These easy pickled eggs are a great healthy and high-protein snack to keep on hand. They’re easily stored in the refrigerator with no canning required. They’re the perfect on the go snack, are delicious sliced on top of a salad, and great layered on a sandwich. You could also make them into deviled eggs or even a tangy egg salad sandwich.
Pickled eggs are another great option for what to do with your abundance of farm-fresh eggs. Just like water glassing eggs and freezing eggs, when you have excess eggs, it’s best to preserve them before they go bad!
Homemade Pickled Eggs
For something that’s so versatile, this sweet, sour and salty recipe is extremely easy to make. I love that the flavoring options are virtually endless, meaning no matter what I’m craving, a delicious pickled egg will do!
I also love that you can make pickled eggs with all kinds of eggs. Unlike other preservation methods, you can use store-bought eggs, farm-fresh eggs, or even farm eggs you’ve had to wash after bringing them in from the coop.
This recipe can be stored in the refrigerator for many, many months. Watch this easy tutorial for step by step instructions.
Ingredients Needed for Pickled Eggs
The perfect pickled eggs start off with the perfect hard-boiled eggs. I’ve tried all kinds of methods for hard boiling eggs, and the very best tip I know is to let your eggs age on the counter for about a week before hard-boiling them.
If you’re using store-bought eggs, your eggs are probably old enough to boil straight from the grocery store (do not keep store-bought eggs on the counter as they’ve already been washed and will not keep at room temperature).
- Apple cider vinegar (or other vinegar)
- Water
- Good Quality Salt
- Garlic
- Red Chili Pepper
- Tumeric
- Other herbs and spices (optional)
How to Make Pickled Eggs
Pickled eggs are not to be confused with water glassing eggs using pickling lime. This is a completely different, albeit amazing, technique. (LINK)
To pickle eggs, you’ll need to start with eggs that have been hard-boiled and peeled. I normally have a combination of chicken and duck eggs and I find I need to boil the duck eggs about three minutes longer than the chicken eggs.
The best hard-boiled egg method I’ve tried is to simply drop my room temperature eggs into rapidly boiling water. I boil my chicken eggs for 12 minutes and my duck eggs for 15 minutes. Remove them from the water and immediately run them under cold water to stop the cooking.
You’ll also want to make sure your brine is nice and hot (if you’re canning these eggs, you’ll want your brine to be boiling). Grab a large pot, add your vinegar, water, and salt and bring to a boil. Allow the salt to dissolve completely and set aside until needed.
Next, you’ll want to make sure your jars are nice and clean. Washing them well in warm soapy water is fine for storing in the refrigerator, but if you’re going to can your pickled eggs, you’ll want to start with properly sterilized jars.
Add garlic, chili pepper, and turmeric to the jar. Top with about ½-1 cup of brine, then layer in your hard-boiled eggs. Try to pack them in nice and tight, but not so tight that the egg whites break or crack.
Pour brine over the top of the eggs until they’re covered. Add a lid and store in the refrigerator. The eggs are good to eat within 3-5 days, but I find they taste best after letting them sit for 2 weeks.
Tips for Pickled Eggs
- Hard boil eggs that are at least a week old, this makes peeling them MUCH easier.
- Hard boil and peel your eggs ahead of time, this makes the day of pickling eggs super fast and stress-free.
- Avoid using cloves in your brine if you’d like a nice clear brine.
- Use regular white vinegar if you’d like a nice clear brine.
- You can substitute white vinegar or rice wine vinegar for a different flavor.
- Adding a few slices of red onions, beets or beet juice will make your eggs beautifully pink!
- Feel free to experiment with additional flavors like dill, onion, even jalapeno for some added spice.
Other Egg Preservation Methods
If you find yourself with an abundance of eggs, DON’T THROW THEM OUT! We have many ways to safely preserve eggs. Check them out and find out which one works best for you!
- How to Preserve Eggs (FREE GUIDE)
- 5 Ways to Use or Preserve Eggs
- Preserved Eggs – Water Glassing Eggs for Long-Term Storage
- How to Freeze Eggs
- How to Freeze Dry Eggs
- Easy Homemade Egg Noodles Recipe
- Homemade Eggnog Recipe
Homemade Pickled Eggs
Ingredients
- 4 cups Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 cup Filtered Water
- 1/2 cup Salt
- 2-4 whole Garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 tsp Turmeric
- 1 whole Chili pepper or 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
- 16 whole eggs, hard-boiled
Instructions
- Hard boil eggs, peel and set aside.
- Boil vinegar, water and salt in a large pot. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Peel garlic cloves, add them to your jar, along with the chili pepper and turmeric.
- Add ½-1 cup brine to the jar.
- Layer your eggs into the jar, packing them tightly, but not so tight that the whites break or crack.
- Pour remaining brine over the eggs until they’re covered completely.
- Add lid and refrigerate for 2 weeks.
- Enjoy as-is, or in all your favorite recipes.
Notes
- Use eggs that are at least a week old, this makes peeling them MUCH easier.
- Hard boil and peel your eggs ahead of time, this makes the day of pickling eggs super fast and stress-free.
- Avoid using garlic cloves in your brine if you’d like a nice clear brine.
- Use regular white vinegar if you’d like a nice clear brine.
- You can substitute white vinegar or rice wine vinegar for a different flavor.
- Adding a few slices of red onions, beets or beet juice will make your eggs beautifully pink (like the photo above)!
- Feel free to experiment with additional flavors like dill, onion, even jalapeno for some added spice.
