Learn how to make them at home with this easy step-by-step guide. Impress your friends and family with your homemade pickled eggs! They are so easy to make. Heat the liquid mixture, pour over hard-boiled eggs, cover, and refrigerate for the most flavorful pickled eggs you have ever had.
Enjoy them for a quick high-protein snack, in your favorite egg salad recipe, or on top of a fresh garden salad. They are very easy, and no canning knowledge is required. We love everything pickled around here. Have you tried pickled jalapenos or pickled red onions?
Ingredients Needed
See the complete list of ingredients below on the recipe card.
- Eggs: I like to use the large ones, but you can pickle any size eggs
- Vinegar: I like to use a combination of white and apple cider vinegar
- Pickling spices: McCormick makes a pretty good pickling spice
- Other spices: Dried dill seed, coarse salt, black peppercorns, and sprigs of fresh dill
- Onion: Preferably sweet yellow or Vidalia. Both add sweetness and texture
- Garlic: Fresh, of course
How to Make Pickled Eggs
This is a summary version; for the complete list of ingredients and instructions, please refer to the recipe card below.
- Hard-boil a dozen eggs, peel them, and place them in a mason jar or taller bowl.
- Add the vinegar, water, pickling spices, dill seed, salt, black peppercorns, and onions to a saucepan and bring it to a boil.
- Simmer the brine for a few minutes and then pour it over the eggs. Seal and refrigerate. Let them rest for 3-4 days before enjoying.
Preparation Tips
- For whiter eggs, remove most of the cloves from the pickling spice.
- Pickled eggs are best enjoyed after several days in the pickling solution; however, I have enjoyed them after twenty-four hours. The longer the eggs stay in the brine, the stronger the pickle taste.
- Store the pickled eggs in an airtight container in the fridge. They should be refrigerated and below the brine solution at all times. They will last up to 3 months when properly stored.
Steam The Eggs For Easy Peeling
I have never had trouble peeling steamed eggs. Fill a large saucepan with enough water to reach the bottom of a steamer basket. Bring it to a boil and carefully add the eggs to the steamer basket using a long-handled spoon or tongs.
Cover the pot and steam for 12-15 minutes. A single layer of medium eggs will require less time, while a double layer of large eggs will require the most time. Remove eggs to ice-cold water to stop the cooking process, or run cold water directly into the pan for several minutes to cool them quickly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, they must be refrigerated to avoid bacterial growth. Please keep them below the brine solution at all times.
Store the pickled eggs in an airtight container in the fridge. They should be refrigerated and below the brine solution at all times. They will last up to 3 months when properly stored.
More Egg Recipes
Pickled Eggs
Ingredients
- 12 large eggs hard boiled and peeled
- 2 cups white vinegar
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup water
- 2 tablespoons pickling spices
- 1 teaspoon dill seed
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt
- 10 black peppercorns
- 1 sweet onion thinly sliced
- 3 sprigs fresh dill
- 2 garlic cloves
Instructions
- Place the peeled eggs in mason jars or a tall coverable container.
- Add both kinds of vinegar, water, pickling spices, dill seed, salt, black peppercorns, and onions in a saucepan and bring to a low boil. Simmer for 5 minutes. Pour the hot liquid over the eggs.
- Put the garlic and dill sprigs in the jar with the eggs. Close the jars, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate for 3-4 days before enjoying!
Notes
- Store the pickled eggs in an airtight container in the fridge. They should be refrigerated and below the brine solution at all times.
- They last up to 3 months when properly stored.
Nutrition
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https://www.smalltownwoman.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Beth-1.pdf
Dannii
I love eggs, and I love pickles. But I have never tried these before. I am going to give them a go.
Katie
Looks so delicious! Can’t wait to try this one. I know my family would love it!
Tara
Oh yum! I have always been a bit scared of canning, so I am glad the eggs can be prepared and stored in the refrigerator. The flavors sound amazing!
Emily Liao
This was my first time making pickled eggs and boy were they delicious! Loved how flavorful these were.
Angela
Great recipe. So easy to make!
Debbie
What can I substitute for the rice vinegar?
Beth Pierce
What about apple cider vinegar? or champagne vinegar?
Connie
I have pickled eggs for years.. My great aunt gave her way of making them. We use leftover pickle juice from pickles. I use the same procedure as you do . I then store jar in fridge. Yummy.
Beth Pierce
Thanks for the tip Connie!!
Katie
This looks like something my family would love! Can’t wait to try it.
Meagen
My husband LOVES pickled eggs. These were a big hit in our house and I’m sure we will be making more again soon!
Connie
I knew an old man who made pickled egg in a big pickles jar with the pickle juice from the pickles that use to be in the jar but he did add some vinigar then many spices,lots of garlic cloves and some onions too and he never put them in a fridge, they lasted a long time on a shelf and never spoiled. So far all the pickled recipes ive looked at on the internet never use the left over pickles juice nor leave them on the shelf outside of a fridge.My mom did something similar but used a lot of beet juice too.
Beth Pierce
Interesting. I am a little more leery about leaving food out like that.
alon
when i was a kid in the 1980s, Id get pickled eggs and pickled pigs feet at 7-11, on the front counter with NO frig in giant glass jars. I found this ladies story interesting. I pasted it below:
I know this is not a SCIENTIFIC test with control groups and such, but I will share my thoughts on this matter and how I’ve been pickling my fresh egg surplus for over 25 years with absolutely no ill effects, or refrigeration.
I may add that my 4 children were raised eating these eggs, even in the hot Southern summers, and they are all very much alive with children of their own… and for me, that’s proof enough of my method…okay, my deceased wife’s method… and no she did not die of food poisoning.
After the obvious hard boiling and peeling of the eggs, ensuring that the egg didn’t get marred or damaged, I put them into sterilized mason jars, with sliced jalapeno, chili or habanero pepper rings.
I then boil about 2 cups of pure white vinegar with a 1/4 cup of pickling salt and one 500 mg, generic white vitamin C tablet until all solids are dissolved.
I then pour it right up to the top leaving no air space, so that when the lid and ring are put on and tightened, the excess is forced out. As the jars come to room temp, the lids will emit a “POP” when the suck inward. If no “POP” is heard and the lid does not get sucked in, those jars go in the fridge, the others go in my pantry… That’s it.
I have never had a jar fail, however, there would be a simple way to know if it did and you have bacterial growth, the liquid will cloud up badly, the lid will swell and in drastic contamination, will leak… but that has never happened.
Remember this, from a chemistry standpoint, bacteria is more likely to grow in sugary environments, and there is little to no sugar in my method, plus the capsasin in the peppers is highly acidic, as is the ascorbic acid in the Vit C.