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I have used this technique to dye eggs a deep gold and red-ish color for Passover, which I’ve served at the seder meal in a Moroccan ceramic tagine for a decorative, earthy look — and clearly, this process is very apropos for Easter eggs.

Materials

Pasture raised eggs
White Vinegar such as Spectrum Organic White Distilled Vinegar
Vegetables and spices, see step one below
Saucepan
Filtered Water
Measuring spoons
Wooden spoon and slotted spoon
Olive oil such as Bariani, Wilderness Family Naturals and Zoe
Optional wax, cooking twin, leaves, etc

Choose which colors you’d like to dye your eggs.

Red
Red onion skins, use a lot
Pomegranate juice
Whole beets – not canned
Cherries or cranberries

Yellow
Lemon or orange peel
Carrot tops
Celery seed
Ground cumin

Pale Yellow
Boil eggs in 3 tablespoons of ground turmeric for 12-15 minutes

Deep Gold
Boil eggs in 3 tablespoons of ground turmeric for 30 minutes

Yellow Brown
Dill seeds

Yellow Green
Bright green apple peels

Orange
Yellow onion skins

Blue
Canned blueberries and their juice
Red cabbage leaves
Purple grape juice

Baby Blue
Boil 1/2 head of red chopped cabbage, soak eggs in solution in the fridge for 1-2 hours. Please note: cabbage dye does not work until it cools.

Royal Blue
Boil 1/2 head of red chopped cabbage for 30 minutes, soak eggs in solution in the fridge overnight.

Violet Blue
Violet blossoms
Red onion skins (less than needed for red)

Green
Spinach leaves
Fresh green herbs
Olive green, use red onion skins. The color is produced by the reaction with the vinegar.

Brown/Tan
1 quart of strong black coffee instead of water
Black walnut shells
Tea
Handful of cumin seeds

Lavender/Purple
Diluted purple grape juice
Violet blossoms plus squeeze of lemon
Frozen Blueberries

Pink
3 cups of chopped beet
Cranberries or cranberry juice
Raspberries
Red grape juice

Place eggs in the bottom of a large pan.

Cove with water. For each color, fill a saucepan with at least three inches of water. Add 2 Tablespoons of white vinegar. Add the natural ingredient of your choice from above. It’ll take a lot … around two cups, packed.

Bring the contents to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, depending on the color you are intending. some ingredients take longer to set and the longer the eggs boil, the deeper the color. To further deepen the color, take the pan off the stove and store in the fridge overnight.

Remove the eggs from the dye.

If you’re satisfied with the color, then allow them to dry on racks over old dish towels. For deeper, richer colors, strain the liquid, and allow the egg to continue to soak for up to eight hours. Any longer, and the vinegar will start to disintegrate the shell. If you plan to eat the eggs, put them into the refrigerator.

Helpful Hints

Use brown eggs for deep gold and browns, white eggs for other colors. Try creating unique designs on your eggs by drawing on them with white crayons, tying cooking twin around them before dyeing. For permanent hallow eggs, create a small hole in both tends of the egg with a safety pin or wire and gently blow contents of the egg out of one end. Any food that gives off a tint when boiled is a potential dyeing agent – look around the kitchen for other ingredients that might produce interesting hues.

Other ideas

To add a marbleized effect, stir in a few teaspoons of olive oil into the cooled, strained dye. The oil will stick to the shell in certain places, preventing the dye from continuing to color the shell in certain spots.

This post originally appeared on Facebook.  You may be interested in some of the comments posted there.

I’ve love to read about your experiences with this process in the comments below!

Disclosures