Natural Marble Easter Eggs
March 29, 2023
Naturally dyed hard-boiled eggs for the kiddos for Easter brunch? No food colouring is involved in these Marble Easter Eggs, making them suitable for the little ones!
Mother nature is one of a kind! She can easily dye eggs without synthetic colouring… which is scary. Especially for your little ones, you would always prioritize the safest possible! So here is the perfect way to make a happy easter brunch with hard-boiled eggs for the whole family! Marble Easter Eggs is based on the famous Chinese ‘Tea egg’ recipe, which breaks the shell of a hard-boiled egg and lets it soak in black tea for a few hours. Although, for this recipe, we’ll substitute the tea for red cabbage, turmeric and beet juice to give us the three typical Easter colours.
Three Magic Ingredients
Well, maybe more than three. I’ll give you a few natural variations to get the same result. Remember that the soaking will give a little flavour to the hard-boiled eggs, so choose depending on your taste and budget.
The Pink
For the pink, you can use a wether lovely ruby red beet juice; sometimes it comes mixed with other fruits, which is no big deal. It will still work. Also, the beets in vinegar juice are suitable for this recipe and will give this nice pickled side to the egg, although way softer than the usual pickled egg. I added some beet vinegar and black currant syrup, which worked wonders. Some people cook the skin of onions which is supposed to turn the egg reddish too.
The Blue
The blue or green colour is made by boiling some red cabbage for 10 minutes. That simple! If you put a lot of it, the colour will get deeper blue; diluting it will turn the egg green. The first few leaves and the core is sufficient to get a decent blue for your eggs! To set a dye correctly, the liquid PH must be on the acid side to set well, so I’ve added a teaspoon of vinegar in each colourant water.
The Yellow
This is done two different ways; I’ve used fresh turmeric and powdered one, and both work wonders. Also, if you cook spinach, keep the water, and it will also colour your eggs yellow.
Technique
Everyone has their perfect technique to get a perfect boiled egg! I mean mine; I simmer them for 10 minutes. Then in a cold bath, and that’s it! But this way, I sometimes overdo them, which results in this blueish colour on the yolk. Some other people like to bring it to a boil and stop the fire, and they have covered it for a good 12-15 minutes. This way, the temperature will never exceed and won’t overcook, but undercooked is more probable. Anyhow, you choose how you prefer; this part is up to you!
Variations
Once cooked and coloured, you could make some cute deviled eggs with it; I did try it using the playdough curve cutter of my kids. Mixing the yolk with some good old mayo and putting the eggs back together. My kids love simple, so they prefer the simple hard-boiled eggs, but if your kids are more adventurous, go ahead and have fun with them. You could even decorate them with two eyes (black sesame seeds) and a peak (carrot triangle) to make a chick.
Other Kid-Friendly Egg Recipes
Ingredients
- 12 eggs
- red cabbage a few leaves and the core (scraps)
- 2 cups red beet juice
- 1 tbsp turmeric powder
- 3 tbsp vinegar cider, white wine vinegar
Instructions
- Boil the red cabbage scraps in 2 cups of water for 10 minutes.
- Mix the turmeric in 2 cups of water.
- Add a tablespoon of white vinegar to each coloured water bowl.
- Cook the eggs in simmering water for 10 minutes.
- With the back of a spoon, crack the hard-boiled eggs gently on all sides.
- Let the cracked eggs soak in the three coloured water, covered, in the fridge for 3 hours or more.
- Peel off the shell gently and serve.
Video
Nutrition
15 Comments
Gloria
Such a cute idea. Love the fact you can actually eat them, and not just look at them. My grandkids will love these.- Sandhya Ramakrishnan
I am always looking for natural ways to color the eggs and these are just perfect! I prefer this natural marble look than the bright colors. - Bernice
I can’t wait to try these natural dyes with my niece this weekend. It’s our first time painting Easter eggs together and I want to try so many different methods. I was looking for natural dye ideas so finding your post was perfect timing. - Sangeetha
This would be a fun activity to do with the whole family, and the end result would make great decorations for Easter!! Plus I love that they’re naturally colored
I really like the subtle color of these marbled eggs. Of course the natural dye is a draw, but the colors are super pleasing.