With Easter just around the corner, you may be wondering how to dye Easter eggs, naturally!
Today, I’m going to show you how to get gorgeous egg dye colors using ingredients you have in your pantry or fridge! The color possibilities are endless!
First, you’ll need hard-boiled eggs, and I share all my secrets to PERFECT boiled eggs so that you’re ready to dye them.
Want to buy some natural egg dye? Here’s one you can find easily on amazon.
How to Make Natural Easter Egg Dye
Red/Pink
Beets: Take 1 or 2 beets, roughly chopped, and combine with 1 quart water, 1 tablespoon vinegar, and 1 tablespoon salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain beets and reserve the liquid.
Beet juice (light pink): Mix 1 cup strained beet juice from canned beets with 1 tablespoon vinegar.
Orange
Yellow onion skins: Take the skins from 6 yellow onions and simmer in 2 cups of water for 15 minutes. Add 3 teaspoons of white vinegar and strain, reserving the liquid.
Carrots (juiced): Add 1 tablespoon vinegar to 1 cup carrot juice.
Paprika (faint red-orange): Add 2 tablespoons paprika to 1 cup boiling water. Add 2 teaspoons vinegar.
Yellow
Turmeric: Add 2 tablespoons ground turmeric to 1 cup boiling water and stir well, until turmeric dissolves. Add 2 teaspoons vinegar.
Carrot scraps: Simmer 4 ounces of chopped carrot tops and peels in 1 ½ cups water for 15 minutes. Add 2 teaspoons vinegar. Strain, reserving the liquid.
Green
Red onion skin (jade green): Peel the skin from 6 red onions and simmer in 2 cups of water for 15 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon vinegar and strain, reserving the liquid.
Spinach (juiced): Add 1 tablespoon vinegar to 1 cup spinach juice.
Blue
Red cabbage (purple): Shred ½ head red cabbage and boil with 2 cups water, then cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons vinegar. Strain and reserve the liquid.
Frozen blueberries (bluish grey): Mix 1 cup frozen blueberries with 1 cup water. Let soak for a while, until room temperature, then strain, reserving the liquid. (Or boil 1 cup fresh berries with 1 ½ cups water for 10 to 15 minutes, then drain and reserve the liquid.)
Purple
Grape juice (lavender): Add 1 tablespoon vinegar to 1 cup purple grape juice.
Blackberries: Mix 1 cup frozen blackberries with 1 cup water. Let soak for a while, until room temperature, then strain, reserving the liquid. (Or boil 1 cup fresh berries with 1 ½ cups water for 10 to 15 minutes, then drain and reserve the liquid.)
Brown
Coffee: Add 1 tablespoon vinegar to 1 cup strong coffee.
The stronger colors, like beets and turmeric set pretty quickly, but you’ll want to keep the others soaking longer. Your egg colors won’t be as vibrant as the fake ones, but you also aren’t risking neurological and other harmful side-effects from the petroleum-derived food colors. Which is a big win in my book!
Feel free to mix and match foods and colors to make different shades, too! Red cabbage water plus turmeric water mixed together look brown, but make a nice green egg as well!
What to do With Leftover Ingredients
Worried about wasting all that food? You don’t have to! The carrot and spinach pulp, as well as the purple cabbage, beet, and berries can all go into smoothies. If you want to use all the food waste, be sure to add the vinegar after straining, instead of before.
You can even save the “dye” water to color the eggs themselves, or add to food later, too! Just heat the colored water to a boil, then drop the shelled egg in and let soak for a few minutes. When you’re done making eggy art, freeze the colored water in ice cube trays so you can use as much or as little as you like for various dishes, to spread out all that vinegar flavor!
Vinegar is a great substitute for lemon juice in smoothies to cut the “green” and “earthy” flavors from spinach and beets. So toss a few beets, carrots, cabbages, spinach, or juice water ice cubes into a smoothie. You can even toss in a cube of turmeric water while you’re at it!
The acidity of tomatoes will also mask vinegar, so you can use the onion or cabbage water to boil noodles or rice for a tomato sauce dish like MOMables Baked Pasta or sub for some water in a soup like MOMables Hearty Vegetable Soup or a minestrone that will have tomatoes in it!
How to Dye Easter Eggs Naturally
Ingredients
- 2 cups water
- Distilled white vinegar
- 6 to 12 unpeeled hard-boiled eggs
Coloring agents:
- 2 cups chopped purple cabbage
- 2 cups red onion skins
- 2 cups yellow onion skins
- 2 cups shredded beets
- ¼ cup ground turmeric
- 3 cups brewed coffee
Instructions
- Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a medium saucepan and 1 cup of the food item of choice. Simmer for 20 minutes, strain, and cool completely.
- Once the water is cool, add 1 tablespoon of distilled white vinegar per cup of liquid. *2 tablespoons vinegar for 2 cups liquid.
- Drop the hard-boiled eggs into the dye, making sure they are completely submerged. Allow the eggs to soak in the refrigerator overnight.
- Transfer the eggs onto a clean kitchen towel and allow them to air dry.
- Once the eggs are dried, rub a little oil onto each one and polish them with a clean kitchen towel. This will make them shiny. Refrigerate the eggs until it's time to eat or hide them.
- Coffee-Dyed Egg Instructions
- For dark brown colored eggs, brew 3 cups and allow them to cool down to room temperature. Add 3 tablespoons of vinegar.
- Add the eggs and allow them to soak in the refrigerator overnight.
- Transfer the eggs onto a clean kitchen towel and allow them to air dry.
- Repeat the process above for polishing and storing the eggs.
Jennifer @ Emulsified Family
So excited to try this with our kids this weekend. Thanks!
Tatyana
I did not know there were so many natural options. We always used onion skins in Russia to color the eggs orange. I think my grandma used beets too to color the eggs red/purple. I’ll have to try some of the other options you have.