How to Make Natural Easter Egg Dye
Updated: Apr. 10, 2023
We bet you've got everything you need to dye Easter eggs naturally—as in, no artificial coloring—right in your kitchen, right this very minute.
Decorating eggs is believed to date back to at least the 13th century, making dyeing Easter eggs a tried-and-true tradition. Considering the broad range of colors you can get from natural ingredients and how messy those commercial egg-dye kits can be, it’s a wonder there was ever a need for artificial dye at all!
We’ll show you how to dye Easter eggs naturally.
How to Make Homemade Natural Easter Egg Dye
Before you get started, make hard-boiled eggs. Between the stovetop, oven, Instant Pot, slow cooker or even air fryer, you’ll find that perfectly cooked eggs are just a hop, skip and a jump away. Then, follow the instructions for eggs of each color.
Editor’s Tip:Â If you want to make red dye, start with raw eggs.
Ingredients
- Eggs
- Distilled water
- Distilled white vinegar
Now, decide what color Easter eggs you’d like and follow along.
How to Make Red Natural Easter Egg Dye
Additional Ingredient: 4 cups dry Spanish onion skins, about 12-15 onions’ worth
Boil Spanish onion skins in 1 quart of water with 2 tablespoons vinegar. Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes, then strain into a stainless-steel bowl. After it’s cooled to room temperature, pour into a stainless saucepan and add the uncooked eggs in one layer.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 12 to 15 minutes, depending on how intense you want the red to be. (If you’d like the eggs to be redder, move the pot to the refrigerator until they’re the hue you like.)
How to Make Yellow Natural Easter Egg Dye
Additional Ingredient:Â 3 tablespoons turmeric
Boil turmeric in 1 quart of water with 2 tablespoons of vinegar. Reduce heat, simmer for 30 minutes, strain and cool. Soak hard-boiled eggs for 30 minutes.
How to Make Green Natural Easter Egg Dye
Additional Ingredient: 4 cups spinach
Bring 1 quart of water and 2 tablespoons of vinegar to a boil. Add spinach. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Cool, strain, add the hard-boiled eggs, and allow to soak until your eggs are the desired shade of green.
How to Make Blue Natural Easter Egg Dye
Additional Ingredient: 4 cups chopped red cabbage or 4 cups blueberries
Boil red cabbage or blueberries in 1 quart of water with 2 tablespoons of vinegar. Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes, strain and cool the liquid to room temperature. Add the hard-boiled eggs in a single layer and soak for 30 minutes for light blue. For dark blue, soak overnight in the refrigerator.
Editor’s Tip: Check on your blueberry-dyed eggs more frequently. They’ll likely need less time to reach your desired shade of blue.
How to Make Purple Natural Easter Egg Dye
Additional Ingredient: 1 cup purple grape juice
Mix grape juice with 1 tablespoon vinegar. Add hard-boiled eggs in a single layer and allow to soak overnight in the refrigerator.
How to Make Pink Natural Easter Egg Dye
Additional Ingredient: 2 cups pickled beet juice
Soak hard-boiled eggs in pickled beet juice plus 2 tablespoons of vinegar, until your eggs are the desired shade of pink.
How to Make Brown Natural Easter Egg Dye
Additional Ingredient: 1 quart room-temperature strong, black coffee
Soak hard-boiled eggs in coffee plus 2 tablespoons of vinegar, for 30 minutes. (Or, you know, buy some brown eggs!)
If handling all these beautiful eggs works up your appetite, make any of these leftover hard-boiled egg recipes—and make sure you know how to peel a hard-boiled egg before you get started.
