Naturally Dyed Easter Eggs
The canned food selection in Germany is nothing like it is in The United States. Back home, I could find anything from spinach to sweet potatoes in a can. In German, we’ve got cans of peas and cans of corn. And at the risk of getting really wild, the grocery store where I shop also has peas and corn in the same can.
So you can guess that we’ve been eating more fresh vegetables than ever before. Martin might call this past season The Winter of the Beet. They’re so simple to cut up and steam until tender. I’d be willing to say it takes just as much work to open a can and heat them up. Now I think I’ve been waiting all winter to try this with our leftover beet juice:
Naturally Dyed Easter Eggs
I combined the whole boil eggs step with the dye eggs step into one, cooking the eggs in the colored water, and I was a little surprised by the results. Wouldn’t beet juice turn the eggs pink?
Instead, the eggs turned a soft yellow-brown color when they were done cooking in beet juice. The almond-colored eggs were also boiled like normal, but with a heaping tablespoon of paprika in the water. When I turned off the heat, I added a splash of vinegar to both pots.
Martin and I really like how the subtle color turned out, even if it’s not what we were expecting. Our eggs feel natural and comforting instead of coated in artificial food colorings.
Have any of you ever dyed eggs with kitchen ingredients? It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, and I after I made these eggs, I wanted to try more methods. But honestly? How many boiled eggs could we eat?
(Image by Katie for Making This Home)
Keep it green and simple with 2 more ideas:
April 9th, 2009 at 5:30 am
I don’t know Katie, you’ll have to let us know how many you eat! You could make deviled eggs, egg salad, the list goes on and on! And too funny – those eggs look just like the organic brown ones that we buy from our supermarket!
April 9th, 2009 at 7:45 am
Onion skins and red cabbage work really well! I find that you get better more vibrant colors if you use vinegar as well. I dyed some eggs yesterday with silk ties and those turned out awesomely, but it’s not quite as “natural” *L*
April 9th, 2009 at 9:33 am
what about berries? they seem to stain everything else pretty well…
April 9th, 2009 at 10:10 am
I came across this post in my travels today: Tip of the Day: Dye Easter Eggs Naturally, in case you want to try again next year! But I like this year’s soft colors too.
April 9th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
LOL! We did eggs today with some natural and some not so natural dyes. Violently purple eggs are weird. ;) We used red onion skins and cabbage for the natural ones. The rest were Paas. What does that mean?
And why are you eating veggies from a can? Yuck!
April 9th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
Why did you add paprika to your eggs when the eggs were boiling in water? Does the flavor seep through the shell?
I have died eggs with cranberry juice before (I think, or maybe it was beet juice). The color didn’t turn as dark as I wanted though.
April 9th, 2009 at 3:50 pm
I haven’t done it before, but this year I wanted to try this project with our eggs. My dd likes using old fingernail polishes to paint her eggs vs dyeing them. One year we got sequins and she glued them on aling with glitter. We had some blingin’ eggs that year! :)
April 9th, 2009 at 8:54 pm
Thank you for the tips, everyone. I’m totally trying your suggestions next year!
Christy is right; our eggs this year look an awful lot like brown eggs from the store. Oh well! I do like how the almond-colored ones look from the paprika.
Michelle, I was using the paprika for its color. I worried about the flavor, too. It wasn’t a problem!
Don’t worry, Mom in High Heels. Other than buying canned vegetables specifically for my pencil holders I shared last week, no canned foods for us. I just needed to learn how to cook a little differently after growing up with canned foods… as in canning jar foods the women in my family prepared.
Hope you all have happy egg dying. Thanks again for the tips and links!
Katie
April 9th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
I actually spent this evening boiling veggies to dye Easter eggs tomorrow. I’m taking down some of the tips here, I hope it goes well. I much prefer the idea of natural dyes so my fingers are crossed.
April 9th, 2009 at 10:51 pm
I’ve just dyed onion skin and red cabbage eggs yesterday and today. The onion skins are the easiest, and readily give anything from a light yellowish tan to a deep somewhat reddish brown. I boil them with the skins in the pot, which gives them a color texture of light and dark blotches and whorls.
The red cabbage is trickier. Slice cabbage very thin and boil with the leaves (a quarter of a fairly small cabbage was enough for seven eggs in a pan that just could hold them all and water to covr). After a half hour of simmering they are still just about as white as when you started. But leave them overnight in the pan with all the cabbage and in the morning they are a strong whorled blue. I have found in the past that the same soaking period for paprika and turmeric helps to deepen the color.
April 10th, 2009 at 1:25 am
Years ago, we tried red onion skins….but I’m talking decades ago…..
April 10th, 2009 at 8:07 am
My Husband’s grandmother makes onion skin eggs every year. She just sent my two along yesterday from when my daughter was down to visit. They turn a brownish redish rust color. Very pretty. I haven’t dyed eggs in quite a few years.
April 11th, 2009 at 1:11 pm
Ive done onion skin eggs where you wrap the onion skins around the egg and tie fabric around to hold them in place. this forms beautiful patterns from the cells in the skins. I think I have an old one somewhere if i find it i’ll send you a picture. gotta go check my strawberry jam!
April 11th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
We blow the eggs out (then cook the inside), wash the shells, and paint them. I save them from year to year and bring them out as decorations for Easter. The kids like seeing the eggs they painted when they were toddlers, and for me it brings back precious memories.