Three Foolproof Methods for Hard-Boiled Eggs (and Recipe Ideas)
Here are Three Foolproof Methods for Perfect Hard-Boiled Eggs every time no matter which easy method you use! And there are lots of ideas here for using those hard-boiled eggs once you’ve made them! See Cooking Tips for more how-to-cook posts like this one.
PIN Three Foolproof Methods for Perfect Hard-Boiled Eggs to try some later!
It’s getting close to Easter, and that means lots of families will be making hard-boiled eggs and then dyeing them bright colors to go in Easter baskets. This post is a Public Service Announcement to remind you to buy eggs NOW, because eggs that are too fresh are always harder to peel. And there are also some tricks to making perfect boiled eggs, and I’ve updated this post to share my Three Foolproof Methods for Perfect Boiled Eggs to help you make perfect hard-boiled eggs for Easter!
For years I just put eggs in a pan, added water, and boiled them, often with mixed results. Imagine my surprise when I learned that that eggs in the shell shouldn’t really be boiled, and we really should be calling them hard-cooked eggs! And I discovered that using a better method for hard-cooked eggs will produce perfect eggs every time!
Now fast forward quite a few years, and I’m using one of these Three Foolproof Methods for Perfect Hard-Boiled Eggs whenever I make hard-boiled eggs, which are really hard-cooked eggs of course! Instant Pot Hard-Cooked Eggs are my preferred method now. But I’ve also had great results with Steam-Cooked Eggs and Boiling Water Cooked Eggs. Use one of these methods and your eggs will turn out perfectly every time, with firm yellow yolks, no tinge of green or gray to the yolk, and the shells will remove easily.
If you’re going to be making eggs for Easter, try one of these methods; I promise, you will not be sorry! And when you have all those leftover Easter eggs to use up, check below for some great ideas for using hard-cooked eggs; enjoy!
Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs: Instant Pot Hard-Cooked Eggs:
- If you’re an Instant Pot fan, you’ll love making hard-cooked eggs in the Instant Pot! The only trick part is deciding what time will work best for where you are. I live at a fairly high altitude so I used the 6-6-6 method; that’s the time that was recommended by my friend Barbara at Pressure Cooking Today. You might need to experiment to see how much cooking time gives you perfect results.
- Put some kind of steamer baker in the Instant Pot (affiliate link). Put desired number of eggs in the basket and add one cup water. (Cooking time doesn’t change with more or less eggs.)
- Set the Instant Pot to MANUAL, HIGH PRESSURE, 6 minutes.
- When time is up, let the pressure release for 6 minutes. While pressure releases, prepare a bowl with ice water.
- After 6 minutes, release the rest of the pressure and carefully open the lid of the Instant pot. Remove eggs (with a large spoon or using the steamer basket) and transfer them to the ice water. Let eggs soak in the ice water for 6 minutes. Your eggs will be perfectly cooked and peel easily!
Perfect Hard-Boiled Eggs: Steam-Cooked Eggs:
- You can use any type of Vegetable Steamer or Steamer Insert (affiliate links) for steamed eggs, but I use the wonderful stovetop stovetop steamer I got from my late stepmother Norma. Only put enough eggs to fit in a single layer.
- Put a couple of inches of water in the bottom of the steamer, as much as you can fit without the water touching the eggs.
- When the water comes to a boil, put the lid on and steam eggs 20-22 minutes. (I live at a high altitude so my eggs needed the full time, but 20 minutes will probably be perfect for most places. You might need to do a test batch to decide what the perfect cooking time is at your altitude.)
- While the eggs are steaming prepare a bowl with ice and water.
- When eggs are done use a large spoon to immediately transfer them to the ice water bath.
- Let eggs sit in the ice water about 10 minutes, then peel. (If you’re eating them hot, just leave in the water for a minute or two.)
Perfect Hard-Boiled Eggs: Boiling Water Cooked Eggs:
- I started using this method in 2007, and if you don’t have an Instant Pot or a vegetable steamer this method will also give perfect results every time, although the Instant Pot eggs and steamed eggs are slightly easier to peel. For best results, take eggs out of the refrigerator and let them come to room temperature before cooking.
- Put eggs in a pan large enough to hold all the eggs in a single layer, with water to cover eggs by at least an inch.
- Bring water to a boil. As soon as it boils, turn off heat and cover eggs. Set timer for 12 minutes.
- After 12 minutes, drain eggs, and add cold water with some ice cubes. Let eggs cool about 10 minutes in cold water, then drain and store in refrigerator.
- And the gorgeous eggs at the top of this post were cooked using this old low-tech method!
Recipes to Use Those Hard-Boiled Eggs:
Without a doubt, deviled eggs are one of my favorite things to make with hard-cooked eggs, and I shared all of My Favorite Recipes for Deviled Eggs in one post.
You can’t go wrong with this Low-Carb Loaded Cauliflower Mock Potato Salad; even the people who aren’t low-carb eaters like this in my family!
Low-Carb and High Protein Avocado Egg Salad is another option that’s really a wow for me!
If you use my favorite Low-Carb Pita Bread, this Egg Salad in Pita with Green Olives, Green Onions, and Dijon is a low-carb treat! You could eat the tasty egg salad mixture in lettuce wraps for Keto or Gluten-Free if you prefer.
And these Low-Carb Egg Salad and Cheese Quesadillas are a think-outside-the-box idea for using hard-boiled eggs that I got from a Kalyn’s Kitchen reader years ago! I use low-carb tortillas but eat the egg salad mixture in lettuce wraps for Keto or Gluten-Free.
More Recipes for Using Hard-Boiled Eggs:
Check out my round-up post of Amazing Low-Carb Recipes Using Hard-Boiled Eggs (that aren’t deviled eggs) for even more ideas for using those hard-cooked eggs!
Fun Ideas for Easter Eggs:
Hard-Boiled Ruby Eggs from A Veggie Venture
Marbled Beetroot Eggs from Nami Nami
Deviled Eggs of Every Type:
50 Deviled Egg Recipes from Taste and Tell
99 Deviled Eggs Recipes from CopyKat Recipes
32 Ways to Make Deviled Eggs from Carrie’s Experimental Kitchen
Delicious Egg Salad Variations:
Egg Salad from David Lebovitz
Lemon-Dill Egg Salad from The Perfect Pantry
A Tale of Two Egg Salads from FoodieCrush
Cottage Cheese and Egg Salad from Nami Nami
Let us know in the comments if you have another great idea for using hard-boiled eggs.
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67 Comments on “Three Foolproof Methods for Hard-Boiled Eggs (and Recipe Ideas)”
Glad you like the ideas, and I think anchovy mayonnaise sounds great in deviled eggs!
This is AMAZING!!!!! I love, love, love eggs…so pretty much plan to go through your whole list.
YUM.
Check out my site if you like for a recent fave: Soft-Boiled Eggs with Anchovy Mayonnaise
I eat a lot of hard boiled eggs, especially in order to jazz up salads. I season mine with sea salt, ground pepper, and… lemon juice! I accidentally drizzled lemon juice on my eggs when I was dressing up a salad, but was pleasantly surprised when I ate them!
Tara I don't think the egg size will make much difference in cooking time.
For this method, what size of egg is appropriate? (medium, large, x-large?)
Claire, thanks! Glad you're enjoying the recipes.
I prefer hard boiled egg than the fried ones, but I've never seen or eaten hard boiled eggs like you have here, they look fantastic and sure taste great. Thanks to you now I can have my eggs flavored differently from my the usual plain one. 🙂 This is my first visit to your lovely blog by the way and I'm sure be back to dig more of your posts. Thanks ~Claire
Sonia, glad it's working well for you.
I'm so happy I found this again. My computer died and I lost all my favorites, one of which was this method of cooking hardboiled eggs. I'd never been able to cook them until I found this site.
Thank you for taking all the guessing out of it for me.
Isn't Vege-Sal just great on eggs! I notice now they are labeling the jars Spike Vege-Sal, I guess capitalizing on the popularity of Spike Seasoning made by the same company.
I finally found and bought and tried Vegesal last week! It was at Sunflower Market. OMG you are right, it is the bomb!
I will probably mimic your baggie to work for breakfast recipe/idea, but add pepper to it.
Easter's coming!!
Crystal, I love that idea! Thanks so much for sharing.
Kalyn,
If you get bored eating eggs with just salt, you should try sprinking them with soy sauce. The flavors blend together so well, and Chinese people eat eggs like that all the time!
Just a suggestion! My boyfriend was really skeptical and then I had him try it, and he was surprised at how yummy it was!
Gemma, thanks! So glad it’s useful.
These really are the perfect instructions. I often come back to this post. Thank!
Mary Jean, I love that idea of pickled eggs! Thanks for sharing.
One think I like to do with hard cooked egg is pickle them. But not with red beets like you might think. I take a large jar of pepperoncini and a dozen whole, hard cooked eggs. Mix together and keep in fridge for a couple of days. Yowza! The heat of the spicy peppers and the cool of the egg are just a fantastic combination. Everyone who has tried them has raved about them. If you like spicy, you really should give them a try. One further tip, if your pepperoncini are not juicy enough, you may need to get another jar, just for the liquid.
I use this technique as well and you are right…they come out perfect every time!! Thanks for all the great links:)
Thanks for this post! I saw an episode of “The Secret life of…Easter” on the Food Network and I remember them showing this process…I forgot how long to let the eggs set in the water, so I was going to google it…But before I did, I decided to run through my fave blogs…and then I read this post all about eggs! You saved me so much time! Thanks!
Hah… isn’t it funny how we all have our own “fail-proof” method to hard-boil eggs? Mine is (a) bring to boil in salted water, about 1″ depth over top of eggs; (b) once water comes to a full rolling boil, turn off heat and allow to sit 15 minutes; (c) remove and immediately peel under cold running water, or, cool and refrigerate for future use.
For years I couldn’t eat eggs, from about age 12 or 14 through about age 27. They did horrible, gassy things to me. And even though I always LOVED eggs, I could only eat maybe 1/2 egg every once in a while… if I ate more than that, I suffered miserably. And just as suddenly it was gone, and I could eat eggs again. Go figure.
And what’s wrong with eating an egg in the car on the way to work? I used to bring HB eggs to work for breakfast or lunch, and peel them there. So yummy sprinkled with salt!