Drop the Beet Easter Eggs

​Happy Easter my peeps! Pun intended. I want to share with you guys this super simple pink dyed, soft-boiled egg recipe. Most of the recipes out there for this type of egg preparation have a few variations that I don’t love. First of all, I’m not a huge fan of pickled eggs. If you share my same sentiment than this is the recipe for you because I leave out the sugar, salt, vinegar, and all the other flavor components you might come across, like cloves, cinnamon, onion, garlic, etc. My recipe simply uses beets and water to dye the egg. The next issue I ran into when browsing recipes was that there is no clear answer on how long to leave your egg in the beet solution. I’ve often seen 2.5-24 hours which is WAY too vague. 

The eggs you see pictured here were left in the solution for 4 hours. This resulted in a light pink exterior and a thin pink ring inside once cut open. My plan for the future is to test the egg color every 3 hours until they’ve soaked for a full day, so those pictures and a follow up blog will be coming soon. Today I’m going to share how to get a perfect soft boiled egg that is easy to peel as well as a light pink color that is both aesthetically pleasing and delicious!

First things first. Take 6-8 eggs out and let them come to room temperature. Now we will make our beet liquid. As I mentioned before, I don’t love the pickled egg taste. So instead of making a pickling liquid, I simply boil beets in water. Take 3 medium beets, cut them in half, cover them with just enough water to submerge them, then bring them to a boil and continue to cook until tender. Usually, I would not cut the beets in half so they do not lose their color internally. In this case, however, we want the color to seep into the liquid. Once the beets are tender, strain the liquid and cool in the fridge or freezer.

Once the beet liquid is cooled, it’s time to start your eggs. Contrary to popular belief, I like to boil my eggs in water that is already at boiling temp. This allows you to control the softness of the yolk and ensures a white that is set. Also, I have found, that they are much easier to peel this way! Bring a pot of water to a boil with a dash of white vinegar. Your eggs should be room temperature at this point. Once the water is boiling, turn it down for a few moments while you submerge your eggs with a slotted spoon. Then return the water to a boil and set your timer for 9 minutes. After 9 minutes put your eggs into ice cold water until they are cool enough to handle. *For a soft boiled egg guide, see my boiled egg how-to recipe*
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Now that your eggs are cool enough to handle it’s time to peel them and put them into your beet liquid. Peel your eggs and put them into an airtight container in the beet liquid. For results like mine, leave them for 4 hours before removing and enjoying. If you’d like to see more pink, leave them for longer!

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Beet-Dyed Soft Boiled Eggs

​Ingredients
 
Beet Liquid
3 medium beets
Water, enough to cover beets by 1”
 
Boiled Eggs
6-8 eggs, room temperature
1T white vinegar

Method

1. Take your eggs out and allow them to come to room temperature
2. Wash your beets and cut in half or in quarters if they are large. Submerge in enough water to cover them by an inch and bring to a boil. Continue to cook until beets are fork tender.
3. Strain your liquid and cool in the fridge or freezer until completely cooled.
4. Once your liquid is cool, bring a pot of water to a boil for your eggs. Add the vinegar.
5. Once the water is boiling, turn the heat down to low and carefully place your eggs into the hot water using a slotted spoon. Then return the water to a boil.
6. Set your timer to 9 minutes. After 9 minutes place your eggs directly into ice cold water.
7. Once the eggs are cool enough to handle, peel them and submerge into beet liquid and leave to soak for 4 hours.
8. Slice open after 4 hours and enjoy. At this point you can eat as is or play around with the recipe and make delicious deviled eggs. You can even reserve some of your cooked beets and incorporate them in a food processor with mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, and salt to make a pink tinted deviled egg filling.

Note: 
1.  You can enjoy these eggs simply as soft boiled or scoop out the yolks and combine with mayonnaise and mustard to make deviled eggs! 
​2.  Instead of peeling your eggs, try just cracking the skin by rolling the egg on the counter using your palm. Soak your eggs in the liquid with the cracked shell and enjoy a tie-died exterior. 

​​Enjoy! Try this recipe and let me know how it turn out. Please share your variations and finding! Until next time….