How to Dye Easter Eggs
With just a few (four if you count the water) ingredients, you can transform ordinary hard-boiled eggs and brighten up your Easter bread, the egg basket, or the table centerpieces. The process is pretty simple, but you must organize the space and equipment you'll need to make it smooth.
Servings 12 dyed eggs
Ingredients
- 12 eggs raw or hard-boiled, see Notes below
- 4 cups water
- 8 teaspoons white vinegar
- 4 water-based food coloring dyes yellow, green, red and blue. Don't use oil-based dyes!
Instructions
Prepare the dye baths:
- Place about 1 cup of hot water (but not boiling) in each of 4 container bowls.
- Add 2 teaspoons of white vinegar to each bowl (it’s 1 teaspoon vinegar per ½ cup of hot water) and stir. The vinegar helps the dye adhere to the eggshells, so you must use it.
- Add drops of a different food coloring to each container, depending on the desired color intensity. Use blue, green, yellow and red. Make sure to have separate containers for each color you want to use.
To dye the eggs:
- Carefully, especially if handling raw eggs, place 1 or 2 eggs (depending on the size of the bowls) into each of the dye baths using tongs or a slotted spoon, ensuring they are fully submerged. Allow the eggs to soak in the dye for 3-5 minutes for white eggs and 10-15 minutes for brown eggs. Depending on how dark you want the color, they might take longer. Turn them frequently so they color more evenly.
- Carefully remove the eggs from the dye baths and let them dry on a wire rack or paper towels. Once they are no longer dripping and dry, store the eggs in a cool, dry place. I use egg cartons and keep them in the fridge.
Notes
Whether you use raw or hard-boiled eggs depends on what you're using them for. If making the classic Italian Easter bread and you're going to bake them with the breads, they have to be raw. If placing them after the breads are baked or if using them only as decorations, they can be hard-boiled.
To hard-boil eggs: Place 12 fresh eggs in a large pot or saucepan and cover with tap water. Add 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil and count 10 minutes exactly from the time the water starts to boil. Remove from the pan and place under cold water to stop cooking or into a bowl of ice water. Let cool completely before dyeing.
Shades of color: You can experiment with different soaking times or amounts of food dye to achieve different intensities.
