Pickled Eggs

In this pickled eggs recipe, red and yellow beets give the eggs their bright hues. I love to eat them as a snack or serve them as part of a spring brunch.

Pickled eggs

How CUTE are these pickled eggs?! They’re my new spring obsession, a grown-up substitute for the Easter eggs I dyed with my family as a kid. Back then, I colored my eggs with little bottles of food coloring, but in this pickled eggs recipe, I use natural ingredients instead. Red beets turn the eggs pink and purple, and a mix of yellow beets and turmeric creates that sunny yellow.

I love keeping a jar of these pickled eggs on hand in the fridge for healthy, protein-packed snacking (though they’d be a fantastic addition to a spring brunch spread, too!). They’re tangy, salty, and a little bit sweet. I hope you love them as much as I do!

Recipe ingredients in bowls

Pickled Eggs Recipe Ingredients

You only need a few basic ingredients to make this pickled eggs recipe:

  • Eggs, of course! I hard boil them according to this method.
  • Beets – They give the brine its purple or yellow hue. If you want to make yellow pickled eggs, I recommend adding a pinch of turmeric for a more vivid color.
  • Apple cider vinegar – It gives the brine its bold, tangy flavor.
  • Sugar – It balances the acidity of the vinegar.
  • Salt – For savory, salty flavor.

This simple combination makes fantastic pickled eggs, but if you like, you can experiment with adding different pickling spices. Whole peppercorns or mustard seeds would both be excellent!

Find the complete recipe with measurements below.

Beet pickled eggs sliced in half on a plate

How to Make Pickled Eggs

My method for how to make pickled eggs includes 3 main steps: boiling the eggs, making the brine, and chilling. Here’s how it goes:

First, hard boil the eggs. Find my easy method here! After you cook the eggs, cool them in an ice bath for at least 14 minutes. Then, peel the eggs.

Meanwhile, make the brine. In a small saucepan, combine the diced beet and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer until the beet pieces are tender, about 20 minutes. Add an additional cup of water, the vinegar, sugar, and salt, and simmer for another minute, until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and allow the brine cool to room temperature.

Finally, chill! Pour the pickling liquid into a large glass jar or bowl or 2 medium jars. Add the eggs and 1-2 tablespoons of water, if necessary, to make sure they are submerged. Transfer the jar to the fridge to chill overnight. The more time the brine has to penetrate the eggs, the stronger the flavor and the darker the color will be. I like them best after at least 2-3 days in the fridge. They’ll keep for up to a week!

Yellow and pink pickled eggs

Beet Pickled Eggs Serving Suggestions

Most often, I enjoy these beet pickled eggs as a snack or quick lunch, seasoned with a sprinkle of salt and freshly cracked black pepper. They’re also fantastic on avocado toast, topped off with Everything Bagel Seasoning or Za’atar. You could even use them to make egg salad!

Otherwise, I suggest serving this recipe as part of a spring brunch. Season the eggs simply with salt and pepper, or scoop out the yolks and transform them into deviled eggs. The brightly colored shells look adorable (and taste delicious) with the creamy, tangy deviled egg filling inside. They’re guaranteed to be a hit!

Pickled eggs recipe

More Favorite Spring Recipes

If you love these beet pickled eggs, try one of these spring recipes next:

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Pickled Eggs

rate this recipe:
5 from 19 votes
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Chilling Time: 2 days
Serves 6
These pickled eggs are tangy, salty, and a little bit sweet. Top them onto avocado toast, use them to make fancy deviled eggs, or season them with salt and pepper and enjoy them as a snack!

Ingredients

  • 2 cups water, divided
  • 1 medium red or yellow beet, peeled and diced
  • 1 cup apple cider vinegar
  • cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons sea salt
  • 6 hard boiled eggs, peeled
  • pinch of turmeric, optional, for yellow eggs
  • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, for sprinkling

Instructions

  • Combine 1 cup of water and the beet in a small pot and bring to a simmer. Cook for 20 minutes, or until the beet pieces are fork-tender. Add the vinegar, remaining 1 cup water, sugar, and salt and simmer for 1 minute, or until the sugar is dissolved. Let the brine cool to room temperature.
  • Transfer the brine to a large jar, 2 medium jars, or a medium glass bowl. If you're making yellow eggs, stir in a pinch of turmeric, if desired, for a brighter yellow color. Add the eggs, make sure they are submerged (you can top them off with an additional 1-2 tablespoons water if you need to). Cover and chill overnight. The eggs will intensify in flavor and color the longer they are pickled. We suggest waiting at least 2-3 days before eating them. Store in the fridge for up to 1 week.
  • When you're ready to eat, season the halves with pinches of salt and pepper.

Notes

Note: to get multiple tones of pink, we pickled the eggs for different amounts of time. The light pink eggs were pickled for about 12 hours, the dark pink eggs, 2-3 days.

37 comments

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Rate this recipe (after making it)




  1. Burt
    03.21.2024

    5 stars
    This was best recipe I found and I used canned beets. Then I went the extra mile and got fresh, dark red beets. It was well worth the extra effort! The flavor and the deeper coloring with the fresh beets is over the top. Don’t skimp, spend the extra time and it will be rewarded.

    • Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)
      03.22.2024

      Hi Burt, I’m so glad you loved the pickled eggs and beets!

  2. parstop10
    02.04.2024

    5 stars
    In Iran, we use colored eggs to decorate the Haft Sin table during Nowruz. Our grandmothers dyed eggs with natural colors. This article of yours reminded me of Nowruz Eid and the trip to Haft Sin.

  3. Sharon
    01.18.2024

    5 stars
    Do you have to store the pickled eggs in the fridge? In bars they were always on the counter.

    • Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)
      01.19.2024

      Hi Sharon, yes, I recommend storing these pickled eggs in the fridge.

  4. Connie
    12.13.2023

    5 stars
    I add a jar of pickled yellow peppers (say that 10 times fast) to my Pickled Eggs to give them a sharp twang. I LOVE them along with the beets and eggs. Delish.

  5. riddick
    04.03.2023

    5 stars
    can you reuse the brine

    • Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)
      04.07.2023

      Hi Riddick, I wouldn’t recommend reusing the brine from this recipe.

  6. riddick
    04.02.2023

    do you need the beets to make the brine?

    • Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)
      04.07.2023

      Hi, the beets are necessary for coloring the brine, but if you’re ok with white pickled eggs, you can skip them!

  7. angel
    12.14.2022

    5 stars
    sounds YUM! Do you leave the beet chunks in for the soaking or strain them out? Do you eat them?

    • June
      04.18.2023

      5 stars
      Hi! This recipe calls for 6 eggs, so I double every ingredient to do a full dozen?

      • Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)
        04.20.2023

        Hi June, yes, that will work! Depending on your jars, a 1.5x version of the brine might be enough for 12 eggs too.

  8. angel
    12.14.2022

    5 stars
    sounds YUM! Do you leave the beet chunks in for the soaking or strain them out? Do you eat them?.

    • Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)
      12.16.2022

      We leave them in and you can eat them.

  9. Stephanie Ann Teano
    12.13.2022

    5 stars
    Your recipe says “the beets will intensify in flavor and color” did you mean to say eggs here? I am assuming I remove the beets when I add the cooled
    brine to the jar with the boiled eggs.
    Stephanie

    • Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)
      12.16.2022

      Hi Stephanie, yep, we did mean eggs there, though you can also leave the beets in and eat them. Both are delicious!

  10. Beth Garner
    04.25.2022

    After 12 hrs- 3 days… can you not leave them in the brine?

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      04.27.2022

      Hi Beth, we feel like eggs are most fresh in the brine up to 3 days. Others might think it’s safe to leave them longer.

    • Greg
      04.01.2023

      You can leave them for a pretty long time. The original reason for pickling eggs is for preservation. I don’t want to give an exact time, but I’ve kept them for many weeks before.

  11. Jennifer
    04.07.2021

    Do you leave the beet chunks in for the soaking or strain them out? Do you eat them?.

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      04.07.2021

      I leave them in and eat them.

  12. PJ
    04.06.2021

    These look so wonderful, I had to try them 🙂
    I used less vinegar and only red beets, as I could’n not get golden ones.
    But, although mine were almost too colored (the 3-day eggs almost down to the yolk), it was a fun addition to the Easter table!
    Even the kids ate them 😀
    Next time, I will only soak them for 24 and 12 hours instead of 3 days and 24 hours.
    And I’ll keep my eyes open for those yellow/golden beets 😉
    I liked the pickled beets too!

  13. LSJ
    04.02.2021

    5 stars
    These looked beautiful and tasted scrummy- perfect snack and spring flavor! Next time I might try without the sugar – what do you think the result would be?

  14. Danine
    04.01.2021

    I don’t have a yellow beet. Can I eliminate the beet from the recipe and do everything else, adding the turmeric, to get yellow eggs?

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      04.02.2021

      Hi Danine – you can, you might have to add more turmeric to make them more yellow.

  15. christine
    03.31.2021

    Do you put the diced beets in with the eggs and brine?

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      03.31.2021

      I did – you can eat the pickled beets too.

      • christine
        03.31.2021

        Yum! Thank you!

  16. Kim
    03.28.2021

    Do you have to brine the eggs to preserve them. I love the color from the beets, but don’t love the flavor the the brining gives. I would rather have just the egg flavor as much as possible

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      03.28.2021

      Hi Kim, you might be able to dye them in beet water, (add water to the cooked beets + their liquid) but I haven’t tried it.

  17. Denise
    03.27.2021

    These are so beautiful. Have seen pickled beets at bars, but not sure how long they’ve been there and was afraid to try until now. I will make my own beautiful eggs.

  18. Danine
    03.27.2021

    Can you use already cooked beets for this recipe?

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      03.27.2021

      you can!

      • Denise
        03.27.2021

        That’s a win-win. I was wondering about that myself. Don’t want to waste my beets! So good for you.

      • Hal
        02.22.2024

        I always use canned beets and the juice, too. So easy! I make several jars each spring for some friends that love them. I also like short lengths of celery, pearl onions, cauliflower, carrot slices or “sticks “, and jalapeño slices in my recipe. I don’t cook the vegetables, leave them raw and crispy. It will all be eaten before anything has a chance to go bad !!!

        • Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)
          02.23.2024

          Thanks for sharing these suggestions, Hal! I love the idea of adding more veggies to this recipe.

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Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.

We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.