How to make pickled eggs (2023)

Marinated eggs are a real delicacy and a perfectly spicy, salty snack. Just pour the aromatic sauce over hard-boiled eggs and put them in the fridge, no need for preserves.

I admit I was quite skeptical about pickled eggs. Isn't it just some nasty pub food like prairie "oysters" that only people too drunk to know better eat?

Of course, that changed when I ate my first pickled egg.

Once my husband took me on a dateone of the best craft beer bars in the Northeast. It was a real treat and the beer was excellent, but they had no kitchen, just a selection of cheeses and pickles as starters. My husband ordered a pickled egg and I honestly stared at him in horror. Do you really want to eat it?

They brought a small plate with a boiled egg cut in half. Drizzled with olive oil and decorated with a small totmicro greenand I will be grateful to them, they made it really beautiful. I wasn't convinced until I saw a look of pure joy appear on his face after the first bite.

Now I had to find out... I took a hesitant bite into a pickled egg... and was absolutely delighted.

Where boiled eggs are bland and plain, pickled eggs are completely different. Vinegar revives them, and brine is the perfect way to decorate an unremarkable egg. Add a little sweetness to balance the vinegar and you have the recipe for the perfect little flavor bomb.

Ten years later, I'm still experimenting with pickled egg recipes and finding new ways to add great flavor to our spring egg range. In all that time, I have yet to eat a "bad" pickled egg, simply because it's hard to mess up.

Start with a simple stock and add the spices that suit you. It's hard to go wrong...

Easy to peel hard-boiled eggs

The hardest part of cooking pickled eggs is peeling the hard-boiled eggs.

Everyone seems to have their own secret technique. I tried many of them and none of them really helped. And that was until I read onearticle from the New York Timeswhere all these folk methods were tried. A few tricks made all the difference...but one method produced perfectly cooked, hard-boiled eggs that peel easily.

Isteamed egg techniqueit starts by boiling water in a pot and then lowering the steaming basket full of eggs so that it is directly on top of the already boiling water. They recommend steaming for 11 minutes for a barely cooked yolk, but 12 minutes is the perfect pickled egg in my opinion.

Production in our backyard herd exceeds every spring and yet it happensThere are dozens of ways to preserve eggs, there is still an absurd amount left for the marinade. So much so that I really investedlarge steam baskets in stainless steelwhich they use in ChinatownDomowa Gyoza.

Arranged on three levels in a large pan, they are great for steaming large batches of hard-boiled eggs for pickled eggs.

When the eggs are cold, the kids and I go to work and peel them. Believe it or not, this is really great for a toddler's fine motor skills.

With practice, my 2 and 4 year old can peel dozens of eggs without the spout. Their little hands love solving puzzles and even compete with each other to peel the perfect egg the fastest.

If you have a reliable method that works for you, stick with it. If not, try 12 minutes of steaming and you'll be surprised how easy it is to peel eggs.

stock for pickled eggs

Cooking for pickled eggs is relatively flexible and you can adjust the total amount of vinegar, salt and sugar to your taste.

For one quart of 9-10 pickled eggs, you will need about 2 cups of brine, which is usually a mixture of water and white vinegar. Recipes range from 1 cup vinegar and 1 cup water to just 2 cups vinegar (and in between). For pickled eggs, I would suggest not less than half the vinegar, as this is necessary to refrigerate the eggs.

When making milder pickled eggs for my kids, I will stick to a 1:1 vinegar to water ratio. If you really want a more intense pickled egg, increase the amount of vinegar, as I do when I make pickled eggs with sweet bread and butter or pickled eggs with spicy jalapeño.

Salt and sugar are also quite malleable. I find 2 tablespoons of each salt and sugar to my liking in most cases. It's enough salt to season the eggs (without being too salty) and just enough sugar to balance the taste of the vinegar, but without any noticeable sweetness.

Many recipes use a lot more sugar, especially when making pickled eggs with beetroot or pickled eggs with bread and butter. I've included recipes for them, and for the bread and butter version, I use 1/2 cup of sugar per serving. quarter and a vinegar-free brine to balance it out.

As you can see, there are no limits when it comes to brine for pickling eggs, but if you're looking for a basic brine for pickling eggs, try this one:

• 9-10 hard-boiled eggs (for a 1-liter wide-mouth glass)
• 1 cup white vinegar
• 1 glass of water
• 2 tablespoons of salt
• 2 tablespoons of sugar
• a few tablespoons of spices (optional)

Spices for pickled eggs

Once you have the base stock, the spices will be chosen according to your taste. Here you can be creative and add fantastic flavors (and colors) to your finished eggs.

Replacing the water with beetroot juice in the basic pickled egg recipe will add a great color and subtle sweetness that pairs well with the vinaigrette. You can use real beetroot juice from a juicer if you have one, or just the boiling water from small boiled beetroots.

Adding a teaspoon of turmeric also makes bright yellow pickled eggs, and I do that with bread and butter pickled eggs.

Most pickled egg recipes add a tablespoon or two of pre-mixed "pickled spice" to the batch. I make a lot of marinades, but I have never bought a ready-made marinade in my life. This material is on the store shelves all year round, and only turns around during the cucumber season.

Generally, the pickle seasoning includes whole mustard seeds, allspice, coriander and bay leaves. May also contain cinnamon and cloves. These are all great options for homemade pickled eggs.

Other good options include hot sauce, jalapeno peppers, turmeric, horseradish, garlic, onion, dill, and tarragon.

How to make pickled eggs

Now you know that pickled egg recipes are pretty versatile, but how do you make pickled eggs?

It is very easy if you peel hard-boiled eggs.

Start by putting the hard-boiled eggs in the glass. I prefer wide mouth squares and all the pickled egg recipes below are writtenquarts with a wide bore.

A liter jar will comfortably fit 9-10 large eggs. If you really work hard at it, you can fit up to 12 eggs in a jar... but they'll be pressed so tightly against the walls that the brine can't penetrate.

Add liquid ingredients (water/vinegar/juice/etc) to a small saucepan and heat gently. Add sugar and salt, stir until dissolved, then remove from heat.

Add all the remaining dry spices and herbs to the egg jars, then pour the hot stock directly over the eggs. Leave as little clearance as possible, preferably about 1/4 inch.

Close the lid tightly and let the jars cool slightly before putting them in the fridge.

Make sure the eggs can move freely in the glass. Gently shake the glass so that the brine easily reaches the eggs from all sides and so that they are not packed too tightly.

Canned pickled eggs (no!)

I can't pickle eggs. I cannot stress this enough. Pickled eggs are not suitable for canning, no matter how much vinegar and salt you add to the brine.

This is one of the reasons why pickled egg recipes are so different, because there is simply no way to cook them, so acidity and salt depend more on taste than shelf life.

Why can't you pickle eggs?

Canning pickles in a water bath is not really sterilizing. The idea is that the acidic brine will fully permeate all food, which will further prevent nasty diseases like botulism that only thrive in a low acid environment.

Low-acid vegetables, such as cucumber, immediately absorb vinegar and quickly become semi-acidic. The preservation process mainly involves sealing the jar and creating a vacuum in the lid.

Eggs, on the other hand, are particularly dense and necessarylong timeso the acidic vinegar can get into the egg. Sources recommend leaving small to medium-sized eggs in brine for at least 2 weeks until completely soft, and up to 4 weeks for large eggs.

Even so, the acidity of the marinade may never reach the center of the egg.

With all this in mind, it is important to know that preserving pickled eggs is not safe, regardless of the method. Indeed, the world diddied because he ate canned food at home.

Maybe grandma pickled canned eggs all the time and lived to a ripe old age, but that's just luck. For the food to be spoiled, it must contain foodborne pathogens or botulism. Grandma played Russian Roulette every time, and just because she got lucky doesn't mean you will too.

Store pickled eggs in glass in the refrigerator and avoid storing them at room temperature.

How long do you keep pickled eggs?

Since canned pickled eggs are out of the question, are pickled eggs that good for preserving eggs? How long can pickled eggs be kept in the fridge?

Marinated eggs will keep in the fridge for 3-4 months, provided they are immersed in vinegar. This also assumes you use a brine containing at least half vinegar to pickle your eggs.

However, this is only a guide to the shelf life of pickled eggs. Use your best judgment and if in doubt, throw it away.

In the spring, when our ladies produce eggs, we make pickled eggs and we can enjoy them all summer long. It's a nice snack when it's too hot to cook and goes well with fresh vegetables.

Recipes for marinated eggs

I've made dozens of pickled egg recipes over the years and they've all been good. I've included a large selection of my four favorites here, which should suit a variety of tastes.

These pickled egg recipes create a good balance between colors, flavors and the ratio between sweet and sour. (Printable recipe card just below.)

Pickled beetroot eggs

They are especially beautiful because the beet juice colors the outside of the egg and adds a great flavor. The easiest way to make them is to boil a few beetroots, and then you save the boiling water and prepare the marinade from the pickled eggs. Some people choose to add cooked, sliced ​​beets to the jar, and that's delicious too.

Pickled beetroot eggs are especially delicious with warm spices such as cloves, allspice and cinnamon.

Slice them over a salad for color, or serve on a charcuterie platter for contrast.

Marinated eggs with bread and butter

This recipe was based on my favoriterecipe for pickled cucumbers with buttermade from cucumbers.

The layer is very similar and the extra spicy al vinegar glaze is balanced with a little more sugar. Some recipes for marinated eggs in bread and butter contain up to 1 cup of sugar, but in my case this is definitely overkill. I think 1/4 to 1/2 cup will be about right.

Adding a tablespoon of turmeric to jars gives a bright yellow color, as is the case with bread-and-butter pickles.

Dill marinated eggs

old classic,picklesis a favorite of most people, and dill pickled eggs are no less amazing. These are my daughter's favorites, with familiar flavors that she knows and loves.

Most of the "dill" flavor comes from dried fennel seeds, but if you can get a few sprigs of fresh dill, that would be a great addition as well.

Spicy jalapeño pickled eggs

My husband's favorite spicy pickled eggs give pickled eggs a whole new dimension. The layer can be seasoned with almost anything spicy. Hot sauces and red pepper flakes are also a good choice.

I usually add a whole chopped jalapeño to the glass, but you can adjust it to your taste.

Methods of preserving eggs

You are looking for a tastier oneways to preserve eggsAt home?

• Egg yolks with salt
• Marinated quail eggs
• Preservation of eggs in lime water(Lasts more than 12 months)

Production capacity:Quart (9-10 eggs)

Preparation time:20 minutes

cooking time:10 minutes

Total time:30 minutes

Pickled eggs are the perfect salty snack and an easy way to preserve eggs for months.

ingredients

Pickled beetroot eggs

• 9-10 hard-boiled eggs, cleaned
• 1 cup white vinegar
• 1 cup beetroot juice (or beetroot water)
• 1/2 small onion
• 2 tablespoons of sugar
• 2 tablespoons of salt
• 6-8 cloves
• 4-5 berries of any kind
• 1 stick of cinnamon

Marinated eggs with bread and butter

• 9-10 hard-boiled eggs, cleaned
• 2 cups white vinegar
• 1/2 small onion, sliced
• 3-4 cloves of garlic
• 2 tablespoons of salt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 kg of mustard seeds
• 1 tsp celery
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric

Dill marinated eggs

• 9-10 hard-boiled eggs, cleaned
• 1 cup white vinegar
• 1 glass of water
• 1/2 small onion, sliced
• 3-4 cloves of garlic
• 2 tablespoons of sugar
• 2 tablespoons of salt
• 1 kg of mustard seeds
• 1 tsp celery
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• Fresh sprigs of dill (if available)

Spicy jalapeño pickled eggs

• 9-10 hard-boiled eggs, cleaned
• 1 1/2 dl white vinegar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons of salt
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1 or 2 jalapeno peppers, sliced
• 1/2 onion, sliced
• 3-4 cloves of garlic
• 2-4 bay leaves
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 3-4 cloves
• 3-4 berries of any kind

Instructions

1. Place peeled, hard-boiled eggs in a wide 4-quart jar (or use the recipe for a half-pint jar).
2. Put the liquids (water/vinegar etc.) in a small saucepan, add sugar and salt. Heat gently until melted, then remove from heat.
3. Add spices and chopped vegetables (onion/garlic/etc) directly to the jars.
4. Pour the hot stock over the eggs and spices, leaving as little headroom as possible (about 1/4 inch).
5. Close the jars with lids and let them cool slightly before putting them in the fridge.
6. Allow the eggs to marinate for at least 24 hours before eating, preferably around 1-2 weeks for the best flavor.
7. Pickled eggs should last 3-4 months in the fridge.

To note

Date the jars when you prepare your pickled eggs, but if you're in doubt about whether they're good, of course throw them away when in doubt.

There is no safe way to store pickled eggs at home. They must be kept in the refrigerator at all times.

Marinade recipes

Can't get enough pickles? Try again...

• Small pickles
• Dill beans (Dill marinated green beans)
• Sweet pleasure with dill marinade
• pickled golden beets
• Canned peppers
• pickled garlic
• syltede fiddleheads
• Pickled ramps (wild leeks)
• Pickles fermented in milk

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