Dyeing Easter eggs naturally: Colorful eggs with herbs, shells and vegetables

Colorful eggs belong to the Easter season, like the Easter bunny. If you don't fancy artificial dyes, you can dye your Easter eggs naturally. Nature has herbs such as parsley, onion peel or hibiscus ready for this. That's what you need to know about it!

Every year anew the message: coloring Easter eggs is dangerous to health. The ready-mixed colors often contain harmful substances and many artificial substances.

This can be seen from the fact that the colors often stain not only the shell, but also the albumen.

We absorb the color into our bodies by eating Easter eggs. And that is anything but healthy. Many allergies are said to be due to the artificial dyes.

Yet dyeing Easter eggs naturally is so simple. Nature offers us everything we need to bring color into the Easter days.

Very many plants, teas, herbs and vegetables help to give a colorful shell to chicken and quail eggs.

They are then not as bright and intense as those with purchased colors, but much more natural. You will be surprised how beautiful colors are possible!

Today I want to show you that you don't have to buy egg dyes, and how to go about dyeing with natural products.

What do I need to consider if I want to dye Easter eggs naturally?

There are a few tips and tricks you should follow if you want your eggs to turn out beautiful. Good to know: Many vegetable dyes can color very intensely, while others only provide pale colors. This is perfectly normal and makes the eggs really beautiful individual.

Vinegar for better adhesion

To make the color last on the eggshell, you should always clean the eggs thoroughly with vinegar water. There are three ways to do this. Either you add a dash of vinegar to the coloring water, you rub the eggs with a mixture of water and vinegar beforehand, or you add the vinegar to the cooking water.

I recommend you to choose the second variant - to clean the eggs with vinegar water before cooking. For this you need half a liter of lukewarm water and 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar. Mix the two ingredients well and wring a kitchen towel in it.

Now you wipe the eggs piece by piece. After that they are cooked.

Tips for more beautiful colors

• Alum makes natural colors more intense
• Iron nail or iron salt darkens the color (especially green and yellow)
• Vinegar lightens colors - therefore do not put it directly into the paint
• Potash enhances the color

I dyed the eggs in the photos without any tools. Next time I will try it with the red and green tones. Because they have become very pale.

Eggshell color

When buying eggs, I make sure that the eggs are from free-range chickens. The shells are usually thicker here. This reduces the likelihood that the eggs will crack during cooking. If that still happens, it's nothing to worry about - you can just eat natural colors.

The situation is different with artificially colored eggs. Here, many experts even advise against consumption or recommend only taking small amounts.

Whether you should opt for white or brown-shelled eggs depends on the color you want to give the eggs.

For dark eggs turmeric, onion and hibiscus are particularly suitable. For light colors like Easter eggs with parsley or beet, white-shelled eggs are more suitable.

Intense colors thanks to long infusion time

You have two options. You can bathe the boiled eggs in the color broth or you can provide even more color by bathing the eggs in the color water.

I did it this way this time:

1. Boil eggs
2. Then put a few in the lukewarm broth

The advantage is that you need less herbs and food for dyeing.

The disadvantage: this method is suitable only if you dye a few eggs. So about 5 pieces of each color.

The eggs remain in the brew for half an hour to 4 hours, depending on the desired color. Also longer if you wish. You can take the eggs out of the color bath with a spoon and see if they already have the desired color.

If not: return to the dye bath.

If you want to dye Easter eggs naturally on a large scale, you should cook them immediately with the shells, herbs and co. For the eye, you should not cook eggs too long, the yolk then turns green. What that means and how you prevent it, you read here: "Why is the yolk of the boiled eggs green?“

How long do the eggs need to be placed in the brew?

If you want really intense colors, you can use this table as a guide.

Dye	Amount for 1 liter of water	Soaking time	Cooking time
Fresh plants and vegetables	250 gram	2 hours	30-40 minutes
Leaves, flowers and berries	30-50 gram	2 hours	30-60 minutes
Powder	2-3 teaspoons	30 minutes	30 minutes
Tea and coffee	20-30 gram		20-30 minutes

The values in the table are only guide values. They depend, of course, on many other factors.

What utensils do I need for naturally colored Easter eggs?

Are you ready to get started? Then get the eggs out of the fridge. There are a few little things you need to get ready before we can really get started. These include:

• Pot: It is best not to use a new pot. Paint residues could remain.
• Cooking spoon and normal spoon: Here too - better to take an old one than a brand new one.
• Smoothie maker: Some herbs and foods color better if you puree them. It will also give the eggs a nice marbling. The smoothie maker is not mandatory.
• Glass: You can put the eggs in it later. Especially blue cabbage and turmeric stain strongly. So do not use your favorite glass. Important: The egg must be completely covered with the liquid!
• Paper towel: To unroll the eggs when they come out of the dye bath.
• Egg carton: In it you store the naturally colored Easter eggs

If you do not want to have color on your fingers or nails, it is best to put on gloves. This is especially true for dyeing with turmeric!

So you get a beautiful pattern on Easter eggs with herbs!

Which ingredient gives which color?

Shade	Dye
Green	Parsley, spinach, nettle, matcha tea
Blue, Violet, Purple	Red cabbage, blackberries, wild blueberries, currants, hibiscus
Yellow, Orange	Turmeric, curry, saffron, safflower, carrot
Red, Pink	Raspberries, beet, mallow
Brown	Onion peel (red-brown), coffee powder
Black, Dark brown	Activated carbon*, black tea

And now I'll tell you how I went about coloring and what I might do a little differently next time.

Dye eggs green with spinach, nettle and parsley

For green eggs I have started two experiments. Attempt 1 with fresh nettles and attempt 2 with parsley and spinach. A strong green the Easter eggs have not taken.

But a nice light green for it - so I recommend you choose white eggs for dyeing greens.

Here's how:

• Boil two handfuls of fresh nettles with 200 ml of tap water.
• Stir firmly and then leave to infuse for half an hour.
• Important: Do not forget the lid!

If you like, you can put the cooked nettles in the smoothie maker and puree them. Then even more colorants are released.

Pour the paste into a jar and place the boiled egg in it. I let the naturally colored green eggs steep for 2 hours each.

Light blue Easter eggs with red cabbage

If you like pastel colors as much as we do, you'll love these blue Easter eggs. They turn out beautifully light blue-purple. Therefore, use eggs with white or light shell.

Here's how:

• Chop a handful of red cabbage.
• Boil it with 200 ml of tap water to dissolve the color.
• Keep stirring to get the colorings out of the red cabbage.

To dye eggs with red cabbage, you don't need a smoothie maker. After all, cabbage is very color-intensive.

Strain the cabbage and pour the purple liquid into a jar. Put the eggs in it for 2 hours.

Tip: you can fry the cooked cabbage with a little onion and pour apple juice, add cumin and salt, and you have a delicious meal.

Dyeing purple Easter eggs with natural ingredients

You can also make it light purple with a berry mix. Get a frozen berry mix with blueberries, currants, raspberries and blackberries at the store. It makes the Easter egg light purple in a very natural way.

You can sort out the berries. For darker colors provide wild blueberries, currants and blackberries. You are welcome to use dark-shelled eggs for this.

Raspberries provide a light pink hue - here you should reach for white eggs.

Here's how:

• Grab two handfuls of berries (about 100 grams) and add a little water.
• The berries themselves also still lose liquid. The more fruits, the more intense the color.
• Bring the water-berry mix to a boil briefly and pour the dark red liquid into a glass.

You can leave the berries in the dyeing liquid or remove them. If you leave them in the dyeing liquid, the eggs may get a pattern.

Put the Easter egg in it for at least 2 hours. Done.

The good thing about it: The boiled berries you can stir into the yogurt. Tastes super fruity :)

Naturally colored Easter eggs with red cabbage, parsley, beet and Activated carbon* (from left to right).

Strong dark blue with hibiscus flowers

Dried hibiscus flowers dye Easter eggs dark blue to dark purple. You can order the flowers online in larger quantities and buy them relatively cheap.

Here's how:

• Boil 4 tablespoons of hibiscus flowers in 200 ml of water.
• When the water boils, cover the pot and let the broth stand for half an hour.
• Then boil again and pour into a glass.

Now you put the egg in it. The longer it lies in it, the more intense the color. From a light purple tone to a deep blue-violet, everything is possible. The third egg in the next photo has been in the color broth for about 5 hours.

Mmhh delicious: egg spread with cream cheese!

Dye black Easter eggs

If you want to get fancy, you can dye black Easter eggs naturally. Suitable for this Activated carbon* and black tea. Both light and dark eggshells take the color very well.

Dye eggs with activated carbon

Good to know: Activated carbon* dyes very black, but does not adhere so well to the shell. This means that the eggs stain easily.

• Add one heaped tsp. Activated carbon* in 200 ml lukewarm water.
• Stir until all lumps are dissolved.
• You don't have to boil the water, it's enough if it's lukewarm.

Now you put the egg in it. After only half an hour, it will be nicely colored black. Attention: It stains! Your fingers could turn black.

Black tea for Easter eggs

Rather than pure black, chicken eggs become brown-black when dyed with black tea. Depending on the amount, the color can go from a light shade of gray to a shade of brown and finally to a light black.

The hue also depends very much on the quality of the tea! I have tried it with two teas and with the same amount of tea, very different shades obtained.

Tip: Loose black tea colors more intensively than tea powder in a bag!

• Boil 3 tablespoons of black tea with 200 ml of water.
• Let the brew stand for at least half an hour.
• Pour off the tea leaves

Place the eggs in the color solution for at least 2 hours. Use light and dark eggs to get different color shades.

Dye yellow Easter eggs

Easter eggs turn a light golden yellow when dyed with turmeric.

In the photo, the top egg is dyed with turmeric. Below left saffron brings color into play. And the bright orange egg was pickled in carrot broth.

I recommend using very light-shelled eggs for this. Except for safflower - it is so intense, you are welcome to use darker eggs.

Turmeric eggs

• Stir a heaping tsp of turmeric powder into lukewarm water.
• Alternatively, it also works with curry powder.
• Now, place the egg that is to become a naturally colored Easter egg in it.
• My Easter egg pulled in the color broth for 2 hours.

Vivid yellow with saffron or safflower

If you want a nice strong and bright yellow, you should reach for saffron powder. Small catch: Saffron is expensive! The cheap alternative is safflower, which has not for nothing the name "false saffron".

• Boil 1 tablespoon of saffron or safflower in 200 ml of water.
• Let the brew stand for at least 3 hours - even overnight.
• Boil the broth again later and drain the flowers.

Put the eggs in the yellow broth. The egg in the photo took only half an hour to get this beautiful bright yellow.

Light orange Easter eggs dye naturally

Very slightly orange eggs become when you dye them with carrots. For this you absolutely need white eggshells. You can also use old carrots, which are already shriveled and no longer taste so good.

You'll need three carrots for a pale orange shade.

• Either peel five carrots and chop them with a knife, or put them, including the peel, in a food processor and puree them.
• Who has a powerful food processor* saves a lot of time!
• Boil the carrots and the peels with 400 ml of water.
• If you don't have a food processor, make the carrots with a Blender* to mush.
• Put the pulp in a kitchen towel and press it through. Now you have a nice orange water that you can use for dyeing.

Put the eggs in it for at least 2 hours. They get a light orange tint.

Dye brown to red-brown Easter eggs

Eggs get a nice strong red-brown when the shell is dyed with onions. If you like, you can also use coffee powder to dye Easter eggs naturally - they get a shade like chocolate pudding from the coffee.

Dye with onion skins

• Stir two handfuls of red onion peel into 200 ml of water.
• Bring the broth to a boil.
• Then let it steep for half an hour.

Place the Easter egg in it. The longer the egg lies in it, the browner the color becomes.

Dye eggs with coffee

Coffee colors best when combined with onion skins. Especially beautiful will be the Easter eggs with this mixture:

• Boil 100 g of coffee grounds in 1 liter of water.
• Add 1 handful of brown onion skins to the cooking pot.
• Let the brew steep for an hour before straining.

Place the eggs in the brown color broth. Let them rest in it for about two hours before removing them.

Pink Easter eggs dye naturally

If you like pink, you should try it with beet or raspberries. The eggs get a light pink tint. For eggs with a dark shell, unfortunately, this does not work, you must necessarily take white eggs.

Dyeing with beet

I bought a ready-made beetroot salad in a jar and pureed the contents in a smoothie maker.

In it I put the egg for 2 hours. The eggs became very pale red.

Therefore, I started a second attempt with beetroot powder, but it was even less successful. Both times the naturally colored Easter eggs became light pink with red spots. But it also looks interesting.

Next time I will try it with mallow, the eggs should get a stronger hue. Let's see what happens to the eggshell - I'll report as soon as I've tried it!

Our conclusion

Those who rely on Easter eggs dye naturally, do not get such intense and bright colors. But in return they are natural and edible. If an egg cracks, it is not so bad.

In addition, nature always has new shades ready to be discovered.

Good luck and have fun!

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