How to Make Hard Boiled Eggs — Want to know how to make perfect hard boiled eggs every single time? In this post, I’m breaking down the BEST way to make hard boiled eggs.
The BEST Hard Boiled Eggs
The hardest part of any recipe that involves hard boiled eggs is properly hard boiling them. Too little time in hot water and the yolks are runny, too long and the yolks turn gray-green from the sulfur.
But although cooking hard boiled eggs perfectly takes time to master, the overall process is incredibly simple. To make these easy hard boiled eggs, all you need are eggs, water, ice, and a little patience.
In this post, I’ve included step-by-step instructions on how to make perfect hard boiled eggs every single time, plus the exact hard boiled eggs cook time you’ll want to use as well as my top tips for making the best hard boiled eggs.
Read through all the tips in this post before making your own batch of hard boiled eggs. You’ll be glad you did!
How to Make Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs
Use a high-sided pan, place eggs into pan without crowding them, and cover with 1 to 2 inches of cold water. Bring the water to a rolling boil, not just some bubbles, which happen for a few minutes before the rolling boil begins.
After the water is really boiling, cover the pan, turn off the heat, place pan on an alternate burner, and wait.
While waiting for the hard boiled eggs to cook through, prepare an ice bath (large bowl, water, ice cubes).
Add eggs to the ice bath, wait 5 to 10 minutes, rap the wider or base end of each egg against the bottom of your sink. What you’re trying to do is pop the air bubble at the base of the egg. If you can pop it and get under the skin (membrane) you can sometimes peel off large sections of the shell at once. Score.
How Long Do You Boil Hard Boiled Eggs?
For my eggs, my pan, and my preferences, I prefer a hard boiled eggs cook time of 11 to 12 minutes, but experiment based on what works best for you. A 13- to 14-minute egg is still ‘fine’ in the sense that the yolks don’t go green on me, but they’re very dry, crumbly, and not my jam.
Can I Make a Larger Batch of Hard Boiled Eggs?
Yes, and as long as you follow the exact instructions in the recipe card below your hard boiled eggs should turn out fine. Just be sure your pot is large enough so your eggs aren’t overcrowded.
How Long Do Hard Boiled Eggs Last?
I store my peeled, hard boiled eggs in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
My Favorite Hard Boiled Egg Recipes
Now that you know how to make perfect hard boiled eggs, you can enjoy them so many different ways! Here are a few of my favorite recipes that use hard boiled eggs:
- Avocado Deviled Eggs
- Mediterranean Cobb Salad
- Healthy Egg Salad
- Healthy Mexican Breakfast Bowl (I made fried eggs for this batch, but hard boiled eggs would work too!)
Tips for Making the Best Hard Boiled Eggs
My tips for the best hard boiled eggs are as follows:
Use week-old eggs. Older eggs have lower acidity and will be easier to peel. I don’t use organic, farm fresh, or brown eggs. I use cheap, white, grocery store eggs. I typically get my eggs from Trader Joe’s, $1.99 for a dozen.
Don’t skip the ice bath. I know the ice bath seems like an unnecessary extra step, but do NOT skip this step! If you don’t immediately submerge the hard boiled eggs in an ice bath, the yolks will continue cooking on the inside and you’ll wind up with overcooked eggs.
Peel the eggs under cold running water. Sometimes they peel easier than others and there’s no rhyme or reason to it. I boil a couple extra eggs than necessary as insurance just in case I have a stubborn one. While I’ve heard adding baking soda and vinegar to the water can help make peeling easier, neither method has been foolproof for me so I skip it.
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How to Make Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs
Ingredients
- 6 large eggs
- water
- ice cubes
Instructions
- Place week-old eggs in a high-sided pan and cover with cold water by 1 to 2 inches. Use a large enough pan so eggs are not crowded.
- Bring water to a rolling boil, not just lightly bubbling.
- After water is really boiling, cover the pan, turn off the heat, place pan on an alternate burner, and wait 10 to 12 minutes. While waiting, prepare an ice bath (large bowl, water, ice cubes).
- Place the eggs into ice bath and wait about 5 to 10 minutes before peeling. Rap the wider or base end of each egg against the bottom of your sink, and peel under cold running water.
Notes
- I store my hard boiled eggs in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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