Five Foods That Naturally Dye Easter Eggs
What you’ll need: Purple cabbage, turmeric, coffee, yellow onion skins, red beets, vinegar, water, jars, and a pot.
The Basics
Nothing says spring like Easter eggs! If you’re like us and are sick of the same old pastel dye packets from Target, this is the perfect article for you. The 6 recipes, listed below, are the perfect way to create a natural look to your Easter eggs. It’s just as fun and you might already have some of the ingredients in your pantry.
There are two ways to dye your eggs. Option one is to soak the eggs overnight in the liquid combinations listed below. Option two is to boil the eggs in the liquid combinations listed below for about 45 minutes. Although both methods work for all the eggs, sometimes one method works better than the other. Below are our suggestions for how to get the most vibrant colors out of your natural food dyes.
Feeling Fancy?
Now, if you’re feeling fancy, you can take this whole Easter egg a step further and hollow out your eggs. To do this, first, use a safety pin to poke a tiny hole on the top and bottom of the egg. The hole should be no bigger than a ballpoint pen tip. Using a straw, blow through the top hole until the yolk and white shoots out the bottom.
If you do choose to hollow out your eggs, be careful when dying them. We suggest you use the soaking method listed above. If you boil them, there’s a higher risk of the eggs breaking from the bubbles.
If that’s not impressive enough, you can even make designs on your eggs. All you have to do is grab a white candle and use it as a pen to draw your design. Whatever design you draw, will stay the color of the egg. While the egg soaks overnight, the wax will serve as a barrier between the color and the egg. The next morning, just like that, you’ll have magical works of art. But pro-tip: don’t try and boil the eggs with candle wax on them, use the soaking method.
OMG there is more! If you’re feeling experimental, mix some of the solutions together to create new colors. Go wild. Why not? Add a little beet juice to your onion solution, throw a little cabbage in your turmeric mixture. You can even double soak, do beet solution overnight then the yellow onion solution for 30 minutes. The world is your oyster.
Yellow Eggs
- 4 Tablespoons dried Tumeric (or ¼ cup of raw turmeric)
- 3 Cups of water
- ⅓ Cup of vinegar
- 4-5 Eggs
Wearing gloves, mix together the turmeric, water, and vinegar in a medium pot. Boil for 30-45 minutes and remove from the water. Wait until dry to touch.
Things to Note: Tumeric stains EVERYTHING. Wear gloves and don’t let it touch the countertop without a barrier. Also, dried tumeric tends to come out a stronger yellow then turmeric root.
Orange Eggs
- 5-7 Yellow Onions
- 2 Cups Water
- 3 Tablespoons Vinegar
- 2-3 Eggs
Peel the onion and keep the first layer of skin until you have 2 ½ cups of skins. Mix the water, vinegar, and skins together. Add the eggs and either let it soak overnight or boil for 45 minutes. For a darker color, add a tablespoon of the beet solution.
Things to Note: You can use red onion skins to get red eggs! Onion skin actually ends up looking pretty similar with both methods.
Pro Tip: Use all your extra onions to make caramelized onions!
Purple Eggs
- Half a red beet, grated
- 1 Cup of water
- 4 Tablespoons vinegar
- 2-3 Eggs
Wearing gloves, grate the beet. Add the grated beets, water, and vinegar together and mix. Place 2-3 eggs in the mixture and let it sit overnight. Strain the eggs and pat gently.
Things to Note: Yellow beets don’t work as well as red beets. We tried, it’s not worth the work.
Blue Eggs
- ½ Head of purple cabbage, diced
- 1 ½ – 2 cups of water
- 5 tablespoon Vinegar
- 3-4 eggs
Dice the cabbage. Add the diced cabbage, water, and vinegar together and mix. Place 3-4 eggs in the mixture and let it sit overnight.
Things to Note: When you first take the eggs out of the solution, they’ll look light purple, but as they dry they’ll turn blue. Give it time.
Mocha Eggs
- 3 Cups of coffee
- 5 Tablespoons Vinegar
- 3-4 Eggs
Mix coffee and vinegar together in a large pot. Place eggs in the pot and boil for 30 minutes.
Things to Note: The color at first glance might look like a typical brown egg you can buy in the store. But dare to compare and you’ll see it’s more of a chocolate mocha color.
How to make Natural Easter Egg Dye Video
Sometimes it’s just easier to visualize it, that’s why we made this short video with some tips on how to make natural food dye. Enjoy!
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