Naturally Dyed Easter Eggs

I am not an egg person, which I know is rather ridiculous knowing that I have a dozen birds in my backyard. Don’t get me wrong, I use eggs in baking, add things to them for breakfast, and more, but I will never be able to get over the texture of hard-boiled egg. So for the longest time I didn’t think egg-dyeing was for me. However, as long as you keep them cool and add eggs to cool dyes, you can use raw eggs. So, of course, the egg dyeing experiments started and around Easter I crack beautifully dyed eggs for baking brunch!

One thing to note before we start dyeing eggs naturally is that these dyes do not work in the same way as the instant dyes in the kits you can buy in the spring. You’ll need a bit of time for the dyes to work their magic, but the great thing is you can create many different shades of colors with the same dye ingredients by leaving the eggs in for different time increments! I’ll break down dyeing eggs into two categories, food scraps and teas. Both work incredibly well but just have different methods!

Another thing of note before you start collecting your dyes, is that you can dye both white eggs and brown eggs! Obviously, for lighter colors white eggs are best. But for richer, deeper blues you can use brown eggs. Leaving a white egg and a brown egg for the same time in the same dye will result in different shades! I love to play around with both!

Naturally Dyed Eggs with Food Scraps

There are SO many different types of food that you can use for natural dyes, I am just going to scratch the surface here! And a note: these foods can be used fresh *or* when they’re starting to turn. So, you’re welcome to go buy a new clamshell of blueberries but you can also use the wrinkly ones that you just found behind the pickle jar.

My Favorite Food Scraps:

Red Cabbage: robin’s egg blue (2 hours) to teal (overnight)
Blueberries: denim blue (2 hours) to navy blue (overnight)
Yellow Onion Skins: light yellow (2 hours) to rich ochre (overnight)
Beets plus a tablespoon of vinegar: light pink (2 hours) to dusty rose (overnight)
Turmeric: shades of yellow (This can also be in powder form, see teas.)

When it comes to food scraps the simple method is boiling. In a saucepan, for every one cup of food scraps add four cups of water, bring to a boil until the foods have started to lose their color, strain, then let cool. That’s it!

My Favorite Tea Dyes:

Hibiscus Flowers: light blue-green (2 hours) to deep green that is almost black (overnight)
Butterfly Pea Flower: Light purple (2 hours) to deeper purple (overnight)
Butterfly Pea Flower with 1 tablespoon of vinegar: light pink (2 hours) to darker pink (overnight)
Green Tea: Light green (only use white eggs, this is very pastel!)

For the teas add about ¼ cup of loose tea to every four cups of water. Steep in hot water for at least ten minutes (but I usually just steep until the tea cools.)

Please note that if you are using raw eggs like I am, to keep them safe and edible places the eggs submerged in dye in the fridge overnight!

Because these are all natural dyes feel free to play around with them! Adding vinegar, mixing dyes together, and switching the eggs from one dye container to a different one part of the way through can all result in absolutely beautiful color combinations!