How to Naturally Dye Easter Eggs by Bridget

This could turn into an obsession.

I’d never used natural dyes to color Easter eggs. Actually, I haven’t dyed eggs in ages. As a parent of an only child, it only took me a year or two to realize that he’d lost interest. Because one day I was the one sitting at the table with plastic cups of dye, a skinny wire egg lifter, wax crayons, a kitchen smelling of vinegar, and a bunch of stickers I’d never use. We replaced dyed eggs with Reese’s peanut butter eggs.

 
 

This, though, I can see myself happily doing every year all by my lonesome. Dying eggs naturally is part science, part mystery. You really don’t know what you’re going to get. The possibilities are endless.

 
 

Let me walk you through the process, what you’ll need, and some colors to get you started.

Prepare your hard-boiled eggs ahead of time. Joanne walked us through making the perfect hard-boiled eggs.

Start with 4 cups of water and whatever ingredient you’re using. If it’s a vegetable, a general guide is 1/2 to 1 cup of roughly chopped veg per cup of water. You can do more or less; it’s not an exact science.

 
 

Boil for 15 minutes. Strain into a large measuring cup. This is helpful for pouring as well as measuring how much liquid you have left. You start with 4 cups, but once it boils, you’ll have 2-3 cups.

 
 

Stir in 1 tablespoon of vinegar for each cup of dyeing liquid and let cool. Add the eggs, cover, and refrigerate overnight. The longer the eggs soak, the deeper the color will be.

 
 

Remove from the dyeing liquid and wipe dry.

 
 

There will be a residue on most all of the eggs. Once dry and the reside is removed, you can coat with a little vegetable oil to make them shiny. Store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Here are some color ideas for starting! (Note: I used white eggs for dyeing.)

• Turmeric = bright yellow
• Red onion skins = orangey-red
• Beet = pink
• Hibiscus tea = grey (!) with speckles
• Red cabbage = blue

 
 

Turmeric

One tablespoon turmeric for 4 cups of water will yield this bright yellow.

 
 

Red onion skins

I have a basket in my pantry where I store onions, so I gathered all of the loose skins there. When I purchased a few red onions, I scooped up some loose skins in the bin as well. Something tells me they would have given me all of the loose skins in the bin, but I was feeling too shy to ask.

 
 

Beets

One bunch (of three) beets does the trick for 4 cups of water. I used the beets and the stems, but not the leaves.

 
 

Hibiscus tea

I used the large ice tea bag made for 8 cups of water, but only used 4 cups for boiling. Aren’t those speckles cool? I have no idea what caused those, but if your kiddo ever needs dinosaur eggs for a project, I think you’re covered.

 
 

Red cabbage

This was the biggest surprise: blue! I roughly shredded the cabbage and used about a cup of cabbage per cup of water. I’d love to play around with this one, taking eggs out of the liquid at different stages to have a variety of blue-hued eggs.

 
What didn’t work? Swiss chard and spinach. Neither colored the eggs much at all, no matter how much of the veggies I used.

I want to try blueberries next, and maybe that bag of frozen cherries hiding in the back of my freezer.

 
 

Have you ever used natural dyes for eggs?