by: Frances Boswell
Prep Time
2 hours
Yield
12 eggs
Prep Time
2 hours
Yield
12 eggs
summary
Did you know you can use everyday kitchen ingredients to make natural dyes for Easter eggs? These recipes use commonplace items to create a beautiful range of organic colors. Adding white vinegar makes the colors bolder, but you can experiment with omitting it or using brown eggs for different color variations. Dyeing eggs while they’re still warm or letting eggs sit in the dyeing solution for a few hours in the refrigerator helps the color penetrate the shells.
ingredients
- For green eggs: 1 teaspoon matcha powder in 1 cup water
- For blue eggs: 1 cup chopped purple cabbage in 1 cup water
- For purple eggs: 1 cup red onion skins in 1 cup water
- For pink eggs: 1 cup shredded beets in 1 cup water
- For yellow eggs: 2 tablespoons turmeric in 1 cup water
- For orange eggs: 1 cup yellow onion skins in 1 cup water OR ½ cup marigold petals in 1 cup water
- 12 hard-boiled white-shelled eggs
directions
- To make the dyed, gently simmer each ingredient separately in one cup of water for 15 to 20 minutes in a covered pot. Strain the liquid into separate bowls or jars and combine each dye with 1 tablespoon of white vinegar. This will make the dye colors bolder.
- Submerge white-shelled hard-boiled eggs into the bowl of dye baths while the dye is still warm (but not hot) to help the dye penetrate the shell. Add more water if needed to submerge eggs. Let sit for up to 10 minutes until the desired color is reached. For longer dyeing times, refrigerate the eggs in their dye baths.
- Carefully drain off eggs and wipe dry with paper towels.
