How to Make Pickled Eggs – Easy Recipe

Here’s how to make Pickled Eggs – just store them in the fridge.

 

Pickled Eggs Recipe Backstory

I love our backyard chickens! They add so much to a homestead and they don’t cost a lot to keep. Our chickens help us in lots of ways – we love keeping our chickens busy. And they love to work, fluffing up compost piles and eating weed seeds.

Chickens often stop or slow down the egg laying in the winter time. And let’s face it, chickens deserve a rest just as much as we do. They also expend a lot of energy just trying to stay warm in the cold winters.

New to having chickens in the backyard? Here’s some Chicken Questions and Answers for you to learn before you get your own back yard chickens.

Once Spring starts to come around, chickens start laying again. A lot of this has to do with the hours of light in the day. More daylight hours signal chickens to start laying again. If you’ve got hens, often you will end up with a stockpile of eggs. Chickens lay so well in the spring, it doesn’t take long to get several cartons stacked up.

How to Store Extra Eggs

Eggs will last a long time. And, they don’t need to be refrigerated, although most people do. When we get several cartons full of eggs from our chickens, we start storing them in our cold room. There they will last for months.

I store them in order of when I gather them. So, oldest eggs on the top or at the front of our shelf, and newer eggs behind that. This way, I can be sure we are eating the oldest eggs first.

 

 

I often make deviled eggs or egg salad sandwiches, but there’s a limit to how often we eat these egg dishes. So when we have lots of cartons of eggs to use fresh, we start pickling eggs. We just take the oldest ones we have and pickle them up – Graham loves pickled eggs.

We think there’s nothing better than a pickled egg or two with lunch or as a late afternoon nibble.

Here’s how we make pickled eggs – super easy! And great to have on hand.

 

Pickled Eggs – Ingredients

Here’s what you need to whip up a batch!

• large eggs
• white vinegar
• water
• pickling spice
• cayenne, habanero pepper or red pepper flakes
• garlic ( we use at least 5 cloves in each jar because we love it so much)
• bay leaf

 

Place eggs in a small saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring water to a boil and immediately remove from heat. Cover and let eggs stand in hot water for 10 to 12 minutes.

Remove from hot water, cool and peel.

Pickling Brine Recipe:

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, mix together the vinegar, water and pickling spice. Bring to a boil and mix in the garlic and bay leaf. Remove from heat and let it cool a bit.

Fill a clean quart jar with boiling water, let sit while the eggs are boiling. When ready to put eggs in jar, just dump the water.

Put in your eggs and pour the pickling liquid over the eggs. Then seal and refrigerate 8 to 10 days before serving. 

 

Tips on Making Pickled Eggs

• Here’s the one thing you need to know if you are using really fresh eggs. Don’t. Make sure you are not using really fresh eggs. If you are using farm eggs, leave them in cool place for 2 weeks. Here’s why: the eggs need to be about 2 weeks old.
• Grocery store eggs are never as fresh as those from the chicken farmer, so you can likely use store bought eggs right away.
• Your boiled eggs need to be aged a bit because, if they are too fresh, you can take a bunch of the egg white away when you peel them. They’ll look awful with gouges of white missing. You want them to be pretty and smooth, especially if you want to serve them to guests.
• Pickled eggs take only a few minutes to get ready and put in the fridge. They make for a great quick snack. They’re nutritious, low in saturated fat, filling, have lots of protein and come in their own carrying case 🙂
• Serve them along side some Garlic Pesto on crackers and some smoked canned salmon. You can even have them as a side dish at dinner.
• Pack them for school and work lunches for a quick healthy bite to eat. They are also great to take along when you are hiking or camping.
• Take 30 minutes and get a jar ready. Then, leave them there for a couple of weeks before eating.

 

 

How long does it take Pickled Eggs to be ready to eat?

You have to give the eggs time to sit, so the pickled flavor can get right through and penetrate the eggs. I put the date on the lid, so we know when they were made. Roughly, pickled eggs take 10 days before they are ready to eat.

Do pickled eggs need to be refrigerated?

There is always a debate about whether eggs should always be kept in the fridge – some people leave theirs out on the counter at room temperature. 

We don’t do that – we always store them in the fridge. If we don’t want to eat them really cold, we remove a few, set them on a plate and let them warm up just  a bit.

Here’s the finished product – don’t those pickled eggs and peppers look good?

 

 

If you want to make the flavor milder, you may want to use 1 tbsp pickling spice and skip adding any peppers for your first batch. Go ahead and add dill seed if you like!

You can always spice things up more when you make your second batch, should you want them a bit zingier. You can also add beet juice for beautiful color.

And by the way, here’s an easy way to test an egg for freshness. This is a sure fire way to tell if eggs are still good. This works well if you should ever find a clutch of eggs your hens have been hiding!

 

How Long do Pickled Eggs Last?

Once opened, food that has been pickled generally lasts for months if kept in the fridge. Pickled eggs can last up to 4 months, provided they are kept in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Their long life makes them one of the perfect snacks there is. 

Variations and Serving Suggestions

• You can vary this recipe by using different kinds of peppers, using mustard seeds or adding some small pearl onions.
• The only thing you should not change is the ratio for the vinegar and water. Sometimes we add jalapeno peppers or habanero peppers….or both! Make these spicy pickled eggs with any spice you like.
• Graham loves eating the peppers and I love eating the garlic cloves!
• Since we grow all kinds of peppers in our Greenhouse, we usually have several varieties of peppers to choose from! We grow cayenne, jalapeno, habanero along with different kinds of sweet bell peppers.

 

Make pickled eggs and enjoy as a healthy snack!

Our entire Country Living in a Cariboo Valley Recipe Collection can be found here, but here are some highlights!

1. If you like beets, here’s a recipe for pickled beets that is sure to please.
2. Lentil Soup with Ham is a delicious and hearty soup recipe.
3. Another great snack is Paprika Kale Chips; so easy and tasty!
4. Making Homemade Lemonade is a great way to stay cool and refreshed in the warmer months.

 

Pickled Eggs Recipe

If you enjoy this guide on how to make pickles eggs, please be sure to rate it 5 stars below! And print this off or save it to your Recipes folder!

Pickled Eggs

Yield: 12 servings

Prep Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

This Pickled Eggs recipe makes a dozen to keep in the fridge. Great with a beer for an afternoon snack. Healthy and tasty; add peppers and garlic if you like.

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Ingredients

• 12 extra large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups white vinegar
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 2 tablespoons pickling spice
• 1 cayenne or habanero pepper
• 1 clove garlic, crushed ( we use at least 5 cloves in each jar because we love it so much)
• bay leaf

Instructions

1. Place eggs in a small saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring water to a boil and immediately remove from heat. Cover and let eggs stand in hot water for 10 to 12 minutes.
2. Remove from hot water, cool and peel.
3. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, mix together the vinegar, water and pickling spice. Bring to a boil and mix in the garlic and bay leaf. Remove from heat.
4. Fill a clean quart mason jar with boiling water, let sit while the eggs are boiling. When ready to put eggs in jar, just dump the water.
5. Put in your eggs and pour the hot liquid over the eggs then seal and refrigerate 8 to 10 days before serving.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1 Servings
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 79Total Fat: 5gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 186mgSodium: 73mgCarbohydrates: 1gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 6g

First Published January 2017; Updated March 2021

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