I’ve used a variety of fats in the past to fry an egg, but nowadays I usually use salted butter or spray canola oil. I assume the canola oil is healthier for you, but I’m not sure if that’s true, and other oils may be healthier than canola oil. So what do you use, and what is better for you in the long run?
Usually olive oil, but I’ll use bacon grease if it’s already in the pan.
If I’m making bacon and eggs, I use bacon grease. Otherwise I use olive or sesame oil.
Depends on the type of fried egg I’m making. For a gently fried egg, I usually use either butter only or butter and a bit of sunflower oil (to help keep the butter from potentially burning.) For Asian-style high heat eggs, I use sunflower oil usually (or peanut oil, but I don’t typically have peanut oil around.) I’m not particularly a fan of canola oil – it just seems to have an odd off-flavor I don’t like. It won’t ruin a dish for me, but I prefer other neutral oils. Sunflower oil is pleasantly neutral (although you can get unrefined sunflower oil which is a darker color and has a very distinct sunflower seed flavor to it.) I’ll also use corn oil as a neutral oil sometimes, as well. And, yeah, olive oil if I’m in the mood for that flavor, and bacon fat if I happen to be cooking bacon (I very rarely make bacon.)
With the amount of oil I use and how often I eat fried eggs, I don’t particularly care if one is “healthier” or not.
Butter.
I should have mentioned that I now fry one large egg every morning for breakfast. When I started doing that I mostly switched from butter to canola oil. I don’t find the taste of canola oil unpleasant, but that’s probably because I use it every day. Is olive oil, sunflower oil, or corn oil healthier for you than canola oil is? I read something a while back about avocado oil or coconut oil, but I doubt they would be healthier in the long run.
The eggs I make are either fried eggs, scrambled eggs or omelettes. I use butter for all. With some kind of oil, they get too soggy and fatty for me. The butter gets absorbed by the eggs and gives them an even better taste. Don’t set the heat too high, and it works very well with butter. Yeah, and I use coated pans.
Another vote for olive oil. We use it for everything except baking (I married an Italian). We even use it for popcorn.
I preheat the pan with a little olive oil on low heat. Once warmed up, I increase the heat to medium and add butter.
Olive oil for for flavor, butter for both flavor and browning.
I use a non-stick frying pan so I can use a minimal amount of butter.
I use a mixture of butter and lemon olive oil for popcorn. It’s butter all the way for eggs. One must learn to keep the temperature down, of course.
Butter
I use whatever oil is in Pam cooking spray. I think it’s just vegetable oil.
A small amount of salted butter in a (theoretically) non-stick pan for flavor and a hint of browning if I’m making scrambled eggs or an omelet. Yes I know it’s not traditional, but I like a touch of color on my eggs of those varieties. While I will use bacon fat if I have it on hand, I buy it so rarely it’s moot - plus I buy the ‘European style’ bacon which is pretty lean.
@pulykamell makes a good point though, for high heat eggs (long egg strips or stir fry), I’m normally using a neutral oil with a touch of sesame oil for flavor.
Butter if there is nothing else, but the best thing in the world is duck fat if I can get it.
Just so people know what I’m talking about, this is the style of fried egg I refer to as “high heat” eggs:
I have a feeling the OP may not consider it too healthy, though. 
(I’m fine – I want a decent amount of unsaturated fat in my diet. I tend not to eat high-fat foods throughout the day.)
Bacon fat if there is any (we keep it in a little jar whenever we make bacon). Butter most of the rest of the time for breakfast.
Sesame oil or peanut oil if it’s for something savory, like on a bowl of ramen
Olive oil if I specifically want that olive-oil fried egg flavor.
I guess I now have to withdraw my question since everyone seems focused on taste and not health. Bacon fat? Duck fat? I love bacon and duck fat, but having naturally high cholesterol I make an effort to reduce the amount of animal fat in my diet (and taking a statin drug). Perhaps the amount of fat I am using to fry a single egg is irrelevant given how little I use. I found this on google but I don’t know what the source is. It sounds reasonable to me.
What is the healthiest fat for frying?
“We generally try to reach for monounsaturated fats when pan-frying. These healthy fats are liquid at room temperature (as compared to saturated fats like lard, butter, and coconut oil that are solid at room temp). Our favorite healthy fats for pan-frying are **avocado oil, canola oil, and olive oil .”
So I guess I will stick with canola oil or perhaps try avocado or olive oil instead. I don’t think switching to bacon fat, as much as I would love to do it, would be a heart-smart choice.
If you’re using a spray-on fat with a non-stick pan, I can’t imagine that having much of an effect health-wise. You are using almost homeopathic amounts of fat, so if your goal is to avoid fat, give it a quick spray and cook away. You don’t need much fat at all, if any, with a non-stick.
Butter, then fried hard enough to play Frisbee with.