How to Make Dyed Easter Eggs
Colored Easter eggs are a popular Easter tradition in which raw or boiled eggs are dropped in colored food dyes. But, did you know that it takes only 10 minutes and 2 ingredients to make dyed Easter eggs?

In many cultures, Eater eggs have been used as the symbol of life and rebirth. For Christianity, it meant the resurrection of Christ. The hard shell represented the tomb and the new life starting from within it. Traditionally, eggs were used to celebrate new life and fertility or the arrival of spring.
Every year, our family tradition is ‘an egg hunt’. Of course, I hid the colored eggs all over the house and the kids have to find them. My Aadi was a real champ so he needed more eggs to keep him busy.
Why make colored eggs?
- Who doesn’t love colored Easter eggs? Kids’ favorite, right?
- It takes only 12 minutes to boil the eggs and it takes only 10 minutes to dye them.
- And leftover Easter eggs can be used to make deviled eggs.
- If you planning on an egg hunt make sure to use boiled eggs. But, if you are planning to use them for the Italian Easter bread best to use dyed raw eggs.

Ingredients and substitutes
- Eggs – Depending on the purpose of use, you can use both raw or boiled eggs. I used raw eggs when I am making my popular Italian Easter bread. But, boiled eggs are used when you want to serve the eggs for Easter breakfast.
- Vinegar – I used apple cider vinegar today but any vinegar works.
- Colors – I used food color gels but you can use any color as long as they are food safe.

How to color Easter eggs
- If using boiled eggs – Place the eggs in a saucepan with water and bring them to a boil. Then, reduce the heat and leave to simmer for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the saucepan and leave to cool.
Classic Easter eggs
- Prepare the dye – In a paper cup, add 1 tsp of food color with 1 tsp of vinegar. Combine well. Then, top with water.
- Dye the eggs – Drop an egg in the dye and leave for 5 to 10 minutes depending on how dark you want the color.
Pro tip – I used 6 paper cups with dyes and made two eggs in each, one after the other. - Dry – Using a spoon take the egg out and place it on the paper towel to dry.

Speckled Easter eggs
- Color – On a small plate, add 1 tsp of brown food color with 1 tsp of water. Dip the bristles of a clean unused toothbrush in the color and dab excess.
- Speckle – Once the colored eggs are dry, flick the paint off the toothbrush with your finger so it splashed on the eggs. This splashed color on the eggs gives them a speckled look.
Two-tone Easter eggs
- Rubber band – Wrap each egg with a rubber band before you drop them into the food color. Once dried, take the rubber band out.
- Two colors – Dye the eggs with the classic method and leave them to dry. Then, wrap a rubber band around each and drop it into the second color. Remove the rubber band to reveal the first color.

Decorations.
- Eggs can be decorated in a number of different ways – with stickers, glitter, and markers.

More Easter recipes
- Italian Easter Bread or Hot Cross Buns
- How to make a Gum Paste Easter Bunnies
- Easter bunny butt cupcakes
- Bunny ears cupcakes or Easter carrot cupcakes
- Frosted bunny sugar cookies or frosted Easter chic cookies
- Marbled or speckled Easter egg cookies
- Easter egg sandwich cookies
Tips for Success
- Use white-colored eggs because they dye colors more evenly vibrantly than brown eggs.
- If you plan to boil the eggs, use room-temperature eggs. This prevents the egg shells from cracking in the boiling water.
- Also, use disposable paper cups to make the food dye colors. This way you can throw the paper cups for easy cleanup.
- And, do not use metal containers to dye eggs because the acid in the vinegar can react with the metal causing it to oxidize.
- Try different types of designs every year to keep things interesting – I do the classic but sometimes try the speckled or two-tone method with the kids.
- Also, the longer you soak the eggs the deeper the color. I like to keep them for 5 to 10 minutes. 5 for the darker colors such as red and green but 7 to 10 minutes for lighter colors such as yellow or blue.
- When making two-tone colors – keep complimenting colors in mind. Try contrasting colors such as green and red instead of yellow and green.
- Leave the eggs to dry before you handle them. Otherwise, the fingerprints can cause smudges and smearing.

These eggs will keep at room temperature for 2 days. But, you can keep boiled eggs in the fridge for up to a week.
It really depends on what you are going to use the eggs for. To use in bread, I prefer to use raw eggs because they bake beautifully with the bread. But to serve them for breakfast I use boiled eggs to dye. Also, if I use eggs to display on the table, I use raw eggs so I can use them later in other recipes.
How to Dye Easter Eggs
Print Pin Rate Share by Email Share on FB Save GrowDescription
Video
Ingredients
- 12 large Eggs (raw or boiled)
- 12 Food coloring (food safe colors)
- 12 tsp Vinegar
Instructions
How to make boiled eggs
- Place the eggs in a saucepan with water and bring them to a boil. Then, reduce the heat and leave to simmer for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the saucepan and leave to cool.
Classic Easter Eggs
- Prepare the dye – In a paper cup, add 1 tsp of food color with 1 tsp of vinegar. Combine well. Then, top with water.12 Food coloring, 12 tsp Vinegar
- Dye the eggs – Drop an egg in the dye and leave for 5 to 10 minutes depending on how dark you want the color. Pro tip – I used 6 paper cups with dyes and made two eggs in each, one after the other.12 large Eggs
- Dry – Using a spoon take the egg out and place it on the paper towel to dry.
Speckled Easter Eggs
- Color – On a small plate, add 1 tsp of brown food color with 1 tsp of water. Dip the bristles of a clean unused toothbrush in the color and dab excess.
- Speckle – Once the colored eggs are dry, flick the paint off the toothbrush with your finger so it splashed on the eggs. This splashed color on the eggs gives them a speckled look.
Two-tone Easter eggs
- Rubber band – wrap each egg with a rubber band before you drop them into the food color. Once dried, take the rubber band out.
- Two colors – Dye the eggs with the classic method and leave them to dry. Then, wrap a rubber band around each and drop it into the second color. Remove the rubber band to reveal the first color.
Decorations.
- Eggs can be decorated in a number of different ways – with stickers, glitter, markers.
Recipe Notes & Tips
- Use white-colored eggs because they dye colors more evenly vibrantly than brown eggs.
- If you plan to boil the eggs, use room-temperature eggs. This prevents the egg shells from cracking in the boiling water.
- Use disposable paper cups to make the food dye colors. This way you can throw the paper cups for easy cleanup.
- Do not use metal containers to dye eggs because the acid in the vinegar can react with the metal causing it to oxidize.
- Try different types of designs every year to keep things interesting – I do the classic but sometimes try the speckled or two-tone method with the kids.
- The longer you soak the eggs the deeper the color. I like to keep them for 5 to 10 minutes. 5 for the darker colors such as red and green but 7 to 10 minutes for lighter colors such as yellow or blue.
- When making two-tone colors – keep complimenting colors in mind. Try contrasting colors such as green and red instead of yellow and green.
- Leave the eggs to dry before you handle them otherwise the fingerprints can cause smudges and smearing.
Conversions Used
1 lb = 453 grams, 1 cup = 240 ml, 1 stick = 113g, 1 tbsp= 15 ml, 1 tsp= 5 ml,
Nutrition Information
The nutrition information and metric conversion are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee its accuracy. If this data is important to you please verify with your trusted nutrition calculator. Thank you
Did you enjoy this recipe? Please ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ it.
Save it for later.
You can also find a collection of my recipes and tutorials here on Pinterest. Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
And, don’t forget to subscribe to my blog to receive new recipes by email.
