Natural Easter Egg Dyes

If I didn’t already know Easter was one week away, I would be able to tell by Pinterest.

Lately, my Pinterest feed has been an Easter Explosion.

It’s full little deviled eggs made to look like baby chicks that you might need an art degree and tons of patience to create, Cadbury Egg stuffed cupcakes (… because why wouldn’t you stuff an indulgent dessert with another indulgent dessert?), and more ideas for how to decorate Easter eggs than you can begin to think of.

I have seen glitter covered eggs.

Eggs to look like the Despicable Me minions.

Or, Ninja Turtles.

Or, Super Mario Brother’s characters.

I have even seen, what the pinner called, “Hipster” eggs… complete with mustaches and the saying “Keep Calm and Easter On.”

As silly as these Easter eggs pins seem, there was one that really caught my eye. It was a beautiful shot of pastel eggs that looked like the epitome of spring. The caption said that they were dyed naturally.

I was intrigued.

When working at the school there were a handful of students allergic to food dyes, which I first thought was odd. Then, after a little research, I learned that food dye allergies are relatively prevalent and can cause many issues from eczema to breathing problems. In this research, I also learned that some grocers are making naturally dyed baked goods in order to reach those who suffer from the allergy. I read about an example of how Whole Foods made a little girl’s birthday cupcakes pink by using beets.

Thanks to how pink my hands get when I cook beets, I knew it must work well.

So, I decided to give naturally dyed eggs a go in hopes of the pretty pastel eggs on Pinterest.

But, I didn’t get pastel.

I got these amazing jewel tone eggs.

Here is what I did for each color:

Red/Pink- One medium beet cut in pieces added to four cups boiling water, two tablespoons white vinegar, strain (Note: I was kind of disappointed in the shade of pink I got… I was expecting more. Next time, I would use two beets.)
Orange- Two Tablespoons paprika added to one cup boiling water, one Tablespoon white vinegar
Yellow- Two Tablespoons turmeric added to one cup boiling water, one Tablespoon white vinegar (This dye was the best. So vibrant and strong. Even my hands had a yellow tint 24 hours and two showers later.)
Blue- One quarter red cabbage cut in pieces added to four cups boiling water, two Tablespoons white vinegar, strain
Grey Blue- 1 cup frozen blueberries defrosted in one cup water, One Tablespoon white vinegar
Purple- 1 cup red wine

Hard boil eggs and let cool completely.

Let all dyes come to room temperature before dying.

(I used mainly white eggs. I tried with a couple brown ones, but they don’t get as vibrant.)

Paler shades sat in dye for about ninety minutes. Darker shades were submerged in dye over night.

After removing the eggs from the dye, I put them on a wire rack to dry.

Keep the finished eggs refrigerated and eat within a week. I think egg salad might be for dinner one night this week… 🙂