict the color of the eggs your hen will lay by looking at their earlobes. If they have white earlobes, they will probably lay white eggs; if they have red earlobes, they will probably lay brown eggs.

These six recipes are among our all-time favorites. Start a free trial to access all these, plus our other home kitchen–tested, foolproof recipes.

• Everyday French Toast
• Easy Pancakes
• Easy-Peel Hard-Cooked Eggs
• Perfect Fried Eggs
• Eggs in Spicy Tomato and Roasted Red Pepper Sauce (Shakshuka)
• Foolproof Hollandaise Sauce